7 Years on, Chandra Murder Still a Mystery

The storm of press on the 2001 murder of Chandra Levy gave way to the 9/11 attacks—but the mystery was never solved. Today, the Washington Post begins a 12-part series probing the investigation and a number of pitfalls along the way. The first piece examines the early stages of the case as Levy went missing and Washington police struggled to gather clues to her disappearance.

When the 24-year-old government intern didn’t didn't return phone calls and her voice mail filled up, her father called police. A number of errors marred the ensuing investigation, including a flawed search of Levy’s computer, a long wait before checking security cameras, and miscommunicated orders that caused searching police to miss her body. Meanwhile, police attention turned to former Rep. Gary Condit, whom Levy had been dating. (More Chandra Levy stories.)