The Natalee Holloway Timeline: December 2005

The Natalee Holloway Timeline

of her vanishment while in Aruba

detailing persons, places, organizations,

deliberate & accidental actions & in-actions,

events & supposed events, witnesses,

known suspects, outright lies,

corruptions, and crimes

12-1-05

In December 2005 the worldwide respected “Economist Intelligence Unit” wrote an excellent, very detailed report concerning ARUBA, and its forecasted outlooks for tourism, geo-politics, security, moneyed statistics, etc. The report is available when you click here.

In a FOX News report by GERALDO RIVERA on December 1, 2005, after the “Skeeters tape” of Current Murder Suspect DEEPAK KALPOE aired on “Dr. Phil,” GERALDO claims that he spoke directly with DOMPIG on November 23, 2005, and DOMPIG told GERALDO that the “Dr. Phil” version of the “Skeeters tape” was altered--presumably by person(s) on the “Dr. Phil” show--from the original version that SKEETERS made available to the ARUBAN Police. (video here of GERALDO on O’REILLY)

On 12-1 MSNBC reported:

RITA COSBY, HOST: And good evening, everybody. Tonight, for the first time, we're seeing a videotape of an interview with one of the prime suspects in the Natalee Holloway case. But the big question is, what does he say and what will it mean for the case?
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
JAMIE SKEETERS, POLYGRAPH EXPERT: And the question I'll ask you is, if you intentionally killed her.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
…
COSBY: ... Now to the tale of the tapes in the Natalee Holloway case, the controversy surrounding the Deepak Kalpoe interview and what he did or did not say about the night that the 18-year-old Alabama teen disappeared. At issue, whether or not Deepak Kalpoe admitted that all three suspects had sex with Natalee the night that she vanished. Here's what the original statement from polygraph examiner Jamie Skeeters sounds like.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
SKEETERS: I'm sure she had sex with all of you and (INAUDIBLE)
DEEPAK KALPOE , SUSPECT IN NATALEE HOLLOWAY DISAPPEARANCE: She did.
You'd be surprised how simple it was.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
COSBY: And now this is what Aruban officials sent us late today.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
SKEETERS: I'm sure she had sex with all of you and (INAUDIBLE)
KALPOE: No, she didn't. You'd be surprised how simple it would have been.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
COSBY: Obviously, a big difference.
And LIVE AND DIRECT tonight on the phone from Aruba is Arlene Ellis Schipper. She's an Aruban attorney and also member of the Aruban Strategic Communications Task Force. She sent us that tape. Arlene, what is the basis for the manipulation? Where do you think the changes took place, if at all?
ARLENE ELLIS-SCHIPPER, ARUBA “STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS TASK FORCE” MEMBER: Well, it's not what I think, it is what the Dutch forensic institute thinks and what we have also requested the FBI to confirm, which confirmation we haven't received yet. However, the NFI had four Investigators separately look at these tapes, and they say that the Dr. Phil show tapes were edited for content in the following order. Just before the word “she,” there was a cut. And just after the word “did,” there was a cut. And then they compared it to the CD-ROM that Mr. Skeeters sent the officials, and you have seen that piece, and it says, “No, she didn't.” And he shakes his head while doing—while saying that.
COSBY: Now, you mentioned, Arlene, that the FBI—we know that they also have the tape. When do you think you're going to hear back from them? And do you think that they're going to make their results public?
ELLIS-SCHIPPER: I hope so, actually. And you know what? Because officially, of course, the court-appointed forensic institute is the NFI, the Netherlands. But for comfort, the authorities here sent it also for your comfort, actually, your American comfort—the authorities also sent it to the FBI with—through an MLAT (ph) procedure, which is a mutual—just mutual legal assistance treaty between our countries.
And they also requested, on recommendation of the NFI, to investigate the hard disk of Mr. Skeeters. And based on that, he volunteered his hard disk. So we are waiting already for two weeks on those results.
COSBY: And we'll be watching closely. Arlene, stick with us because I want to get voice analyst in here. This is an expert who can talk about a little bit about the tape and also the dispute. Frank Piazza is the president and founder of Legal Audio.
Frank, before we get to you, though, I want to play these two clips back again to the public. Again, one is from polygraph examiner Jamie Skeeters. The other was sent us late today from Aruban officials.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
SKEETERS: I'm sure she had sex with all of you and (INAUDIBLE)
KALPOE: She did. You'd be surprised how simple it was.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
SKEETERS: I'm sure she had sex with all of you and (INAUDIBLE)
KALPOE: No, she didn't. You'd be surprised how simple it would have been.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
COSBY: You know, Frank, you've listened to the tapes. What do you hear?
FRANK PIAZZA, LEGAL AUDIO Well, I have to say that the version that you just played me—I'm not sure if it's the Aruba version or the original...
COSBY: We played both. We actually played both.
PIAZZA: OK. The original version, which we'll say is Mr. Skeeters's version, and the Aruba version, they both, for me, as I analyzed them earlier, are exactly the same. There's no changes. Yet the Dr. Phil version, there are absolute edits. And Arlene Ellis Schipper was accurate about the “did” and the “didn't” part of it. That's my take on it so far.
COSBY: So your take, Frank, is that the actual—the originals, in terms of the actual tape that Jamie Skeeters did and then also the tape that the Arubaans have—that's the same. But it was when it was edited and put on the Dr. Phil show, that's when you say that there were significant changes?
PIAZZA: Absolutely, yes. That is my opinion. Yes.
COSBY: Walk us through—you go through a computer—I think people are fascinated how you determine this. I understand we've got some shots of a computer. Sort of walk us through the process that you do.
PIAZZA: Well, the process, at least the fast fix that I did when I got here earlier at your studios, was I lined up the top—the blue wave form with the green wave form, the blue one being the Aruba, the green one being the original or the Skeeters file. And as you can see, you can see there are lumps and graphs (ph) drawn. And they line up absolutely. They're perfectly aligned.
The Dr. Phil version below in red really—it's changed. You can see it. It's shorter in length, the sections we were working with. So you know, just visually, can tell right off the bat there's something is not right with the Dr. Phil, as compared to the other two, which do line up.
COSBY: And now, Frank, you're saying something much more significant because a lot of times in television, you cut things for time because you're limited on time.
PIAZZA: Sure.
COSBY: What you're saying is that significant key words and inferences were dropped out that altered the whole meaning of it, right?
PIAZZA: Well, my opinion is that it was sensationalized, yes. The Dr. Phil version was—you know, it filled with music and it had hype. And really, the raw playback is quite different.
COSBY: Real quick, did Deepak seem relaxed? Does he seem at ease? Does there seem any stress on his voice? Is there anything with the intonation you can gauge?
PIAZZA: He seemed absolutely normal, not stressed, not overly relaxed. It just seemed like a normal interview, and he seemed in control of the interview while it was happening.
COSBY: All right, Frank, stick with us, if you could, because of course, despite the alleged differences in these tapes, what impact, everyone's asking, could it have on any type of prosecution? What do you make of all of this? Even though all three suspects have been released, could they eventually face rape charges? There were some allegations of that early on.
Joining me now is former prosecutor Wendy Murphy. And we still have with us live on the phone from Aruba Arlene Ellis Schipper.
You know, Wendy, as we're hearing this—and I don't know if—did you hear what Frank Piazza was saying? Frank was basically saying...
WENDY MURPHY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: I did.
COSBY: ... that there may be a difference in the intonation, whether did or didn't. That's very significant, if that's the case. What does that mean in terms of the charges, though?
MURPHY: Well, look, if he really said he didn't do it and they didn't all have sex with her, then I think it significantly diminishes the chance that the authorities in Aruba can prosecute them all for rape, which I was hopeful they could do that because, among other things, it gives them leverage to pressure, I think, the Kalpoe brothers to turn on Joran. I mean, nobody wants to go to prison for rape, and so maybe they'd trade on that. I don't know. I was hoping that might happen.
But you know what's funny, Rita? I'm looking at the language. I'm not an expert in terms of the computer stuff, it doesn't make sense that he would have been denying that they all had sex with her because he said, “You'd be surprised how easy it was.” You wouldn't say that if you were saying she didn't. It just doesn't make linguistic sense. And then he called her a slut in essentially the same sentence. That's not something you say when you're describing that someone didn't have sex with all of you.
So I think from a purely common-sense perspective, there's still a healthy argument that it may well be he was acknowledging that, in fact, they did all have sex with her. And the use of the word “she didn't” could have been responsive to what he thought—how he thought the question was being phrased, as opposed to saying it didn't happen.
COSBY: That's a good point. In fact, Dave Holloway has heard all the tapes. He said he heard the whole thing last night. And he said he believes that they are—that Deepak's saying that they did all have sex with her, especially if you hear the whole tape in context.
Let me play a portion—I want to play a portion—this is Deepak basically mocking the Investigators. And I'm going to get Arlene to respond. This is Deepak on the tape, more of that tape unedited. Let's listen.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
KALPOE: They want to arrest us again, they can because (INAUDIBLE) my alibi on that Sunday. The more they screw up, the better for me. And I want them to arrest me again. I'm waiting on them. Because the more they screw up, the more we're going to hit them like a bag (ph) of bricks.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
COSBY: You know, Arlene, what do you make of that? I don't know if you heard it, but...
ELLIS-SCHIPPER: Well, Rita, this is...
COSBY: ... let me read you a little quote. He says—he says, “The more they screw up, the better for me. I want them to arrest me again. I'm going to hit them like a bag of bricks.” He's making fun of your Investigators.
ELLIS-SCHIPPER: You know, Rita, the reason why we have focused on this piece, why we brought to your attention that it was edited, is not—and I repeat—I said it yesterday also—is not that we want to get this guy off the hook. He remains the prime suspect, one of the prime suspects.
However, the reason why we're focusing on it is because the Dr. Phil show used it to set a scene for a call for a boycott of our island because they accused the authorities, while having clear evidence, not to re-arrest, willfully not to re-arrest the Kalpoes. And this is the problem. And on the basis of that, they asked for a boycott. It is not about us saying he's not a suspect. The Police wants you to know that he remains one of the prime suspects and he's scheduled to be interrogated again.
COSBY: Wendy, what do you say?
MURPHY: No, come on! Who cares what Dr. Phil wants in terms of a boycott! It's Natalee's mother, Beth Twitty, who called for the boycott successfully and I think is doing the right thing in continuing to do that. Look, economic sanctions work when governments do bad things, and what she's been concerned about since day one was corruption and cover-up. She doesn't care about these tapes one way or the other. She's been angry for a long time, even before this Dr. Phil stuff came out.
And you know, for anybody to think that this boycott is a bad thing, even though some innocent people in Aruba may suffer because the industry there, the service industry, people need the money, 90 percent of the economy is based tourism—well, I'll tell you something. In other countries, when we don't like them, they're doing human rights violations and so on, we do it all the time. We sanction with carrots and sticks. We reward. We—it's called diplomacy! This is what we do when we dislike the injustices that happen in other countries! Get used to it, Aruba! It's going to happen! And it's Beth Twitty, not Dr. Phil, who's going to make it happen!
COSBY: Let me bring in Frank Piazza, because Frank, what impact do you think this tape is going to have at all, Frank? Do you think—are you clear on your decision, or is it one of these things you think we're going to be analyzing this for a long time to come?
PIAZZA: I'm personally clear. It's my opinion. And you know, I had time to spend on it, and it was pretty obvious to me early on that the Dr. Phil version was very different from the other versions. You know, whether or not it plays out in courts or it has legs, I can't even predict that.
COSBY: Well, we'll have to see. Everybody, thank you very much.
And still ahead, of course, the questions about the Aruba mystery that you want answered. We have gotten hundreds upon hundreds of e-mails, and our guests are going to answer them next. We're also going to have Beth Holloway Twitty is coming up.
Still ahead: lewd and nude. Wait until you find out who's in hot water over this steamy photo of two people getting busy up against their window. Was it really a private moment or a public display?
And an eyewitness who saw this going on above his head reached for his cell phone not to call 911 but to catch the whole thing on his camera phone. The eyewitness and a rescuer are coming up.
Plus: Would you ever tell your deepest, darkest secret to a total stranger? Wait until you see the shocking things people are willing to confess and how they're doing it. That's all ahead on LIVE AND DIRECT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
KALPOE: (INAUDIBLE) public so that the public (INAUDIBLE) what they have on us. Not even a fingerprint. Not a hair, nothing. They won't do it because they know. And then Beth goes home with all her critical remarks and this and this, calling me a criminal on TV!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSBY: And that's from that unedited tape of Jamie Skeeters and Deepak Kalpoe, the tape that we just got in today. You can see it was pointing towards the hotel room because it wasn't capturing a picture of him. But that's from the actual tape itself. We wanted to show it to you as it is.
Well, there are so many questions in the Natalee Holloway mystery, and many of you are demanding answers. So tonight, we're going to be working for you, as always. Joining me now is the editor of Aruba's “Diario” newspaper, our pal, Jossy Mansur. Also, private Investigator Art Wood and Natalee Holloway's mom, Beth Holloway Twitty is also with us. And back with us is Aruban attorney Arlene Ellis Schipper.
Beth, I want to start with you because, you know, as you hear Deepak talking about no evidence, no fingerprints, how frustrating is it for to you hear about the lack of evidence in this case, especially according to Deepak?
BETH HOLLOWAY TWITTY, NATALEE HOLLOWAY'S MOTHER: Well, of course, it's very frustrating. You know, the entire investigation, that's all we've had is frustration coming out of the officials from Aruba. You know, evidence—you know when evidence is gathered and lost or evidence is never gathered when it's supposed to be, just (INAUDIBLE) the primary residence of Paulus van der Sloot was never searched—I mean, you know, it just can't help but raise all the questions of—and leave us frustrated. Absolutely, Rita.
COSBY: You know, there's a lot of clips that came in, Beth, but I want to get your reaction to this because a lot of people are frustrated to hear this, Deepak talking basically about maybe making some money off this, maybe a movie, maybe a book deal. Take a listen, Beth, if you could. I want to get your reaction.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
KALPOE: (INAUDIBLE) They say write a book. Explain everything in the book. Give it to a publisher. You'll have a pretty good sum of money.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
COSBY: I don't know if you heard that, Beth, but, Give it to a publisher. I can make a pretty good sum of money. How disgusted are you to hear that?
TWITTY: Oh, you know, Rita, not only hearing that, but I actually saw it come across someone's Blackberry, a reporter, where Deepak was saying that he wanted $250,000 in a book or a movie deal. You know, and I had to see it, like I said, come across a reporter's Blackberry. Deepak's been reaching out to various reporters in the United States since early on.
COSBY: Trying to make money off, unfortunately, your misfortune, which is disgusting.
I want to get some e-mails to all of you because we have asked folks to send in e-mails. We have literally gotten hundreds upon hundreds in the last 24 hours.
And this one is for Jossy. I'm going to have you answer this. This is from Ruth Bender from Pasco, Washington, asks, “Joran's father provided a line of credit, drove his son to gambling, gambled and drank with him in casinos. Why didn't they (INAUDIBLE) you know, the Police, of course, investigate the father's involvement with giving assistance to his son's illegal activities?” Jossy?
JOSSY MANSUR, MANAGING EDITOR, “DIARIO”: Well, that's one question that the Police will have to answer or the prosecution.
COSBY: Do you know if they ever looked into it, Jossy? Do (INAUDIBLE) because he did have this big line of credit down there at the Excelsior.
MANSUR: Well, it's been rumored that they do have that line of credit. I don't know whether there's any evidence to that fact, though. I mean, I've heard the story also, and I know that they gambled in there. I know that the father with the underaged kid gambled together in the casino, the Excelsior casino at the Holiday Inn. But whether there was a line of credit of that amount, I don't know. I cannot prove it.
COSBY: You know, Arlene, a viewer wrote this because you were on our show last night, as you know. A viewer wrote this specifically, this question, for you. It's from K.J. It says, “Paul van der Sloot supposedly told his son and both Kalpoe brothers, No body, no crime. What can Arlene Ellis Schipper say about this?” Arlene?
ELLIS-SCHIPPER: That is incorrect. There have been cases in the Netherlands that without a body, someone has been convicted for murder. Actually, it was called—you can Google it, the Angelique (INAUDIBLE) case. And that was—so that is an incorrect statement.
(CROSSTALK)
COSBY: But the question is, Arlene, he said it, from what we understand, right?
ELLIS-SCHIPPER: Oh, I'm sorry. OK, if that was the question, this is part of the court documents, which is not—I don't have access to the file. I also heard that he said that. I cannot confirm that for you because I don't have access to the file.
COSBY: But Arlene, you understand why people are so infuriated because why do you say that to your son if nothing happened?
ELLIS-SCHIPPER: I agree.
COSBY: It sounds very suspicious. You understand that.
ELLIS-SCHIPPER: Of course, and I agree, if he would have said that, that is suspicious. But that does not—this is the problem—and I think we're talking in...
(CROSSTALK)
COSBY: Arlene, I don't want to argue the merits of the case. I just...
(CROSSTALK)
COSBY: ... he said it, and it sounds suspicious.
ELLIS-SCHIPPER: Well, of course. But the thing is, it's not an argument whether he sounds suspicious or not. It's an argument whether you can legally prove that someone did something or not.
COSBY: Right. But you understand on the surface, the question...
ELLIS-SCHIPPER: Of course.
COSBY: Beth, let me move on to you because this is an e-mail from (INAUDIBLE) from California. “I feel that if the chaperones had done their jobs, Natalee might have returned home safely with her fellow students. Where are they? And where were they when Natalee partying with strange boys?” Beth?
TWITTY: Well, you know, Natalee is 18 years of age, Rita. She had every right to be a patron in the establishment of Carlos and Charlie's. You know, Deepak and Satish and Joran van der Sloot—you know, it shouldn't cost a young girl her life, you know, for what they have done. I mean, you know, the chaperones are there. They're not there to hover over them. I mean, you know, these kids, like I said, they're of legal age. And she should have been in Carlos and Charlie's.
COSBY: Yes, as many kids enjoy vacations do, Beth. I agree on that point.
Art, let me bring you in. Hopefully, you can answer this one. This is about the boycott. “Isn't there some way to petition the State Department to issue a warning to travelers about the danger of going to Aruba? How does the American public approach this if they want to do sort of comprehensive effort? Is there anything the American public can do?” This is from Phyllis Lisowski—I hope I'm pronouncing her name right—from Prairie Village, Kansas. Art, is there anything that—can there be some sort of—some massive cry to the State Department?
ART WOOD, FORMER SECRET SERVICE AGENT: Absolutely. Absolutely. There's a lot that Americans can do through the State Department. I want to remind everybody that Natalee Holloway was a U.S. citizen. Once the Aruban authorities are done investigating this case, the FBI can still conduct an investigation, and they could extradite these suspects to the United States. Let me point out that there's a ton of circumstantial evidence in this case to convict these kids. I want to tell you there's more circumstantial evidence in this case than there was in the Scott Peterson case.
Secondly, it's very important here, that the Arubaans, if they want out of this economic boycott, all they have to do is to invite the FBI in as—to participate in this investigation. They have never done that. They have refused to allow FBI access to the investigative reports and evidence in this case. And if they have nothing to hide, let them invite the FBI in.
COSBY: All right. Let me go Shauna Patterson. This is from Clarksburg, West Virginia. This is an e-mail that we have. This is about the boat captain, the deejay. “I think the boat captain that was questioned and released should be requestioned. So many things in this Natalee Holloway case have been botched. Why not this guy?” Jossy, what happened to this guy?
MANSUR: I don't know. He went back to his work. He (INAUDIBLE) over to the ship, the (INAUDIBLE) tourist ship close to the coast.
COSBY: But Jossy, isn't there a sense that maybe he knows a lot more than he's saying? I'll tell you, when I was down there, a lot of people thought, This is weird. First he lies and pretends like he knows them. Then he says he doesn't. Then, apparently, it sounds like may know them more than he's admitted.
MANSUR: Well, if I answer the question, then it would be just speculation or an opinion of mine, no? I don't think that the Police just let go of him. I think he's still a person of interest to the Police.
COSBY: Let me go to Art. Art, what do you think about Steve Croes, the boat deejay?
WOOD: Well, first of all, you know, the tape that you're playing, the excerpts of this tape from Jamie Skeeters—Deepak Kalpoe on that tape, he admits to the fact that him and Steven Croes are friends, that they're not just acquaintances. He has—he tells Jamie that he has Steven Croes's telephone number programmed into his cell phone..
So let me tell you, yes, Steven Croes is still a suspect. But that's why this case could be solved, Rita. The reason this case could still be solved is because there are so many people involved in Natalee's disappearance and in the disposal of her body. When somebody talks, they're going to all go down. This is like a house of cards.
COSBY: And Beth, I want to ask you, because there's some reference,
you and I were talking, about a boat, another friend with a boat. And this
· I had not heard this before, Beth. Tell us about, there was some
reference that wasn't followed up on, right?
TWITTY: Yes, there was a boat that Joran mentioned in one of his statements on June 9. It's actually a friend of his. It's Koen’s father has a boat. And from what I'd understood, that there was some activity with that boat during the early morning hours of May 30, when these boys took Natalee. To what extent, we don't know. Whether forensics were done, whether the boat was searched, there's been a lot of speculation, but I really don't have any concrete follow-up information of what they actually did to the Coon's father's boat.
WOOD: Rita, I can tell you something about Coon's father's boat.
COSBY: Yes, real quick. Real quick, Art.
WOOD: OK. First of all, Dave Holloway and I begged the Police down there to bring him Coon in and question him. And they haven't done it yet. And he lied the first time that he talked to the Police. To solve these cases, just follow the lies, Rita.
COSBY: No, that's a very big—let me get one more question in. And we will definitely follow up on that Coon case, as you just talked about, both of you. Beth, this is a question for you, and this is an interesting one because a lot of people are asking this. Carol Brown from Tallico Plains, Tennessee, is asking, “What happened with the girls who were going to come forward and testify that they had been raped by van der Sloot and his pals?” Beth, do you know what happened? Were they pressured? What happened to them?
TWITTY: Well, those girls were coming forward, and they were meeting with attorneys and giving their statements to the authorities in front of their attorneys. It seemed as if once the suspects were released, I don't know if someone was able to get to these young girls and to have them retract these statements or if they became fearful of—you know, that they had given this information. I don't know, Rita, but it was very suspicious how the girls were coming forward and then all of a sudden had retracted their statements.
COSBY: Yes, it was very interesting because it sounded like they were coming forward from a lot of folks on both sides, so I agree with you. All of you, thank you so much. We're going to follow up on a lot of this stuff. And all of you at home, please keep sending us your e-mails. We have gotten so many. We appreciate all of them, and we will continue to follow this case so much.

