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In an ideal world there would never be any "missing persons". In an ideal world, everyone who died would instantly be found and their remains instantly identified. We're not living in an ideal world, and in fact hundreds of people in the US go missing every year and are never seen again. With millions of people dying every year, it's simply how things are. In the UK right now, there is a boy in foster care, attending school. He was discovered wandering the streets. Despite having him right there whom they can interview, the police can't figure out who he is. That's the way it is in the real world; this isn't any mystery novel where some genius figures out every puzzle and solves every problem. Chandra Levy was last seen about three months ago, and her parents want to know what happened to her. That's completely understandable, and if I was them I would, too. It happens to be the case that they are wealthy, and they've hired a publicist whose job it is to keep her story on the front pages by trickling out new developments about her on a regular basis. They're doing this for three reasons: to embarrass and pressure Representative Condit (who they suspect of being complicit in her disappearance), to keep her picture on the newspapers of America in hopes someone will recognize her and provide a lead, and to light a fire under the DC police so that they'll use a disproportionate amount of their resources on this case. So far only the second one has failed, which is unfortunate because it was the most important one. But they've been notably successful at toasting the DC police, who have undertaken foolish things like a mass search of DC parks even though they don't have any reason to believe that she might be found in them. The DC police are starting to make "probably can never be solved" noises and have called off the search, and that is as it should be. They'll keep working on this case at a reduced level, but if they haven't been able to turn up a lead in this case in the two months they've been working hard on it, then they probably never will by straightforward detective work. Further concerted effort is going to be a waste. It's going to take a fluke; someone will stumble on unknown human remains someday, and tests might indentify them as belonging to her. This is not the answer that her parents want to hear. I'm sorry for them. But Chandra Levy was not the only person in DC who needs the services of the DC police, and it's time for them to get back to work on all the other cases in their jurisdiction. It's also time for the newspapers of America to stop lunging for the bait every time the Levy's publicist tosses another hook in the water. This story is now old until and unless something really important develops -- like discovery of a corpse. (discuss) |
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