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Thursday, July 12, 2001

District of Columbia Assistant Police Chief Terrance Gainer told CNN once the buildings were identified, cadaver dogs would be sent in to sniff out the structures.

The identification follows an extensive search of Condit's apartment overnight Tuesday and on Wednesday authorities questioned a United Airlines flight attendant, Anne Marie Smith, about a 10-month affair she claims she had with the California Democrat.

Smith met twice Wednesday with representatives of the U.S. attorney's office at the FBI field office in Washington.

After the two interviews she told reporters Condit had assured her that Levy's case "would probably never go to trial." Smith said he wanted her to withhold information about their relationship from authorities and probably that's why he gave this assurance.

Meanwhile, police said they were negotiating with Condit's lawyers over a lie detector test and DNA samples as part of the probe into Levy's disappearance. Investigators searched Condit's Washington apartment Tuesday night, but police officials said he is not a suspect in any crime.

Police sources said they have also asked three other men to take lie detector tests but did not disclose who they were and how they were connected to Levy's disappearance.

Investigators are analyzing material police and FBI personnel removed Tuesday night from Condit's apartment. They are looking for "signs of a struggle, other types of evidence, blood, skin or tissue – things of that nature that could point to something happening that was unusual and that might all point toward foul play," said D.C. Police Chief Charles Ramsey.

Condit allowed police and FBI investigators to search his apartment without a warrant and extended full cooperation during the search, police sources said.

The Levy family has publicly questioned Condit's conduct during the investigation, saying he impeded the search for their missing daughter by not initially disclosing the nature of his relationship with her.

Police say they still hope to find Levy alive.

But Smith's attorney, Jim Robinson of Seattle, has been more aggressive in his comments on the Levy case. Claiming that Condit might have arranged for his wife to visit him in Washington from April 28 to May 3, Robinson speculated on television that this could be a ploy to keep Levy away from his apartment.

He also told Fox News' Paula Zahn on Monday that his client had related "some peculiar sexual fantasies that a normal heterosexual man does not have" and had seen signs of unusual sexual activity "that she had nothing to do with."

Condit spokeswoman Marina Ein told United Press International Wednesday that she had no comment on these or any other similar allegations.

Robinson said Smith had feared for her life. "There's already a missing girl, and she didn't want to be the second one," he told Zahn.

The lawyer said that near the end of Smith's relationship with Condit, "things started to really disturb her. She found what she believed to be "Levy's hair in the bathroom."

Smith also saw neckties knotted together and "tied underneath the bed as if someone had been tied up in bed," he said.

Levy, 24, was last seen at the Washington Sports Club on April 30. Levy, from Modesto, Calif., had recently completed an internship at the Federal Bureau of Prisons. She had planned to return to her home state to receive a master's degree from the University of Southern California.

Police found no sign of forced entry or a struggle in Levy's apartment. The doors were locked, her bags were half-packed, and cash and credit cards were found inside. Only Levy's keys and a gold ring were missing. "It's an unusual case," Washington Police Chief Charles Ramsey said in May.

On Friday, after two months of denial, Condit reportedly admitted to police that his relationship with Levy had been sexual. Late Tuesday night, an evidence-gathering team made a search of Condit's apartment that lasted until just before 3:00 a.m. Wednesday.

On July 3, Smith told Fox News that Condit had asked her to sign a declaration denying her relationship with the congressman and told her that she did not have to talk to the FBI after Levy's disappearance.

On July 4, Smith said Condit had called her "approximately May 5 or 6." She said Condit had told her that he might be in trouble and that he was "going to have to disappear for a while."

Copyright 2001 by United Press International. All rights reserved.

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