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Post by HOPE on Jun 11, 2005 9:08:29 GMT -5
ORANJESTAD, Aruba - Natalee Holloway, 18, disappeared on the last night of a trip to Aruba to celebrate her graduation from high school. The Alabama teenager is still missing, despite an extensive search of the Dutch Caribbean island. If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, please contact the FBI Tip Line at 1-877-628-2533 or dial 9-1-1 for emergency. www.nataleeholloway.com/
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Post by HOPE on Jun 18, 2005 7:37:30 GMT -5
Disc Jockey Detained in Alabama Teen Case June 18, 2005 3:07 AM EDT ORANJESTAD, Aruba - A disc jockey on an Aruban tourist party boat was detained Friday in the disappearance of Alabama teen Natalee Holloway, making him the fourth person held by police since the honors student vanished last month.
Meanwhile, Holloway's mother said she believed there might be more arrests before the case was resolved, although she expressed increasing frustration with the pace of the investigation. Beth Holloway Twitty also held onto hope that her 18-year-old daughter, last seen May 30, was still alive.
Steve Gregory Croes, 26, whom authorities earlier identified only by the initials S.G.C., said he was contacted by police Thursday night and voluntarily gave a statement, said his employer, Marcus Wiggins.
Croes also said he knew one of two Surinamese brothers being detained in the case because they went to the same Internet cafe, Wiggins told The Associated Press.
Croes was a DJ on the Tattoo, which offers nightly dining, dancing and swimming, Wiggins said.
"I've never had problems with him," Wiggins told the AP. "He keeps to himself and shows up to work every day and does his job."
In Alabama, a woman who helped organize the graduation trip, Jody Bearman, said students did not go on the Tattoo as a group, although some could have taken a boat ride without the seven adult chaperones knowing.
"The chaperones were not supposed to keep up with their every move," Bearman said.
Authorities previously detained 17-year-old Joran van der Sloot, the son of a Dutch justice official on Aruba, and his two friends, Surinamese brothers Deepak Kalpoe, 21, and Satish Kalpoe, 18. No one has been charged in the case.
Police Superintendent Jan van der Straaten refused to identify the fourth detainee but told the AP he was detained based on information from one of the other three.
Holloway disappeared in the early morning hours of May 30 on this Dutch protectorate in the Caribbean. The three men detained earlier said they took Holloway to a northern beach but dropped her off at her hotel, where she was approached by a security guard.
In an interview with Associated Press Television News, Holloway Twitty said she believed there might be more arrests before the case was resolved. She did not elaborate.
"This is just the beginning," she said.
Looking tired and angry, Holloway Twitty, 44, said she was unhappy with the progress of the investigation.
"This case is not that hard to figure out," she said. "Those boys have the answers."
Holloway Twitty has said that if investigators do not make progress soon, she might start believe they are trying to protect the detainees.
"We are in day 18 with no answers," she said Friday. "I want my daughter and I want her now."
Holloway Twitty said she would "believe my daughter is alive until I find out otherwise."
Holloway disappeared the day she was to return from a five-day trip with 124 other students celebrating their graduation from high school in Mountain Brook, Ala.
Searches by authorities, volunteer islanders and tourists have come up empty. Authorities have refused to say whether they believe Holloway is dead.
On Thursday, van der Straaten said authorities used a helicopter equipped with infrared equipment "to search for possible remains - but found nothing." He declined to say where the helicopter searched Wednesday night.
On Friday, prosecutors asked a judge to rule there was sufficient cause to continue holding van der Sloot and the Kalpoes. The three were detained June 9, and island law says a judge must review their case after 10 days, meaning a decision is due by Sunday.
Also Friday, the court barred van der Sloot's lawyer, Antonio Carlo, from visiting the teen, effectively removing him from the case, said Attorney General spokeswoman Mariaine Croes.
The court granted prosecutors' request to remove Carlo because he had visited one of two former security guards who had been detained and released in the case, authorities said.
Croes said the Dutch teenager has a team of lawyers, so Carlo's removal will not leave van der Sloot without representation. The spokeswoman is not related to Steve Croes.
