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Post by Sher on Jun 4, 2005 9:18:00 GMT -5
ORANJESTAD, Aruba - More FBI agents headed to Aruba to help search for an Alabama teenager whose disappearance on the last day of a high school graduation trip has shaken the quiet Dutch Caribbean island.
Police and volunteers combed beaches and scrubland for a fifth consecutive day, but found no sign of Natalee Holloway, 18, whose mother had tearfully pleaded for more U.S. help in the search.
Her mother and stepfather rushed to a police station late Friday night when police thought they might have found the teen in a car with some Arubans. Police said they detained a young American woman — a blonde like Holloway — because she presented what they suspected was false identification.
Holloway’s mother and stepfather held hands and smiled as they emerged from the station outside the capital of Oranjestad, saying the woman was not their daughter but they were confident she would be found.
“I know we’ll find her,” said Beth Holloway Twitty.
'Persons of interest' Meantime, three males being questioned in the disappearance of an Alabama teenager in the Dutch Caribbean are now officially considered "persons of interest," reported WVTM reporter Andrew Hayenga.
The "persons of interest" are two people from Suriname and one from the Netherlands who were seen dropping the girl off at the hotel the night she was last seen, Hayenga said citing the deputy police chief of Aruba.
Volunteers put up posters throughout the island with a photo of Holloway, saying she was missing. But the wording on the posters was changed Friday to add a caption under her photo saying: “Kidnapped since 1:30 a.m. May 30.”
Earlier, authorities said there is no evidence that Holloway was abducted, but police Commissioner Jan van der Straaten said, “After four or five days you are afraid a crime has been committed.”
More FBI agents Justice Minister Rudy Croes announced late Friday that more FBI agents were on the way to Aruba, though he did not specify how many or say how many were already on the island. FBI officials did not return calls seeking comment.
Her mother had pleaded earlier Friday for the Dutch government to request more direct help from the United States.
“We all have a common goal to find Natalee so we can bring her home,” Holloway Twitty told reporters in a hotel conference room. She choked up and left the room in tears.
Aruban Attorney General Caren Janssen had insisted earlier that local authorities did not need more U.S. help. U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Washington was “making sure that we provide all possible assistance to the family and local authorities.”
$50,000 reward A $50,000 reward has been offered for information leading to Holloway’s rescue, said Myrna Jansen, the director of Aruba’s tourism office. The Aruban government and local tourism organizations were contributing $20,000, while family and benefactors in Alabama were offering the rest, she said.
Aruba’s coast guard began searching surrounding waters, indicating authorities were considering the possibility Holloway was taken off the island with or without her consent. Police found her passport in her hotel.
Holloway spent the last night of her holiday at Carlos ’N Charlie’s bar and restaurant in the capital, eating and dancing with classmates and residents. She didn’t show up for her return flight.
The search has not been extended to Venezuela, whose coastline is only 25 miles from Aruba at the nearest point, or the neighboring Dutch island of Curacao, van der Straaten said.
'Very smart and focused' Holloway had just graduated and earned a full scholarship at the University of Alabama, where she planned to study premed, said her uncle Paul Reynolds, who traveled from Houston to help in the search.
Reynolds said his niece was a responsible person who would not have run away.
“Natalee is very smart and focused,” Reynolds said. “It never crossed my mind that she intentionally missed the flight. When she did, I knew something was terribly wrong.”
Posters with a photograph of Holloway have been put up throughout island, with a caption reading: “Kidnapped since 1:30 a.m. May 30.”
On an island remarkable for its friendliness, pristine beaches and an absence of violent crime, Holloway’s disappearance has shocked islanders, many of whom say they are optimistic she will be found alive.
“She’s not on the island,” said Jany Winterdal, a 51-year-old taxi driver. “In Aruba, we don’t know what doing bad things to people is. For me, she’s alive.”
There have been two murders and three rapes on the island of 72,000 people this year, compared to one murder and six rapes last year, none involving foreigners, police said.
Aruba has an average of 13,000 tourists on any given day at this time of the year, the Tourism Authority said.
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Post by Sher on Jun 5, 2005 12:44:10 GMT -5
Police hold 2 linked to Alabama teen’s disappearance Hotel security guards called 'suspects' in Natalee Holloway case An Aruban police officer, right, detains an unidentified suspect in connection with the disappearance of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway in San Nicolas, Aruba, early Sunday The Associated Press Updated: 12:10 p.m. ET June 5, 2005SAN NICOLAS, Aruba - Authorities in Aruba detained two men Sunday in connection with the disappearance of an Alabama teenager, who went missing nearly a week ago while on a high school graduation trip, the attorney general said.
