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Can Forensics Help Determine Cause, Time of Chandra Levy's Death?

Aired May 23, 2002 - 13:02   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: On the Chandra Levy matter where one question now has been answered but the second is as big a mystery as it ever was.

Bob Franken on the trail in Washington, Frank Buckley in Levy's home town of Modesto, California. On both ends of the country, our coverage continues. First to Bob Franken in D.C.

Good afternoon, Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Bill, and there's some late developments I want to report. First of all, CNN has confirmed that investigators in the Chandra Levy case are taking a close look at a man who was arrested in July of last year, a man who is now serving a prison term, 10 years, for assault for two attacks on women who were jogging in this particular area of Rock Creek Park in Washington. Now this, of course, is the area where Chandra Levy's body -- remains were found yesterday. This is somebody who, in fact, was charged with attacking two women, none of whom suffered significant injuries. One was in May of last year; one was in July of last year. After the July attack, the victim reported to police and this person was arrested.

Now "Roll Call Daily," which is a Capitol Hill publication, has identified the man as Igmar Quanke (ph) who is serving, as they said, a 10-year sentence for assault. That we have not confirmed, the identification, but the other information about that CNN has confirmed. And officials are saying that there are so many coincidences, particularly the location, that with the discovery yesterday of Chandra Levy's remains, they want to take a closer look at the possibility that there is some sort of connection.

While that part of the investigation is going on, officials are also fanning out over the area. Some of the same police recruits from the academy here who were searching last year from the same academy are fanning out again, not the entire park, which they unsuccessfully searched last year, but they're looking at this general area, looking for evidence which might give them clues as to what happened to Chandra Levy now that we know that she was -- came to harm. But of course, the investigation is trying to determine if it was a homicide, and they're looking at specific cases as reported just a moment ago -- Bill.

HEMMER: Hey, Bob, go back to last summer, do you remember the case of this man that you just mentioned?

FRANKEN: As a matter of fact, no, but I have to point out that it is not uncommon that there are assault cases in the Rock Creek Park area. It is a popular jogging area, but the popularity usually comes with a warning, be careful, don't run in the late afternoon, that type of thing. Of course Chandra Levy was somebody who was into physical fitness. She was known to jog in the Rock Creek Park area. Again, what is causing such interest among investigators is that the assaults that the man was charged and convicted for, assaults happened in this area, in this particular region of the park.

HEMMER: Bob, thank you.

Bob Franken, again, at Rock Creek Park. We will see if this new development takes us anywhere on this story.

As Bob stands at his post in Washington, back to Modesto, California and Frank Buckley outside the Levy house -- Frank.

FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bill, the Levys are still in seclusion and in mourning. A spokeswoman telling us that they will not be making any statements today.

A sheriff's department official just told us a few moments ago, however, that it appears as though the Levy's have dispatched some of their family attorneys to areas around Modesto and -- in and around Modesto to try to find a suitable location for a public memorial, that the public memorial expected to happen probably on Tuesday. That date hasn't been set yet, but we will, of course, let you know as soon as we have that information.

Yesterday, some people in this community already having an outpouring of support for the Levy family. They had a prayer circle and a vigil. Some 30 people attended that. Modesto residents saying that Chandra's parents now at least know that she is no longer missing.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know I'm still not going to give up hope that we're going to know. We know where she is now. We need to know why she's there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This brings up more evidence, and hopefully the evidence that will bring some final justice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: By having some positive identification now, there is beginning process of closure. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BUCKLEY: And the people in this community never forgot Chandra Levy. You just walk down the streets, there are still fliers that show Chandra Levy as missing, there are -- the flags at City Hall are at half-staff. They're expected to remain at half-staff until Friday. And also there are ribbons, like this one right in front of the Levy family home. And it's really a moving sight, Bill, as I was driving up their street this morning to see the yellow ribbons on either side of the street, the family and the neighbors here hoping that some day Chandra would see those ribbons herself as she drove up the street. It was not to be -- Bill.

HEMMER: They have been given tremendous support throughout. Thank you, Frank.

Frank Buckley, again, in Modesto.

A lawyer for the Levy family says finding Chandra's body only closes one chapter in this disappearance. Billy Martin talked about his side of the case last night here on CNN with Larry King.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILLY MARTIN, LEVY FAMILY ATTORNEY: We're convinced that they are going to turn this now into a full blown death/homicide investigation. And we're convinced and we're hopeful that we're going to find the person or persons who did this to Chandra. And I'm sure the D.C. police want to know the answers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: Again, Billy Martin from last night on CNN.

