The Californian Congressman who has been repeatedly linked to a missing Washington intern has finally admitted to Washington police that he was having an affair with her.
But this weekend, following their third interview with Mr Gary Condit (53), a Democrat from rural Modesto, and their first with his wife, police still express bafflement at the disappearance of Ms Chandra Levy (24) and insisted he "is absolutely not a suspect".
Ms Levy, also from Modesto and an intern with the Bureau of Prisons, vanished without trace in May, leaving half-packed bags and her purse and cheque cards in her central DC flat. Her laptop was open on her desk.
And the day before she disappeared she left a message on her aunt's answering machine: "I have some really big news . . . Call me."
Police say they have not ruled out any explanation for the disappearance of Ms Levy. Mr Condit's new candour comes after new embarrassing allegations that the congressman also had a year-long affair with a San Francisco airline flight attendant. Ms Anne Marie Smith (39) said last week she had broken off the romance with Mr Condit after seeing press reports in May about the disappearance of Ms Levy.
On Fox TV, Ms Smith said Mr Condit had asked her to sign an affidavit saying she was never romantically involved with him and that she refused to sign it because it was not true.
She also said Mr Condit had hinted she shouldn't talk about the relationship. His aides accept that they sought the affidavit but have not admitted the affair.
The involvement of the congressman, who admitted early on to being "a good friend" of Ms Levy's and offered a $10,000 reward to assist in the search for her, has been the reason for the extraordinary press spotlight on a case that police would almost certainly have scaled back otherwise. The DC police deal with 2,000 missing person cases a year.
But he has faced increasing media criticism over his refusal to admit to the Levy affair, most particularly after her aunt, Ms Linda Zamsky, revealed to the Washington Post that her niece had spoken to her of the relationship which had been a closely-guarded secret. "The plan was to live with him, be there with him, kind of in a secret relationship for the next five years. And then in five years," Ms Zamsky told the Post, "they had talked about getting married and having a baby."
Meanwhile, Mr Joseph diGenova, a former US attorney for DC, told the Fox News Sun- day programme he believed Mr Condit should be regarded as a suspect because he had withheld critical information about his relationship with the intern. A Republican who was the lead prosecutor in many high-profile cases, including that of convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard, Mr diGenova said he was "absolutely stunned" that district police had not searched Mr Condit's flat.