Caren Janssen called the men “suspects” in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, 18, but declined to provide further details. The men, who were not among the three described Saturday by police as “persons of interest,” were being interrogated Sunday morning.
Investigators also seized three cars and were conducting forensic tests on them, Janssen said.
“We are at this moment right in the middle of the investigation,” Janssen later told CNN. “There may be others involved. I can’t tell you the details why they are suspects. That would be damaging” to the investigation.
'Search for Natalie is still going on' She would not say whether the suspects had provided information about Holloway’s whereabouts. A reward of about $50,000 is being offered for her safe return.
• Suspects detained June 5: Authorities hold two men in connection with the disappearance of Alabama teenager. NBC's Martin Savidge reports from Aruba. MSNBC “We are continuing the search for the missing girl,” Janssen said.
The men could be charged later Sunday, she said. Suspects in the Dutch Caribbean island can be detained without charge for 48 hours, and then a judge must determine whether their detention is legal.
Twenty police officers and FBI agents, who are playing a supportive role in the investigation, took the two men — ages 30 and 28 — into custody at two different houses in the southeastern town of San Nicolas, according to an AP photographer at the scene. More than a dozen FBI agents were on the island assisting in the investigation.
Police knocked on the door of one house, put the suspect on the floor and handcuffed him. Officers later detained a second man. They both were led to an unmarked police car and taken away. Police also left the premises with bags holding unidentified items.
Neighbors described the men as security guards who worked at a hotel closed down for renovation near where the teen was staying at the Holiday Inn. Police and FBI agents searched the hotel Saturday.
Graduation trip Holloway was on a five-day excursion with 124 seniors and several chaperones from Mountain Brook High School, near Birmingham, Ala. She spent the last night of her vacation eating and dancing at Carlos ’N Charlie’s bar and restaurant on this Dutch Caribbean island. Holloway was last seen early May 30.
She did not show up for her return flight, and police found her passport in her hotel room with her packed bags.
Authorities have checked out several reported sightings of the 5-foot-4-inch woman, all to no avail.
An island shaken Hundreds of Arubans and American residents have joined the hunt, upset that Holloway’s disappearance could mar the image of their tranquil island. About 500,000 Americans visited Aruba last year, lured by turquoise beaches and people brimming with smiles and helpful tips for foreigners.
Posters with Holloway’s photo, reading “kidnapped,” have gone up across the tiny island.
The Aruban government and local tourism organizations have offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to Holloway’s rescue. Her family and benefactors in Alabama have offered another $30,000.
The coast guard in Aruba and nearby Dutch territories were searching surrounding waters, but the search did not extend to Venezuela, whose coastline is less than 20 miles from Aruba, or the neighboring Dutch island of Curacao.
Holloway’s disappearance has shaken a sense of safety many Arubans took for granted in an island of 72,000 people that saw one murder and six rapes last year. This year, there have been two murders and three rapes, police said.
Holloway, a straight-A student, had earned a full scholarship at the University of Alabama and planned to study premed, according to her uncle, Paul Reynolds. He described his niece as a levelheaded girl who would not have done anything rash, although he also said she had an almost childlike side, too.
Earlier, the 'most important lead' On Saturday, police said three men — two Surinamese and a native of the Netherlands — who claimed they dropped off Holloway at her hotel had emerged as “the most important lead” in her disappearance.
An official close to the investigation said the three men — legal Aruban residents between the ages of 18 and 25 — told police they took Holloway to a beach at the northwestern tip of Aruba before dropping her off at the hotel.
But Reynolds said he was told security cameras did not show Holloway returning to the hotel that night.
Deputy police chief Gerold Dompig said those three men were “the most important lead,” but he did not elaborate.
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Post by Sher on Jun 6, 2005 11:31:20 GMT -5
FBI divers to help in hunt for U.S. teen Two men charged in case of missing Alabama student Monday, June 6, 2005 Posted: 8:14 AM EDT (1214 GMT)
An officer takes a man into custody Sunday in San Nicolas, Aruba. Image:
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Aruba police and the FBI search for a missing American.
