natalee holloway

Authorities have re-arrested three men in connection with the disappearance of an Alabama teenager in Aruba in 2005, based on new evidence in the case, prosecutors announced Wednesday.


Natalee Holloway disappeared while on an Aruba vacation in 2005.

1 of 4 Brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe were arrested in Aruba at the same time authorities in the Netherlands picked up Joran Van der Sloot at the request of the Aruban government, the statement said. Van der Sloot is attending school in Holland.

The three had previously been arrested in 2005, Aruban prosecutors noted in a statement, but a court released them, citing insufficient evidence.

They are now charged with "involvement in the voluntary manslaughter of Natalee Holloway or causing serious bodily harm to Natalee Holloway, resulting in her death," the statement said. Watch interview with Holloway's father »

Van der Sloot, now 20, and the Kalpoes, now ages 24 and 21, were the last people seen with Holloway, 18, as she left Carlos n' Charlie's nightclub in Oranjestad, Aruba, about 1:30 a.m. on May 30, 2005. All three men have maintained their innocence in her disappearance. View a timeline of the case »

No information was immediately available about what the new evidence was that led to the arrests.

Aruban prosecutors said a team of detectives from the Netherlands has been reviewing the Holloway case at the request of authorities in Aruba, and had been on the island as late as last month to complete the investigation.

The Kalpoe brothers were being interrogated by Aruban police Wednesday, Aruba prosecutor Dop Kruimel told CNN. They will appear before a judge Friday for a preliminary arrest hearing, in which the judge determines whether the arrest was credible, she said.

The judge can then authorize their being detained for eight more days, meaning police have that much time to produce evidence. The suspects then go before a judge again, she said.

Van der Sloot was arrested in Arnhem, the Netherlands, by Dutch police, Kruimel said. Aruban authorities have asked for him to be extradited to Aruba within eight days.

Because they were not familiar with the case, Dutch police were not questioning Van der Sloot, she said. He will be questioned when he is brought back to Aruba, she said. However, he will appear before a judge Thursday in Arnhem.

When CNN called the Kalpoe household, the person who answered the phone hung up.

Earlier, Van der Sloot's mother, Anita Van der Sloot, told CNN her son had not been arrested, but had only reported to a police station in the Netherlands for questioning Wednesday after receiving a letter asking him to do so.

Anita Van der Sloot said she had spoken to her son briefly from her home in Aruba. She said a Dutch attorney was with him, and she expected him to appear before a judge and be released Thursday.

Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for Holloway's mother, Beth Holloway, said in a statement, "The family is always hopeful when a step in the right direction is made in the case."

Beth Holloway was refusing interviews for now, said spokeswoman Sunny Tillman. She previously was known as Beth Holloway-Twitty, but has returned to using Holloway after a divorce earlier this year.

Natalee Holloway was visiting Aruba with a group of about 100 classmates celebrating their graduation from Mountain Brook High School in suburban Birmingham, Alabama, when she went to Carlos n' Charlie's that night in 2005.

The group had planned to leave for home the following day, and Holloway's packed bags and passport were found in her hotel room after she failed to show up for her flight.

Her disappearance triggered an exhaustive search and investigation and a media sensation in the United States, Aruba, the Netherlands and beyond, but Holloway has never been found.

Aruban authorities have been criticized for their handling of the case. At least 10 men, including Van der Sloot and the Kalpoes, have been arrested and identified as suspects either in Holloway's disappearance or in an alleged cover-up. All were questioned and released.

Legal experts, however, have said differences in the U.S. and Aruban systems should be taken into account. Aruba's criminal justice system is based on Dutch law and a descendant of the Napoleonic code. In Aruba, authorities' reasonable suspicion that someone knows about or is involved in a crime is enough to make an arrest, while magistrates investigate and judges determine a suspect's guilt or innocence. There are no jury trials.

Aruban authorities, meanwhile, have suggested that Holloway may have overdosed on drugs or died of alcohol poisoning.