Carlo did not return calls seeking comment.
The court also ruled on a petition from van der Sloot's father, Paul van der Sloot, to be able to visit his son in jail, and from the Kalpoes' attorneys requesting to see any evidence prosecutors may have gathered, Croes said. Both Croes and the court's secretary Isella Wernet refused to reveal the rulings, and defense attorneys did not return calls seeking comment.
On Wednesday, investigators searched the van der Sloots' home. Agents were seen carrying away two white garbage bags filled with items, while authorities towed two vehicles from the property in Noord, outside the capital, Oranjestad.
After the search, Janssen said Paul van der Sloot was not under investigation.
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Post by HOPE on Jul 5, 2005 12:38:44 GMT -5
Teen's Mother Wants Brothers Kept in Aruba
Beth Holloway Twitty, mother of missing teen Natalee Holloway, and husband Jug Twitty, give a statement to the press in Palm Beach, Aruba, Tuesday, July 5, 2005.
July 05, 2005
ORANJESTAD, Aruba - The mother of an Alabama teenager who disappeared more than a month ago expressed concern Tuesday that two Surinamese brothers released from custody might try to leave Aruba and she asked other countries not to help them. A judge ordered the release of Deepak Kalpoe, 21, and Satish Kalpoe, 18, on Monday, saying there was not sufficient evidence to continue holding them in Natalee Holloway's disappearance. The 17-year-old son of a top justice official on the island was ordered held for 60 more days.
Holloway's mother said she believes the Surinamese brothers should still be in jail, adding that her "greatest fear" is that they will leave the Caribbean island. A tearful Beth Holloway Twitty said she feared the two young men "will not only be allowed to walk freely among the tourists and citizens of Aruba but there are no limits as to where they may go." "I'm asking all nations not to offer them a safe haven," she added. She also asked Aruban authorities to inform the U.S. State Department if they try to leave. She also said she was outraged that the two men were freed, "while I have not seen my beautiful daughter in 36 days." "I will continue to search for her until I find her," she said. Lawyers for the men have argued repeatedly that authorities lacked sufficient evidence to continue holding them. "I've been saying this for a long time: They have no basis to keep my client in detention," David Kock, one of Satish Kalpoe's lawyer, said Monday following the judge's decision. But Holloway Twitty continues to insist that the brothers, along with van der Sloot, have vital information and should be held until they release it. "All three of those boys know what happened to her," Holloway Twitty has said. The Kalpoes or their lawyers had no immediate response to her remarks. Attorney General Karin Janssen's office issued a statement Monday saying prosecutors were considering an appeal of the judge's decision to release the Kalpoes. They have three days to do so. Lincoln Gomez, a defense lawyer in Aruba who is not connected to the case, stressed the case was not over for the two brothers. "They can go home, but it will not be over until a formal indictment is issued or until they get a formal note from the prosecutor saying they will not be prosecuted," Gomez said, adding that neither option was likely to pan out for at least two weeks. Holloway, of Mountain Brook, Ala., went missing in the early hours of May 30, hours before she was to catch a flight home after a five-day vacation celebrating her high school graduation with 124 other students.
The Kalpoes and 17-year-old Joran van der Sloot, who were detained on June 9, have acknowledged that they were with Holloway the night she disappeared. But the two brothers have said they dropped van der Sloot and Holloway off together at a beach near the Marriott hotel, then went home. Van der Sloot's mother, Anita, said her son told her he was alone with Holloway on a beach but he did not harm her. Contacted by telephone, van der Sloot's father, Paul van der Sloot, said he had no comment on the judge's decision. Prior to the judge's ruling, one of van der Sloot's attorneys, Antonio Carlo, would not say whether investigators had presented any new evidence against his client, but he said a judge did approve a motion allowing attorneys to be present whenever van der Sloot is interrogated. "It's important for me to say again today that my client maintains his innocence," Carlo added.