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ORANJESTAD, Aruba (CNN) -- Investigators on Monday planned to send an FBI dive team into the Caribbean waters off Aruba, where an 18-year-old Alabama student vanished a week ago at the end of a graduate class trip.
Police on Sunday charged two security guards with crimes related to the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.
Aruba chief prosecutor Karen Janssen declined to specify the charges.
Authorities will hold the men for at least two days, Janssen said Sunday.
Police Chief Jan van Strantan said the two men are security guards at the Hotel Allegro, which is near the Holiday Inn where Holloway was staying.
At a Sunday news conference, van Strantan said police and the FBI determined that bloodstains on a mattress found earlier Sunday were from a dog.
Van Strantan said authorities have not found any of Holloway's possessions among items seized after police took the two men into custody at their homes in the southwestern Aruba town of San Nicolas.
The men were seen leaving their respective houses calmly and without resistance.
The men, ages 28 and 30, were not among the three men in whose company Holloway was last seen.
Police spent much of Saturday afternoon at Hotel Allegro, which is undergoing renovations. They refused to say what led them to the site or if they found anything.
Police said they have not ruled out kidnapping or foul play, but they insisted they are conducting their investigation as a missing person case.
Holloway last seen leaving club Holloway -- from the affluent Birmingham, Alabama, suburb of Mountain Brook -- was last seen about 1:30 a.m. May 30 leaving Carlos 'n' Charlie's, an Oranjestad nightclub.
Witnesses said she left in a car with three local men between the ages of 18 and 25.
Authorities said they talked to the three men who left with her. The men said they took Holloway to Arashi Beach before leaving her at her hotel about 2 a.m., authorities said.
Holloway's uncle, Paul Reynolds, said he was told security cameras did not show his niece returning to the hotel that night, according to an Associated Press report. Police declined to comment on that report, the AP said.
"We're still looking, we're still hoping she's alive," Rudie Soemers, police night watch commander, told CNN.
Rewards and yellow ribbons Holloway was on the trip to Aruba with about 100 Mountain Brook High School students to celebrate graduation.
The girl's aunt, Marcia Twitty, said the Holloway family believes the parent chaperones on the Aruba trip did all they could.
Holloway is a straight-A student and a member of the National Honor Society and the school's dance team. She has an academic scholarship to the University of Alabama.
The family has posted a $50,000 reward for information leading to her whereabouts.
A family representative said the money was donated in $10,000 increments from the Aruban Tourist Board and government, the family, an anonymous donor and an additional $10,000 from other sources.
The family has asked members of the Mountain Brook community to post yellow ribbons in her honor. In addition, some area youths are making bracelets. Daily prayer services are being held for Holloway.
She is described as being 5 feet 4 inches tall and 110 pounds. People with any information are encouraged to call a tip line at 1-877-628-2533.
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Post by Sher on Jun 7, 2005 15:41:32 GMT -5
MOUNTAIN BROOK, Alabama (AP) -- They have waited and prayed for good news for a week, refusing to give up hope that 18-year-old Natalee Holloway will be found alive and come back home.
The belief has kept residents of this upscale suburb and Holloway's anxious family tightly bound since the teen went missing last Monday during a senior class trip to Aruba.
"You don't want that to happen to anybody's family," said Nikki Quick, manager of a gift shop in the mostly residential, tree-lined community of 22,000 that is home to many of the Birmingham area's most well-to-do families.
An aunt of Holloway, Marcia Twitty, said the girl's mother -- though on "an emotional roller coaster" -- is staying upbeat: "I know Natalee is alive and I'm going to find her," she quoted her saying.
The hope is shared from one town to the other; yellow ribbons are attached to everything from mail boxes to automatic bank machines.
"We're just showing that we're supporting her family and everyone down there wanting to bring her home," Quick said.
Quick spent Monday morning redecorating the show window in front of her business with only yellow items -- her own small way of showing support. A handmade sign on the sidewalk outside said "Pray for Natalee."
Mountain Brook Mayor Terry Oden said he's not at all surprised residents have banded together. "Most people have lived here all their lives and we care for each other," he said.
Holloway went to Aruba with more than 100 other recent Mountain Brook High School graduates on a senior trip, along with seven adult chaperones. The school's graduates have been making the trip to Aruba, which is unofficial and not sponsored by the school, for about the past five years, Oden said.
Twitty, speaking to reporters Monday in the parking lot of Mountain Brook Community Church, which has been holding daily prayer services, showed a large picture of Holloway and her mother.