Beth Holloway and Natalee Holloway's father, Dave Holloway, filed a lawsuit last year against Van der Sloot and his father, Aruban judge Paulus Van der Sloot, in the Supreme Court of the State of New York. The Van der Sloots were served with the suit while on a trip to New York.

However, a judge in August 2006 dismissed the suit, saying New York was an inconvenient forum in which to consider it. It was unclear whether Holloway's parents have pursued legal action elsewhere. E-mail to a friend

ORANJESTAD, Aruba - Authorities in Aruba and in the Netherlands have arrested three young men who had earlier been detained as suspects in the disappearance of American teenager Natalee Holloway.

The prosecutor's office in Aruba says Joran van der Sloot of the Netherlands and two brothers from Suriname have been arrested on suspicion of involvement in manslaughter and causing serious bodily harm resulting in Holloway's death.

Van der Sloot was arrested in the Netherlands, where he is attending a university. The others -- Satish and Deepak Kalpoe -- were arrested in Aruba. Van der Sloot is expected to be extradited to the Dutch Caribbean island.

Holloway disappeared in May of 2005, hours before she was scheduled to fly home to Alabama with her high school classmates. She was last seen leaving a bar with the three young men who are now back in custody.



© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) - Dutch police have arrested Joran van der Sloot on suspicion of involvement in killing of American teenager Natalee Holloway in Aruba, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Van der Sloot «is suspected of involvement in the killing of the missing Meridian man, Richard Smith.

Texas EquuSearch has a picture of the 67-year-old Smith on its Web site now.

A family member says it is gathering information to see if they should come search.

Smith was last seen on Saturday, Oct. 27, 2007, in Meridian. At the time, he was wearing blue jeans, a gray and black sweater and dark Velcro tennis shoes.

EquuSearch does searches for missing people all over the country
Natalee Holloway
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Natalee Holloway

Yearbook portrait of Natalee Holloway
Born Natalee Ann Holloway
October 21, 1986
Mountain Brook, Alabama, USA
Known for Missing person
Height 5 ft 4 in[1]
Weight 110 lbs[1]
Parents Dave Holloway and Beth Twitty
Natalee Ann Holloway (born October 21, 1986), from Mountain Brook, Alabama, United States, disappeared on May 30, 2005 during a graduation trip in Aruba. Holloway remains officially missing to this day, although according to Aruban authorities, she is most likely dead.[2] The disappearance generated a media sensation in both the U.S. and Aruba and sparked considerable interest in the Netherlands.

Contents
1 Disappearance
2 Investigation
2.1 Leadership
2.2 Early investigation
2.3 Initial arrests (June-August 2005)
2.4 Suspects released (September 2005)
2.5 Arrest of new suspects (April-May 2006)
2.6 Physical search
2.7 Holloway's behavior
2.8 Reward
2.9 Beth Twitty's involvement
2.10 July 2007 Amigoe article
2.11 November 2007 arrests
3 Criticism of the investigation, call for boycott
4 Media coverage
4.1 Criticism of media coverage
5 References to the case in popular culture
6 See also
7 References
8 External links



Disappearance
Holloway and 124 fellow graduates of Mountain Brook High School,[3] located in an upscale suburb of Birmingham, Alabama,[4] were visiting Aruba on a five-day, unofficial senior class graduation trip.[3] Holloway was last seen leaving the vicinity of Carlos'n Charlie's,[4] a popular tourist-oriented bar and grill in Oranjestad, at about 1:30 a.m. on Monday, May 30 with Joran van der Sloot, and his two companions, the brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe, in Deepak's car.[5][6]

Holloway did not arrive for her return flight that day.[7]Her passport, packed luggage, camera, and cellular phone were found in her hotel room.[5] Searches of the island and surrounding waters began almost immediately, but to date have been fruitless.[5]

