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NEWS
Sept 3, 2005 6:29:17 GMT -5
Post by Sher on Sept 3, 2005 6:29:17 GMT -5
ORANJESTAD, Aruba -- The mother of a Dutch suspect held in the disappearance of Alabama teen Natalee Holloway said her son is innocent of new allegations that he and three friends took pictures of another girl in "tempting poses."
Anita van der Sloot said the new allegations showed prosecutors were desperate and do not have evidence to link her 18-year-old son to Holloway's disappearance.
Eighteen-year-old Joran van der Sloot was arrested in June along with two friends, 18-year-old Satish Kalpoe and 21-year-old Deepak Kalpoe, on suspicion of involvement in Holloway's disappearance.
The Kalpoe brothers, who were released in July, were rearrested last week. Van der Sloot's lawyer declined to discuss the nature of the allegations.
The judge has until Sept. 3 to decide whether to prolong van der Sloot's detention. If the judge orders van der Sloot to remain held, prosecutors will have 30 days to charge him, or he must be freed.
Prosecutors also asked the judge to order the Kalpoe brothers held for another eight days.
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NEWS
Sept 3, 2005 6:29:36 GMT -5
Post by Sher on Sept 3, 2005 6:29:36 GMT -5
ORANJESTAD, Aruba -- Natalee Holloway's mother said she is devastated that suspects in her daughter's disappearance are being freed from an Aruban jail.
A judge has ordered the Kaploe brothers released Saturday. However, they must stay on Aruba and remain available to investigators.
Another suspect, Joran van der Sloot, is also to be released Saturday.
Holloway vanished in Aruba on May 30 while on her high school graduation trip.
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NEWS
Sept 3, 2005 15:51:06 GMT -5
Post by Sher on Sept 3, 2005 15:51:06 GMT -5
SINT NICOLAAS, Aruba - A Dutch youth and two Surinamese brothers suspected in the disappearance of an Alabama teenager were released from jail Saturday after a judge ruled they could go free but must remain available to police.
Joran van der Sloot, 18, and the brothers, Satish Kalpoe, 18, and Deepak Kalpoe, 21, were released from the prison on the eastern side of the island on condition that they remain in Dutch territory and be available to police for questioning, defense attorney Richie Kock said.
Kock said van der Sloot would soon be attending a university in the Netherlands. "Joran will be trusted to be on his own in Holland and to do as he pleases," Kock said. "We do not have a parole system."
A defense attorney had earlier said the release was conditional on the three staying on Aruba, a protectorate of the Netherlands, but Kock said they were only limited to Dutch territory. Court officials have provided no details.
Three-month-old case Van der Sloot and the brothers were arrested June 9 on suspicion of involvement in Natalee Holloway's May 30 disappearance. The Kalpoe brothers were released on July 4 but were re-arrested last week.
Extensive searches on the Dutch Caribbean island have produced no sign of the 18-year-old honors student, who was last seen leaving a bar with van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers, hours before she was to catch a return flight to Alabama, at the end of a high school graduation trip.
Van der Sloot has admitted to being alone with her on a beach that night but insists he left her there alone, around 2 a.m., and did not harm her. The Kalpoe brothers also deny any connection to the disappearance.
Questions about case's status Despite Saturday's releases, police insist the investigation into Holloway's widely publicized disappearance will continue.
"The investigation continues. The case of Natalee Holloway has not concluded with these releases," Adolfo Richardson, the police officer in charge, told The Associated Press on Friday. In fact, NBC News reported Saturday that police and firefighters were at the scene of a "major dig," at the beachside area where van der Sloot said he last saw Holloway.
But legal observers in Aruba say the releases signal that the government had no case, more than three months after the disappearance.
"The prosecution doesn't know what criminal act occurred — acts which might be murder, kidnapping, rape," said attorney Arlene Skipper, a legal observer of the case. "It is still a missing-person case. ... The prosecution has a strong suspicion of foul play but no proof of it. ... If they had solid proof, they could close the case."