On 12-1 ARUBAAN's news-source "Diario" named ARUBA Prosecutor KARIN JANSSEN the ARUBA “Woman of the year.”

On 12-1 FOX News GRETA VAN SUSTEREN wrote in her “Gretawire” blog, “Dr. Phil and his staff stand by the tape they aired and claim Deepak admitted — and not denied — to having sex with Natalee. A representative for the ‘Dr. Phil’ show specifically said that the show 1) Did not manipulate the Deepak tape in any way; 2) Did not alter what Deepak said in any way and 3) That they would give us [today] the tape they worked from so that we could inspect it to verify what they were claiming. The representative also said the show stands by its position that Deepak said on tape, ‘You would be surprised how simple it was.…’ The implication of that quote is that Deepak had sex with Natalee. When we listened to the generation of tape provided us the other night from Aruban representatives, our staff thought what was said was, ‘You would be surprised how simple it would have been.’”

On 12-1 CNNHN reported:

DIANE DIMOND, GUEST HOST: Tonight: Did Deepak Kalpoe really have sex with Natalee Holloway the night she disappeared on the tiny island of Aruba? A new tape now tells a different story.

…

Also tonight, new developments in the case of 18-year-old Natalee Holloway. Was Deepak Kalpoe intimate with Natalee the night she vanished on the island of Aruba? Dutch officials now say that a tape that aired on U.S. television making that claim was altered. Now we have the uncut version, where Kalpoe clearly answers that he did not have sex with Natalee the night she disappeared. But keep in mind as you listen to this tape, it came from Aruban authorities.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

JAMIE SKEETERS, POLYGRAPH EXPERT: Nobody forced her to drink then that night?

DEEPAK KALPOE , SUSPECT IN NATALEE HOLLOWAY DISAPPEARANCE: No.

SKEETERS: Nobody told her that you can`t (DELETED) her -- you know? I mean, and I`m sure she had sex with all of you and (INAUDIBLE)

KALPOE: No, she didn`t.

SKEETERS: OK, well, I mean, good. If she did, fine.

KALPOE: You would be surprised how simple it was that night.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

DIMOND: Now, that`s not what aired on the Dr. Phil show on September 15 of this year. When that T.V. show first reveled an audiotape they said that their own investigator got with Kalpoe, it sounded very different. Listen closely.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

SKEETERS: If it was an accident, I can help all of you. If you guys were partying, even if somebody had given her a date drug -- I`m sure she had sex with all of you.

KALPOE: She did. You`d be surprised how simple it was.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

DIMOND: That`s from the tape that aired on the Dr. Phil show September 15, the interview between Deepak Kalpoe and an investigator that the show hired. His name was Jamie Skeeters.

So what are we all to think about this? What happens in a case where one person says he said, yes, he did have sex, and one says, absolutely, he did not?

I want to bring in Jane Velez-Mitchell now. She`s out in Los Angeles and has been following the story from the get-go. Jane, are you with us?

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Yes, I am.

DIMOND: Now, you`re right out there in California, and I got to tell you, we`ve been trying to call the Dr. Phil show to get some sort of response from them. We get nothing, except tonight one of our senior producers here talked to Jamie Skeeters, the investigator, and he said that he stands by the tape that the Dr. Phil show aired. But the Aruban authorities say it`s something different. Which one do we believe, Jane?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I don`t think we can make that decision right now. I think this is the battle of the dueling clips, at this point. What I`d love to see is the Nancy Grace show getting its hands on the entire two-hour interview and let the producers, who I trust there, listen to the whole thing and make a decision because we all know that tapes can be edited which way and that. And now we have either side basically saying that these tapes were doctored. And we don`t know until we hear ourselves the actual raw tape.

But I think the bigger picture is this is very bad news for the family. This was a theory, that she had been sexually assaulted, that the family was kind of hanging its hat on as far as, OK, this was something that was a crime, charge somebody with rape. And now that`s been sort of thrown into doubt, and it kind of gives the case a "back to square one" feeling. So I have a lot of sympathy to the mother right now because she`s been trying so hard to find out some truth. But this whole case has been kind of the Bermuda Triangle of truth.

DIMOND: Right. Exactly. And again, it`s all back to the family and what happened to Natalee. You know, throughout this whole case, Jane, there have been these twists and these turns and these side roads that we go down. I`m wondering, how important is this, anyway? We have Beth Holloway Twitty standing by, and we`re going to bring her in in just a second. But how important is this, whether or not he admits on a crudely edited tape or a non-edited tape whether or not he had sex with her? She`s still missing.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I think it was significant because it gave us something to kind of try and put this mystery into context. If we decided or determined that these three young men had sex with her and has possibly raped her, then that`s a crime that occurred and it provides a motive. Without that, you go back to this total blank mystery. She disappears.

One thing I will say is nobody in this case, besides the mother, Beth Twitty, has much credibility. You have the Aruban government and the authorities botching the case at the very beginning. They didn`t arrest these young men for 10 days, giving them a chance to get their stories together. These young men originally pointed to some security guards and tried to blame it all on them, lied repeatedly.

DIMOND: Right.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Joran van der Sloot, the chief suspect, changed his story 22 times. So who do you believe?

DIMOND: Well, we have a spokesperson with the Aruban task force coming up, but I want to get to Beth Holloway Twitty immediately. Beth, thanks for being with us TONIGHT. What do you make of this controversy? I mean, did the Dr. Phil show perhaps edit that incorrectly? I mean, did you ever hear the whole tape?

BETH HOLLOWAY TWITTY, NATALEE HOLLOWAY`S MOTHER: I do. I have the entire -- the tape in its entirety, and I have reviewed it just over and over again. One thing, though, that I -- you know, that is consistent in all of these tapes is he says, You`d be surprised how simple it was that night. I mean, you cannot miss that on the copy that I have. And it just wouldn`t make sense for him to say that she did not have sex with them, you would be surprised how simple it was that night. It just doesn`t fit.

DIMOND: But Beth, when we look at the tape, the raw tape that we got our hands on today -- we got it from the Aruban authorities -- there is a - - the fan up in the ceiling -- the camera`s at an odd angle -- and it seems to be twirling correctly, and there doesn`t seem to be an edit in the tape. And when he`s asked the question, Did you have sex, you see the back of Kalpoe`s head shaking no. Is that what you saw on the original tape?

TWITTY: Well, I think what Jug and Dave and I were coming to when we were watching that, it`s almost as if Deepak catches Mr. Skeeters off guard by responding, She did, and then he responds -- then he responds as if -- as if an affirmation of, No, she did, you`d be surprised how simple it was that night.

DIMOND: So you believe that this boy and the other two likely did have sex with your daughter.

TWITTY: Well, we know one thing for sure, Diane, is Deepak -- is Joran van der Sloot has admitted to having sex with my daughter in one of his statements. We do know that. So the Aruban government has audio and videotape of these confessions coming from Joran van der Sloot.

DIMOND: You know, I`m sort of with Jane Velez-Mitchell. I just don`t know what to think at this point.

I want to bring in the Aruban spokesperson. Her name is Arlene Ellis Schipper, and she speaks for the Aruban task force. Welcome to the broadcast, ma`am. Can you tell me...

ARLENE ELLIS-SCHIPPER, ARUBA “STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS TASK FORCE” MEMBER: Thank you.

DIMOND: ... first of all, what is this task force you`re speaking on behalf of?

ELLIS-SCHIPPER: Well, the task force is a combination of concerned people of Aruba, as well as the government. And what we are doing is actually constantly monitoring this case and finding and promoting the truth and stimulating everything, from both support to the family...

(CROSSTALK)

DIMOND: But it`s not just -- you don`t speak for the police and the prosecution.

ELLIS-SCHIPPER: No.

DIMOND: You also speak for the merchants and the hotel operators on the island?

ELLIS-SCHIPPER: I do.

(CROSSTALK)

DIMOND: Don`t you think that`s a little bit in conflict there?

ELLIS-SCHIPPER: No.

DIMOND: I mean, aren`t we after the truth and not really worrying what the hotel managers want?

ELLIS-SCHIPPER: We are after the truth because Aruba has nothing to gain with not telling the truth or covering up. Aruba wants to get this case solved. And I want to make something clear. The fact that we focus now on this outcome of the NFI, the Dutch forensic institute, is because -- not because we have joined the team, the defense team of Mr. Kalpoe. We don`t go about that. This is because this has been pounded for eight weeks in the media, in the international media, and set the scene for a call for a boycott because...

DIMOND: Yes, it has.

(CROSSTALK)

ELLIS-SCHIPPER: ... that we have evidence here that was supposedly the truth and it was crystal clear that there was an admittance and the authorities refused to arrest this suspect.

DIMOND: All right...

ELLIS-SCHIPPER: Now...

(CROSSTALK)

ELLIS-SCHIPPER: ... first of all...

DIMOND: Let`s get back to the new stuff here. The new stuff is this tape that came from the Aruban authorities. You`re in Aruba right now. You are a practicing attorney there. Tell me what you believe is the real version of this tape. Does Kalpoe say, Yes, I did, we did have sex, it was so easy, or does he say no?

ELLIS-SCHIPPER: First of all -- well, he said -- I saw the viewing. I saw the CD-ROM, and he says, No, she didn`t, and he nods his head. He shakes his head no. He has nonverbal communication confirming his denial. However, I want to set something straight. You keep calling this the Aruban tape. This is not the Aruban tape.

DIMOND: Where did it come from?

ELLIS-SCHIPPER: Yes, we sent it to you, but it was taken directly from the CD-ROM that Mr. Skeeters sent to the police here, and that is...

(CROSSTALK)

DIMOND: How interesting. OK. OK. Got it. Got it. It`s just -- you know, we`re trying to figure out which version is authentic. I want to bring in Harold Copus now. Harold, a former federal agent here in America, was -- Harold, were you also hired by the Dr. Phil show to go to Aruba to investigate?

HAROLD COPUS, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR ON HOLLOWAY CASE: Yes, I was.

DIMOND: And you were there the day after Mr. Skeeters did this interview with Kalpoe, right?

COPUS: That is correct.

DIMOND: And what -- tell us about Mr. Skeeters, his integrity. I mean, was he excited? Did he say, Hey, I got a confession on tape, or what?

COPUS: Well, certainly, that was a break, and certainly, he was excited. From an integrity standpoint, I think it`d be difficult to question Mr. Skeeters`s integrity. He`s former law enforcement, I believe a police chief out in California, head of the California Polygraph Association. I don`t think there`s any debate about the integrity. I think there may be a question about the way it was edited, but that`s another story.

DIMOND: Well, yes, let`s get into that story because our producer here, Eric Maripoti (ph), talked to Mr. Skeeters just a little while ago. He said he stands by the Dr. Phil version. He apparently was in meetings on there on the Paramount lot, which is the parent company of the Dr. Phil show, all day. We tried to get comments from some of them. We`re not getting any comments from them. Do you have any personal knowledge of what was originally said and what aired, to compare the two?

COPUS: No, I don`t. And what I would say to you, I think the proper thing to do now, because of the controversy, is that a full transcript needs to be produced. And then you compare that to what was shown on the Dr. Phil show to see if anything was taken out of context. I don`t think it was, but that`s the only way any of us will ever know.

DIMOND: Yes. Well, you know, when I look at the transcript that we made of these two tapes, the boy says, you know, No, we didn`t. I`m sure that she had sex with all of you. She did. You`d be surprised how simple it was, on the other version. So did Mr. Skeeters say anything to you about he repeatedly asked this question and got different answers? Maybe that`s the solution here.

COPUS: Well, that could be an answer and a solution. No, he didn`t say that to me. I really think what has to be done again is go back for a full transcript. I remember doing that when we were in the FBI. That`s the only way that you will solve this issue right now.

DIMOND: Well, and then compare it to the tape and see if there are any dips and beeps and any editing of the tape from which the transcript was made. Harold Copus and everybody, stand by. We`re going to take a quick break now. We have a legal panel standing by to tell us what this might mean to the Natalee Holloway case.

But now to tonight`s "Trial Tracking." After several days of witness impact statements, a Florida jury is expected to decide Joseph Smith`s sentence, life or death. Smith was convicted of the kidnap, rape and murder of 11-year-old Carlie Brucia. Prosecutors want the death penalty. The defense pleaded for his life to be spent in prison. Carlie`s abduction gained national attention when videotape from a security camera outside a car wash showed her being led away by Joseph Smith.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Joe Smith will have to suffer with his crimes every day for the rest of his life. He will die in prison, the only question is how. The loss of Carlie Brucia is a terrible, horrible thing. But I would suggest to you that recommending the execution of Joe Smith will not do anything to bring her back or to honor her memory.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMIE SKEETERS, POLYGRAPH EXPERT: Nobody forced her to drink then that night?

DEEPAK KALPOE , SUSPECT IN NATALEE HOLLOWAY DISAPPEARANCE: No.

SKEETERS: Nobody told her that you can`t (DELETED) her -- you know? I mean, and I`m sure she had sex with all of you and (INAUDIBLE)

KALPOE: No, she didn`t.

SKEETERS: OK, well, I mean, good. If she did, fine.

KALPOE: You would be surprised how simple it was that night.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

SKEETERS: If it was an accident, I can help all of you. If you guys were partying, even if somebody had given her a date drug -- I`m sure she had sex with all of you.

KALPOE: She did. You`d be surprised how simple it was.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

DIMOND: Welcome back. I`m Diane Dimond, sitting in for Nancy Grace. More on which version of that Deepak Kalpoe interview is the right one, which one was edited. Are they both bona fide or what? But right now, I want to remind everybody it was May 30, 2005 when beautiful Natalee Holloway went missing. She was in Aruba with her class and was never seen again.

Her mother, Beth Holloway Twitty, is with us now. And Beth, I just want to spend a few minutes talking only to you and just asking you how you`re doing, after all these weeks and months. You`re back home now, aren`t you?

TWITTY: I am. I`m in Birmingham now, Diane.

DIMOND: Yes. How do you do it? May 30, 2005. I was in your beautiful city. I know you have a lot of support there, your sister-in- law, her husband and your wide friends and family. But how do you do it every day?

TWITTY: Well, you`re exactly right. It`s all the support that we have. And to be honest, I can`t believe it`s been six months. It just doesn`t seem like it`s been that long. I mean, you know, we think back to those couple of -- the first few weeks when we were on the island and how the officials kept telling us, We`re going to have an answer tomorrow, we`ll have an answer at 2:00 PM, we`ll have an answer in two weeks.

DIMOND: Yes.

TWITTY: I mean, we just kept thinking they were being honest with us and we were going to have an answer. And it`s just hard to believe it`s been six months.

DIMOND: And now you`ve hired John Q. Kelly, an attorney that I know, to help you. There`s strain between you and the Aruban authorities. I mean, I can hear it when I talk to them and when I talk to you. Do you think John can help bridge the gap there?

TWITTY: Well, we`re certainly hoping that he can do that. You know, our communication line was terminated, I guess this was the end of August, by Karin Janssen. She not only terminated her communication with us but also would not allow our family liaison to receive any updates from the lead detective, Eric Sumer (ph). So we have been in the dark, and we really need to be advised as to what`s happening in the investigation and where they are and if they`re moving forward or...

DIMOND: Right.

TWITTY: ... what. We don`t even know about searches or anything.

DIMOND: But, you know what the complaint was, that they would tell you what things were happening in the investigation, and then you would come on television and sort of spill the beans. I mean, is that something maybe won`t happen now if John Q. Kelly is the go-between?

TWITTY: Well, there`s certainly one thing we never did, and we never damaged the integrity of the investigation, and the Aruban officials only can accept that responsibility. And we know that.

DIMOND: You know, I`ve interviewed so many parents that have lost children or children who have been murdered or are still missing, like yours, and I know the holidays are particularly hard. Are you worried about that?

TWITTY: Well, it`s almost as if, I think right now, that our way of dealing with the holidays or -- it`s almost as if I`m avoiding them. And I guess I feel as if I can get through it, and if that`s my best way of dealing with it, then that`s how I am. And you know, I realize one day that, you know, I`ll have to face the holidays at home. But right now, I just -- I`m just kind of escaping from it.

DIMOND: Right. I talked to your sister-in-law when I was in Birmingham, and she said, you know, you used to be, like, a size 4 and now you`re a size 0. Are you taking care of yourself?

TWITTY: Well, you know what? I`m trying, but it`s just been so hard. And we`re just -- you know, we just feel like that if we just keep working hard and we just keep hanging in there, we will have answers. I just feel the answers are there, they have been there all along. And we are just determined.

DIMOND: Well, God bless you, and we are all praying for you, as well. Stand by, Beth.

Now time for tonight`s "Case Alert." The Children`s Safety Act is facing a vote before the Senate, and we need to make sure that it passes. We`ve already seen too many children victimized. The bill would create a unified national sex offender registry and would stiffen penalties for offenders who fail to register. Contact your senator and urge them -- urge them! -- to pass this bill.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TWITTY: There is a taped confession from Deepak Kalpoe that they all had sex with my daughter. And we were told early on that, you know, new evidence, when it`s brought forward, that it would warrant the reincarceration of these suspects. And we felt like even as early as, you know, 1st of July that we could be heading towards, you know, kidnapping and rape charges against these young men definitively.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At least.

TWITTY: Yes. You know, I`ve said that they went ahead and actually killed my daughter. We have never said it because we do not know that. It doesn`t look good. But kidnapping and rape, at least.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIMOND: Confusion now over that so-called confession by Deepak Kalpoe. I`m Diane Dimond, sitting in for Nancy Grace. Welcome back.

Let go right out to Harold Copus. He is a private investigator, former FBI, who worked with the man who allegedly got this confession from Deepak Kalpoe. Now, Harold Copus, during the commercial break, investigator Skeeters called you, right? What did he just tell you? This is like breaking news here.

COPUS: Well, you know, it certainly is. And what he said to me was, is that what he sent down to Aruba was a copy. Now, what bothers all of us from a law enforcement standpoint is that we`re working from copies, not from the original. So Jamie told me just a few moments ago that copies were sent down to Aruba, then copies, I guess, were made from that.

What bothers -- what should bother all of us is that we need to get our hands on that original hard drive, make a proper forensic copy of it and do our transcript from that. Otherwise, there`s just confusion reigning over people pointing fingers, and it may be much ado about nothing.

DIMOND: What -- now, Harold, I`m confused now. Does Mr. Skeeters seem to think that the copy he sent to Aruba was then edited, or that there was some damage on the tape? Or what`s he saying?

COPUS: Well, he -- what he was saying to me is it very well could have been damaged on the tape because he -- the copy had been made. There was what he called a beta copy made by the Dr. Phil show. Now...

DIMOND: That`s a certain type of tape, right.

COPUS: That`s right. That`s a certain type tape. And so at this stage, we`re not dealing with original material. We need to go back to the original material and get to the bottom of this.

DIMOND: This is fascinating. Fascinating. Harold Copus, do you think that there`s a way to really tell which one is which or to tell if it has been altered in some way?

COPUS: Well, from a forensic standpoint, you certainly could, but you have to go back to the original hard drive, who possesses that hard drive...

DIMOND: Well, who does? Is it with the FBI now?

COPUS: You know, I don`t know. I can`t tell you. I would hope it was sent to the FBI. What bothers me, if it wasn`t, then that -- you know, it just makes more of a chance of an error and someone could point more fingers...

DIMOND: OK. Now, Harold, during the commercial break, call some guys at the FBI and ask for us.

We`re going to take a quick break. Be right back.

On 12-1 MSNBC reported:

JOE SCARBOROUGH, HOST: Plus, did Dr. Phil Doctor secret tapes in the Natalee Holloway case?
Well, that's apparently what some Aruban officials are saying tonight. They believe the tapes that Dr. Phil showed were forgeries. We are going to untangle that one also coming up.

