Chandra Levy's parents still searching for answers 25 years after her disappearance

[0:00] I always have that hope that someone would come forward and tell the truth. [0:05] She was a D.C. intern whose disappearance dominated the headlines for months. [0:09] 24-year-old Chandra Levy in a secret affair with married California Congressman Gary Condon. [0:14] Do you have any comments about this? [0:16] No, sir, I don't. You've got a written statement. [0:18] A case that's been mired with explosive twists and turns. [0:24] The case took on sort of this mega, mega media frenzy. [0:30] Her remains eventually found in a nearby state park. [0:33] But 25 years later, her murder is still not solved. [0:36] Her parents, Bob and Susan, are left grasping for answers. [0:39] What would justice look like? [0:41] Justice would be getting the person or persons who did this and having them confess. [0:48] Chandra's parents first spoke to my colleague, Deborah Roberts, in 2016. [0:52] She was shy. She really liked being at home. [0:56] You sound like you're very content with the program and everything. [0:59] Oh, yeah. [1:00] She got the internship at the Department of Prisons there. [1:02] And I think she was interested in going to the FBI. [1:06] After nine months in D.C., the internship with the Bureau of Prisons ended. [1:10] Chandra canceled her gym membership and emailed her landlord that she was heading back to California. [1:16] Then I called again. [1:16] Then on the weekend, she didn't answer. [1:18] Five days passed with no word. [1:20] On May 6, 2001, Chandra's parents called police, who head to her apartment and make some noteworthy discoveries. [1:27] They find a suitcase that's basically half-packed. [1:31] They find driver's license, credit cards, checkbooks, and her cell phone. [1:36] ABC News contributor Brad Garrett worked Chandra's case when he was with the FBI. [1:41] That's really odd. [1:43] She would certainly take her cell phone with her. [1:45] Police did campus the area, including nearby Rock Creek Park. [1:49] Susan Levy begins her own search, looking through her daughter's cell phone bill and noticed a number repeatedly called. [1:56] It turned out to be Gary Condit, and he answered the phone. [1:59] I was kind of surprised, and I said, do you know where my daughter is? [2:02] And I thought to myself, this is wrong. [2:05] Come on in and make yourself home in my office. [2:08] Gary Condit was a California congressman, married father of two, more than double Chandra's age. [2:13] He voluntarily came in for questioning and made a huge admission to police. [2:18] He admitted to the detectives that first night that they were dating. [2:22] We didn't know whether it was a friendly relationship. [2:24] We didn't know if it was a sexual relationship, by the way. [2:27] News of the affairs set off a media firestorm. [2:31] Police have questioned Congressman Gary Condit, who has reportedly said Levy spent some time in his Washington, D.C. area condo. [2:38] The Levy's were convinced that Condit not only committed adultery, but perhaps something much worse. [2:44] I urge him, if he does have any information, please be man enough to step forward. [2:48] After staying silent for months in August 2001, Condit went on national television in an interview with ABC's Connie Chung. [2:56] Did you kill Chandra Levy? [2:58] I did not. [2:59] We had a close relationship. [3:00] I liked her very much. [3:02] May I ask you, was it a sexual relationship? [3:04] Well, Connie, I've been married for 34 years, and I've not been a perfect man, and I've made my share of mistakes. [3:11] But out of respect for my family and out of a specific request from the Levy family, I think it's best that I not get into those details about Chandra Levy. [3:23] Congressman Condit was never charged with anything. [3:25] He was interviewed multiple times. [3:28] I interviewed him with my FBI partner. [3:30] Did people think that he was a real possibility? [3:32] Sure. [3:34] Did it ever make any sense to me? [3:35] The answer is no. [3:37] There has never been any evidence linking Condit to Chandra's death, and he was never a suspect. [3:44] As the case continued to dominate the news, it seemed nothing could trump the story of the missing intern and her friendly congressman. [3:53] Then, September 11th happened. [3:59] The media attention went away. [4:00] We lost a big helping hand with the FBI because the devotion of resources to terrorism, things changed dramatically. [4:11] Months later, in 2002, a year after she disappeared, a stunning discovery at Rock Creek Park, a huge area more than 1,700 acres, about five miles away from Chandra's apartment. [4:22] I was walking my dog, and I came across a