The missing teen's mother, Beth Holloway Twitty, said Friday she was devastated by the news of the releases. The Holloway family has insisted that all three young men know what happened to Natalee —and family members have been critical of Aruban authorities' handling of the case, especially the initial investigation.
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NEWS
Sept 7, 2005 15:13:23 GMT -5
Post by Sher on Sept 7, 2005 15:13:23 GMT -5
ORANJESTAD, Aruba -- The mother of an Alabama teenager who went missing in Aruba said Sunday she is leaving the Dutch Caribbean island after having "exhausted all my avenues" there after the release of all three suspects in the disappearance.
Beth Holloway Twitty arrived in Aruba hours after her daughter, Natalee, vanished May 30 and has been an almost permanent fixture since, focusing intense U.S. media attention on the case through frequent television appearances and interviews and pressuring local authorities to act.
"I will never allow my daughter's voice to be silenced, but I have exhausted all my avenues in Aruba,'' Holloway Twitty said before leaving on a flight home to Mountain Brook, Ala.
Holloway Twitty said she will visit ''frequently'' and promised to fight for justice from her home in the United States.
Her planned departure came a day after all three suspects in Holloway's disappearance were released from jail, dealing a serious setback to the prosecution and the biggest blow yet to the teen's family.
Joran van der Sloot, an 18-year-old Dutchman, and two Surinamese brothers, Satish Kalpoe, 18, and Deepak Kalpoe, 21, were released on condition they remain available to police for questioning.
Holloway's family has insisted that the young men know what happened to the 18-year-old student.
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NEWS
Mar 24, 2006 9:50:59 GMT -5
Post by Sher on Mar 24, 2006 9:50:59 GMT -5
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- Aruban authorities reportedly have a new witness in the disappearance of Alabama teen Natalee Holloway and plan to conduct another search for her body on the Dutch Caribbean island.
The witness provided specific information that prompted investigators to organize a search in sand dunes along the northern tip of the island, said Gerald Dompig, Aruba's deputy chief of police, in an interview with CBS television's "48 Hours Mystery" program.
Dompig said investigators will use cadaver dogs to search near a lighthouse and believe that someone took steps to carefully hide Holloway's body -- perhaps burying her twice.
The witness "wanted to talk about the fact that he knew more about the whereabouts of Natalee," Dompig said, according to a partial transcript of the interview, scheduled for broadcast on Saturday.
"The information that this person gave was too specific to just be a story that was just made up by someone."
Aruban authorities declined to comment on the report Wednesday.
Holloway's mother, Beth Twitty of Mountain Brook, Alabama, said she's aware of the program, but had "no idea" how it would be presented.
"I'm just waiting to see it Saturday night," Twitty said.
Holloway, 18, was last seen leaving a bar with Dutch national Joran van der Sloot and Surinamese brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe. No one has been charged in her disappearance and the investigation has produced a number of false leads.
In January, Aruban investigators searched sand dunes on the northwest coast of the island with more than 50 officers. At the time, Dompig said police had considered the dunes a place of interest since the investigation began and had searched them before.
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NEWS
Mar 28, 2006 19:34:49 GMT -5
Post by Sher on Mar 28, 2006 19:34:49 GMT -5
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Aruban authorities said they have a new witness in the case of missing Mountain Brook teenager Natalee Holloway, and plan to conduct another search for her body on the island, NBC 13 reported.
Aruba's deputy chief of police said in a recent interview that the new witness provided specific information that prompted investigators to organize the search in sand dunes along the northern tip of the island.
Investigators believe someone took steps to carefully hide Holloway's body, perhaps burying her twice.
NBC 13 attempted to contact Holloway's mother, Beth Twitty. She had no comment on these developments.