"These people belong together. This is a mom and daughter team that go together," Twitty said. "She's missing and we've got to find her."
Asked how the family was reacting to the possibility Holloway might not be found alive, Twitty remarked: "I can't mentally go there, because we've got to find her."
At Norton's Florist, manager Deana Cross said she had made 400 yellow ribbon displays in the past four days and was having trouble keeping up with orders.
"Every bow goes out the store with a little prayer," she said.
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Post by Sher on Jun 9, 2005 23:09:03 GMT -5
ORANJESTAD, Aruba (CNN) -- Three more suspects were arrested Thursday in the investigation into the disappearance of Alabama 18-year-old Natalee Holloway in Aruba, bringing those in custody to five.
Juron Van Der Sloot -- the 17-year-old son of an Aruban judge -- was among those taken into custody early Thursday. Authorities also arrested two brothers of Surinamese origin, Satish and Depak Kalpoe, ages 18 and 19.
Authorities said the three were the last people seen with Holloway, who was in Aruba on a high school graduation trip. She was seen leaving an Oranjestad nightclub, Carlos 'N Charlie's, with them about 1:30 a.m. on May 30, they said.
In previous questioning, the three told police they visited a beach with Holloway before taking her back to her hotel, the Holiday Inn, about 2 a.m.
Holloway, from the Birmingham suburb of Mountain Brook, has not been seen since then. She was visiting the Caribbean island off Venezuela with about 100 classmates and parent chaperones to celebrate graduation.
Van Der Sloot met Holloway in the casino of her hotel the day before her disappearance, authorities said.
Under the Dutch judicial system, which Aruba follows as a protectorate of The Netherlands, people are arrested on suspicion of a crime but formally charged later. Authorities did not say what charges the three may face.
Authorities arrested 28-year-old Abraham Jones and 30-year-old Mickey John on Sunday.
Authorities said their witness statements did not lead to the three arrests, but that police had been watching the youths ever since they were questioned shortly after Holloway's disappearance.
Towels covered the faces of the three as authorities led them from their homes. Police searched the homes afterward. At a news conference later, police said they seized a vehicle and other items but declined to elaborate.
Reporters asked authorities why they previously questioned the trio before releasing them and why they didn't seize the vehicle at that time.
Calling the arrests a "tactical" move, police denied suggestions that class, wealth or race played a role in the investigation. The three arrested Thursday are from comparatively well-to-do families, while the two detained earlier live on the island's poorer, more industrial eastern side.
"The suspicion of a suspect has nothing to do with the color of his skin, but the grounds of suspicion," said chief prosecutor Karin Janssen.
Aruba Prime Minister Nelson Oduber vowed, "On this island, nobody stands above the law."
Authorities have not said whether they believe Holloway is dead, and her relatives, waiting for news in Aruba, have said they are clinging to hope that she is alive.
An FBI dive team has left the island, saying the government gave them no specific areas to search. And a second dive team said Thursday they had searched all the public coastlines and were awaiting further direction from officials.
Police were investigating any possible tie between the three arrested Thursday and the two arrested Sunday.
According to police statements, at least one of the three arrested Thursday told authorities that as Holloway was getting out of their car at her hotel, she stumbled and one of them helped her up. Walking to the hotel, she stumbled a second time, and a "dark-colored" man wearing a black T-shirt and carrying a radio helped her, the statement said.
A hotel employee who has reviewed surveillance tapes from the morning of Holloway's disappearance said they don't show any sign of the teenager.
Jones' attorney, Chris Lejuez, said his client is accused of first-degree murder, second-degree murder and capital kidnapping, or kidnapping resulting in death.
Jones' and John's relatives maintain their innocence. John's mother, Ann, said, "My son knows nothing, nothing, concerning this girl."
Lejuez said he knew of no connection between Jones and John and the three others arrested. Of the latter, he said, "The public has been screaming for their arrest for quite some time now."
Jones and John were security guards working at the Hotel Allegro, which is near the Holiday Inn where Holloway was staying. Lejuez said neither was working the night she disappeared.
The two went before the judge Wednesday, but prosecutors did not provide much of the evidence against them, Lejuez said.
The two can remain jailed for up to four months, but such detainment requires more appearances before a judge, and the amount of evidence prosecutors must cite to hold them grows larger, the lawyer said.
"I don't see any reason to keep them," Lejuez said. "I have no reason to believe they have enough evidence to charge them."
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