Reports have indicated that Holloway did not appear in any security camera footage of her hotel lobby during the course of the night[8] It is unclear whether or not the security cameras at the hotel were working that night. According to a statement made by her mother, Beth Twitty, on April 19, 2006, the security cameras at the Holiday Inn were not working the night Holloway vanished.[8] That statement, though, contradicts earlier reporting that police had viewed tape from the lobby camera to see if it captured Holloway's return,[9] as well as both earlier and subsequent statements by Twitty that she had personally viewed the lobby tape, including a description in her book of viewing it with police, in order to determine if a young woman seen entering the lobby that morning was Natalee. [10][11]


Investigation
An investigation into Holloway's disappearance began shortly after she missed her flight home.


Leadership
Jan van der Straten was the initial Aruban police leader of the investigation. After Van der Straten's retirement, Police Commissioner Gerold Dompig took over as the leader of the investigation. In April 2006 he was replaced by Adolpho (Dolfi) Richardson.

At Aruba's request the Netherlands took over the investigation. A team of the Korps landelijke politiediensten (the Dutch national police services agency) started work in September 2006 following receipt of extensive case documentation in Rotterdam.[12]

On 16 April 2007 a combined Aruban-Dutch team began pursuing the investigation in Aruba.[13] According to a report on July 12, 2007 on Foxnews, the Dutch investigators have now returned to the Netherlands until at least September.


Early investigation
On May 30, immediately following her missed flight, Holloway's then-stepfather, George ("Jug") Twitty and mother, Beth Twitty (the two would divorce in April 2007), traveled to Aruba with friends by private jet.[14] Within four hours of landing in Aruba the Twittys and others went to the Aruban police with Van der Sloot's name and address, as the person last known to have been seen with their daughter.[14] Accompanied by two Aruban policemen and other Arubans, as well as by the friends they had brought on the plane and other Americans, they went to the Van der Sloot home looking for Holloway. Van der Sloot initially denied knowing who Holloway was, but then Van der Sloot and Deepak Kalpoe related their first joint statements.

Their initial joint statements were that they drove Holloway to the "California Lighthouse" area of Arashi Beach because Holloway wanted to see the sharks. Van der Sloot also stated that they dropped her off at her hotel around 2:00 a.m.[15] They said she fell down as she got out of the car, but she refused Van der Sloot's help to get up.[15] They stated that she was then approached by a dark man in a black shirt similar to those worn by security guards, as the young men drove away. [15]

Holloway's father, Dave Holloway, arrived on Aruba two days after her disappearance. He went to the police station and spoke with Dennis Jacobs, the case's lead detective and a police drugs specialist. According to Holloway, Jacobs' first statement to him was, "Well, how much money you got?" Holloway further alleges that Jacobs told Holloway to go to Carlos 'n Charlie's Bar, and she might turn up there, but to watch his drink as "People put stuff in it." Again according to Holloway, about four months later, Jacobs repeated his request to know how much money he had. [16][17]


Initial arrests (June-August 2005)
On June 5, Aruban police detained Antonius "Mickey" John and Abraham Jones, former security guards for the nearby Allegro Hotel (which was then closed for renovation), on suspicion of murder and kidnapping.[18]. News reports have indicated that part of the reason for their arrest was possible involvement in theft from the Mountain Brook students. According to news reports, the Van der Sloot and Kalpoe statements may have been a factor in the arrests.[19][20]

On June 9, Van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers were arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and/or murdering Holloway .[21] Aruban law allows for arrest on "serious suspicion from investigators"; to continue holding the suspect in custody, evidence must be presented at periodic reviews.[22] According to Dompig in a 2006 interview, the focus had been on these three suspects right from the "get-go." Dompig says surveillance of the three began on the third day after Holloway was reported missing and included observation, telephone wire taps, and even monitoring of their e-mail--but the pressure from Holloway's family caused the police to stop their surveillance before they otherwise would have, and to detain the three.[23]. John and Jones were released on June 13 .