…

SCARBOROUGH: Now, talking about injustice, obviously, on a much smaller scale, but it's huge for one family. That's for sure. Let's turn to the case of Natalee Holloway. This is, of course, a young woman whose parents have been fighting for justice for six months now, but they are just being lied to day in and day out by Aruban authorities, but now Aruban authorities are accusing Dr. Phil of lying to Americans about the Natalee Holloway case.
That's what some in Aruba are saying in the police force. And, as we have shown you, suspect Deepak Kalpoe gave a taped confession to polygraph expert Jamie Skeeters, who was hired this summer by Dr. Phil. When Dr. Phil played the tape, we hear Deepak admitting that all three boys had sex with Natalee.
But now the Aruban government has released its version, and that version has Deepak denying that he ever had sex with Natalee. Let's listen. This is an important piece of the puzzle, and now it's one that, you know, I got to tell you, if it's the case, if it's true, if these tapes were doctored, this finally finishes off, finally finishes off this Natalee Holloway case once and for all.
I will tell you what. Let's do this. Let's bring in our experts. We have Court TV's Lisa Bloom.
Lisa, I want to start talking about this tape.
Well, first of all, what in the world is going on? Dr. Phil has been acting goofy. That's the only way to put it. He goes on “The Tonight Show.” He says that he has got evidence that Natalee may be sold into sex slavery. Now we have got allegations that his people may have doctored this tape of Deepak Kalpoe's confession. What do you know about it?
LISA BLOOM, COURT TV ANCHOR: Yes. There's something seriously wrong here, Joe. I agree with you.
Either Dr. Phil is in the biggest hot water of his career, his credibility is over because he took what was a denial and changed it into a confession and played it on his show. He said this young man confessed to rape. Or the Aruban authorities took a confession, and they changed it into a denial. Or the only other possibility is perhaps some third party tampered with this tape.
But it doesn't look good. Initially, we had a young man admitting on tape that Natalee Holloway was raped on that night. That's what Dr. Phil said. That's the tape that he played. Now the Aruban authorities are playing a tape where this young man denies it, so somebody is committing a serious wrong here, and I hope that ultimately we get to the bottom of it and find out who it is.
SCARBOROUGH: It's—yes, there is no middle ground, is there, Lisa?
(CROSSTALK)
SCARBOROUGH: Again, you either have Dr. Phil and his people lying to the American people, or you have the Aruban government really engaged in a continued—I think a continued sleazy cover-up.
BLOOM: Well, when you think of all of the journalistic scandals that we have had in this country over the last year, if this is true, this would really be at the top.
Can you imagine, Joe, if somebody working on your show, any of the wonderful people who work on your show, took a tape and doctored it to say that somebody was confessing to a rape, when, in fact, on the tape what they were saying was, I didn't do it? I mean, what would happen to that person? What would happen to you as the head of the show even if you weren't part of it? This is a very serious issue, I think.
SCARBOROUGH: I will tell you what. They would need to be fired, and they would get sued, too, I'm sure.
Let's bring in criminal defense attorney John Patrick Dolan.
John, if this is the case, then the Natalee Holloway case is officially over, isn't it?
JOHN PATRICK DOLAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, it really is.
And I want to point out to you, Joe, that we have been learning tonight that what we are calling the Aruban tape is actually the original recording from Skeeters that was given to the Aruban government. So it's not as though anybody in the Aruban government is doing anything to change the tape.
But I can tell you, from the point of view of the prosecution, this has to be disastrous. Any good defense lawyer would exploit this to the maximum. And it would make it almost impossible to have a proper prosecution.
SCARBOROUGH: And so, again, obviously, Americans have been following this for six months. This was really the last hope for the family.
At this point, you just say, even though we know—and I guess this is what bothers me the most, being a parent myself—even though these parents know that these three boys were involved in some way in her disappearance, basically, they are going to get to walk free, right, and justice will never be served?
DOLAN: Well, I—there's another point of view, which is, if we don't have enough evidence to prove a case against them, it doesn't seem to be appropriate to say that they are actually guilty, and so this is a very difficult situation.
Obviously, your heart goes out to the family of Natalee Holloway, and you still wonder at this point, what is the real story? That's the mystery that I hope will be solved some day.
SCARBOROUGH: Well, and Lisa Bloom...
BLOOM: Well, let's keep in...
SCARBOROUGH: Go ahead.
BLOOM: Yes. Let's keep in mind, though, that Deepak did call her a slut on the tape. That's not denied.
He does really make unkind, disparaging comments about a young girl who is probably a murder victim. Why would he do that? And these three men lied a number of times and said that they left her alone the beach in a foreign country in the middle of the night, and they lied about where they had left her. They ultimately admitted that they did that.
(CROSSTALK)
BLOOM: So, of course, there's a lot suspicion swirling around them, and there probably always will be.
SCARBOROUGH: They certainly will.
Thanks so much, Lisa Bloom.
(CROSSTALK)
SCARBOROUGH: Thank you, John.
Greatly appreciate it.

On 12-1 MSNBC reported:

DAN ABRAMS, HOST: Coming up, the Aruban government now claims that a crucial piece of videotape evidence in the Natalee Holloway investigation has been doctored and that one of the suspects did not say that he had sex with Natalee Holloway. We have got all the versions of the tape.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ABRAMS (voice-over): Three of them, one that aired on the “Dr. Phil” show, one that the polygraph expert who appeared on that show says is the original and one the Arubans say makes it clear that someone played with the tapes. You can listen to them and decide for yourself and we get reaction from Natalee‘s mother, Beth Holloway Twitty.
…
ABRAMS: Hi, everyone. First up on the docket, the story in Aruba just keeps getting more bizarre. We have done our own ABRAMS REPORT investigation into a critical piece of evidence in this case, an interview with Deepak Kalpoe, one of the three suspects in Natalee Holloway disappearance.
An interview that could determine whether he and other suspects get arrested. The issue: Did Kalpoe say that he and the other suspects had sex with Natalee the night she disappeared or was it just the opposite? Did he deny it? We are still confused.
And now you can try to figure it out along with us. Now listen very carefully. First, the portion of the interview as played on the “Dr. Phil” show. This is the one that initially caused the controversy.
(BEGIN AUDIOTAPE)
JAMIE SKEETERS, POLYGRAPH EXPERT: And the question I‘ll ask you is, if you intentionally killed her?
DEEPAK KALPOE, SUSPECT IN NATALEE HOLLOWAY‘S DISAPPEARANCE: No.
SKEETERS: If it was an accident, I can help all of you and if you guys were partying, even if somebody had given her a date drug—I‘m sure she had sex with all of you.
KALPOE: She did. You‘d be surprised how simple it was.
(END AUDIOTAPE)
ABRAMS: All right, next here‘s a portion of the interview provided to us by Jamie Skeeters, the polygraph experts who was the one who actually interviewed Kalpoe.
(BEGIN AUDIOTAPE)
SKEETERS: Nobody told her that you can‘t (EXPLETIVE DELETED) her.
You know? I mean and I‘m sure she had sex with all of you.
KALPOE: She did. You would be surprised how simple it was that night.
(END AUDIOTAPE)
ABRAMS: And now this. Just hours ago e-mailed to us from the Aruban authorities.
(BEGIN AUDIOTAPE)
SKEETERS: Nobody told her that you can‘t (EXPLETIVE DELETED). You know? I mean and I‘m sure she had sex with all of you.
KALPOE: No, she didn‘t. You would be surprised how simple it would have been.
(END AUDIOTAPE)
ABRAMS: Wow! I mean it sounds like exactly the opposite and these are supposed to be the same tapes. This is crucial.
All right, who better to figure this out than the people we‘ve got joining us right now. Joining me now is Arlene Ellis Schipper, an Aruban attorney, member of Aruba‘s Strategic Communications Task Force. She e-mailed us the Aruban portion of the tape we just played.
Richard Burton is CEO and founder of V, a company that provides voice analysis—Richard Parton. And Paul Ginsberg, president of Professional Audio Laboratories, who has analyzed tapes for the FBI, CIA and others. All right and we may be joined by Jamie Skeeters in a moment.
All right first, let me ask you, we have been here all day and you have been listening to these tapes with us.
RICHARD PARTON, PH.D., VOICE ANALYST: Yes.
ABRAMS: What is your take on this?
PARTON: From the tapes that we recalled off of Mr. Skeeters‘ hard drive and from what we heard from the “Dr. Phil” show, we look at the waveforms and there is no question from the way the words stand on the waveforms that he said that they did have sex. Also in context with the conversation that followed it looks like it said they did have sex with her.
ABRAMS: All right. Now what about the tape from—so you are basically saying that—you compared the tape that Jamie Skeeters had and “Dr. Phil” tape and you‘re saying they didn‘t fundamentally alter it. They made some edits, but...
PARTON: Right.
ABRAMS: ... but they didn‘t fundamentally alter what was said on that tape, correct?
PARTON: Yes.
ABRAMS: OK. What about this tape from Aruba that sounds like he‘s saying just the opposite?
PARTON: Well look at—what we do with our analysis is we see people stuffed behind the words. There is no difference from the “Dr. Phil”, the Skeeters tape or the Aruban tape on the thoughts that Kalpoe had on there. The only difference is some extra noise at the end of the word didn‘t and that noise is missing from the Skeeters original and from the “Dr. Phil” show.
ABRAMS: All right. Arlene, you are convinced are you not that in the version that you have heard that he says just the opposite, that he says he did not have sex with her, right?
ARLENE ELLIS SCHIPPER, ARUBAN ATTORNEY (via phone): Yes. The version
that I saw with the footage shows the body language, him shaking his head
no and stating no, she didn‘t. Now, I‘m not clairvoyant as the other
(INAUDIBLE) that says I can see through into his mind through his words. I
can just listen to the words and I can see the video. And I see a nodding
a shaking head, no and no, she didn‘t.
ABRAMS: All right. Let me do this. I‘m going to play now in order all three. I‘m going to play Jamie Skeeters‘ version—again, that‘s the actual one we got. We went to Jamie Skeeters‘ office and recorded exactly what he had on his hard drive. Then I want to play the version that Arlene has sent to us.
Again, I‘m going to do this without words on the screen this time so you all can listen and decide for yourselves and then we‘re going to play the “Dr. Phil” version. All right, so let‘s start with the—this is the Jamie Skeeters‘ version. This is what actually came from the hard drive. Here it is.
(BEGIN AUDIOTAPE)
SKEETERS: Nobody told her that you can‘t (EXPLETIVE DELETED). You know? I mean and I‘m sure she had sex with all of you.
KALPOE: Yes, she did. You‘d be surprised how simple it was that night.
(END AUDIOTAPE)
ABRAMS: Boy that sure sounds like she did and you wouldn‘t—it was really easy. All right. Now, this is the version that we got from Arlene in Aruba and I have to tell you, it sounds different.
(BEGIN AUDIOTAPE)
SKEETERS: Nobody told her that you can‘t (EXPLETIVE DELETED). You know? I mean and I‘m sure she had sex with all of you.
KALPOE: No, she didn‘t. You would be surprised how simple it was that night.
(END AUDIOTAPE)
ABRAMS: No, she didn‘t—wait, what are you saying? I mean I heard no, she didn‘t.
PARTON: Well but Arlene said that she saw his head move, shaking no. I did not see his head move in either one of those tapes. And Arlene you know what this technology does. You know it‘s not clairvoyance. You know that we‘re actually...
ABRAMS: Before we go to “Dr. Phil”—let me bring in Paul Ginsberg real quick. Before I play that tape again, what do you make of it, Paul?
PAUL GINSBERG, PROFESSIONAL AUDIO LABORATORIES: This is an example of the value that transcripts have at trial. And I‘ve been through 1,700 trials and I always tell the investigating agents that it‘s very important to make a very accurate transcript. And often times there are more than one version of a transcript differing exactly as in this case.
ABRAMS: But don‘t these tapes sound different to you?
GINSBERG: Well, the transcript can, in effect, pre-filter your mind.
That is...
ABRAMS: Well that‘s right. And that‘s why I just played those without a transcript so people could listen to them and so I could listen to it again.
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: I‘ve listened to these tens of times and I‘m hearing it again and every time I hear that tape from Aruba it sounds different to me than the tape from Jamie Skeeters.
GINSBERG: But if we jumbled the tapes and played them in random order, I wonder whether you‘d be able to pick out which tape...
ABRAMS: I would.
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: I would.
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: I mean—you know look I mean I can say I would but...
GINSBERG: You might do it from the tonal quality because there is...
ABRAMS: Yes...
GINSBERG: ... a slight different tonal quality...
ABRAMS: Yes. Yes...
GINSBERG: ... but other than that, as far as the words are concerned, I don‘t—I agree with the other gentleman in that I don‘t feel that there has been any tampering, physical or electronic tampering, however, it is a matter of interpretation with pre-filtering...
ELLIS SCHIPPER: Dan, I want to get a word in here...
GINSBERG: ... and suggesting.
ABRAMS: Arlene, go ahead.
ELLIS SCHIPPER: Yes. First of all, I am surprised that you could copy these from the hard disk of Mr. Skeeters because as far as we know he volunteered his hard disk to the FBI and it should be at the FBI‘s office to be checked because we have (INAUDIBLE) procedure that requested that. That‘s one.
Second, I don‘t understand how, no, she didn‘t and (INAUDIBLE) the court appointed forensic institute, this is not my conclusion. I just am the spokesperson and...
ABRAMS: Right.
ELLIS SCHIPPER: ... I translate this to you and why we do this. This is not because we want to plead Kalpoe free. That‘s not the question here. It is because for eight weeks we have been founded—this one—this tape (INAUDIBLE) because there was supposed to be a clear admission and all these accusations were made that the Aruban authorities were not acting upon this.
First of all, you cannot arrest people upon footage of an entertainment show, so we sent it to the NFI to verify. The results came back with the (INAUDIBLE) manipulation. This is an official forensic...
ABRAMS: But wait. But let‘s be clear, Arlene...
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: Arlene look, manipulation, there is no question that they edited the tape. OK, that they took things out, that they took out background...
ELLIS SCHIPPER: Manipulation is another word for editing.
ABRAMS: I understand and...
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: ... they took out background noise. But you‘re saying that they actually moved words around?
ELLIS SCHIPPER: I‘m not saying it. The NFI says that they directly cut in the answer, no, she didn‘t. They cut right before and right after. And there‘s no necessity for to cut in those...
ABRAMS: All right.
ELLIS SCHIPPER: ... microseconds or to edit it.
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: Then based on the analysis that we have done here, it would have to have been Jamie Skeeters who cut it because the version...
ELLIS SCHIPPER: I don‘t know who cut it.
ABRAMS: ... the version that he provided to us, based on our analysis here of Richard Parton is the same version that was played on the “Dr. Phil” show. So the “Dr. Phil” show didn‘t engage...
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: ... didn‘t engage in shenanigans with the tape that Jamie Skeeters played. Let me—again, let me play again for you...
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: Hang on. This is the version Arlene sent to us. I‘ve got the words up again here. This is what is making Arlene so angry about this is because this is the version that she has and this is the translation that she has offered.
(BEGIN AUDIOTAPE)
SKEETERS: I‘m sure she had sex with all of you.
KALPOE: She did. You‘d be surprised how simple it was that night.
(END AUDIOTAPE)
ABRAMS: I‘m sure—wait. That‘s the version where she said—wait
I‘m sure she had sex with all of you—no, but that‘s the one where it says no, she didn‘t. We got—that one was wrong because—let‘s put up number six again. Because the version—we put up the—see this is so confusing that we put up—we just put the wrong chyron up for what was said there. The bottom line—let‘s play number six here again.
(BEGIN AUDIOTAPE)
SKEETERS: Nobody told her that you can‘t (EXPLETIVE DELETED). You know? I mean and I‘m sure she had sex with all of you.
KALPOE: No, she didn‘t. You‘d be surprised how simple it was that night.
(END AUDIOTAPE)
ABRAMS: No, she didn‘t. Why the face? I mean it sounds to me like saying no, she didn‘t on that tape.
PARTON: Thing is Arlene is concerned that there is manipulation of the “Dr. Phil” or the Skeeters tape.
ABRAMS: Right.
PARTON: The thing is the waveforms where we show the words coming down where she said she did, there was no—the waveform wasn‘t clipped. It would have—if he said didn‘t, it would have shown a clipping there.
It didn‘t. It was tapered down...
ABRAMS: So what‘s the explanation as to why this sounds different?
PARTON: I have none of why the Aruban tape is sounding differently other than you know when you transfer files over Internet you know there are compressions and decompressions and there is some degradation of the files that exist.
(CROSSTALK)
PARTON: But she‘s concerned about what‘s happening on the live tapes in Aruba. And that‘s what needs to be you know looked at and why—what specifically and not from the ear...
ABRAMS: Yes. Mr. Ginsberg, don‘t these sound different to you?
GINSBERG: Well I just wanted to say that there is a simple way to tell. Because we can take in the laboratory and compare it to the microsecond...
ABRAMS: Well they said they did that.
(CROSSTALK)
GINSBERG: ... the different versions and see whether they track each other...
ABRAMS: That‘s right.
GINSBERG: ... from the beginning to the end.
ABRAMS: And that‘s Arlene‘s point is she says that they—that that was done in Holland and as a result of that particular analysis, they are convinced that the tape was manipulated.
GINSBERG: If there is tracking from the very beginning to the very end, then there was no manipulation. It‘s as simple as that. I truly believe that this is a matter of interpretation and suggestion.
(CROSSTALK)
GINSBERG: Because you can hear it both ways.
ABRAMS: And Arlene, you don‘t—that‘s not the conclusion that they have come to in Holland, correct?
ELLIS SCHIPPER: No, it is not. They specifically say the word manipulation and they state where it was manipulated, not edited. As a matter of fact, they showed that the C.D. ROM sent by Mr. Skeeters because you keep on saying that this is the Aruban version. This is a version provided by Mr. Skeeters...
ABRAMS: The reason I‘m calling it the Aruban version, Arlene, is because the version that we got from Jamie Skeeters sounds different to me than the version we‘re getting from you.
(CROSSTALK)
ELLIS SCHIPPER: Absolutely. But the thing is that when you state Aruban version it is being altered again that if the Arubans are altering something.
ABRAMS: I‘m not making any judgment about anything...
ELLIS SCHIPPER: That is not the case.
ABRAMS: All I‘m saying is that the version I‘m getting from you is different than the version that I‘m hearing from Jamie Skeeters and it sounds different to me than the one that we heard on the “Dr. Phil” show.
ELLIS SCHIPPER: Absolutely and that is a strange thing.
ABRAMS: Right...
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: So I‘m calling it...
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: I‘m calling it the Aruban version.
ELLIS SCHIPPER: ... but this hard disk is supposed to be at the FBI.
ABRAMS: Yes. All right. Well look I—Megan—let me ask my producer and ask when we went and made this tape, did we—did Jamie Skeeters tell us that we were making the tape of the original? Yes. OK. That‘s what I thought and so then—all right. We‘ll find—Jamie Skeeters was supposed to be on the program.
ELLIS SCHIPPER: Then the FBI doesn‘t have the original.
ABRAMS: This is a mess.
(LAUGHTER)
ABRAMS: This is an absolute mess.
ELLIS SCHIPPER: Yes, it is.
ABRAMS: This is...
ELLIS SCHIPPER: This is a mess that is setting the scene for a boycott of a complete island.
ABRAMS: Look...
ELLIS SCHIPPER: Understand what we are dealing with.
ABRAMS: I‘m not—Arlene, I am not taking this lightly. OK, I am not mocking this. I am not minimizing this. I get it. I know why this is so important to you. I know why this is so important to the Holloway family and I know why this is important to the experts in this field to maintain the credibility of what they‘re doing. Richard Parton, Paul Ginsberg, Arlene Ellis Schipper, thanks. (INAUDIBLE)
Coming up, all three versions of the tape, reactions from Natalee‘s mother, Beth Holloway Twitty.
Plus, he‘s one of the biggest stars on the screen, but also one of the most controversial and political. My sit-down with George Clooney is coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ABRAMS: We are back. We‘re talking about that controversial tape in the Natalee Holloway investigation, an interview with Deepak Kalpoe, one of the three suspects. We‘ve played three different versions of this tape and the question of course is did he say that he had—that he and the other suspects had sex with Natalee or not. Again, I want to play them again and this time we‘re going to get the chyrons right as to what the—it sounds like they‘re seeing in each one and why it sounds different. Here again what was played on the “Dr. Phil” show.
(BEGIN AUDIOTAPE)
SKEETERS: And the question I‘ll ask you is if you intentionally killed her? If it was an accident I can help all of you. And if you guys were partying -- even if somebody had given her a date drug—I‘m sure she had sex with all of you.
KALPOE: She did. You‘d be surprised how simple it was.
(END AUDIOTAPE)
ABRAMS: OK, that‘s the edited version from the “Dr. Phil” show. Here is the original version from Jamie Skeeters, the polygraph expert, who did the interview.
(BEGIN AUDIOTAPE)
SKEETERS: Nobody told her that you can‘t (EXPLETIVE DELETED). You know? I mean and I‘m sure she had sex with all of you.
KALPOE: She did. You‘d be surprised how simple it was that night.
(END AUDIOTAPE)
ABRAMS: All right, that‘s what it sure sounds like and that was our interpretation. But again, now here‘s the one that we got from Aruba, which sounds different.
(BEGIN AUDIOTAPE)
SKEETERS: Nobody told her that you can‘t (EXPLETIVE DELETED). You know? I mean and I‘m sure she had sex with all of you.
KALPOE: No, she didn‘t. You‘d be surprised how simple it would have been.
(END AUDIOTAPE)
ABRAMS: All right. Joining me now, Natalee‘s mother, Beth Holloway Twitty. Beth, thanks for coming back on the program. This has got to be very frustrating for you to be hearing these different accounts and this uncertainty about what this tape means.
BETH HOLLOWAY TWITTY, NATALEE HOLLOWAY‘S MOTHER: Well, it is. You know I‘ve listened to the tapes, of course, over and over again, Dan, and what I hear is Deepak saying it‘s you‘d be surprised how simple it was that night. And you know we‘re—you know and I do hear the differences in the versions. It is as if there‘s an Aruban version, the original version from the hard drive and the one that was on “Dr. Phil”, which was edited for television.
ABRAMS: Right. I mean look there is no question that—and we just had—we had an expert come in to determine if they thought that the “Dr. Phil” show had played with the words. And it seems that they didn‘t, according to the person we had in. They said it‘s very consistent with the one that Jamie Skeeters gave to them. But it‘s true, is it not, that the one from Aruba does sound different.
TWITTY: Yes. It almost sounds as if it is different, Dan, when I‘m hearing it. It‘s probably just due to the poor quality that‘s coming out of Aruba. Maybe it‘s being transmitting over the phone or I wasn‘t really sure how the media was obtaining that.
ABRAMS: Yes. We got that from the Aruban authorities both via e-mail and via the phone. The weird thing is that version sounds clearer almost than does the other one that was on the “Dr. Phil” show. Anyway. What‘s the latest on your life? On the investigation? Bring us up-to-date.
TWITTY: Well, I certainly hope that Arlene Schipper is not placing this—the family coming forward and endorsing a boycott due to this taped interview from Deepak Kalpoe. That is just simply—nothing could be farther from the truth.
And endorsing the boycott and it‘s coming from the family‘s frustration of the mishandling of Natalee‘s case. And I think everyone knows that November the 4th was a huge turning point for the family when—receiving a letter from the Department of Foreign Affairs, Augustine Borolic (ph), and how he‘s stating now that Aruba is not responsible for the investigation.
I think out of frustration, we look back on how we were pleading, written and verbal requests for help from the government officials on the island of Aruba and receiving none, no guidance, no direction. That‘s where the endorsing the boycott came from, Dan.
ABRAMS: What is your hope now with regard to the investigation?
TWITTY: Well, I hope that—I‘m really glad that you guys have been able to you know get a hold of the tape. I‘m hoping that we can have that analyzed, have it transcribed, and put it to rest and you know then get focused on the rest of the evidence that Aruba has collected all along. I mean Dan, there are unbelievable statements coming from Joran van der Sloot from June 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 that have audio and videotape that they need to be worrying about those and reviewing those and not just one taped evidence that Jamie Skeeters was able to obtain.
ABRAMS: Yes and you don‘t have a copy of Joran van der Sloot‘s taped interview, right?
TWITTY: Yes, I—Joran van der Sloot, when he was given his interrogations June 9...
ABRAMS: Right.
TWITTY: ... 13?
ABRAMS: Yes.
TWITTY: What I have had access to, Dan, was I had two Aruban attorneys who sat down with me and translated these Dutch documents and I just took notes...
ABRAMS: Right. No, I just meant it in the sense that they are not something that you can offer up publicly, that you are not withholding something from people. The bottom line is you just don‘t have access to it, it‘s part of the investigation, right?
TWITTY: Absolutely...
ABRAMS: Yes.
TWITTY: We have been privileged to see it, but we have remained confidential with the information that we were privilege to.
ABRAMS: Any other legal action planned?
TWITTY: No, Dan. I mean right now the family just needs a lot of communication. That‘s all we‘re asking for. We want to know what happened to Natalee, you know where are we in the investigation? You know our communication lines have been terminated with the prosecuting attorney and with the chief of police, so really we just need some information coming out of Aruba.
ABRAMS: Are you working—John Q. Kelly, a good friend of this program, a guy I like and respect a lot, is he working with you now?
TWITTY: Yes, we have retained him. And like I said, we‘re just hoping to open up a line of communication and see where we are in the investigation. We just hate being in the dark all along, Dan.
ABRAMS: Yes. All right, Beth, thanks for coming back. Good luck.
TWITTY: OK. Thank you, Dan.
ABRAMS: Joining me now former prosecutor, MSNBC analyst Susan Filan and criminal defense attorney Michelle Suskauer. Oh boy, what a mess. Susan, I mean I don‘t know what to make of these tapes. I don‘t—I mean I just—I can‘t figure out what‘s going on.
SUSAN FILAN, MSNBC LEGAL ANALYST: It‘s absolutely bizarre. But if the tapes are as they seem to suggest in the beginning, that there is an admission on a polygraph that they did in fact have sex with her, that all three of them did nothing consistent with what they said in other statements...
ABRAMS: Right.
FILAN: ... I think that‘s a critical shard of evidence that the prosecution could use if they were so inclined to get aggressive and prosecute this case. The fact that they have cut off lines of communication with the family to me is just outrageous. I feel so sorry for Beth Holloway Twitty to be in that position now.
ABRAMS: You know let me—I want to put—can we get that tape loaded again of the version we got from Aruba? All right, before—
Michelle, again I want to play this again.
MICHELLE SUSKAUER, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes.
ABRAMS: And I keep playing these again and again and again, but this is the version that makes me wonder what‘s going on here.
SUSKAUER: Right.
(BEGIN AUDIOTAPE)
SKEETERS: Nobody told her that you can‘t (EXPLETIVE DELETED). You know? I mean and I‘m sure she had sex with all of you.
KALPOE: No, she didn‘t. You‘d be surprised how simple it would have been.
(END AUDIOTAPE)
ABRAMS: It just sure—I mean it sounds on that one like saying would have been as opposed to was.
SUSKAUER: That‘s what it sounds like to me. But you know this is—it really is like you said, Dan, this is an absolute mess. But if you look at what Aruba has done, what they haven‘t done. I mean it‘s been a—just a really screwed-up investigation in the way that they have been handling this.
But in terms of the Aruba government and their legal system, this is really a prosecutor‘s dream in Aruba. And even in Aruba they did not feel that they had enough evidence against these guys. And I just all along...
(CROSSTALK)
SUSKAUER: ... thought the three guys were going to be let go.
ABRAMS: How is it a prosecutor‘s dream?
SUSKAUER: Well in Aruba, they can interrogate and they did interrogate these boys for days and days and hours and hours on end without an attorney present. That they can hold them without formal charges being filed.
ABRAMS: Yes.
SUSKAUER: This is a prosecutor‘s dream. And in Aruba, they felt that even in that type of situation they didn‘t have enough evidence against these guys.
ABRAMS: All right. We were supposed to have Jamie Skeeters on the program. He‘s the one who did the interview. He was on the program last night talking about this, insisting that he heard on that tape Deepak Kalpoe saying that they did have sex with her and insists that there was no manipulation of the tape. (INAUDIBLE) again, he‘s the one who handed over the tape to Arlene that they then gave to us. I don‘t know. If I had answers, I would tell you. Susan Filan, Michelle Suskauer, thanks a lot.
SUSKAUER: Thank you.