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NEWS
Mar 28, 2006 19:35:24 GMT -5
Post by Sher on Mar 28, 2006 19:35:24 GMT -5
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Aruba's lead investigator said he thinks missing Mountain Brook teenager Natalee Holloway possibly died of complications from drugs and alcohol.
Although Aruban investigators feel strongly that Holloway was not killed, Deputy Chief Gerogld Dompig has said, "We do not have proof that (Natalee) used drugs, but that (witnesses) saw her with drugs in her possession."
Holloway's mother, Beth Twitty, told MSNBC's Rita Cosby that could only happen without Holloway's knowledge.
"Something just doesn't seem to fit if we're talking about Natalee having died from a drug overdose. The bottom line is, we're looking at where is Natalee," Twitty said.
The investigation is now focusing on sand dunes on the island's northern tip, NBC 13 reported. A new witness has come forward, leading authorities there with speculations that Holloway's body possibly was buried twice to cover the trail.
"We've just had to sit back and really filter through the information and not get caught up in this roller coaster ride. Of course, we always hope that it is finally happening and they're really about to conduct this search and get this under way," Twitty said.
The Aruban deputy chief believes that after Holloway's death, there was a panicked cover-up. Investigators said they have entered a "critical phase" in the case.
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NEWS
Mar 28, 2006 19:35:57 GMT -5
Post by Sher on Mar 28, 2006 19:35:57 GMT -5
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Aruba's Deputy Police Chief Gerold Dompig said a new witness claims to know the location of Natalee Holloway's body.
The witness claims Holloway's body is buried near some sand dunes on the northern tip of the island, NBC 13 reported.
Holloway's father, Dave Holloway, voiced his concern on Monday over the claim and why previous searches in that area have turned up nothing.
"If they know where she's located and they knew it three months ago, why haven't they found her?" Dave Holloway said.
Dompig said he now plans to use cadaver dogs to search that location. He also said that he believes Holloway might have died from complications due to alcohol and drug use, after hearing claims that Holloway had drugs in her possession on May 30, the night she was last seen.
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NEWS
Apr 17, 2006 15:30:16 GMT -5
Post by Sher on Apr 17, 2006 15:30:16 GMT -5
ORANJESTAD, Aruba - An announcement that police made an arrest in the disappearance of teenager Natalee Holloway left many islanders wondering Sunday who the suspect is — and whether the arrest marked a real breakthrough in the almost year-old case.
Aruban authorities would only say late Saturday that the person arrested is 19 years old and has the initials “G.V.C.” In Aruba, when an arrest is announced, officials usually release only a suspect’s initials.
Antonio Carlo, attorney for Dutch citizen Joran van der Sloot, who was arrested last year but then released for lack of evidence, said he hoped the new arrest would shed light on happened to Holloway, an honors student from Mountain Brook, Alabama, who disappeared on May 30. It was the final night of the 18-year-old’s trip to this Dutch Caribbean island.
“My client has from the beginning maintained his innocence, and I think the sooner this case is resolved, the better,” Carlo told The Associated Press in a telephone interview, adding that he did not know the name of the suspect.
Holloway’s father, Dave Holloway, said Sunday he has been informed of the arrested person’s identity but did not recognize the name.
“We’re hopeful that something will come out of it,” Holloway told CNN.
Holloway was last seen leaving an Aruba bar with van der Sloot and Surinamese brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe. Van der Sloot has said he left Holloway on a beach near her hotel after they had kissed.
Mariaine Croes, a spokeswoman for the public prosecutor’s office, said Saturday that Aruban authorities were not prepared to disclose why the person was arrested or how the arrest was linked to the Holloway case.
Dave Holloway said he was still suspicious of van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers.
“I still think that these three original suspects still know more than what they told us,” he said.
There have been a number of false leads in the investigation, and at least three other people were detained without being charged.
In recent weeks, Aruban police have searched sand dunes on the northern coast of the island. Dutch Marines, the FBI and hundreds of volunteers have previously searched for Natalee Holloway.
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