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Criminal Justice Dept. has input in closing Levy cold case
Faulkner students were cited by several news outlets as having a hand in the solving of a national headlining cold case. Criminal justice students participating in Faulkner's Cold Case Investigations Research Institute (CCIRI) investigated and submitted findings in the Chandra Levy case. In February, investigators made an arrest in the 8-year-old case, only two months after the CCIRI submitted their findings to investigators.
Levy, a Washington D.C. intern, disappeared in 2001. Her body was found a year later in a Washington D.C. park and her killer remained unfound until February when police arrested Ingmar Guandique, an illegal alien already in jail for assaults in the same park where Levy's body was found.
The CCIRI, a combined effort of students at Faulkner, Auburn-Montgomery and Bauder College in Atlanta, investigated the Levy case for over a year and submitted a 28-page report to Washington investigators in December. Faulkner students created a comprehensive profile of the victim compiling every available piece of information about Levy. Some of their findings revealed that Levy was an avid athlete who spent most of her free time jogging or in the gym. Consequently, Levy was abducted while jogging.
Professor of Criminal Justice, Lou Harris, says that while CCIRI is not expected to solve any crimes, its investigations provide a service to investigators. "We provided information that would have taken a detective over 100 hours to compile," he explains. It is not known if the CCIRI's report had a direct hand in the arrest of the suspect; however, it is probable that it may have stimulated enough interest to build a case against him.
Although the students who worked on the case have graduated, Harris has a new group of students continuing to work on the Natalee Holloway case. He is also preparing to investigate another Washington D.C. cold case murder with local ties. It is a process designed to teach his students the practice of victim profiling while also providing investigators with another piece of the puzzle.
Levy, a Washington D.C. intern, disappeared in 2001. Her body was found a year later in a Washington D.C. park and her killer remained unfound until February when police arrested Ingmar Guandique, an illegal alien already in jail for assaults in the same park where Levy's body was found.
The CCIRI, a combined effort of students at Faulkner, Auburn-Montgomery and Bauder College in Atlanta, investigated the Levy case for over a year and submitted a 28-page report to Washington investigators in December. Faulkner students created a comprehensive profile of the victim compiling every available piece of information about Levy. Some of their findings revealed that Levy was an avid athlete who spent most of her free time jogging or in the gym. Consequently, Levy was abducted while jogging.
Professor of Criminal Justice, Lou Harris, says that while CCIRI is not expected to solve any crimes, its investigations provide a service to investigators. "We provided information that would have taken a detective over 100 hours to compile," he explains. It is not known if the CCIRI's report had a direct hand in the arrest of the suspect; however, it is probable that it may have stimulated enough interest to build a case against him.
Although the students who worked on the case have graduated, Harris has a new group of students continuing to work on the Natalee Holloway case. He is also preparing to investigate another Washington D.C. cold case murder with local ties. It is a process designed to teach his students the practice of victim profiling while also providing investigators with another piece of the puzzle.