12-2-05

On 12-2 MSNBC reported:

DAN ABRAMS, HOST: Coming up, the “Dr. Phil” shows responds to Aruban officials who say his show manipulated a crucial tape of a suspect in the Natalee Holloway case.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ABRAMS (voice-over): We have an audio expert here to show us what was or wasn‘t changed. Did Deepak Kalpoe say that he and the other suspects all had sex with Natalee or did he say just the opposite. We analyze the tape.
…
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ABRAMS: Hi, everyone. First up on the docket, the plot thickens. The confusion is growing and our ABRAMS REPORT investigation continues into what could be a critical piece of evidence in the investigation into Natalee Holloway‘s disappearance.
In question, an interview with Deepak Kalpoe, one of the three suspects in the disappearance. At issue, whether Kalpoe said he and the other suspects had sex with Natalee the night she disappeared. The answer? Depends on who you ask.
We‘re going to play all three sources we have and let you decide. And we‘ve got an expert in the house today who‘s evaluated all the tapes with a computer model. He‘s cleaned it up, got a formal response from the “Dr. Phil” show that aired the tape.
But first up, a clip of the interview provided to us by Jamie Skeeters, a polygraph expert, who got the interview with Deepak. Listen carefully.
(BEGIN AUDIOTAPE)
JAMIE SKEETERS, POLYGRAPH EXPERT: Nobody forced her to drink that night.
DEEPAK KALPOE , SUSPECT IN NATALEE HOLLOWAY‘S DISAPPEARANCE: No. No.
SKEETERS: Nobody told her that you can‘t (EXPLETIVE DELETED). You know? I mean and I‘m sure she had sex with all of you and (INAUDIBLE).
KALPOE: She did.
SKEETERS: OK. Well I mean good. If she did, fine.
KALPOE: You‘d be surprised how simple it was that night.
(END AUDIOTAPE)
ABRAMS: All right. That seems to say what we laid out on the screen there. Again, this is different interpretations. We‘re intentionally putting up the words so that you can hear what the people who are providing them think that it‘s saying. Next, that same clip mailed to us from Aruba.
(BEGIN AUDIOTAPE)
SKEETERS: Nobody forced her to drink that night.
KALPOE: No. No.
SKEETERS: Nobody told her that you can‘t (EXPLETIVE DELETED) her.
You know? I mean and I‘m sure she had sex with all of you and (INAUDIBLE).
KALPOE: No, she didn‘t.
SKEETERS: OK. Well I mean good. If she did, fine.
KALPOE: You‘d be surprised how simple it would have been.
(END AUDIOTAPE)
ABRAMS: Finally the portion of the interview as played on the “Dr.
Phil” show, which caused al the controversy to begin with.
(BEGIN AUDIOTAPE)
SKEETERS: And the question I‘ll ask you is, if you intentionally killed her.
KALPOE: No.
SKEETERS: If it was an accident, I can help all of you. And if you guys were partying—even if somebody had given her a date drug, I‘m sure she had sex with all of you.
KALPOE: She did. You‘d be surprised how simple it was.
(END AUDIOTAPE)
ABRAMS: All right. Now before we get to our first guest, I want to point something out, the man who is the key to all of this, the man who did the interview, Jamie Skeeters, was scheduled to be on our program last night. Spoke to our producer three minutes before the show and was all set to go. Showtime came, Jamie was MIA, didn‘t call back for his phone interview, didn‘t answer his phone when our producers called him.
We have just found out why we never heard from him. At least Skeeters tells us the “Dr. Phil” show wouldn‘t let him appear. Now to try to get to the bottom of this, I called Dr. Phil personally to try to sort this out. I like Dr. Phil. I‘ve met him before.
He didn‘t return my call. I was told he‘s traveling. I don‘t know what effect that has on the ability to use a phone, but I did get a call back from his executive producer and we‘re waiting for a statement from them. Now, his P.R. team said they—quote—“stand by the tapes. They weren‘t manipulated.”
But I still think something is going on here. I don‘t know. I don‘t know who it is. I don‘t know where, by who, but the tapes sound different to me. I want to get to the bottom of this.
Joining me now Frank Piazza, voice analyst and president of Legal Audio. He‘s worked with the FBI, the DEA, and the U.S. Attorney‘s Office. Frank thanks a lot for coming in. Appreciate it.
FRANK PIAZZA, VOICE ANALYST: Thank you.
ABRAMS: All right. Let‘s start with your computer model. And what you did is you compared all three tapes, right? You compared the original Jamie Skeeters tape. You compared the tape we got from Aruba and you compared the “Dr. Phil” tape. Tell us what you found. Tell us what these colors that we‘re going to put on the screen mean.
PIAZZA: Sure. If you look at the graph, the top waveform I believe is the original waveform...
ABRAMS: And that‘s the Jamie Skeeters one.
PIAZZA: Yes, the blue form.
ABRAMS: OK.
PIAZZA: Below that would be the Aruba form.
ABRAMS: OK.
PIAZZA: And you can see the blue and the green, they have—they are
very similar in their appearance and their length, which tells me just as -
from a first visual that we have a match.
ABRAMS: Even though they sounded different. I mean we played them.
They sound a little different.
PIAZZA: Well the version I received was kind of a compressed version, as an MPEG or a Windows Media file. And things can happen as far as noise gets added. The level of noise can just be brought up.
(CROSSTALK)
PIAZZA: So that doesn‘t surprise me. But the actual length of the file—another thing I looked into was the ambience happening around the recording and it‘s all identical.
ABRAMS: OK.
PIAZZA: Nothing has changed.
ABRAMS: All right. Now what about the—the “Dr. Phil” tape is going to be different. I mean they would admit they—look, we edited it. We‘re not claiming that we played the whole tape. Is that all you‘re finding?
PIAZZA: Well what I‘m finding is the initial clip I got from—to
work with was approximately about five seconds in length. What I have done
I‘ve stretched it out here and I‘ve illustrated that they left out about five seconds in total. You can see the two gaps...
ABRAMS: Right. They left out pauses. They left out...
PIAZZA: Right.
ABRAMS: ... the comment that Skeeters makes back, et cetera. OK.
PIAZZA: And in those pauses you know what was left out were some words and some finishing—the finishing of words, you know which is probably why we are here today...
ABRAMS: But you can‘t say, can you, that they cut out the end of did
you can‘t say that the word didn‘t was there and they cut that out?
PIAZZA: I can say that when I listen back to the originals that I hear didn‘t.
ABRAMS: Did not
PIAZZA: Not did not, didn‘t.
ABRAMS: Didn‘t...
PIAZZA: Right.
ABRAMS: ... meaning that Deepak‘s response to the question of did they all have sex with Natalee that night is didn‘t.
PIAZZA: No, I didn‘t, I believe is the actual...
ABRAMS: Well let‘s do this...
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: You cleaned up the tape.
PIAZZA: (INAUDIBLE)
ABRAMS: And here‘s—I‘m going to play the clean version first. Again, this is what Jamie Skeeters gave to us and then I‘m going to play your cleaned up version...
PIAZZA: OK.
ABRAMS: ... I want to ask you what that means cleaned up in a minute.
All right, here‘s—first of all Jamie Skeeters.
(BEGIN AUDIOTAPE)
SKEETERS: Nobody told her to drink that night.
KALPOE: No. No.
SKEETERS: Nobody told her that you can‘t (EXPLETIVE DELETED) her.
You know? I mean and I‘m sure she had sex with all of you and (INAUDIBLE).
KALPOE: Yes, she did.
SKEETERS: OK. Well, I mean good. If she did, fine.
KALPOE: You‘d be surprised how simple it was that night.
(END AUDIOTAPE)
ABRAMS: You know I do see like—Arlene Ellis Schipper is going to be joining us in a minute from Aruba, says she sees him shaking his head a little bit saying I didn‘t. It kind of looks to me like he‘s shaking his head a little bit, but here‘s the cleaned up version.
What do you do when you clean it up before I play this? What does that mean?
PIAZZA: Well we try to remove some of that noise, that hiss, first is the first thing that gets in the way, clean up also is trying to lift up with the volume and gain changes the words so we can hear them finish and sometimes when you add certain frequencies to it you‘ll able to hear S‘s finish as the ends of words. This is very critical.
ABRAMS: All right. Here it is.
(BEGIN AUDIOTAPE)
SKEETERS: She - no—you didn‘t—nobody forced her to drink that night.
KALPOE: No. No.
SKEETERS: Nobody told her that you can‘t (EXPLETIVE DELETED) her.
You know? I mean and I‘m sure she had sex with all of you and (INAUDIBLE).
KALPOE: No, she didn‘t.
SKEETERS: OK. Well, I mean good. If she did, fine.
KALPOE: You‘d be surprised how simple it was that night.
SKEETERS: (INAUDIBLE)
(END AUDIOTAPE)
ABRAMS: Simple—what do you think—the end is simple it was or simple it would have been?
PIAZZA: The end?
ABRAMS: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: You‘d be amazed at how simple it was or simple it would have been.
PIAZZA: I think was but I‘d have to listen to it again. I wasn‘t really getting a good...
ABRAMS: OK. Here‘s the Jamie Skeeters‘ response. This is what—he was on the program on Wednesday as to what he says he heard on the tape.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SKEETERS: What I heard on the tapes and what you can hear on the tapes is when I make that statement, she probably had sex with all of you. If you wait about a second and a half, you can hear him say she did. And then I go, oh, because I‘m responding to a surprise cop-out. Then he says something like and she did or did. And then he goes and then you would be surprised how simple it was that night.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABRAMS: All right. But, Frank, you have a different take...
PIAZZA: Well no. I mean I agree with that...
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: The last part...
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: But the first part you don‘t agree with the yes, I did.
PIAZZA: Well you know you have a visual. And the visual is just of the top of the head and...
ABRAMS: Right.
PIAZZA: ... you know you‘re looking you know for some help, you know to see how he responds. I don‘t get that. I hear a (INAUDIBLE) I don‘t hear anything else finish in the room. I wasn‘t there.
ABRAMS: All right. Frank Piazza stay with us for a minute. I want to bring in Clint Van Zandt, MSNBC analyst, former FBI investigator. He was actually on the “Dr. Phil” show and Arlene Ellis Schipper. She‘s a member of Aruba‘s Strategic Communication Task Force. She‘s the one who sent us the version from Aruba.
You know Arlene, I‘ve been thinking a lot about this. I‘ve been listening to these tapes a lot. I‘ve been talking to you know the team over at “Dr. Phil”. I do not believe that the “Dr. Phil” people somehow clipped the word you know did to make it seem like—didn‘t clip the word didn‘t to make it seem like did. I think the bottom line here is that this is a tough call as to what you hear on that tape. Do you deny that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, Dan...
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: Arlene. Arlene.
ARLENE ELLIS SCHIPPER, ARUBAN ATTORNEY, member of the ARUBA “STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS TASK FORCE,” (via phone): Excuse me. OK.
Sure. I do believe he says no, she didn‘t. But you know what? The fact
that we are already for three days discussing what the heck he said proves
my point. The claim of the “Dr. Phil” show was that it was a crystal clear
admittance by Kalpoe and the grievance was that the authorities still to
re-arrest him and on the basis of this we should boycott Aruba...
ABRAMS: You know that‘s not really true, Arlene. Arlene, that‘s not true. I mean you keep...
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: ... no, you keep saying that on...
ELLIS SCHIPPER: It is. It is.
ABRAMS: It‘s not true. The reason that the family...
ELLIS SCHIPPER: It is.
ABRAMS: ... and all these other people are trying to boycott Aruba—and look, you—I don‘t know if you have heard what I‘ve said publicly about it, but I think it‘s political nonsense. So you‘re talking to someone who thinks that it‘s sort of silliness, but with that said, the reason that they are saying that the boycott Aruba is not because of this tape. They‘re saying it‘s because of the whole investigation and the way the family has been treated.
ELLIS SCHIPPER: No. This tape sets directly the scene for proof to the American people and to set an ambience to prove that the police does not want to solve this case nor does it want to arrest...
ABRAMS: It was...
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: Look, it was one element, Arlene...
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: You‘re creating a little bit of a false, you know, a - something—a straw man here to just whack it down and saying (INAUDIBLE) this proves everything. Look, this is not the end of the inquiry...
ELLIS SCHIPPER: No, no, no, no, I‘m not saying it. I‘m just saying that this has been presented as the truth. It is not crystal clear.
ABRAMS: It is not crystal clear. I think...
ELLIS SCHIPPER: ... for eight weeks in the media...
ABRAMS: Well then you should be glad that we‘re doing it.
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: You should be glad. You say you‘ve been doing this for three days. You should be thanking us and saying thank you...
ELLIS SCHIPPER: No, no, no...
ABRAMS: ... for actually looking into this.
ELLIS SCHIPPER: This is the thing. This is what I‘m saying, the fact that we are already discussing this for three days means that it is not crystal clear. That proves the point that I‘m making all along.
ABRAMS: Clint Van Zandt...
ELLIS SCHIPPER: It is not that I‘m saying that I‘m not grateful. This is the reason why we brought it to your attention.
ABRAMS: Clint Van Zandt, what do you make of this?
CLINT VAN ZANDT, FORMER FBI PROFILER: Number one, I agree with you, Dan. This tape, right, wrong, changed, cut, sliced, this is a branch off the tree. What the American public is concerned with is that we are six months into this investigation and we are no closer now than we were the day this girl disappeared. That‘s the problem. The investigation, in most cases...
ELLIS SCHIPPER: Well you know Dan...
VAN ZANDT: ... and it‘s gone downhill ever since then. And whatever this tape shows...
(CROSSTALK)
VAN ZANDT: ... or doesn‘t show, it does not disguise the fact that this case is six months old and it still hasn‘t been solved by the Aruban authorities.
ABRAMS: Go ahead Arlene.
ELLIS SCHIPPER: But Dan, you know that really does not justify a boycott at all. You know there are many police forces that deal with sometimes cases that are hard to solve, for instance, the Daniel Embro (ph) case of Philadelphia. That‘s one of the best police forces in your country and we greatly respect those.
That case hasn‘t been solved for six months either. You don‘t boycott Philadelphia, do you? Well why would you boycott Aruba? Aruba has nothing to hide. The police are very committed to solve this case and that is the bottom line. And these ambience makers and setting scenes in the “Dr. Phil” show, they miscreate the truth and the efforts of the Aruban people and the Aruban authorities. I can assure you that we are committed to finding the truth.
ABRAMS: All right.
ELLIS SCHIPPER: We have nothing to gain by hiding.
ABRAMS: Let‘s do this. We‘re going to take a break. I‘m going to come back. We want to play a little bit more of these tapes again. And I‘m going to ask Frank Piazza after this break if we are going to get a firm answer, if we can get an unequivocal yes or no answer to this question. Is it answerable? That‘s coming up.
…
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN AUDIOTAPE)
SKEETERS: And the question I‘ll ask you is if you intentionally killed her?
KALPOE: No.
SKEETERS: If it was an accident, I can help all of you. And if you guys were partying, even if somebody had given her a date drug, I‘m sure she had sex with all of you.
KALPOE: She did. You‘d be surprised how simple it was.
(END AUDIOTAPE)
ABRAMS: All right. So we‘re talking about whether—when you get the original tape whether you actually hear just the opposite in the context in the Natalee Holloway investigation whether Deepak Kalpoe actually says didn‘t as opposed to did. There‘s a big difference and it‘s led to a huge fight as to what sort of evidence this should be in Natalee Holloway‘s disappearance.
Because look, if Deepak Kalpoe is saying that they all had sex with her, that is a relevant piece of evidence in this case. No one would dispute that. The question that some have been asking is you know what does the “Dr. Phil” show say about this?
We‘ve been trying to get a statement from them. We haven‘t gotten one. But Jamie Skeeters is the guy who was on the show. He‘s the one who did the interview and here‘s what he said about the tape that was played on the “Dr. Phil” show and about his own tape.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ABRAMS: Are you vouching for the tape that was played on the “Dr.
Phil” show?
SKEETERS: Dan, yes, listen, even the Dutch folks indicated my tapes are authentic. They haven‘t been touched. They‘re pure. They‘re virgin and they—they‘ll speak for themselves.
ABRAMS: All right.
SKEETERS: And as far as “Dr. Phil”, Dan, he‘s as honest as you are and his entire staff. They‘re—nobody is trying to manipulate anything. The evidence is what it is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABRAMS: Arlene, you don‘t dispute that, right? You are not saying that Skeeters‘ tape is a fake, right?
ELLIS SCHIPPER: The C.D. ROM that Mr. Skeeters sent to the Aruban police did not prove evidence of tampering with, no. That was the conclusion of the Forensic Institute.
ABRAMS: Right. OK. And when you say tampering with, again, the “Dr.
Phil” show doesn‘t dispute the fact that they edited the tape.
ELLIS SCHIPPER: No, but the findings of the Forensic Institute do not
they use specifically the word manipulation. They do not use the word editing and...
ABRAMS: But what does that mean...
ELLIS SCHIPPER: and that means editing for content (INAUDIBLE). What they do is they find out where the cuts were and they proved—they pointed out that the cuts were right before she and right after the word did. And when we saw the—when the technical team—I say...
ABRAMS: Yes.
ELLIS SCHIPPER: ... actually I saw it because—but the technical team of the police put those findings of the NFI together with the C.D. ROM next to it of Mr. Skeeters and you see no, she didn‘t and you see the nonverbal communication of him shaking his head, they found out then the official result is that it was tampered with.
ABRAMS: Right...
(CROSSTALK)
ELLIS SCHIPPER: It was doctored.
ABRAMS: Yes. All right. But see I think that term is—because I‘m looking at the transcript of even what are you claiming is on there and even if you look at that, it‘s clear, they wouldn‘t dispute. The “Dr. Phil” show would say look, look at the transcript. You‘re right.
We did cut right before she and we did cut right after did. And they would say that that was just for editing purposes. But the more important question, of course, is what is actually said on that tape. And Frank look, you spent a lot of time listening to this again and again. And you put it on your computer model. And you believe that the term didn‘t is on there, right?
PIAZZA: That‘s what my ears tell me.
ABRAMS: Now what about—I want to ask you about the science of this. Richard Parton on this show last night, audio expert, here‘s what he had to say about his findings on the same question.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD PARTON, PH.D., VOICE ANALYST: We look at the waveforms and there is no question from the way the words stand on the waveforms that he said that they did have sex, also in context with the conversation that followed. It looks like it said they did have sex with her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABRAMS: What‘s the—I mean—it‘s not a science. I mean it‘s a science, but there is an art to it, right?
PIAZZA: Yes. You know we are being asked to help make a decision or help assist you in making a decision...
ABRAMS: Yes...
PIAZZA: ... that‘s why I have to remain neutral. And based on my experience having listened to thousands of hours of conversation, I mean I hear a hot of this.
ABRAMS: Yes. All right. Look, bottom line, I got to tell you I think—unless I hear something new, I‘m ready to drop this and say that I don‘t think we‘re going to know. But, you know, we shall see. I look forward to any new evidence anyone has to provide one way or the other. Dr. Phil is invited to appear on the program. There‘s a lot of allegations being made about his program by Arlene and some of the Aruban authorities. He is invited to appear at any time. Clint Van Zandt, Arlene Ellis Schipper, Frank Piazza, thanks a lot. Appreciate it.
PIAZZA: Thank you very much.
.…
ABRAMS: We are back. We have finally received a statement from the “Dr. Phil” show. Remember yesterday and again today, we played all three copies of an interview tape with Deepak Kalpoe, a suspect in Natalee Holloway‘s disappearance. It was originally played on the “Dr. Phil” show.
Remember there are two issues here, one, did Kalpoe say she did or no, she didn‘t when talking about whether he and the two other suspects had sex with Natalee and whether he said—quote—“you‘d be surprised how simple it was that night or the other night or how simple it would have been.” We played “Dr. Phil‘s” version, the alleged original copy provided to us by Jamie Skeeters who did the interview and the copy given us—to us by the Aruban authorities.
Dr. Phil‘s statement came in after we finished our segment on the tape. Here it is.
We were provided a raw tape by Jamie Skeeters, president of the California Polygraph Association, who conducted the interview. Mr. Skeeters confirms that Mr. Kalpoe did in fact say what was broadcast on the “Dr. Phil” show. Subsequently, the “Dr. Phil” show submitted Mr. Skeeters‘ tapes to an independent forensic audio specialist who confirms that the substance on the raw tape is consistent with what was played on the “Dr. Phil” show and that no change of the content in question took place.
Specifically, in his expert opinion, the raw tape does contain Mr. Kalpoe saying she did as well as you‘d be surprised how simple it was the other night. The “Dr. Phil” show, of course, excluded unintelligible and irrelevant portions, which did not change the content.
I still—I listened to that tape, and again, I‘m not making accusations against the “Dr. Phil” show. I‘m saying though when I listen to that—the whole tape, the one from Aruba and—it sounds to me like saying didn‘t and you know how easy it would have been. Here it is again.
(BEGIN AUDIOTAPE)
SKEETERS: I‘m sure she had sex with all of you.
KALPOE: She did. You‘d be surprised how simple it was that night.
(END AUDIOTAPE)
ABRAMS: She didn‘t—he looks—he kind of looks like he is shaking his head. I don‘t know. You know what? I said it before; I‘ll say it again. I don‘t think we are going to get an answer to this question definitively one way or the other. And you know as I said before, if Dr. Phil wants to clear the air, he‘s invited to appear on the program.

