In Modesto, California, a spokesman for the parents of intern Chandra Levy has urged police to continue investigating their daughter's death.
Lawyers for the family told reporters there were tears and disbelief in the Levy household, where the intern's parents had been clinging to a slim hope that Chandra was alive.
With news that the young woman's remains had been found in a Washington park, attorney George Arata said Robert and Susan Levy want their daughter's killer found. "Both of them are going to show the same resolve that they've shown all the way through this investigation," he said, "with continuing their fight to find out who actually did this, not only to Chandra but to other missing people. I think this has only cemented it that much further into their minds."
Police spokesman Kelly Houston says news of Chandra's death is also a blow to the quiet town of Modesto in northern California. "Everyone was putting yellow ribbons on their trees and mailboxes," she said, "and we were truly holding out hope that for some reason, there would be an explainable reason why she would disappear and not be a case of murder, which is what it appears that this is today."
The Levy's congressman, Gary Condit, has admitted he was romantically involved with the couple's daughter, but Washington police say he is not a suspect in her death. Earlier Wednesday, the intern's parents told an interviewer they believe the congressman knows more than he is admitting.
Mr. Condit has denied any knowledge of the intern's disappearance, and Wednesday sent condolences to the Levy family. Mr. Condit recently lost his bid for reelection.