On June 11, David Cruz, spokesman for the Aruban Minister of Justice indicated that Natalee Holloway was dead and authorities knew the location of her body. However, Cruz later retracted the statement, saying he was a victim of a "misinformation campaign." That evening, Dompig alleged to the Associated Press that one of the young men detained admitted "something bad happened" to the woman after the suspects took her to the beach, and was leading police to the scene.[24]. The next morning, Aruban Justice Minister Rudy Croes contradicted the report, stating that the rumor that one of the suspects had confessed was untrue. [25]

During interrogation, the remaining detained suspects' story changed. Van der Sloot stated to police he left Holloway at the Marriott Hotel beach near the fishermen's huts and phoned Deepak Kalpoe for a ride home, and that Satish Kalpoe drove Van der Sloot home. The Kalpoes agree that Van der Sloot and Holloway were dropped off there, but deny that either returned to pick up Van der Sloot. The three have adhered to those versions of events, more or less, since then.

At some time during the interrogation, Van der Sloot told a third story: that he was dropped off at home and Holloway was driven off by the Kalpoe brothers. Dompig discounted the story: "This latest story [came] when he saw the other guys, the Kalpoes, were kind of finger-pointing in his direction, and he wanted to screw them also, by saying he was dropped off. But that story doesn't check out at all. He just wanted to screw Deepak. They had great arguments about this in front of the judge. Because their stories didn't match. This girl, she was from Alabama, she's not going to stay in the car with two black kids. We believe the second story, that they were dropped off by the Marriott."[26]

On Friday, June 17, a fourth person, later identified as disc jockey Steve Gregory Croes was also arrested. Police Commissioner Van der Straten told the media that "Croes was detained based on information from one of the other three detainees." On June 22 Aruban police detained Van der Sloot's father, Paulus van der Sloot, for questioning, and arrested him the same day. He was released on June 26 after agreeing to waive his right not to testify against his son. Croes was released on June 27. On Monday, July 4, a Judge Commissioner released Deepak and Satish Kalpoe, but they were re-arrested on August 26 along with another new suspect, Freddy Arambatzis, Joran's friend and neighbor.[27]


Suspects released (September 2005)
On September 3, 2005, all four of the detained suspects were released by a judge despite the attempts of the prosecution to keep them in custody, on the condition that they remain available to police. Subsequently, on September 14 all restrictions on them were removed by the Gemeenschappelijk Hof van Justitie van de Nederlandse Antillen en Aruba (the combined appeals court of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba). Though all of those arrested technically remain suspects, they are not in custody and, without additional evidence (and a judge's permission), can only be interrogated voluntarily. Joran van der Sloot now resides in the Netherlands, where he is attending a business college. On November 10, 2005, Paulus van der Sloot won an unjust detention action against the Aruban government and, by virtue of that victory, is no longer legally a suspect. The elder Van der Sloot also initiated a civil action for monetary damages for himself and his family because of his detention. The action was initially successful, but the award of damages was reversed on appeal.

Joran van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers, in interviews or statements after their release, have said that Van der Sloot and Holloway were left at a beach near the Marriott Hotel at about 1:40 a.m. Van der Sloot has stated that Holloway wanted to have sexual intercourse with him there, but he did not because he did not have a condom. Since his release, Van der Sloot has stated that he was picked up by Satish Kalpoe at about 3:00 a.m., leaving Holloway there - he says she wanted to stay, while he wanted to go home because he had to go to school later that morning. Satish Kalpoe denies picking up Van der Sloot.

Van der Sloot, in interviews after his release, indicated that he was not truthful at first because he believed Natalee would soon turn up, and was somewhat ashamed to have left a girl alone on the beach, albeit by her own request.


