Chandra Levy's Remains Found in Park By Dog

Jonathan L. Arden, the D.C. medical examiner, said that his examination of the remains would continue today, and that he would seek the help of forensic anthropologists from the Smithsonian Institution. Such specialists can look at fissures, cracks and other trauma, he said, to determine a cause of death.

"We said all along that a break in the case would come with someone diming someone out or finding the body," said Executive Assistant Police Chief Terrance W. Gainer. "Now, finding the body has given us the potential of a mine full of information."

In a statement issued last night, D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) said that the city had shared the hope of Levy's parents "that somehow Chandra would be found alive and well" and that now the city "shares the pain and loss."

In an appearance on Oprah Winfrey's show yesterday, before the remains were discovered and identified, the Levys said from their home in Modesto that it was unlikely their daughter would be found alive. But Robert Levy said, "As parents, we have to maintain that hope."

Both parents said they believe Condit knows what happened to their daughter.

Chandra Levy arrived in Washington in the fall of 2000 to begin an internship with the federal Bureau of Prisons as part of her quest for a master's degree at the University of Southern California. A short time later, she allegedly told an aunt who lives on Maryland's Eastern Shore that she had a new boyfriend, the congressman from her home town of Modesto.

She told her landlord in the District in January 2001 that she might break her lease to move in with a boyfriend. But the following month, Levy told the landlord that the relationship had not worked out and that she would not be moving in with anyone, the landlord has said. Her internship ended April 23. She was preparing to return to California to attend her graduate school commencement when she left a message on her aunt's answering machine, saying she had "big news."

On May 1, Susan Levy received an e-mail from her daughter with a copy of fares being offered by Southwest Airlines. Police have said that that is the last contact Chandra Levy had with family, friends or other tenants in her Dupont Circle area apartment.

Staff writers Petula Dvorak, David A. Fahrenthold, Marc Fisher, Allan Lengel, Arthur Santana, Debbi Wilgoren and Clarence Williams and Metro researcher Bobbye Pratt contributed to this report.