human skull. [4:26] Chandra's remains and scattered belongings were discovered, including her Reebok sneakers and jogging pants tied in knots, leading investigators to believe this was no accident. [4:36] We cried. [4:36] Yeah, I cried a lot. [4:37] We screamed and cried. [4:38] Yeah. [4:39] You can't imagine to have your child laying out there. It seems so unfair. [4:45] For detectives, the discovery brought relief and also some embarrassment. [4:49] This is something that we all have to live with. There may have been DNA evidence that all that was lost because of the fact that we were unable to locate her remains during the time that we were searching the park. [5:03] The remains were found 79 yards off a dirt path, down a sharply steep embankment. [5:09] D.C. Metropolitan Police had searched 100 yards off all paved roads. [5:13] Had they searched 100 yards off all foot trails, too, they may have found Chandra's body, DNA intact, months earlier. [5:22] Critics say it wasn't the only police blunder. [5:25] Days after Levy's disappearance, an untrained officer tried going through her computer and accidentally corrupted the data, which would have shown Levy had researched Rock Creek Park. [5:35] Soon, the investigation began focusing in on Ingmar Guamdique, a 19-year-old undocumented construction worker from El Salvador, who had been charged and found guilty of attacking two women jogging around the same area Chandra's body was found two months before she disappeared. [5:53] And the M.O. was pretty similar between the two of them. [5:56] Women were jogging. After they passed him, he would then blindside them and attempt to rob them. [6:05] Guamdique had pleaded guilty to both attacks in September 2001 and was serving a 10-year sentence, but he has always maintained he did not kill Chandra. [6:15] In 2010, prosecutors went to trial with a star witness in tow, a California gangster named Armando Morales. [6:22] Back in 2006, Morales and Guamdique were sharing a federal prison cell for separate crimes. [6:28] On the stand, Morales makes a stunning allegation. [6:31] Guamdique made a detailed confession to the Levy murder. [6:35] Guamdique is found guilty and sentenced to 60 years in prison. [6:40] I have a lifetime sentence of a lost limb missing from our family tree. [6:47] But years later, the conviction was overturned after the defense discovers that Morales concealed a crucial fact from the jury. [6:54] He'd had a history of working with law enforcement. [6:56] So Guamdique is given a new trial, but then another twist in 2016 before the retrial got underway. [7:04] A 15-year-old murder case is turned on its head because of you. Did you ever expect that? [7:10] No, absolutely not. [7:12] Babs Proler told our Deborah Roberts she ran to Morales at a hotel where he was staying to prepare with prosecutors for the upcoming retrial. [7:20] He was very kind. He was very friendly. [7:24] She says they struck up her friendship, but for her own safety, decided to record their conversation. [7:30] In one portion of the recording, Morales recounts what he says Guamdique told him about Chandra's death. [7:36] It was an accident. He didn't know he killed her. He went back. That was his area to steal and rob. [7:45] Babs says she met with prosecutors in the wake of those recordings with their star witness who had been under strict orders not to talk about the case. [7:54] Then in July 2016, a major development. [7:58] There is a stunning turn tonight. [7:59] Prosecutors suddenly dropping murder charges. [8:02] In a statement, the U.S. Attorney's Office said it could no longer prove the murder case against Mr. Guamdique beyond a reasonable doubt. [8:09] It's not realistic at all to use a source that's that tainted, that's unreliable. [8:16] I mean, he could be thoroughly discredited in a second trial. [8:20] In May 2017, Guamdique was deported to El Salvador. [8:24] Prosecutors have never attempted to recharge him for Chandra's murder. [8:28] In a recent statement to ABC News, the U.S. Attorney's Office for D.C. encouraged anyone with information to come forward. [8:35] The Metropolitan Police Department is not actively investigating the case, saying in a statement, [8:42] the discovery of new evidence or leads could prompt the reopening of this investigation, [8:46] but we have not uncovered any information that would warrant reopening the case. [8:51] As for Chandra Levy's parents, they say having hope and optimism is their way forward. [8:56] What keeps you two going? [8:58] You try to make the most of your light while you're here. [9:02] Your light, how do you give off to someone else a little love? [9:08] That's what keeps me a little bit sane because I see the struggle in everybody.