Arrest of new suspects (April-May 2006)
On April 15, 2006, Geoffrey von Cromvoirt was arrested by Aruban authorities on suspicion of criminal offenses that, according to the prosecutor, might have been related to the disappearance of Holloway and of offenses related to dealing in illegal narcotics.[28] At his first court appearance, his detention was extended for eight days. However, Von Cromvoirt was released on April 25, 2006.[29] In addition, another individual with initials "A.B." was arrested on April 22, 2006, but released the same day.[29]

On May 17, 2006, another suspect, Guido Wever, the son of a former Aruban politician, was detained in The Hague on suspicion of assisting in the abducting, battering, and killing of Holloway. [30] While Aruban authorities requested his transfer to the island, he was instead released on May 23, 2006 - according to his lawyers, due to lack of evidence.[30]

All arrestees except Paulus van der Sloot legally remain suspects. Attempts by the lawyers for Joran van der Sloot and the Kalpoes to end that status have not been successful. While some have tried to distinguish Joran van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers as "principal" or "primary" suspects, this is not a distinction recognized by Aruban law.

According to a copy of an Aruban court order filed in the Kalpoes' defamation suit, the Aruban prosecutor's office has promised that the Kalpoes will either receive a summons (i.e., a decision to prosecute) or a notice of no prosecution by December 31, 2007. [31]


Physical search
The search for physical evidence has been extensive--and subject to, apparently, false leads. A possible blood sample taken from the car Holloway rode in was tested. The substance was then reported not to be blood. [32]

Hundreds of volunteers, both from Aruba and the United States, have worked on the search. In the first days of the search, the Aruban government gave thousands of workers time off to join in the search.[33] Fifty Dutch marines conducted an extensive search of the shoreline. [34]

Private enterprise on Aruba supported the search as well. The family and searchers were provided with free rooms, meals, and taxis. Beth Twitty at first occupied her daughter's former room at the Holiday Inn, pledging to keep the light on for her daughter, but soon moved to a suite at the nearby Wyndham Hotel, where she would remain until leaving the island after the suspects' release in September 2005. According to Dompig, the Aruban police would expend 30% of its budget on this one case.

A small pond near the Aruba Racquet Club close to the Marriott Hotel beach was partly drained between July 27 and July 30, 2005 after an individual ("the gardener") claimed to have seen Joran van der Sloot driving, Deepak Kalpoe next to him, and Satish Kalpoe duck downward quickly in Deepak's car that was sitting parked on a dirt road nearby between 2:30 a.m. and 3:00 a.m. on the same morning Holloway disappeared. This witness was then declared as not credible when he presented himself in front of a judge. He was not able to recognize any of the suspects and the lawyers easily destroyed his stories.[35]

Another individual, "Junior," or "the jogger" claimed to have seen the two Van der Sloots, Deepak Kalpoe and other persons burying a nude, blonde-haired woman in a landfill during the first week after Holloway disappeared. The police had searched the landfill in the days following Holloway's disappearance.[36]. Later, when Dave Holloway, and a volunteer search team learned about the witness, the landfill was extensively searched by the police with heavy garbage-moving/digging equipment. However this witness was not deemed credible since he was a drug addict and had a criminal history. On August 15 it was reported that when the search team members arrived at the landfill, the excavated area had been filled in with new garbage.[citation needed] However, Vanity Fair has reported that the search team searched the landfill until satisfied there was no body present, and searched again in late October. On July 4, the Netherlands deployed three F-16 aircraft equipped with infrared sensors to aid in the search, also without initial result. In March 2006 it was reported that the aircraft photos were being re-examined with additional scrutiny and utilizing new techniques.

The FBI and Aruban authorities interviewed (or in some cases, re-interviewed) several students in the United States in January 2006.