On 12-2 STEVE COHEN, an AMERICAN who was now acting as a “special advisor” to the ARUBAN government’s “Aruba Strategic Communications Task Force” and who has prior UNITED STATES news media experience, and who is currently producing low-budget films, told MSNBC “I think all things are possible, but I‘ll tell you exactly what is happening. One, the attorney general has asked another prosecutor from Curacao to come in and review the case from zero to now, as a check and balance to the investigation. Dompig has put on another Investigator, and Adolfo Richardson (ph) is returning from Holland next week, who will also take up the investigation, as well. He‘s a very highly trained Investigator. And I don‘t disagree with T.J. (T. J. WARD) in terms of, Are there other people? We are investigating whether or not there are other people. And I would encourage him to continue his investigation, and if, in fact, he does come up with enough evidence, to please bring it to us as soon as he can, so that we can run it through our own Investigators and see if we can come up with a solution.” (interestingly, COHEN has been visiting ARUBA since 1979 and in the 1980’s COHEN previously worked in a PHILADELPHIA TV news station with JOHN PAULY, who has also been aiding the Murder Suspects VAN DER SLOOT’s)

On 12-2 BETH HOLLOWAY-TWITTY stated to MSNBC “Tim Miller is gearing up to go again for another search. Of course, the last one had to be discontinued very quickly, as there just was no cooperation from the prosecuting attorney, nor the chief of Police, chief commissioner Dompig. So, we are hoping, though, that we can regroup and attempt that search once again.” When MSNBC asked BETH if she has talked to Dr. Phil or any of his people about the SKEETERS tapes or about any new developments in the case?, BETH stated "Well, I speak with his producers just about on a daily basis. And, Joe, until we can have any further information of analyzation of this tape, Jamie Skeeters, I‘m standing by him. He stands by the validity, 1000 percent, of the information obtained on this tape. And that‘s the stand I will take at this point.” “Well, hopefully, we will go back to Aruba before the Christmas holidays begin. And as far as the boycott, Joe, I think that‘s already been set into motion. Two governors now have come forward and are endorsing it, of course, from Arkansas and Alabama. And, Joe, I was thinking that if the other 48 states were polled, I think the same support would be there. And I think it just shows that America is taking a stand. And I think the stand is for safety. And all the family is asking is that the lack of law enforcement practices in Aruba be looked evaluated and a resolution in Natalee‘s case.”

On 12-2 the “National Enquirer” reported:

MISSING NATALEE'S MOM UNDER FIRE FROM TOP COP

A top Aruban cop has launched an astonishing attack that has poured more heartbreak on the mom of missing Alabama teen Natalee Holloway.

The Caribbean island's assistant police chief Gerold Dompig accused Beth Holloway Twitty of sabotaging the six-month investigation — by speaking out about the case on American TV and leaking leads.

He said: "Information given to her in confidence, being the mother of the missing girl, was repeatedly used or twisted by Mrs. Twitty on TV shows.

"This gave away several plans to the suspects' lawyers before investigators could act."

But Natalee's father Dave Holloway sprung to Beth's defense. He said: "What the Arubans are really complaining about is that they haven't been allowed to sweep it all under the rug. They'd like nothing more than for the case to go away — but Beth has interfered with that."

For more on this story, pick up The National Enquirer — on sale now!

On 12-2 CNNHN reported:

NANCY GRACE, HOST: What a week in America`s courtrooms. Take a look at the stories and, more important, the people who have touched all of our lives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did Deepak Kalpoe really have sex with Natalee Holloway? A new tape now tells a different story.

JAMIE SKEETERS, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR: I`m sure she had sex with all of you.

DEEPAK KALPOE , SUSPECT IN NATALEE HOLLOWAY CASE: Yes, she did.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That`s not what aired on the "Dr. Phil" show. It sounded very different.

SKEETERS: I`m sure she had sex with all of you.

KALPOE: She did. You`d be surprised how simple it was that night.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He says, "You`d be surprised how simple it was that night." It just doesn`t fit.

On 12-2 MSNBC reported:

RITA COSBY, HOST: Tonight: Is it a confession or not? A firestorm over an interview with one of the prime suspects in the Natalee Holloway case gets worse. Was it manipulated, and by who?
…
COSBY: It‘s all LIVE AND DIRECT. But first, we start tonight with the tale of the tape in the Natalee Holloway case. Dr. Phil and his syndicated talk show are defending themselves right now against any allegations of manipulating what could be a key piece of evidence in the Holloway case. At issue is the content of an interview with suspect Deepak Kalpoe and what he did or did not say about what happened the night Natalee disappeared. Tonight, this controversial interview and what may or may not have happened behind the scenes of Dr. Phil.
First, here‘s part of the interview from Dr. Phil‘s show. Here Deepak allegedly admits all three suspects had sex with Natalee Holloway.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
JAMIE SKEETERS, POLYGRAPH EXPERT: I‘m sure she had sex with all of you.
DEEPAK KALPOE, SUSPECT IN NATALEE HOLLOWAY DISAPPEARANCE: She did.
You‘d be surprised how simple it was.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
COSBY: And now here is that same part of the interview from Jamie Skeeters and what he claims Deepak Kalpoe says.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
SKEETERS: I‘m sure she had sex with all of you and (INAUDIBLE)
KALPOE: She did. You‘d be surprised how simple it was.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
COSBY: And now the version sent to us by the Aruban government with their translations. You can see what they say is quite different.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
SKEETERS: I‘m sure she had sex with all of you and (INAUDIBLE)
KALPOE: No, she didn‘t. You‘d be surprised how simple it would have been.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
COSBY: So what do we make of all of this? On the phone tonight from Aruba is special adviser to the Aruban government Steven Cohen. This is the first television interview he‘s done since taking on the role. And LIVE And DIRECT from Atlanta is former FBI agent Harold Copus. More importantly, he‘s part of Dr. Phil‘s investigation into the Natalee Holloway case. And he‘s also appeared as a guest on that show.
Harold, what do you make of all the controversy? Can you make sense of it?
HAROLD COPUS, FORMER FBI AGENT: I certainly can‘t. I understand what‘s going on. The problem now is what happens in these tapes and if they were manipulated, and if so, by whom.
COSBY: Do we know who did the editing at all, Harold?
COPUS: You know, I have no idea. That—someone from the Dr. Phil show is going to have to come forward and say what they did.
COSBY: Absolutely. And Steven, you know, you just stepped into your role today. What do you make of all of this controversy?
STEVE COHEN, SPECIAL ADVISER TO ARUBAN GOVERNMENT: Well, I think we make a few things of it. First, the tape was created by an independent investigation force, in this case, Jamie Skeeters and the Dr. Phil show, so it wasn‘t part of the official investigation.
And second, the Dutch had four independent forensic experts listen to these series of tapes. They acted independently of each other. They all came up with the same conclusion, which was that the Dr. Phil portion of the tape, in their words, quote, unquote, was “manipulated.” No one on our end of it has any idea whether it was manipulated and by whom, only that it is a different tape than the original that you‘ve received from us.
COSBY: Yes, and there certainly seems to be a big discrepancy there.
Let me read a statement—this is an official statement which was released today by the Dr. Phil show. It says, quote, “We were provided a raw tape by Jamie Skeeters, president of the California Polygraph Association, who conducted the interview. Mr. Skeeters confirms that Mr. Kalpoe did, in fact, say what was broadcast on the Dr. Phil show. Subsequently, the Dr. Phil show submitted Mr. Skeeters‘s tape to an independent forensic audio specialist who confirms the substance on the raw tape is consistent with what was played on the Dr. Phil show and that no change of the content in question took place. Specifically, in his expert opinion, the raw tape does not”—“does,” rather, “contain Mr. Kalpoe saying ‘She did,‘ as well as, ‘You‘d be surprised how simple it was the other night,‘” referring to all of them having sex with her.
COHEN: Rita? Rita?
COSBY: Wait. Let me finish the statement, sir. “The Dr. Phil show of course excluded unintelligible an irrelevant portions, which did not change the content.” That‘s the response from the Dr. Phil show. Steve Cohen, go ahead.
COHEN: Yes. I think that the Dr. Phil show is saying this, and it certainly makes sense that they feel that they did not alter the tape. However, I do know of Mr. Skeeters‘s record, being a Californian myself, and he‘s a very reputable polygraph investigator and interviewer. I would certainly doubt that he altered this, even though he was working for Dr. Phil, which he says on the tape repeatedly. He says, I‘m working for Dr.
Phil.
Also, one other thing. Some of the words, like “simple,” which in Dutch is not translated as “simple”—what “simple” means in Dutch is “easy,” that this—that this—“no problem,” is what it means. And I think sometimes in the translation, English to Dutch and Dutch to English, that there are some idiomatic problems that can result here. So even if...
COSBY: But Steve, do you believe that that‘s the issue, that we‘re playing with language barriers?
COHEN: I think there is some idiomatic issues here, but I don‘t think that any of this resolves in our investigators saying that Kalpoe has admitted to a rape having taken place on the beach.
COSBY: And of course, that‘s a big discrepancy. Let me—I want to just remind everybody, of course, at this point that there is absolutely no evidence, at this point, that the Dr. Phil show has indeed done anything wrong. But I do want to show or point out is that what we know is that some audio experts have said that the tape that played on Dr. Phil‘s show didn‘t match the original tape from the man who conducted the interview, the one that we‘ve been talking about, Jamie Skeeters. The show‘s producers say that they did not alter the tape that Skeeters gave them.
With that in mind, of course, we want to find out what may be going on behind the scenes of some of your favorite talk shows. Here tonight is a former executive producer of talk shows like Sally Jessie Raphael and Jerry Springer. LIVE AND DIRECT is Burt Dubrow. Burt, what do you think is going on behind the scenes at the Dr. Phil show? I mean, they‘re standing by their story right now.
BURT DUBROW, TALK SHOW PRODUCER: Well, and as they should. I just can‘t understand, Rita, why the Dr. Phil show would benefit in any way, shape or form by lying. It just doesn‘t make any sense to me. It‘s a news story. They‘re a very responsible show. The show is beautifully done, doesn‘t get in any trouble. I just don‘t think for a minute that they would do anything like that, in my opinion.
COSBY: (INAUDIBLE) And I‘ve had dealings with them. They seem very
reputable in my dealings with them. I want to show you a comment. This is
we had last night a voice analyst on our show. Here‘s what he had to say about the discrepancy from the raw tape to the edited tapes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. PHIL, TALK SHOW HOST: It‘s time to disclose that he is giving very specific information of her being moved, of tracking her, and that he has every confidence that that‘s who she is. He‘s not asking you for money or anything of the sort. He‘s just coming and telling you, I have seen her alive on the island in June, July and August with three moves that he‘s specifically talking about.
BETH HOLLOWAY TWITTY, NATALEE HOLLOWAY‘S MOTHER: Yes.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
COSBY: And that, of course, was Beth Holloway and Phil McGraw, not, obviously, the tape analyst, just a clip of the show about what was going on.
You know, Harold, you were there. Was there any sense of any nervousness about what was going to air and also where Dr. Phil was heading with his questions?
COPUS: Well, I wasn‘t there. They—what they did is, Jamie had put that together, and that was what was used for the show.
COSBY: But you were at the show, Harold. You were in the show.
COPUS: I was in the show on the second showing, when—that was about the sex trade.
COSBY: Yes, what do you—what do you make of it, though, Harold? I mean, was there any sense of nervousness, or do you think that they believed everything was fine and, indeed, maybe that is the case?
COPUS: I think it still is the case. And I really think from—we‘ve seen so much coming out of Aruba. I go back to that thing from Shakespeare, maybe much ado about nothing. I think this is just another red herring by these folks, and I see nothing wrong until a complete transcript is made and you put them side by side.
COSBY: No, absolutely. In fact, now I understand we do have that tape analyst who was on our show last night. He said he does see a discrepancy. And again, this is an expert looking at it on his computer. Of course, everybody has differing views, but here‘s what the one said last night on our show.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRANK PIAZZA, VOICE ANALYST: The original version, which we‘ll say is Mr. Skeeters‘s version, and the Aruban version, they both for me, as I analyzed them earlier, are exactly the same. There‘s no changes. Yet the Dr. Phil version, there are absolute edits.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSBY: You know, Burt, when you hear that, and you have tape experts who are saying that—and again, no one‘s quite sure what happened here—but when you hear that, the Dr. Phil show has got to be sort of scrambling to figure out what is going on.
DUBROW: Well, yes, and it‘s also very possible that there was an edit made, but not in a negative sense. I mean, that‘s very, very, very possible. I‘ve got a funny feeling, when all is said and done and the water clears, you‘re going to find the that Dr. Phil show is fine, is honest. And believe me, if there‘s anybody there who did do something wrong—and I don‘t think there is anybody, but if there is anybody, believe me, they‘ll be taken care of. I‘m sure. It‘s too responsible a show.
COSBY: Yes. Absolutely. Let me bring in, if I could, everybody—here with us tonight is the author of “The Practice of Public Relations,” crisis manager, consultant Fraser Seitel.
Fraser, regardless, how is this going to affect the Dr. Phil show?
FRASER SEITEL, CRISIS MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT: Dr. Phil, Rita, has got to be very careful about this. I mean, ultimately, what he‘s got to be concerned about most is his reputation. I mean, he‘s not your normal TV personality. He‘s a doctor, or at least he plays one on TV. And there are millions of people who watch him and listen to him and trust him. And you know, when he speaks about Natalee Holloway might be part of the sex slave trade now, and then this potentially altered tape, it strikes right at his credibility. So he‘s got to be very careful how he plays this.
COSBY: And you know, Fraser, they released this statement that we just read, saying that, Look—they basically stand by everything they did. Is there something more they should do just to reassure the folks?
SEITEL: Yes. No. Here—what they have to do is this. There are only three choices. One, the tape is truthful. Two, the private eye altered it. Or three, somebody on Dr. Phil‘s staff altered it. If I‘m advising Dr. Phil, I‘d say, Look, it‘s your credibility, it‘s your reputation. You find out what happened. You get to the bottom of it. You shake everybody up, and you announce it next week on the air, or else you run the risk of becoming the medical equivalent of Geraldo. You don‘t want that to happen.
COSBY: You know, and again, the tape analyst that we had on last night—I want to show another clip from what he had to say. He felt that it was sort of sensationalized, that there were some changes. I don‘t think we have it, but I just want to read—he basically says that Dr. Phil‘s show is filled with music and hype. At playback, it sounded a bit different.
Steve Cohen, if you‘re still with us in Aruba, is there something that the Aruban government‘s going to do just to clear this up? Because Dr. Phil‘s standing by his story. Very well may be his explanation is the right one.
COHEN: Well, as soon as Chief Dompig received the report which said that one tape was manipulated, he immediately called the FBI and offered the tapes to their forensic experts. So that is happening as we speak.
COSBY: Will we get the FBI‘s response, Steven?
COHEN: Yes.
COSBY: When will we get that?
COHEN: I‘m not in control of their timetable, but I expect it‘ll be quick because we, again—all we‘re looking for are any bits of information that can help us solve this puzzle of the disappearance. And if this, in fact, is a valid bit of information, where Kalpoe says that he committed rape, as did the others, well, that‘s very important in moving the investigation forward. But at this point, there‘s so much question about these tapes that our investigators really can‘t move forward with it.
COSBY: No, it doesn‘t sound like anybody can, at this point.
DUBROW: Rita?
COSBY: Yes, go ahead, real quick.
DUBROW: Rita, what would be the possible reason for the Dr. Phil show to mess with the tape? Why would they do that? How would they benefit?
COHEN: I have an answer for that, Rita, if I might.
COSBY: Yes. Go ahead, really fast.
COHEN: All right. My answer is that he had a scenario that ended the show, that he asked for a boycott of Aruba, and that he needed all his pieces in that show to fall together so that they would conclude that Aruba should be boycotted.
COSBY: Let me real quick get Harold in because Harold, is it possible that Aruba just doesn‘t want to admit that maybe it is on the tape? Let‘s play devil‘s advocate.
COPUS: I think that‘s pretty safe. So far, from at least my standpoint as an investigator and a former agent, I haven‘t been too impressed with what they‘ve done in Aruba to date. So I think—I stand by and say let‘s get the full transcript, lay them down side by side, and I think the chips will fall where they may.
COSBY: Exactly. In fact...
(CROSSTALK)
COSBY: Everybody, thank you. And of course, the debate about Dr. Phil‘s investigation into Natalee Holloway‘s disappearance doesn‘t end with the tapes that we‘re talking about. Just a few weeks ago, Dr. Phil dropped this bombshell on the “Tonight” show With Jay Leno.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHIL MCGRAW, TALK SHOW HOST: We have reasonable belief and some credible evidence that Natalee Holloway is alive.
JAY LENO, HOST: Is alive?
MCGRAW: Is alive. We cannot prove that at this point, and we don‘t know where she is, but you know, there is a huge sex slave underground in some of those countries down there. Young women have disappeared from that part of the world before, and we have—we have reasonable cause to believe that she may well be alive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSBY: And LIVE AND DIRECT tonight from Atlanta is private investigator T.J. Ward. T.J., what do you make of those statements from Dr. Phil?
T.J. WARD, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR: Hi, Rita. I believe that it‘s way out of (INAUDIBLE). I spent a lot of time in Aruba, and there‘s pieces of the puzzle that I know about, and I hardly believe that she‘s in a sex slave camp.
COSBY: But is it possible you just should look at all options, T.J.?
I mean, you don‘t want to exclude anything, right?
WARD: Well, we don‘t want to exclude anything, but when this came up at the first part of the investigation back in the first part of June, the FBI has done a lot of work down in South America to follow up with these type allegations.
COSBY: All right, T.J., stick around, if you could, because when we come back—why is Deepak Kalpoe out of prison in the first place when the chief of police said he‘s guilty? You remember on this show, “guilty as hell”? That‘s coming up. And that‘s not all.
Still ahead: A 20-year-old shooter goes berserk inside a shopping mall. And for the first time, we‘re hearing his chilling warning.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, I‘m just alerting you (INAUDIBLE) I‘m about to start shooting right now.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
COSBY: You‘ll hear the 911 tapes telling police that a rampage was on the way.
And a LIVE AND DIRECT exclusive, smackdown in Afghanistan. America‘s wrestling superstars tell me why they‘re taking the show on the road to support U.S. men and U.S. women fighting the war on terror. We are going with them.
And what were they thinking? Wait until you hear what piece of medical equipment Tom Cruise bought for his fiancee, and find out why doctors say it could be bad for baby. It‘s all coming up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I‘m so happy! I‘m so happy! I‘m so happy!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSBY: And the a big question in the Natalee Holloway case is could this controversial tape of one of the prime suspects possibly confessing put him and the other suspects back behind bars? Joining me again on the phone tonight from Aruba is special adviser to the Aruban government Steve Cohen. And let‘s also bring back in private investigator T.J. Ward.
Steve, I want to go to you, but first I want to show—this is a comment that Deputy Police Chief Dompig, who‘s the acting police chief down there in Aruba, as you know, made on our show, basically talking about the tape. This is prior to the release. And let‘s listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEROLD DOMPIG, DEPUTY POLICE CHIEF OF ARUBA: Once these tapes have proven to be authentic, which is very important for the court case, we definitely will move ahead. And I assure you that this be a complete turnaround of the case. And as I said earlier in other interviews, if these guys are guilty, I want them behind bars.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSBY: And before I get to that, I also want to play the subsequent conversation that I had with Chief Dompig not too long after that—I believe the conversation was November 2 -- where he took that guilty line just one step further.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOMPIG: I still believe that these boys have been lying. They‘re still lying, and everybody knows that by now.
COSBY: Chief, you said to me even before this interview that you believe the boys are guilty as hell. Do you believe they‘re involved in her disappearance?
DOMPIG: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSBY: Steve Cohen, that was a pretty strong “yes” from the deputy chief of police, the acting police chief there. What‘s going to happen now? Because there‘s other information on the tape, not just the question about the sex, but other things that have been authenticated.
COHEN: Yes. I don‘t think there‘s any question that the operative theory by the chief continues to be the same theory that Beth Holloway has, which is that the boys had non-consensual sex with Natalee. And then at the conclusion, she was either comatose and then passed away or she passed away at some time in that interval, and then they disposed of the body or had someone dispose of the body.
That continues to be the foremost operative theory. And any evidence that would give us some more pieces to move forward would be very important to the investigation. I spoke to the chief this morning, prior to this interview, and he told me again that if there‘s anything on that tape that really begins to put some of the pieces together, he will take it to the attorney general. But right now, I‘d have to say, Rita, that honestly, we don‘t have enough to move forward off of that tape.
COSBY: T.J., if they can somehow get this validated—say the FBI comes forward and says this is what it is and it‘s in sync with what the Dr. Phil show has said—that is enough, at that point, T.J., don‘t you think, to force them to move forward?
WARD: Yes, I think so.
COSBY: I mean, what else do they need, T.J., in your assessment?
WARD: Well, I can‘t really believe that three boys could pull off the perfect crime. There‘s somebody else involved in here. And I was kind of a little taken when they put Paul van der Sloot out of the picture. I believe he plays a major part of this investigation, and I believe that he‘s a major part of the disappearance and removal of her body, wherever she is now.
COSBY: And T.J., let me play another part. I had Beth Holloway, of
course, Natalee‘s mom, on my show last night. And I asked her—because
she and I had also talked about some things that she had read, some
statements that Joran and some other boys made about using another boy‘s
father‘s boat that night—this is something that had never come up before
maybe signaling that someone else was involved. Take a listen to what Beth said on the show last night.
BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TWITTY: Coon‘s (ph) father has a boat. And from what I had understood, that there was some activity with that boat during the early morning hours of May 30, when these boys took Natalee. To what extent, we don‘t know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSBY: T.J., you definitely believe that there were others involved, if, indeed, these boys played a role.
WARD: I believe that Paulus van der Sloot is the culprit that is directly involved in the removal of Natalee Holloway off that island. And I‘m trying to place the pieces of the puzzle together to solve and convince my theory that that‘s what has transpired.
COSBY: Steve, what‘s the next step for you guys? Are you waiting for something to come in, or are you going look for something...
COHEN: No, I...
(CROSSTALK)
COSBY: ... reinterview this—you know, we had Arlene Ellis Schipper on the other night. She indicated that these guys may be interrogated again, may be questioned again anyway. Is that the case?
COHEN: I think all things are possible, but I‘ll tell you exactly what is happening. One, the attorney general has asked another prosecutor from Curacao to come in and review the case from zero to now, as a check and balance to the investigation. Dompig has put on another investigator, and Adolfo Richardson (ph) is returning from Holland next week, who will also take up the investigation, as well. He‘s a very highly trained investigator.
And I don‘t disagree with T.J. in terms of, Are there other people? We are investigating whether or not there are other people. And I would encourage him to continue his investigation, and if, in fact, he does come up with enough evidence, to please bring it to us as soon as he can, so that we can run it through our own investigators and see if we can come up with a solution.
COSBY: And Steve is shaking his head yes. All right, both of you, thank you. Steve Cohen and T.J. Ward, thank you both very much.