The medical D.C. -- the D.C. medical examiner's office calling in an anthropologist from the Smithsonian now to help analyze Levy's remains. And to find out more about how anthropology could help solve the case, William Bass is director of their Forensic Anthropology Center at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

It's our pleasure to welcome you. Good afternoon, sir, thanks for your time.

WILLIAM BASS, DIRECTOR OF FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY CENTER, UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE-KNOXVILLE: Thank you, sir, glad to be with you.

HEMMER: I want to let our viewers know that you have done a rather interesting thing there on the campus of the University of Tennessee or right near it anyway. You actually take human bodies, allow them to decompose in a certain area, a field we could say, and then you study it. Tell us about the process.

BASS: Well I taught for 11 years at the University of Kansas in Lawrence before I came to Tennessee, identified skeletal remains for law enforcement agencies in Kansas. Well I came to Tennessee June the 1st of 1971 and started identifying skeletal remains for the law enforcement agents here in Tennessee. And essentially half of the first 10 cases I got were maggot-covered bodies.

Now the police usually don't ask you who is that, they ask you how long have they been there. And I didn't know anything about maggots. So I looked in the literature and there was very little in the literature, so I decided we better do some research on this. So starting in 1972, we started looking at bodies and recording what happens in the decay process, how long does it take, what are the insects involved. And after lo 29 years, we are still looking at dead bodies.

HEMMER: Well, doctor, some have called your area there of study essentially a body farm. And that many people may remember the book that Patricia Cornwell wrote and that was the title she gave it. I know she's done some work and research through your facility. But specifically, what can you find out and what have you found out through this studying you've conducted?

BASS: Well the studies that we've conducted are studies looking at bodies in various conditions. We started by putting bodies on the ground, in the woods, in the sun, clothing, no clothing, buried, buried wrapped in plastic. We put them in automobiles, in trunks of cars. We put them in water. So what we've tried to do is to reconstruct to the best that we could the environmental conditions that you find bodies, particularly in the Tennessee area.

HEMMER: Hey, doctor, how do you get these bodies? Are they donated or?

BASS: Well they're news reporters that don't do a very good job. They are from three sources: unclaimed bodies that come through the medical examiner's system. We get the husband and wife that dies and they've talked about donating their body to science but they never fill out any paperwork. And so when one of them dies, the spouse will tell the mortician that they always wanted their body donated to science so the mortician will call me and want to know if we've had -- if we would like a body. And then third, I've been on, as you imagine having a body farm, the only one in the world, I've been on television a number of times. And many people have seen me on the various programs on television and they have written and want to donate their body. Literally you donate your skeleton to the Anthropology Department at the University of Tennessee.

HEMMER: And you say you have about 300 or so corpses, or as you say,...

BASS: We have...

(CROSSTALK)

HEMMER: ... television reporters who don't do a good job.

BASS: That's right. We have over -- actually over 400 people in the collection now...

HEMMER: Wow!

BASS: ... and we have almost that many who have signed papers to will their body to us when they die.

HEMMER: Doctor, just about a minute left, in fact less than that, on a very serious note here, you have helped solve crimes across the country, you have helped train FBI agents to look into and study decomposing bodies. I know you're not at Washington, D.C., but how can the work that you do and the training you conduct there help investigators in the case of Chandra Levy?

BASS: Well, in the case of Chandra Levy, the anthropologist from the Smithsonian that went out there, David Hunt (ph), is one of our doctoral students. Two other forensic anthropologists at the Smithsonian, Doug Ublocker (ph) and Doug Alsley (ph), both got their Ph.D.s from me. So literally my teaching is -- to the students is continuing on. And even though I'm not at the crime scene, what they learn from me they're applying to that scene.

HEMMER: And all different types of conditions and weather conditions and terrain conditions too. Thank you, doctor.

Dr. William Bass, University of Tennessee, a director of their Forensic Anthropology Center there.

We'll talk again, OK?

BASS: Thank you, sir.

HEMMER: Thank you, sir.

BASS: Appreciate it.

HEMMER: All right.

Our online poll now asking, "Will the Chandra Levy case ever be solved?" Right now online a bit more than half, 57 percent say yes, 43 percent say no. You can cast your vote right now at CNN.com, and that poll online is not scientific. You can head there now and cast your vote.

D.C. police, though, still have more than 300 missing persons cases to solve, and until yesterday, Chandra Levy's case was just one among hundreds of cases of missing children and adults. And the Public Information Office for D.C. police say there are more than 330 unsolved missing persons cases in the Washington Metro area alone dating back to 1980's, numbers that are significant.

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