On 17 January 2006, Aruban police searched sand dunes on the northwest coast of Aruba for Natalee Holloway. More than 50 Aruba police cadets searched a one-square-mile area around where the young woman was last known to be seen.[37] Additional searches took place in March and April 2006, without result.[38]

In an interview with CBS correspondent Troy Roberts, broadcast on 25 March 2006, Dompig, shortly before leaving the case, said that he now believes Holloway probably died from self-consumed alcohol and/or drug poisoning, was not murdered, and that someone later hid her body. [39]

On April 27, 2007, a new search involving some twenty investigators was launched at the parental home of Joran van der Sloot on Aruba.[40][41] [42] Dutch authorities searched the yard and surrounding area, using shovels and thin metal rods to penetrate the dirt.[41] A spokesman for the prosecutor's office, Vivian van der Biezen stated "The investigation has never stopped and the Dutch authorities are completely reviewing the case for new indications". [41] A statement released directly from the prosecutor's office stated: "The team has indications that justify a more thorough search."[41] Investigators did not comment on what prompted the new search[41], except that it was not related to Van der Sloot's bookhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joran_van_der_Sloot#Book.[13] According to Paulus van der Sloot, "nothing suspicious" was found, and all that was seized were diary entries of him and his wife, and his personal computer--which has since been returned. [43]

According to Jossy Mansur, managing editor of Diario Aruba newspaper, investigators were following up on statements made during early suspect interrogations regarding calls made and emails sent between the Kalpoe brothers and Joran van der Sloot. He also said investigators could be seen examining a laptop at the house [44].

On May 12, 2007, the family home of brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe was subject to an "inspection".[45][46] The two brothers were detained for about an hour upon objecting to the entry by police and Dutch investigators, but were released when the authorities left. [46][47] According to their lawyer, David Kock on Fox News' "The Lineup", the brothers objected to the search because officials did not show them an order justifying the intrusion. An initial statement from Van der Biezen did not mention what, if anything, officials were searching for, but indicated nothing was removed from the home.[46][47]

The official statement from Het Openbaar Ministerie van Aruba indicated that the purpose of the visit was to "get a better image of the place or circumstances where an offense may have been committed and to understand the chain of events leading to the offense".[48]


Holloway's behavior
Some reports, notably a feature article in Vanity Fair, centered on the behavior of the high school group during their vacation in Aruba.[49] According to that article, the 2006 seniors were not welcome at the Holiday Inn due to the behavior of the previous year's graduates. [49]

Holloway's behavior, in particular, has been discussed. According to some reports, Holloway lay down on the bar and let Van der Sloot lick a body shot off her midriff. [50][51] One of Holloway's roommates told the FBI that she and Holloway had been doing jello shots before Van der Sloot's arrival as well.[52]

Holloway's friends said she had been drinking all day long the day before her disappearance, and Dompig indicated that the police have evidence which corroborates this.[49][2] Dompig indicated that there is evidence that points to possession (though not necessarily use) of drugs by Holloway. [2][53]


Reward
The reward for information leading to Holloway's safe return, pledged by her family, ex-con and self-styled philanthropist Joseph Mammana, the Aruban government, Carlos 'n Charlie's Restaurant, and others was $1,000,000. A $250,000 reward was also offered for information about her whereabouts, alive or dead.[54]

It is unlikely that the reward is still valid, given Mammana's arrest and detention without bond on charges of tax evasion and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon on November 30, 2006.[55] On 2 March, 2007, the Philadelphia Daily News reported that Mammana intended to plead guilty to the charges, accept forfeiture of significant assets, and pay the IRS $200,000 prior to sentencing.[56] The paper indicated that Mammana's pledge towards the Holloway reward had been $100,000.


Beth Twitty's involvement
Beth Twitty has alleged in televised interviews that Joran van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers know more than they have told, and, at least one of them sexually assaulted or raped her daughter. Twitty has stated that she has received copies of police statements stating that Joran van der Sloot admitted having sex with Holloway at his home and described private details of her. She has never released copies of the alleged statement, and Vinda de Sousa, former Holloway-Twitty family Aruban attorney, has indicated that no such statement was made. [57] In addition, Dompig has denied that any such statements were made, stating that all three suspects have consistently denied having sexual intercourse with Holloway. [58]