12-4-05

On 12-4 the CLARION, MISSISSIPPI “Clarion Ledger” newspaper reported:

State to Join Aruba Boycott?

Fresh from a Thanksgiving trip to Iraq, Gov. Haley Barbour said Thursday he hadn't given much thought yet to calling on Mississippians to boycott Aruba.
Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee joined Alabama Gov. Bob Riley in requesting a travel boycott of Aruba out of respect for the family of missing teenager Natalee Holloway. Riley is asking all states to sign on.

Her father, Dave Holloway, lives in Meridian. Barbour didn't rule out a decision on the boycott.

"We're going to give it a look," he said.

12-5-05

On 12-5 the December 2005 “Vanity Fair” magazine reported:

Nightmare in Paradise

By BRYAN BURROUGH

The disappearance of beautiful, blonde teenager Natalee Holloway in Aruba last May became America's most tragic reality show. Sorting fact from rumor, with new information from the Police, the author cuts to the heart of the case
It had been a soccer mom's dream weekend, just the three women lying around the lake house at Hot Springs, Arkansas, sunbathing, relaxing, and luxuriating in the fact that, for three entire days, they were free of teenagers, dirty laundry, and housework. Now, on Monday, May 30, they were driving home in Beth Twitty's Chevy Tahoe, barreling east out of Memphis, looking to make it back to suburban Birmingham, Alabama, in time to get dinner on the table by nightfall.

A little after 11 a.m., Beth's cell phone rang. "Hello, this is Beth," she said in her soft southern accent. It was Jody Bearman, one of seven adults who had escorted a group of 124 students from Birmingham's Mountain Brook high school on a senior trip to the Caribbean island of Aruba. Twitty's 18-year-old daughter, Natalee, a hard-driving, straight-A student who was heading to the University of Alabama on a full scholarship, was on the trip. Beth's brow furrowed as she tried to digest Bearman's message: Natalee had not appeared in the "Holiday Inn" lobby for the return flight to Alabama.
No one, in fact, had seen her since the night before. Another mother might have surmised that her daughter was still out partying, maybe passed out in a hotel room. Not Beth Twitty. "I knew immediately that my daughter had been kidnapped in Aruba," she says today. "Natalee has never been late in her life."

Beth didn't panic. She became, in her words, "extremely focused." From her cell phone she called 911, telling the dispatcher her daughter had just been kidnapped and she was driving 110 miles an hour straight through Mississippi, and she wasn't stopping for anything. She called her husband, Natalee's stepfather, George "Jug" Twitty, and the F.B.I. By the time Beth reached Birmingham, a family friend had already arranged for a private jet. By five o'clock she was on board, along with Jug, the general manager of a Birmingham metals-industry facility, and two of Jug's longtime friends. They left a seat empty for the return trip—for Natalee. The jet landed at Aruba's Queen Beatrix International Airport around 10 p.m.

Thus began a long night's search that brought the Twitty family face-to-face with the Dutch teenager they would come to believe was responsible for the disappearance of their daughter, a search that within days would captivate America, or at least that sizable part of it that watches the nightly "justice shows" on cable television. Soon Beth Twitty would become a recognizable media fixture, giving interviews or meeting with everyone from Greta van Susteren to Diane Sawyer to Dr. Phil to Condoleezza Rice. She has never wavered in her search for Natalee or in her belief that a boy named Joran van der Sloot knows her daughter's fate and that the corrupt Police and government of Aruba have conspired to cover up the truth. The Twittys and others, including Bob Riley, the governor of Alabama, have called for American tourists to boycott the island.

Yet a deeper look at the investigation into Natalee Holloway's disappearance suggests the case is more complicated than it might appear on television. The Twitty family's obsessive quest has proved to be a national trauma for Aruba, a Dutch possession that has been repeatedly depicted in the U.S. media as overrun by drugs and crime. Stung by criticism they view as unwarranted, many Arubaans, including a number who were once the Twittys' closest allies, have turned on the family, depicting them as Ugly Americans.

"They're killing Aruba," says Aruban businessman Charles Croes, a former ally. "That girl, Natalee, I wish she'd stayed home. I hope she's found alive there. Because no one would care. No one. The kid is just not worth all this trouble, this heartache. Is Natalee worth it? Is she?"

The Aruban Police have reached a breaking point. In a wide-ranging interview, Gerold Dompig, the deputy Police chief in charge of the case, says the biggest obstacle to solving it has been the Twitty family itself. Among other things, Dompig charges that pressure from the family sidetracked the investigation from the outset, forcing the premature arrests of the main suspects and destroying the best chance Police had of gathering evidence to solve the case.

"They brought out their big guns on the very first day, and they started shooting," grouses Dompig, seated in a tiny office inside his neat, European-style Police station. "They didn't understand the way things are done in our system. They didn't want to understand. They act like they came from a world where you can just crush people. It was very harmful to our investigation."

Dompig traces these difficulties to the first hours of his probe, when he met with the Twittys to assure them that everything possible would be done to find Natalee. Instead of gratitude, he says, he was met with angry threats. "Jug and his Alabama friends, they basically came out and said they would bring hell to our island if Natalee wasn't found—'burn it down' were the exact words. That's when I knew we were in serious trouble." (Jug Twitty denies this happened. "Where would he get that?" he asks. "We thought he was a nice guy.")

The Holloway case is now one of the most popular reality shows in America thanks to the hosts of cable television's nightly justice shows, chiefly Greta van Susteren on Fox News, Rita Cosby on MSNBC, and Nancy Grace on CNN Headline News. The story has all the elements the justice shows adore: an innocent victim, missing or murdered; avenging loved ones; and a handsome, white-male suspect. Throw in a gaggle of luckless cops and colorful minor characters, set it all in an island paradise, and you have the kind of real-life mystery that keeps Americans glued to their sets.

And make no mistake: Natalee Holloway has been very, very good for cable television. Van Susteren all but moved her show to Aruba this summer and saw her ratings jump nearly 60 percent. The case helped Rita Cosby leap to No. 1 at MSNBC. At CNN Headline News, Holloway served to introduce viewers to the frightening former prosecutor Nancy Grace. Not to mention the endless hours of programming by Bill O'Reilly of Fox, and Dan Abrams and Joe Scarborough of MSNBC.

But not without flak. The coverage has been assailed from all sides, for crowding out real news and for de-emphasizing the searches for other missing persons, especially blacks, Latinos, men, and the poor. In August, Bob Costas bowed out of a stint to be the guest host on Larry King Live rather than pore over the case's details. On CNN, Anderson Cooper lambasted the coverage as overblown. The mainstream media have mostly demurred, sharpening the line between their definition of news and that of the justice shows, which don't hesitate to traffic in rumor and speculation.

How did we come to a moment when a single missing teenager draws as much television coverage as the war in Iraq? Matthew Felling, of the Center for Media and Public Affairs, a Washington think tank, traces the Missing White Women boomlet not to the JonBenét Ramsey case of 1996, as some have, but to a set of murders three years later. In 1999 three women—Carole Sund, her daughter, and a family friend—were found gruesomely murdered in Yosemite National Park. In the wake of the killings, Sund's parents established a foundation in Modesto, California, to publicize the plight of missing persons and offer rewards for information leading to the arrest of violent criminals.

The foundation might have faded into obscurity but for the disappearance in May 2001 of former Washington intern Chandra Levy. The case initially attracted scant media attention outside of Levy's hometown, which happened to be Modesto. Brought into the case, the Sund/Carrington foundation mobilized a team of publicists who invented a new kind of grassroots effort: the missing-person campaign. Whereas JonBenét Ramsey's parents zealously avoided the press, Chandra Levy's family, with the help of the Sund/Carrington publicists, appeared for regular press conferences in their driveway, furnished quotes with an eye toward media deadlines, and even doled out bits of home movies so that cable producers would always have new footage to air. Levy's murder was never solved—even though her body was found a year later—but the press coverage succeeded in entangling Congressman Gary Condit, and made the case headline news for much of 2001.

By then cable producers had discovered that Missing White Women were ratings gold. The phenomenon is "now an established genre of news, much the way that the O. J. Simpson case enshrined the celebrity murder case as a whole genre," says Felling. "I don't think that's likely to change anytime soon." Today the reigning princess remains Natalee Holloway. For that, cable television can thank Beth Twitty, who has proved willing to do almost anything to find her daughter.

One afternoon I reach Beth on her cell phone. "I'm in Columbus, Ohio, on a secret mission," she says. "I'm putting together another strike against Aruba. I tell you, Bryan, those people down there, they'll never know what hit them. They should never have messed with me."

Beth must be very tired; one can only imagine the stress she is under. Back in Mountain Brook, the Twitty home, a modest brick split-level in Birmingham's most fashionable suburb, has been turned into a war room. Neat stacks of mail line the dining-room floor, most of it unsolicited letters of sympathy. The mail is sorted each morning in a friend's basement; every sender receives a response card Beth has drafted. One of her friends, Carol Standifer, walks me through the operation, our discussion interrupted only by the incessant ringing of the kitchen phone. A machine answers, allowing the caller's message to echo through the house.

By and by Beth walks in, dressed in faded blue jeans, and takes a seat on the living-room floor. "Somebody said it's time to start cleaning it all up," she says, glancing into the dining room, "but I said, 'No, I don't think so. Not yet.'" She has lost count of how many interviews she has given—it's in the hundreds—and she has repeated the same things so many times her answers have an artificial quality. Until all this, the Twittys had led an unremarkable suburban life. Raised in Arkansas, Beth married a State Farm employee named Dave Holloway and, after a move to Jackson, Mississippi, was divorced in 1993. She raised Natalee and her brother, Matt, as a single mother until marrying Jug Twitty in 2000 and moving to Mountain Brook, where she is a special-education teacher in an elementary school. Beth became part of Jug's social group of hunting buddies and their wives, and today the Twittys' support network consists of seven couples who call themselves "the Fabulous Seven." Most have been to Aruba multiple times. All spend their off-hours sorting mail and returning calls.

According to her mother, Natalee was a typical American teenager, more driven than most, maybe, a fixture on Mountain Brook High's dance team who, Beth insists, never drank, never had a boyfriend, and never had sex. She is emphatic about this. Left unsaid is the assumption that this gave Natalee little experience in the kind of tequila-fueled revelry for which Aruba is famous. "Natalee was very smart, but," Beth acknowledges, "very naïve."

Still, Beth had no doubts about letting her daughter go on the Aruba trip. It was something of a tradition at Mountain Brook high school, and Jug's son, George, had been several years earlier. On Thursday, May 26, Beth dropped Natalee at a friend's house at four a.m. for the flight to Aruba. She promised to pick her up at the airport the following Monday night. It was the last time she saw her daughter.

When the Twittys' private jet arrived in Aruba that first night, it was dark. The group piled into two vans driven by workers from Aruba's general-aviation office, a ramshackle trailer at the back of the airport. The vans wound their way through the quiet streets of the capital, Oranjestad, and made for the island's northwestern corner, where dozens of resorts sprawl along the white-sand beach.

While its main business is tourism—72 percent of visitors are American—Aruba is not a typical Third World Caribbean island. Eighteen miles off the coast of Venezuela, Aruba has a multi-racial population of 70,000. Its infrastructure is well developed, its streets are clean, and the culture has been thoroughly Americanized since Standard Oil built what was then one of the world's largest refineries, at the island's southeastern tip, in 1924. There are McDonald's, Pizza Huts, Taco Bells, and a Hooters. While palm trees have been planted in the tourist areas, the climate is arid, and pencil-like cacti line the inland roads.

At the "Holiday Inn," Beth and Jug found another of the senior-trip escorts, a teacher named Paul Lilly, waiting with the only American official Lilly had found, a Drug Enforcement Administration agent. They had no news of Natalee's whereabouts. From all indications, she had never returned to her hotel the night before; her passport and luggage lay where she had placed them in preparation for the return flight to Alabama. She had last been seen, around midnight, at a bar and grill called Carlos 'N Charlie's. Some of her fellow students had noticed her talking with a tall Dutch teenager, and were under the impression she had left with him. The day before, Jug's nephew Thomas had played poker with the young man at the Holiday Inn's casino and thought his name was Joran something.

Beth took a hotel employee aside and described him. "She knew exactly who he was: Joran van der Sloot," Beth remembers. "And then she said—these were her exact words—'He tends to prey upon young female tourists.'"

Within minutes everyone headed to Carlos 'N Charlie's. Inside, the men fanned out and began asking questions. Beth showed around a photo of Natalee, but no one recognized her. Frustrated, the Americans returned to the "Holiday Inn" to regroup.
By now they had been joined by Charles Croes, a wealthy Aruban who owned a cellular-phone rental company on the island. According to Croes, who was summoned to meet Beth in a darkened gas-station parking lot, Natalee had made a cell-phone call to an American number, and Beth was curious to know to whom. It turned out to have been an accidental call to a friend.

They decided to split up. The Twittys' friends wandered the beach behind the hotel, showing Natalee's photo to anyone they encountered. Beth and Jug headed upstairs; they wanted to see what Joran van der Sloot looked like, and the casino manager offered to find a video of his poker game the day before. When he did, Beth memorized everything about him: the close-cropped hair, the pimply face, the sloe eyes. Croes, meanwhile, drove north up the beach road and, just below the lighthouse, found a group of teenagers drinking cheap wine. They knew Joran, and two volunteered to lead Croes to his home, in the nearby town of Noord. Five minutes later Croes was at the modest ranch-style house, down an unpaved alley and behind a chest-high wall. One of the airport workers, sitting beside him, telephoned the Holiday Inn.

It was time to bring in the Aruban Police. The main group of Twitty-family members and friends, now numbering a dozen, met Croes at the Police station in Noord. Two uniformed officers agreed to accompany them to the van der Sloot residence. At the house, Beth waited in the van while the officers sounded the patrol car's siren. Across the neighborhood, lights blinked on. There was no movement inside the van der Sloot home. The officers sounded the siren once more. Staring blearily, people began emerging into their yards. After a few minutes, a man in his early 50s came outside. This was Paulus van der Sloot, Joran's father.

