It seems a lifetime ago that the nation was obsessed with the melodrama surrounding the disappearance of a 24-year-old congressional intern named Chandra Levy.

The graduate student from Modesto, Calif., never returned from a jog in Washington’s Rock Creek Park in May 2001. The tale took on the elements of a “Law & Order” episode when suspicion fell on Democratic Rep. Gary Condit, a married congressman with whom Levy was allegedly having an affair. For the public, sex, politics, and a possible murder were an irresistible combination.

Although evidence linking Condit to her disappearance never materialized, voters in his district bounced him from office because of the scandal. …

The melodrama appeared destined to continue indefinitely, until the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks interrupted the narrative.

Last year, Ingmar Guandique, an illegal alien who was already serving time for robbery and assaulting women in Rock Creek Park, was charged with her murder. Mr. Guandique was found guilty last week. The story merited attention and was reported, but the mania that once swirled around it is gone.

Now, the Levy family can claim a modicum of closure and mourn in privacy.

The (Toledo) Blade