Twitty also bases her allegations on parts of an interview with Deepak Kalpoe in which (at least on the version first broadcast on the Dr. Phil television show) he seems to answer "She did" to a suggestion that Holloway had sex with all of them. However, in versions of the tapes provided by Aruban authorities, Kalpoe appears to say "No, she didn't" (the version provided by Dr. Phil has heavy, dramatic music making it harder to discern what Kalpoe said). According to the Kalpoes' attorneys, David Kock [59] and Elgin Zeppenfeldt, the Dr. Phil audio has been cut and pasted. The Dutch forensic institute has investigated the credibility of the tapes, and concluded that content of the Dr. Phil aired tape did not match the original tape, and that Kalpoe actually said "No, she didn't," followed by, "You'd be surprised how simple it was that night."[60] Zeppenfeldt, and a number of experts on the various talk shows, have stated that Deepak Kalpoe clearly answered "No, she didn't" to Jamie Skeeters (the private investigator who did the secretly-taped interview and who sold the tapes to the Dr. Phil show). A copy of the tape provided by the Aruban police is available at Scrux.com.[61]

In December 2006, the Kalpoes filed suit for slander and libel against Dr. Phil and Jamie Skeeters (who died in January 2007) in Los Angeles. Twitty and Dave Holloway responded by filing a wrongful death lawsuit against the Kalpoes in the same venue. The wrongful death suit was dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction on June 1, 2007; the libel and slander case remains pending.[62]

Twitty has been criticized for what is perceived as excessive focus on Joran van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers, to the exclusion of any other theory as to what happened to Holloway. According to the lawsuit filed by the Kalpoe brothers, she has (on various television programs) repeatedly accused them, and Joran van der Sloot, of "sexual assault" and "gang rape" of her daughter. She has also been criticized for making what have been deemed to be inconsistent and contradictory statements (for example, as to whether there were operating security cameras at the Holiday Inn). According to Julia Renfro, editor of Aruba Today, Twitty pandered to tabloid TV and her "behavior was odd from the get-go."[63] Renfro noted that "Twitty immediately concluded that her daughter had been kidnapped and made no effort to check hospitals or police," adding that within a couple of days, after fixing responsibility on Joran van der Sloot, Twitty "was telling TV interviewers that she knew her daughter had been gang-raped and murdered."

Twitty's book "Evidence of Faith: Loving Natalee--A Mother's Testament of Hope and Faith" ISBN 978-00-614-5227-7, written under the name "Beth Holloway" (which she has resumed following her divorce from Jug Twitty) was released on October 2, 2007.[64][65] The release was accompanied by a number of TV appearances, including a full hour on "On the Record." By October 10, the book had fallen from a peak of 196 on the amazon.com bestseller list, out of the top thousand.


July 2007 Amigoe article
On July 3, 2007, the Dutch Antilliean newspaper Amigoe reported on a documentary video being produced by Renée Gielen, previously best known for exposé documentaries about Curacao's Bon Futuro prison. The video is based in part on interviews with Dompig and with Renfro.

According to interviews done in preparation for the film, Aruban authorities had been systematically obstructed in their investigation by the FBI and other American authorities.[66] They also indicate that within a day of Holloway being declared missing, a medjet, unauthorized by Aruban authorities, had arrived on Aruba and remained for several days. They further indicate that, while the purpose of the medjet was not even known to its crew and medical personnel, it was in fact to spirit Holloway off the island if she were freed from a drug house in Oranjestad, and that Holloway's departure was to be covert and without notice to local authorities.

The article states that the interviews indicate that Renfro and Beth Twitty received a phone call from an unknown woman on June 2, 2005, offering information about Holloway's location and the information that Holloway was still alive but was unwilling to return to her mother for the sum of $4,000. Twitty was unwilling to pay more than $1,000 for the information, and in fact did not pay anything. Believing there was a good chance of finding Holloway, Renfro and another American went to the drug house where Holloway supposedly was, bringing money. However, they found that Jug Twitty had already been to the area, spreading "a lot of uproar and panic in the direct vicinity," and nothing could be accomplished. They blamed Jug Twitty for the failure. The same story, in less detail, appears in the Vanity Fair article.