Under Dutch law that governs Aruba, a protectorate of the Netherlands, detainees can be held 116 days before being charged by a judge. Van der Sloot has not been charged. Prosecutors have acknowledged they have no solid evidence to indicate that Holloway is dead. They have said a murder conviction is possible without a body, but the case requires strong evidence such as a confession, reliable statements and forensic evidence of wrongdoing. Numerous searches by Dutch marines, Aruban investigators and volunteer rescue groups have failed to turn up any trace of Holloway.
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Post by HOPE on Jul 24, 2005 15:04:41 GMT -5
Investigators will conduct DNA tests on blond hair attached to duct tape that was found along the northeast coast of Aruba to see if it came from missing U.S. teenager Natalee Holloway, authorities said Monday. A park ranger found the duct tape while collecting trash Sunday on rocks at Boca Tortuga, an inlet in front of a series of caves, said National Park Ranger Service spokeswoman Dilma Arends.
Boca Tortuga is on the opposite side of Aruba from where Holloway, was last seen in public.
The hair will be sent to the Netherlands for DNA analysis, said police spokesman Edwin Comemencia. Aruba, a Dutch protectorate, doesn't have a lab to conduct the genetic testing.
Extensive searches by Dutch marines, Aruban police, and some 2,000 volunteers have found no trace of the 18-year-old Holloway, of Mountain Brook, Ala., who was last seen in public in the early hours of May 30 — at the end of a high school graduation trip to the Dutch Caribbean island.
A volunteer group from thingyinson, Texas, that had searched for three weeks left the island on Sunday.
A 17-year-old Dutch resident of Aruba, Joran van der Sloot, has been detained in connection with Holloway's disappearance, but no charges have been filed.
On Saturday, investigators took van der Sloot, the son of a judge in training on the island, to a beach on the island's northwest coast — near Holloway's hotel — where he has said he went with her the night she disappeared. Police superintendent Jan van der Straaten declined to provide details about the trip, saying only that it was "part of the investigation."
Authorities can hold van der Sloot until Sept. 4, when he must be charged or released. Six other men detained at various times during the investigation have been released.
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Post by HOPE on Jul 28, 2005 20:43:54 GMT -5
Tests Show Hair Not From Ala. Missing Teen July 28, 2005 7:53 PM EDT ORANJESTAD, Aruba - Strands of hair found in Aruba did not come from missing U.S. teenager Natalee Holloway, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation said Thursday.
The hair, which was found attached to duct tape on July 17, was subjected to genetic testing at the FBI crime lab in Quantico, Virginia, and the results showed they did not come from the 18-year-old who has been missing for two months, said spokeswoman Judy Orihuela.
"The results were negative," said Orihuela. "It wasn't Natalee's hair."
A park ranger found the duct tape on July 17 while collecting trash on Aruba's northeast coast - the opposite side of the island from where the Alabama woman was last seen in public.
Testing was also conducted on a sample of the hair at a crime lab in the Netherlands, but the results were not immediately available.
The news came as authorities in Aruba neared the end of an effort to drain a pond near a hotel and tennis club that has become a focus in the investigation. Holloway disappeared on May 30 on the final night of a high school graduation trip to the Dutch Caribbean island.
Crews expected to finish draining the pond on Friday, said Gabriel Kelly, a spokesman for the island's fire department, which was coordinating the effort.
"So far we haven't found anything out of the ordinary," Kelly said.
A lawyer for Holloway's mother and stepfather said the search was prompted by a witness who came forward last week and reported seeing three young men, including the Dutch youth who has been detained in the case, near the pond on the night of the teenager's disappearance.
The witness told investigators that he saw Joran van der Sloot, 17, and two Surinamese brothers driving near the pond on May 30 between 2:30 and 3 a.m. - a time they previously told investigators they were already home - said the attorney, Vinda de Sousa.
Holloway, from Mountain Brook, Alabama, vanished after an evening at a nightclub that she left with the three young men, hours before she was to fly home at the end of a trip with 124 classmates.
No one has been charged in the case and van der Sloot is the only person detained as a suspect. The Surinamese brothers, Satish and Deepak Kalpoe, were previously held and released.
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