Beth watched as the officers spoke to him. She saw van der Sloot take a cellular phone from his front pocket and make a call. He then told Police Joran was out gambling, at the Wyndham resort's casino. van der Sloot climbed into the Police car, and the group headed back into the night. At the Wyndham, just down from the "Holiday Inn," the group again fanned out in search of Joran. Beth walked behind Paulus, watching him closely. There was no sign of his son. van der Sloot flipped out his phone and made another call. When he hung up, he said, "He's at home now."

The group returned to the van der Sloot home. Joran and a friend, a young Surinamese man named Deepak Kalpoe, were waiting in the driveway. The two Policemen took the two of them aside. Jug Twitty and his two friends stood by as Joran answered questions. At first he denied any knowledge of Natalee, insisting he didn't even know the name. Twitty began to grow impatient. "Don't say you don't know who she is," Jug said. "We have eyewitnesses who saw you both in the car."

"Just tell us where she is," one of the Alabama men snapped.

"Don't be so rude," Paulus van der Sloot responded. "This is not America. You can't act like that."

Sensing the increasing tension, Croes decided to try to mediate. "So I went over to the father and the Police and I said, 'Is it O.K. if I talk to him?'" he says. "[The Policemen said,] 'Sure, we're not even a part of this yet. She can't be considered missing for 48 hours.'"

Looking Joran in the eyes, Croes lowered his voice. "You know you're in a whale of shit if you don't tell the truth here," he said.

"I am telling the truth," Joran said.

"Why don't you tell me what happened?" Croes said.

Joran considered this for a moment, then began talking. He said he had met Natalee in the Holiday Inn's casino Sunday afternoon. In the early evening she asked him to join her later at Carlos 'N Charlie's. He declined, saying it would be dead on a Sunday. A little before 11 he headed home with his father, who had picked him up at a McDonald's. At home, Joran said, he had second thoughts. He called Deepak Kalpoe, who drove over with his younger brother, Satish, to get him.

"So I snuck out of my house and went over to see her," he said. "She came on to me huge. Dancing suggestively. Like a slut. I did belly shots on her, on the bar. [Eventually she said,] 'Could you take me home?' So we left." When they piled into Deepak Kalpoe's silver Nissan, Joran said, Natalee seemed nonplussed to find the two Kalpoe brothers, who are black, sitting in the front.

"What are these guys, your slaves?" she supposedly asked Joran. By all accounts, Natalee was very drunk.

"What happened then?" Croes asked.

"We took her back to the "Holiday Inn," to the front door. When she got out of the car, she stumbled and fell. I went to help her, but she got up and walked on through the lobby." It was the last time, Joran insisted, that he had seen Natalee.

"O.K.," Croes said. "Is that the truth?"

"Yes."

"That's the truth? Look, Joran, you need to be truthful with me. You need to tell me everything. Where'd you go?"

Croes could see Joran's mind working. Finally, he said, "We didn't go directly to the "Holiday Inn." She wanted us to drive around. The girl was crazy. She was just crazy." According to Croes, Joran said Natalee then told him three things as they drove north past the Holiday Inn: that her mother was "like Hitler," that she was a virgin, and that she was a lesbian. She begged him to take her to a beach where she had heard she could see sharks, but Joran told her that was a local myth. She told him she wanted to have sex.

"Did you have sex with her?" Croes asked.

"Yeah," Joran said. "She gave me a blow job."

"Where'd that happen?"

"In the backseat of the car."

"So where'd you take her?"

"I took her to the lighthouse. For a while. We didn't get out."

According to Croes, Joran said that Deepak was increasingly uncomfortable at the lighthouse, fearful that Natalee would "make a mess" in the car, presumably by vomiting. Croes could feel Joran opening up; he appeared to be on the verge of an admission. Then, from the driveway, the voice of one of the Alabama men rose: "Well, you Aruban assholes better get your act together, and now!" (Jug Twitty, while acknowledging his group's impatience, denies the word "asshole" was used.)
Joran's head turned. "That's it," Paulus said. "This is no good." The decision was made that the entire group would return to the "Holiday Inn," where Joran promised he would point out a security guard who had helped Natalee. Once there, however, he was unable to do so. The atmosphere again grew heated, as Jug Twitty demanded to know what happened to his stepdaughter. "Don't tell them anything," Deepak Kalpoe told Joran. "You don't have to tell them anything."

By now it was almost five o'clock in the morning. The Policemen told Beth to wait at her hotel. A detective would come by and see her at eight. Detective Dennis Jacobs arrived at 8:15, took down Natalee's description, and led Beth to the Police station. Beth sat in the lobby for three hours until Jacobs spoke to her again. She rose, eager to pour out everything she had learned. Suddenly, Jacobs said, "We won't be needing you." Beth stood there, stunned, uncertain what to do. After a moment she walked outside, where she ran into the first of the hundreds of television crews she would soon encounter. "That was the moment," she says today, "that I realized we were in serious trouble."
Relations between the desperate Twittys and the Aruban Police had gotten off to an atrocious start and never recovered. When Beth and Jug returned to the Police station the next morning, they found Officer Jacobs's behavior cavalier in the extreme. "Wait, I haven't had my Frosted Flakes, and I haven't shaved yet," he said as they were about to give him their statement. What the Twittys didn't yet understand was that missing tourists are hardly unusual in Aruba. Barely a week goes by without an American failing to return to his or her cruise ship, or deciding to stay a little longer in paradise. Almost all turn up within days. When a tourist goes missing, the last thing the Police expect is a murder.

The Twittys, in turn, struck the Aruban Police as rude, arrogant, and demanding. "I didn't really know who I was dealing with; I thought it was just a regular American family," recalls Dompig, an F.B.I.-trained veteran who worked as a Police officer for 10 years in the Netherlands. When he promised to mobilize every available resource to find Natalee, "Beth was wonderful, really understanding," Dompig says. "She asked us to do everything possible, as any mother would. But Jug and the other guys, they started saying they didn't trust us, because we're not capable, and they've been here 48 hours! You know, 'What kind of show are you running here?' These are the words they used to try and scare me. They were trying to intimidate me."

In those tumultuous first days, Beth's most valuable allies were Julia Renfro, the 37-year-old American-born editor of an English-language daily, Aruba Today, and one of her reporters, Angela Munzenhofer, a tough-talking American whose family runs one of the island's popular restaurants. When Beth walked into the paper's office the day after she arrived, Renfro, a statuesque blonde, stopped the presses to run a front-page photograph of Natalee. Renfro and Munzenhofer both have children, and they identified with Beth's desperation; the three women became inseparable. The first flyers posted around the island carried two numbers people could call with tips: Renfro's and Munzenhofer's cell phones. "At the beginning, I was the one Beth trusted," says Munzenhofer. "She called me her angel. We were with them day and night. We weren't reporters. We were family. Beth told us that."

Wednesday morning, as Beth gave her statement to Police, Renfro and Munzenhofer met in the Holiday Inn's lobby to organize the first search teams. After a series of radio announcements, a hundred tourists showed up, along with a smattering of Arubaans and Policemen. Jan van der Straten, the crusty Dutch Police superintendent who would end up working the case, was not happy. "Van der Straten walks up and tells me, 'You can't do this,'" Renfro recalls. "I said, 'Yes I can. I'm going to find this girl.' He told me she wasn't even considered 'missing' for 48 hours. In fact, he told me just to go to Ladies' Night at Carlos 'N Charlie's that night, that she would probably show up there. Anyway, he talked to the group. And his message was, he asked us not to cause any traffic problems. I just wanted to fall out of my pants I was so mad."

At dusk the searchers returned to their hotel rooms, having found no sign of Natalee. Then, early the next evening, Munzenhofer took an urgent call from a source, who said Natalee was staying in a downtown house with certain unnamed "friends" who wanted to "protect" her. But, the source went on, her friends had agreed to turn her over to the family for $4,000—a quasi-ransom. Renfro relayed the message to Beth, and within an hour everyone had met at the Buccaneer, the restaurant Munzenhofer's family owns. Jug had a thousand dollars, and the Munzenhofers volunteered to donate the other $3,000 from the cash register.

By now more of "the Fabulous Seven" had arrived. Eight men were in the group, and Munzenhofer's husband took them to scout the downtown house where Natalee was supposed to be. It turned out to be what Arubaans call a choller house—a crack house. When the men returned, everyone headed downtown to stake it out. "We were scared—scared to death," Renfro recalls. "We didn't know these people, how dangerous they were, whether they had guns and knives. So we called the cops. It took them 45 minutes to come a quarter-mile. They went in and looked around." Natalee wasn't there. The group spent the rest of the evening searching the neighborhood, and by midnight Renfro realized she had missed all her deadlines. "The print guys—I don't know what happened—they decided to print the previous day's paper again," she remembers.
At 10 o'clock the next morning and every morning for the next two weeks Renfro and Munzenhofer organized search parties. They traipsed through cactus-strewn vacant lots and windswept beaches from the "Holiday Inn," north past the Marriott, all the way to the lighthouse at the island's northwestern tip. One morning Munzenhofer took Jug Twitty to the island's Dutch military base to request help from the Dutch Marines, who joined the search with helicopters and four-wheel-drive vehicles. Another day the justice minister gave all Aruban government employees the day off to join the search. But no one returned with anything other than sunburn.

The first American cable crew—MSNBC—arrived on Friday, following the first correspondent to the island, from the syndicated show A Current Affair. That night Renfro was working late when she received a call from a source—a former Policeman—who had just heard on Police radio that an American girl matching Natalee's description had been seen stepping into a Kia sedan outside an ATM in Oranjestad. Immediately the newspaper office emptied; at least 10 cars, packed with staffers and Alabamans, fanned out across the downtown area, looking for the car. When it was sighted, Renfro used cell phones to orchestrate a covert pursuit. A half-dozen cars followed the Kia for 15 minutes until it parked outside a house just blocks from the newspaper office. Renfro could just make out a man and two women, one of them blonde, inside the car.

They watched the car for 15 minutes before one of Renfro's friends, a volunteer named Carlos, took the initiative, walked to the car, and exchanged words with the driver, who was puffing on a marijuana cigarette. "Carlos came back and said, 'I don't think it's her; she was too happy,'" Renfro recalls. "We said, 'Come on! She's on drugs! Of course she's happy.' [He said,] 'No, she's too heavy.' [We said,] 'Maybe she gained weight!' [He said,] 'But there's a baby in the car.'"

As they discussed what to do, the Kia drove off. The Aruba Today caravan followed it to another house, where the three of them remained in the car. Forty minutes went by. Police were called. Finally, another volunteer, named O.J., pulled his Bronco in front of the car. When he got out, the driver emerged with what appeared to be a baseball bat and took a swing at O.J., who dived into his car and drove off. One of the women ran inside the house with the infant, but the Kia continued on, eventually stopping at a convenience store.

Soon the Police appeared and took the driver and the other girl into custody. By the time the patrol car reached a nearby Police station, a crowd of 100 onlookers, including camera crews from A Current Affair and MSNBC, were waiting. Renfro's spirits rose when, listening to the Police radio, she heard an officer say he was "98 percent" sure the blonde girl was Natalee.

Beth and Jug were called. One of the Alabamans emerged from the crowd, gave Renfro a bear hug, and shoved $10,000 in reward money at her. Renfro declined it. In minutes the Twittys appeared and entered the station. When they returned outside, their faces were impassive. The girl turned out to be an American woman on extended vacation. "It was the saddest moment of my life," Renfro says.

Two days later the first arrests were made.

When the Police first questioned Joran and the Kalpoe brothers, they told of dropping Natalee off at the "Holiday Inn." They mentioned seeing a security guard approach her, so that Sunday the Police detained two local men who were former hotel security guards. Beth, who had focused on Joran and the Kalpoes from the outset, angrily told the Police they were arresting the wrong men. The deputy chief, Gerold Dompig, insists today that Police considered the three teenagers suspects from the outset; in fact, he hints that the boys' phones were tapped as part of a surveillance as early as that first weekend.

When Beth began giving television interviews the following week, she suggested that the Police were protecting the van der Sloot's because they were a prominent family. They are hardly that. Paulus has been a minor official in the Aruban justice department; he has trained to be a judge, but isn't one yet. Joran was a high-school soccer star and an honor student; he was planning to attend Saint Leo University, near Tampa, Florida, in the fall. By Wednesday, June 8, hints of a cover-up had grown so widespread that the Aruban prime minister, Nelson Oduber, released a statement denying it.

Dutch criminal investigations differ from American ones in small but important ways. By and large, Dutch detectives do not speak to journalists, on or off the record. In the Holloway case, this created an information vacuum that not only irritated an already suspicious American press but also led to rumor and speculation on the justice shows. Moreover, plea bargaining does not exist under the Dutch system. Whereas an American detective might arrest all three teenagers and cut a deal with one to squeal on the others, this isn't an option in Aruba.

Aruban investigations tend to move at what can seem a leisurely pace. "First, we investigate around [suspects]. We try to establish the facts, look at their backgrounds," says Dompig. "We want to keep them on the outside, where we can watch them, listen to their calls, see what they're saying to each other. If we have to pick them up, we can't look at them, other than in a cell."

But the pressure to make an arrest—any arrest—was overwhelming. "The pressure was so … so … just, you could feel it on a daily basis: 'What is the press saying today? What is Beth saying today?'" says Dompig. "The Aruban government is very image-conscious. America is basically our bread and butter. The government, well, everyone was on our case. They wanted the case solved as soon as possible. And then you had the Aruban Hotel [and Tourism] Association, which is a very powerful group, that started putting pressure. 'Guys, what about the tourism! The jobs in the hotels!' Imagine how a law-enforcement team functions with all this. Imagine that pressure! We got calls all the way up to the White House! They called the prime minister!"

Reluctantly, Dompig gave the go-ahead for the arrest of Joran and the Kalpoe brothers on Thursday, June 9. Joran emerged from his house with a blue-and-green towel wrapped around his head. After initial questioning, he was taken into custody. Today, Dompig says pressure from the Twittys, the media, and his own government forced Police to prematurely make the arrest. "Yes, yes, yes," he says. "Under normal circumstances, we would have taken much more time to monitor them. We would have had much more evidence had we waited."

Dompig expected the arrests would please the Twittys. They didn't. Beth and Jug were intent on keeping the pressure on. "It was like nothing could satisfy them—nothing," Dompig gripes. "Basically, Jug wanted us to come over and beat a confession out of these boys. We couldn't do that. These guys are hardheaded, especially Joran. We couldn't get a confession."

Under questioning, however, Joran did change his story. Instead of leaving Natalee at the "Holiday Inn," he now said, the Kalpoes had dropped him and Natalee off at the beach beside the Marriott, a half-mile north of the Holiday Inn; the area is a lovers' lane of sorts. He said Natalee was so drunk she was drifting in and out of consciousness. Joran said he left her at the beach and walked home. During weeks of questioning, the Kalpoes backed up his new story.

As the Twittys' desperation grew, On the Record, Greta van Susteren's show, became the preferred outlet for their frustrations. Beth's nightly appearances, however, created tension among her new friends. "Everything changed when Greta came," says Angela Munzenhofer. "All you heard [Beth say] was Greta, Greta, Greta."

"The way Beth talked to us, the local press, was totally different—you know: 'We're getting so much help,' how wonderful everyone was being, how helpful," says another Aruba Today reporter, Dilma Arends, "but at night, on television, we would hear a totally different person, how no one was helping her at all."

"She was saying a lot of this on Fox, on Greta, and most of the island doesn't get Fox," says Renfro. "But I got DVDs sent to me from friends in the States, and I saw her there. She was totally different."

"That's how she is," says Arends. "She's a two-faced woman."

"We tried to avoid going on those shows," says Renfro.

"Because they wanted lies," says Munzenhofer.

"Theories," explains Arends. "'What is your take? What is your take?' We're reporters. We're not going to talk about theories."

The tensions came to a head in the wake of an appearance Renfro made on the van Susteren show. "Nobody knows this, but the family were the ones determining who goes on the shows," she says. "It was all them." That night, when van Susteren asked about Joran, Renfro described the teenager as an excellent student with a good reputation and "an idol for the younger kids" at school. The next day Renfro was in the Marriott lobby, holding her baby daughter, when she saw Beth and Jug.

When she went to give Beth a hug, "Jug attacked me, verbally and physically," Renfro recalls. "He pushed me! I'm holding a sleeping baby. He just starts screaming and yelling. Words you can't print. 'Fuck you! Get the fuck away from my wife! I never want to see you again.' I was just so stunned. I had put my heart and soul into finding their girl." Afterward, a Fox producer explained that the Twittys were furious over her comments on the van Susteren show. Renfro was so shaken she filed a complaint with the Police against Jug Twitty. (Jug acknowledges losing his temper and cursing at Renfro, but denies pushing her.)

Renfro attempted a reconciliation with Beth, going as far as suggesting that the Twittys were trying to "protect" her from local criticism by pushing her away. "Beth said, 'That's the blondest thing I've ever heard,'" says Renfro, a blonde. "After that, I just said, 'I can't deal with this person anymore.'" Beth says she doesn't recall any pushing incident. Of Renfro, Beth says only, "She's a witch."

Both Charles Croes and Angela Munzenhofer say they broke with the Twittys after angry confrontations with Jug. They, and many other Arubaans, have since turned on the family, and viciously. The Aruba Today staff, once the Twittys' most fervent supporters, has morphed into the unofficial clearinghouse for everything anti-Twitty.

"We met Beth that first day, and Beth was like glue to us for about a month," Munzenhofer says. "But then we just had to let her go, because I did not agree with what she was saying. She was lying. She got caught in too many lies. I understand it. She's a grieving mother. I'm not against Beth. But, come on, her girl's not a virgin. The girl's an alcoholic. She was drinking.… I have personally talked to people who say Natalee bought drugs. I've seen the photo of that girl chugging from a bottle of 151 [rum].… Beth, I told her, you have to look at different answers. Drug dealers. Taxi drivers. Ex-boyfriends. But she looked at one place only: Joran."

It's true that some of Beth's stories don't hold up. Before I went to Aruba, she told me that the Kalpoe family had been embroiled in the odd death of a former maid, and that Mrs. Kalpoe had been detained; it turned out the case had involved another family. She also told me that a person on the island had fathered an illegitimate child with a friend's wife, and that the friend had committed suicide. That, too, does not appear to be true.
"People understand what Beth is going through; they do," Renfro told me. "But it's no excuse for misconstruing all the facts. She's hurt a lot of people down here. A lot of people."

By the end of June, with both Joran and the Kalpoe brothers in custody for three weeks, it appeared the case was nearing a climax. Rumors flew that charges were imminent. On Friday, July 1, the government spokesman Ruben Trapenberg said they could come as early as Monday. On Sunday, Police were seen walking with Joran on the beach north of the Marriott as he guided them through what he said happened that night. Expectations were soaring Monday morning when a clerk stepped outside the courthouse in Oranjestad and read an announcement to American reporters and cameramen. A gasp shot through the crowd when she came to the point: Not only were none of the three teenagers being charged, the two brothers were being released, indicating that the judge had found insufficient evidence to justify their further detention. Joran was ordered held without charges another 60 days.

The Twittys were outraged. Beth tearfully denounced the judge's decision as a travesty, terming the Kalpoe brothers "criminals." She called on the nations of the world to reject any efforts they might make to flee the country. All over television, the cable hosts piled on, endlessly castigating the Aruban justice system. For many Arubaans, this was the last straw. The next afternoon a former government minister named John Merryweather helped organize a demonstration in front of the courthouse to protest the media's depiction of Aruba.

One of the Kalpoes' attorneys, meanwhile, attacked Beth's statements as "prejudicial, inflammatory, libelous, and totally outrageous." Caught off guard, Beth went back before the cameras at the end of the week and apologized "to the Aruban people and to the Aruban authorities if I or my family have offended you in any way."

But the damage was done. "That woman needs help," an angry John Merryweather told me as we sat on his terrace. "This is just a concerted attack on Aruba. A terrorist attack. Why blame the whole island, a whole country, for something that is out of our control? She attacks our justice system? What about yours? JonBenét. Was that ever solved? Michael Jackson—he gets off. O.J. That's American justice, and the woman is criticizing us?"

By mid-July, with Joran still languishing in the San Nicolas jail, undergoing daily questioning by Aruban, Dutch, and F.B.I. officials, a motley crowd of television producers, search teams, private eyes, and beach bums each determined to solve the case. One was Arthur Wood, a retired Secret Service agent who lives outside Ocala, Florida, and who spent his evenings glued to the Holloway coverage. In mid-June, Wood e-mailed some thoughts to Jossy Mansur, managing editor of the Aruban newspaper El Diario, who had latched onto the Twitty bandwagon as part of his own feud with the Aruban government. Eager to develop leads, Mansur invited Wood to Aruba, and put him on his payroll.

Wood began chatting up photographers, stringers, and reporters. The most intriguing lead, he decided, was a rumor that one of the Kalpoe brothers had confessed to killing Natalee—sort of—to a fellow prisoner while in the Aruban jail. The prisoner had heard that a relative's gardener, named Cumpa, had seen Joran and the Kalpoes burying Natalee's body in a vacant lot near the Marriott. When the Kalpoe brother was told the story, he supposedly went ashen and flipped over the dominoes they were playing with. Wood spent most of July tracking the elusive Cumpa. There were stories that he had fled to Venezuela, that he had disappeared, that he might have been killed.

The Mansur "investigative team," including Wood, Eduardo Mansur, and other Mansur employees and family friends, began holding nightly strategy sessions at the team's de facto headquarters: Hooters. One night they were inside poring over rumors when a Mansur cousin's teenage son suddenly blurted out, "I know Cumpa! He's my uncle's gardener!"