Further, according to Amigoe's report on the interviews, Aruban authorities were obstructed at the highest level in their attempts to investigate Jug Twitty, and they received very limited cooperation in their attempts to question Holloway's fellow graduates.

Documentary maker Gielen has also raised questions about Holloway's "clean image." Holloway supposedly visited a rehab center in the United States shortly before the Aruba trip.[67]


November 2007 arrests
With Aruban investigators citing newly discovered evidence, Joran van der Sloot and brothers Satish and Deepak Kalpoe were rearrested November 21, 2007 on suspicion of involvement in "manslaughter and causing seriously bodily harm".[68][69] Van der Sloot was detained by Dutch authorities in the Netherlands, while the Kalpoe brothers were both detained in Aruba.[68][69] Since Aruba and the Netherlands are both part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, no extradition hearing will occur. A news release from Aruban authorities states a trial will begin "before the end of 2007" [70]


Criticism of the investigation, call for boycott
The Twittys and their supporters have criticized the lack of progress by Aruban police.[71] Aruban officials and non-U.S. press have attributed their criticism as a lack of understanding of Dutch judicial procedures employed on the island.[citation needed] The Twittys' own actions in Aruba have also been criticized, and the Twittys have been accused of actively stifling any evidence that would impugn their daughter's character by asking her fellow students to remain silent about the case and using their access to the media to push their own version of events. The Twittys have denied this. While initially the Twittys discouraged a travel boycott of Aruba, this changed by September 2005. Beth Twitty urged that persons not travel to Aruba (and other Dutch territories) because of what she stated were tourist safety issues. Alabama Governor Bob Riley, joined by the Twittys, urged Alabamians and others to boycott Aruba on November 8, 2005 in a news conference.[72] He also wrote to other United States governors seeking their support--the governors of Georgia and Arkansas eventually joined in the call for boycott. The Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, city council voted to ask the governor of Pennsylvania to call for a boycott. [73] He did not do so. The call for boycott received no federal support.[74]

Members of the Aruba Hotel and Tourism Association, the Aruba Tourism Authority, the Aruba Hospitality and Security Foundation, the Aruban Chamber of Commerce and government figures, including Public Relations Representative Ruben Trappenberg, formed an "Aruba Strategic Communications Task Force" to respond collectively to what they perceived to be unfounded and/or negative portrayals of the island.[75] The group issued press releases and sent representatives to appear in news media. They joined the Aruban government in opposing the calls for a boycott of the island.


Media coverage
U.S. television networks have devoted much air time to the search for Holloway, the investigation of her disappearance, and rumors surrounding the case; Greta Van Susteren, host of On The Record on Fox News, perhaps most prominently, alongside Nancy Grace on Headline News, whose show began airing during intensive coverage of the story. Van Susteren's almost continuous coverage of the story caused On The Record to get its best ratings to date [76], while Grace's show has become the cornerstone of the new "Headline Prime" block on HLN, which has run two episodes (a live show and a repeat) every night during prime-time. As the case wore on, much of the attention was given to Beth Twitty and her statements.[77]

Locally, the Aruban Press has published extensive news on the story in Dutch, English and in the local Papiamento language.[citation needed]


Criticism of media coverage
The saturation of coverage triggered a backlash among some critics who allude to the theory known as "missing white woman syndrome," which argues that missing-person cases involving white women and girls receive disproportionate attention in the media compared to cases involving men or non-white people (regardless of gender). CNN ran a segment criticizing the amount of coverage their competitors have been giving to the story.[78]

The saturation coverage of Holloway's disappearance by the American media was largely eclipsed in late August 2005 by Hurricane Katrina. Beth Twitty has alleged that Aruba took advantage of the media lull to release the suspects and discourage continued U.S. media presence on the island. However, the deadline for judicial review of Joran van der Sloot's detention was set long before the hurricane.