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CNN Live At Daybreak
The Search for Chandra: Police Set to Expand Investigation
Aired July 16, 2001 - 08:01 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.
BRIAN NELSON, CNN ANCHOR: We begin with the latest on the missing Washington intern, Chandra Levy.
Investigators are tracing every move that Levy made before she disappeared 77 days ago, but the trail appears to run cold at her apartment door.
Jonathan Karl has the Monday morning outlook from Washington -- good morning, Jonathan.
JONATHAN KARL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Brian.
NELSON: Over the weekend, the program "America's Most Wanted" ran a segment on Chandra Levy and this whole entire case. Has it resulted in any new tips being delivered to the police since then?
KARL: Well, new tips -- but not clear if any of those tips will actually lead anywhere.
According to John Walsh, the host of that program, once it aired, there were 166 tips that came in. The one that he thinks is most interesting is the report that there was a van driving around the Dupont Circle area -- this is the area right near where Chandra Levy's apartment was -- the day before she disappeared -- according to Walsh, according to the tip, that this van, the people in it, were trying to lure young women in.
Police say that they are looking into that, but they have no indication that there is any legitimacy to the tip. They haven't even figured out if there was such a van or if that tip has in fact any merit whatsoever. But that's one of the many things that they have been looking into that, up until now, have led absolutely nowhere.
NELSON: Now, Chandra was supposed to be returning to California for her graduation.
KARL: Right.
NELSON: I understand she left behind her purse, her wallet, her I.D., but did she make any travel arrangements to get to California?
KARL: Well, there is absolutely no indication anywhere that she actually booked a flight. The police say that she was on her computer for about 3 1/2 hours on the morning of May 1. That's the day that they believe that she disappeared.
They say that she was looking at travel sites, looking into possible travel options. But they have no indication that she booked either a rail ticket or a plane ticket or anything. As a matter of fact, Chandra Levy's parents have said that they were quite concerned that she was due to be coming back, but she was being somewhat evasive about when exactly she would be flying back to California.
They had not gotten a time or a place or a flight from her. But the police say that this is not necessarily unusual, because, in this day and age, buying tickets over the Internet, that quite frequently people do wait until the last minute before booking a flight to get those last-minute bargains. So they're not sure that, in and of itself, is suspicious.
NELSON: Do the police have any doubts that it may have been her on her computer, that it could have been somebody else?
KARL: The police have -- they looked into that. They believe it was, in fact, her. She also sent some e-mails. They have not revealed the exact nature of those e-mails. But they believe they are confident that it was, in fact, her in her apartment for 3 1/2 hours that morning of Monday -- of May 5 -- May 1 -- I'm sorry -- looking into this. They believe it was, in fact, her.
NELSON: OK, finally, overall, how is the whole police search going? Has it gotten any bigger? Has it focused any more narrowly?
KARL: Well, it's actually going to expand today.
The police are bringing in 50 police academy recruits to help them with their search. One area that they are putting added resources in is this area of Rock Creek Park. It's a vast park, about 2,800 acres that runs through Washington, D.C. It's only about a block or so from Chandra Levy's apartment. So they are putting added resources into there. They say they have no specific tips to indicate that she may have been in Rock Creek Park, but they are bringing in those police academy recruits, expanding the search.
NELSON: A very difficult case -- thank you, CNN's Jonathan Karl, for us in Washington on the latest on Chandra Levy.
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