The world since Chandra Levy.
From CNN:
Police are close to making an arrest in the Chandra Levy murder case, one of Washington’s most infamous cold cases, CNN affiliate KGO-TV reported Saturday. Chandra Levy was a Washington intern who had an affair with a congressman. She disappeared in 2001. Police told Levy’s parents Friday that an arrest was imminent, the San Francisco, California, television station reported.
Media reports said police were planning to arrest Ingmar Guandique, an inmate in the District of Columbia prison system.
The world was a different place in early 2001. The first Apple store opened. The biggest news from the White House was that Barbara and Jenna Bush were prosecuted for under-aged drinking. Bratz were all the rage. Osmosis Jones with Bill Murray was in the theaters. And our news was overtaken by personal tragedies and trivial events.
The biggest personal tragedy at the time was the Chandra Levy case. Levy was in intern at the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Washington, D.C., who disappeared in the spring of that year and was found murdered in Rock Creek Park, Washington. As the investigation moved forward, it was discovered that she had an affair with a married member of the House, Gary Condit. Condit later left Congress, was seen in the public eye as a possible suspect (even though he was never targeted by Police) and these events became the daily background noise we remember from the time. What it had for newspeople was a mystery, an affair and politics. By September, no suspect was found, however, there was suspicion of a homeless man from the area. Then September 11th.
Children who were 9 years old at the time are now of age for the military. Hundreds of thousands have been killed oversees and our country has been involved in perpetual war for so long now we tend to forget what life was like before all this. There is a tension now, just under the surface for those of us not on the frontlines of these wars, that never ceases. A real, deep rest we can never seem to achieve. Back in 2001, however, we were tired of the media’s repetitiveness and their need to make local issues sensational. We felt terrible for Chandra Levy’s family and sad about a girl who who would be 33 years old today (24 at the time) and well into her life and family had it not been for this callous asshole who had no respect for human life.
The rest of us became desensitized to death as Iraq and Afghanistan became the same background noise that Chandra’s story was back then. As uneventful as early 2001 seemed to be for most of us, I know I would do it over, appreciate the world around me a little more, not worry about small things, enjoy the trivial aspects of my life as if they were gold and get that deep, restful sleep that’s alluded me for so long.