The boy hopped in Eduardo Mansur's truck and led Wood to a large seaside home owned by Jossy Mansur's cousin Eric Mansur, a wealthy importer. Wood found Cumpa, whose name turned out to be Carlos, in the yard. "He tells me that on that night, May 30, he couldn't sleep," Wood recalls. "It was 2:30 and it was so hot—he didn't have air-conditioning—he said, 'I got up, I told my wife I'm going to my boss's house,'" which was air-conditioned.

According to Carlos, while driving to Eric Mansur's home a little before three that morning, he took a shortcut, a dirt road through a vacant lot beside the Marriott. To his surprise, he found a car blocking the road. Beside the car were two large mounds of dirt. When he peered into the car, Carlos said, he recognized Joran and the Kalpoes. He said they covered their faces. He then drove on.

Carlos reluctantly climbed into Wood's truck and allowed himself to be driven to Police headquarters. He disappeared inside for four hours.

Three days later, a crowd of reporters gathered in the vacant lot by the Marriott to watch the Police begin draining a pond near where the gardener, as he came to be known, claimed he had seen Joran and the Kalpoes digging. The effort quickly degenerated into farce. The first pumper truck, reportedly supplied by the Mansur family, bogged down and died. Then reporters, trying to get a better view of the pond, twice broke a water main. When the pond was empty, Police found nothing at the bottom but trash. Gerold Dompig ended up discounting everything the gardener had said. "The gardener['s story]," he says, "was a concoction."

The pond episode, however, gave Beth the cover she needed to begin a simultaneous excavation at a landfill behind the airport. The family had hired its own private Investigator, an Atlanta man named T. J. Ward, who like Art Wood was soon a staple of the nightly talk shows; in fact, the two became rivals and began sniping at each other. Wood had been sent to interview a homeless man named Poom Poom, who was hounding Police with a tale of seeing a woman's body in the landfill. Beth wasn't sure whether to believe the story until T. J. Ward announced Poom Poom had passed a lie-detector test. "T.J. looked me in the face and said, 'Beth, he's telling the truth,'" Beth says. "That's what sent all the people to the dump!" It took weeks for the search teams to decide there was no body there, though a team of Texas volunteers briefly renewed the search in late October.

The gardener and Poom Poom episodes were followed by the jogger—a story made the rounds in August that a late-night jogger had seen Joran and the Kalpoes digging near the same spot the gardener had identified. Police made a public appeal for the man to contact them, and he eventually did. Unfortunately, "the jogger had some problems," Art Wood says, sighing. "He was a convicted sex offender. Apparently he was a murderer or rapist or something." Gerold Dompig confirms this story. He says neither the jogger nor his story panned out in any way.

Every day in July and August seemed to bring a new dead end. One time a park ranger found on a beach a piece of duct tape attached to several human hairs; a test suggested the DNA from the hair wasn't Natalee's. Another day hundreds of tourists gathered behind the Marriott to watch volunteers drag out a barrel that had been seen in the ocean. It was empty. Nothing was too outlandish to investigate. The Dutch military brought in three F-16s that flew over the island using infra-red photography in an effort to identify a grave. They, too, came up with nothing.

Throughout the summer long circus, the Twitty’s remained at the "Holiday Inn" and later at the Wyndham, whose owners gave them use of the hotel's Presidential Suite. During the day they emerged to pass out prayer cards and photos of Natalee, and at night they sat for interviews. One afternoon Beth was walking through Noord, handing out prayer cards with Greta van Susteren, when she realized she was near the van der Sloot home. She walked to the gate, thinking she would leave a card. That's when she saw a pair of legs—it was Paulus—in the bushes. She called for him to come out. As he did, his wife, Anita, appeared at the front door, and the couple invited Beth inside for what became a tense 90-minute meeting.

In the first half-hour, Beth listened as Joran's parents lavished praise on their son, though they eventually admitted they had been having trouble with him. According to Beth, the van der Sloot's acknowledged that Joran had been seeing a psychiatrist. " ANITA VAN DER SLOOT claimed me that," Beth says. "She was saying they were beginning to have trouble with Joran [for a] defiant attitude. The father acknowledged they could not control him. He would sneak out, go gambling, in the pre-dawn hours. They had no control over him."

At one point, Beth decided to press. "I told Paulus van der Sloot that he was responsible for Aruba being trapped in hell; until he came forward, I told him, his country would continue to be trapped in perpetual hell," she recalls. Paulus, while insisting he could remember almost nothing of the night Natalee disappeared, began to sweat profusely. "These beads of sweat were rolling down from his head onto the kitchen table," Beth remembers. "Beginning in the last 30 minutes, Anita had to get up and go get a kitchen towel. The sweat was pooling on the table. She had to pat him down." (The van der Sloot's' attorney didn't return phone calls for comment.)

On August 8, Beth forced a similar confrontation on Deepak Kalpoe, who was working at a downtown Internet café. She entered with an Alabama friend and an MSNBC film crew. "I walked up to the counter and I just stood there for about 15 minutes and stared at him," she says. "He did nothing. That head went right down. All I saw was his white scalp. Then I began speaking with Deepak. I began questioning him. 'Were you a participant or did you help her?' I was very graphic.

"And I think it just shocked him. I can't even say what I said. He told me his attorney advised him not to talk. I told him repeatedly to hold his head up and look at me. I kept offering [him the choice of a] $250,000 reward or life in prison. He said he didn't need the money. Deepak finally looked up at the very end, and said, 'The media hasn't seen this side of you.'" Beth replied, "I've been saving it for you, Deepak." Afterward, Kalpoe filed a complaint with the Police over the incident.

By mid-August, as Beth continued her crusade, communication between the Police and the family had broken down entirely. Beth characterizes this as evidence of the ongoing cover-up; Gerold Dompig says his men just got tired of being yelled at. Still, Beth slogged forward, meeting with Nelson Oduber, the Aruban prime minister, on August 20. As much as it irked the Police, her campaign appeared to work when, on Friday, August 26, the Kalpoes were suddenly re-arrested.

No explanation was given, leading to another spasm of speculation on cable and the Internet blogs dedicated to the case. Beth told me the brothers had been re-arrested because the gardener had crippled their alibis. In fact, Dompig says, this was not the case. The Police decided to take a risk—a large one, as it turned out.

"Once we got a statement from Joran that [Natalee] passed out several times while he was sexually fondling her, we thought we had something," Dompig says. Under Dutch law, this could be viewed as sex without consent; anyone who enabled the crime could be judged an accessory. "We tried Deepak and Satish with that point; someone passed out in the back of your car, you're an accessory," Dompig says. "We were doing this to apply pressure. We felt Satish was the weakest link. We wanted to squeeze Satish. Deepak wants to protect Satish. But when we put that pressure on, it didn't work. Deepak is too strong."

The gambit blew up in Dompig's face. "Then the very same people who wanted us to solve the case—the family and the media—worked against us," he says. "There was all this criticism that we should never have released the [Kalpoes] in the first place. Unfortunately, the judge, you know, he heard this, and he didn't agree with us. So we lost the Kalpoes. When [they are] walking, Joran's lawyer says, 'Well, what about my client?' When that started rolling, that was the beginning of the end."

On Wednesday, August 31, the judge ordered Joran released; the next day the brothers were released as well. "It was all about Hurricane Katrina," Beth charges. Her anger is as fresh today as it was that day. "All the cameras were gone to New Orleans," she says. "So it was time to let the boys go under the curtain of Hurricane Katrina. Right there. There's your corruption and collusion."

Maybe. But a more likely explanation for the judge's decision is that the Police had no body, no evidence of murder or any other crime. They had kept Joran in jail for nearly three months, and he hadn't cracked. Get some evidence, the judge said, or let the boy go.

Freed, Joran traveled with his father to the Netherlands, where he enrolled in college and was briefly accosted by a producer working for A Current Affair, to whom he repeated much of the story he had told Charles Croes in his driveway months before. The Kalpoes returned to their jobs. The Twittys retreated to Alabama for several weeks, but Beth returned to Aruba at Halloween as a new group of searchers began using sonar to hunt for the body off the northern beaches, only to quit in despair, citing a lack of cooperation from the Aruban authorities.

Since Joran's release, the only real news in the investigation has come from, of all places, the Dr. Phil show, which sent a team of Investigators to Aruba. There, in a taped interview, a California lie-detector specialist named Jamie Skeeters seemed to get Deepak Kalpoe to admit to having had sex with Natalee. The tape is being examined by Dutch authorities, but Gerold Dompig, for one, finds it inconclusive.

"I'm skeptical," he says. "It seems like a big hoax."

In an effort to sort fact from fiction, Dompig agreed to discuss the case in detail for the first time. Surprisingly little is known of how Natalee spent her time on Aruba, he says. At least initially, Dompig says, Beth asked Investigators to refrain from debriefing the Alabama students. Not for weeks did the F.B.I. begin to interview them, and even now, Dompig says, Police have not seen these statements. They have, however, taken statements from hotel managers.

"This group of students was a very—I don't want to demonize them—but the group really went far, very far, in terms of having a good time," Dompig says. "Wild partying, a lot of drinking, lots of room switching every night. We know the "Holiday Inn" told them they weren't welcome next year. Natalee, we know, she drank all day every day. We have statements she started every morning with cocktails—so much drinking that Natalee didn't show up for breakfast two mornings."

Despite reports to the contrary, Dompig feels certain Natalee didn't meet Joran until her final day on Aruba, Sunday. He confirms that there have been numerous reports that she may have been involved with other young men on the island. "We have taken two statements, from Renfro and a "Holiday Inn" worker, that Beth told them she had gotten a call from her daughter, and that she was in love with a tall, blue-eyed Dutch teenager. So [Beth] had contact with her daughter. But she denies it. The question is why. If [the Twittys] don't level with us, how can they talk about a conspiracy? We need to know the truth. Joran did not have blue eyes. So who was this boy?" Beth denies making any such statements, or even having talked with Natalee while she was in Aruba.

The Twittys have accused Joran of changing his story more than 20 times. Dompig says that, while Joran has indeed made small changes in some of his more than 20 statements, he has given just three versions of what happened. The first, discarded in early June, ended with Natalee dropped off at the "Holiday Inn." The second had Joran leaving her at the beach by the Marriott. In a third, given to Police in August, Joran claimed Deepak had actually dropped him off near his home and disappeared with Natalee in his car.

"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," Dompig says. "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. But then the time line [Joran has given] starts to get into trouble."

Aruban detectives have repeatedly interviewed witnesses in an effort to establish that time line. It's been widely reported, for instance, that Joran returned to his home that morning around four. In fact, Dompig says, "nobody knows what time he got home." Nor is it clear how he got there. "He says he walked," Dompig continues, a distance of about two miles. "That is very unlikely."

The tennis shoes Joran wore that night have never been found, which Police find suspicious. Another missing item involves a break-in that night at one of the low-slung fisherman's huts that line the beach north of the Marriott. Reported taken were a machete and perhaps a lobster trap. The Police do not have a single witness who claims to have seen Joran that morning.

Moreover, Dompig says, this summer F.B.I. profilers completed a detailed psychological evaluation. "He struck us, and the F.B.I., as a guy who can make you believe he's God's gift to mothers-in-law," Dompig says. "But if you look at his actions, he's anything but. The F.B.I. profiled him as a person who never has been corrected by his parents. He's the boss of what happens in that house. He's the boss in the family. He is allowed to do anything.… If a person like that is in a position where a person says, 'No,' well, that person may change completely. Maybe he blew a fuse when she wouldn't have sex with him, and something happened."

Leaving aside Dompig's explanations and excuses, and ignoring some of the Twittys' behavior toward Arubaans, one can't help but share Beth's outrage that the principal suspects in her daughter's disappearance are free. Yet, absent a body or any physical evidence, the situation is unlikely to change anytime soon. It's entirely possible, in fact, that the mystery may never be solved.

What do I think? I think Natalee died on the beach that night a couple of hundred yards north of the Marriott. Maybe she denied Joran sex and he strangled or drowned her in a fit of rage. Maybe it was alcohol poisoning. Maybe, as some have speculated, she was slipped a tablet of Ecstasy or some other drug, and she died from a lethal cocktail.
If her body had been buried on Aruba, it probably would have been found by now. If it had been dumped into the surf, it would have ended up back on the beach the following morning. But 200 yards offshore is a sandbar. It's a romantic rendezvous. Couples sometimes go there to make love, and the fishermen watch from their boats. On the other side of that sandbar the current shifts, running west. Anything placed in the water on the far side of the sandbar will drift away from the island, toward Panama. If Natalee was deposited there, her body is gone forever.

Near the end of the article it is suggested that there is a sandbar just offshore from the fishermen's huts near the “Marriott Hotel,” and this is a sandbar where lovers go to make out and the fishermen sometimes watch them, and if a body is dumped into the ocean from the far side of that sandbar, it would wash off into the ocean towards Panama.

On July 23, 2005 the CLARION, MISSISSIPPI “Clarion Ledger” reported:

Jim Dooley, a personnel recruiter from Charleston, S.C., told the AP he referred the FBI's Birmingham office to Palmer after she shared with him details of the case she said came from Paul van der Sloot during a phone conversation shortly after Joran van der Sloot's arrest.

Dooley said he struck up a conversation with Palmer while waiting while his wife tried on clothes in the store where Palmer works.

He said Palmer quoted Paul van der Sloot as saying Holloway died after falling and hitting her head on a rock at an Aruban beach.

…

Palmer said she believes officials at the International School of Aruba, which her son attended with Joran van der Sloot, know more than they have said.

On 12-5 CNNHN reported:

NANCY GRACE, HOST: And tonight, Aruban authorities claim 18-year-old Natalee Holloway`s family is the problem with their investigation, the investigation into their daughter`s disappearance. Yes, the problem is the family, not the Aruban police!

Good evening, everybody. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us tonight. Tonight: Natalee Holloway`s family is desperate to find their 18-year-old girl. As you recall, she disappeared from her high school senior class trip. They`ve turned the tiny island of Aruba upside down, police tonight blaming them, Natalee`s parents, for the botched investigation.

…

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BETH HOLLOWAY TWITTY, MOTHER OF NATALEE HOLLOWAY: There's certainly one thing we never did. And we never damaged the integrity of the investigation. And the Aruban officials only can accept that responsibility. And we know that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Tonight, a new development out of Aruba. I know you all remember the missing girl, 18-year-old Natalee Holloway, from Alabama. She went on her high school senior trip, never seen again.

Very quickly to Jim Moret, chief correspondent with "Inside Edition," Jim, I'm stunned that the Aruban authorities now, in the face of a disastrous investigation, are now blaming Natalee's family for their poor investigation?

JIM MORET, CHIEF CORRESPONDENT, "INSIDE EDITION": That's exactly what's happening. Gerald Dompig, the assistant Police chief, is basically saying that the pressure that the Twittys brought on them and the Aruban authorities and the media pressure forced them to move too quickly in this investigation and make arrests prematurely, that they basically got in the way of the investigation...

GRACE: Too quickly? Too quickly?

MORET: That's -- I'm just...

(LAUGHTER)

GRACE: How many months passed before they finally brought van der Sloot in for questioning?

MORET: Well, it was...

GRACE: No, really, how many months passed, Jim? Let's think about this for a moment.

MORET: It wasn't a matter of months before they brought him in for questioning. But what happened was he was...

GRACE: And kept him behind bars.

MORET: Right. Well, this is what the deputy Police chief is saying. He's saying that things work differently in Aruba. He's saying that things work at a more leisurely pace.

He said that the Twittys basically came in as the ugly Americans and said, "We demand you find our daughter."

Now, let's face it: I'm a parent. I would do the same thing. What are you supposed to do, relax, and just say, "Take things at your own pace"? Of course they were asking for answers. What would you expect a parent to do?

But I'm just telling you what the Police chief is now saying. He's saying that the Twittys, Beth Twitty, and her ex-husband, and her current husband got in the way and ruined the integrity of the investigation.

GRACE: You know, I was reading this article in "Vanity Fair" where Dompig -- and could you explain, Jim, who Dompig is?

MORET: He's the deputy Police chief down in Aruba.

GRACE: Where, in this "Vanity Fair" article, they basically attack Beth Twitty, Natalee's mother. They call her -- what do they say -- ordinary or regular life she's had.

As a matter of fact, she's a special-ed teacher dealing with little children -- oh, "unremarkable suburban life." It seems like it's more of an attack on a crime victim's mother. I don't really understand that.

Joining me on the phone right now, Dave Holloway. This is Natalee's father.

Dave, thank you for being with us.

DAVE HOLLOWAY, NATALEE HOLLOWAY'S FATHER: Thank you, Nancy.

GRACE: Now, what's your response to, a, this article in "Vanity Fair," and the Aruban authorities that claim you're the problem, you and your wife, you and your ex-wife, that you're the problems, you're why justice has not been obtained in this case?

HOLLOWAY: Well, that's just another spin, in my opinion. You know, look how quickly it took them to arrest the security guards. When they thought those were the...

GRACE: Yes, the wrong guys.

HOLLOWAY: They had the wrong guys, yes. Look how quickly it took them. And then they're saying that they should have waited and not arrested these guys? You know, come on.

GRACE: Yes, that's incredible to me. It's like they looked around, they found three minorities, three black security guys, goes, "Hey, let's arrest them." And that was almost immediate. Remember that, Dave?

HOLLOWAY: Oh, yes. Immediately.

GRACE: And I guess it's Beth's fault they were arrested, too, right?

(LAUGHTER)

HOLLOWAY: You know, the lead Investigator is a narcotics agent. And, you know, that's what you do. You wait, and wait, and watch ,when you're trying to gather up, you know, drug deals. But when you're investigating a potential homicide case, you get on it very quickly and you preserve the forensics and all that kind of stuff. And that didn't happen in this case.

GRACE: No, it didn't. Dave, what is your response to the whole uproar surrounding those tapes of Deepak Kalpoe where, according to the private Investigator, Skeeters, that the Kalpoe brother admitted that several people had sex with Natalee and it was easy? But then, when you hear the whole tape, that's not what was said?

HOLLOWAY: Yes, really what concerns me, Nancy, is this, is Skeeters came in and, you know, within a day or two, was able to get some evidence. It may not be that good, but it was some evidence.

And then you look back, and they had all these guys in detention for a number of days. You know, come on, a 17-year-old, 18-year-old, and a 22- year-old, and you get really nothing? That says a lot about the investigation.

And I have to say this about the Aruban people: You know, there's possibly some good Police guys on the Police force, and, you know, a few are ruining the reputation of the whole Police force and the whole island. And we made a simple recommendation. You know, step aside. If you can't even get on first base, let somebody else take over and try.

GRACE: You know what? Another thing, Dave Holloway -- everybody, with me is Natalee's dad -- all this speculation that Natalee drank, that she did drugs, that she slept around, you and your ex-wife stand firmly by the theory that it's not true.

Even if it were true, why would that even be an issue? Even if it were true, why is everybody piling on an 18-year-old missing girl?

HOLLOWAY: Well, that's the same thing that a lot of people do. You know, Natalee can't defend herself, because she's not here to defend herself. So it's easy to make those allegations and accusations against someone who's not here or unable to speak for themselves.

GRACE: That is so true. Everybody, we'll be right back in the Aruban story.

…

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: Natalee Holloway, 18 years old, still missing after her senior trip to Aruba. Very quickly, Dr. Ludwig, do you believe that this mom could have rubbed the authorities the wrong way so badly they just dropped the investigation?

LUDWIG: I mean, it's possible. This is one woman who became very powerful. She had national and international attention. She hit them where it hurts, in terms of dollars and tourism, and anything's possible.

GRACE: Jim Moret, I find it very difficult to believe that one single mom from Alabama could stop an entire government from an investigation.

MORET: I agree with you. But I will say that, without the voice of Beth Twitty, you would not have heard anything of Natalee Lee. I mean, I respect her a great deal.

On 12-5 MSNBC reported:

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, GUEST HOST: Good evening, everybody. I‘m Jane Velez-Mitchell, filling in while Rita is on assignment. Tonight: Uncovered e-mails could be bad news for Dr. Phil. Diet pill customers claim they didn‘t get what they paid for, and they‘re suing the TV guru. And murder, strippers and a prison romance, what you didn‘t know about one of the contestants fired off of “The Apprentice” TV show.
But first: the family of Natalee Holloway—have they done more harm than good during the investigation into her disappearance? A scathing new article in “Vanity Fair” claims the family demanded too much, too soon from Aruban Investigators in the days after Natalee vanished.
Some of the biggest complaints are coming from the island‘s deputy Police chief, Gerold Dompig. Now, in the article, he says Natalee‘s mother and stepfather sidetracked the investigation from the very beginning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRYAN BURROUGH, “VANITY FAIR”: He believes that the biggest obstacle to finding Natalee and solving the case has been the family itself, that in fact, their push, the calls for boycotting and things like that, have been counterproductive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: So what do we make of all of these allegations against the Holloway family? LIVE AND DIRECT tonight is Natalee‘s mother, Beth Holloway-Twitty.
Beth, thanks for being on the show. And I have to say, I know this has to be very difficult for you, but we want to give you a chance to respond to this “Vanity Fair” article, which basically says you were so aggressive, the Police were pressured into arresting the three young men prematurely, which then backfired and ruined the case against those very suspects. What do you say?
BETH HOLLOWAY TWITTY, NATALEE HOLLOWAY‘S MOTHER: Oh, it‘s just the exact opposite. We gave them 10 days. We gave them 10 days to clean up their story, clean up the mess, to lawyer up. We gave them 10 days too long, Jane. That‘s exactly what happened.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I guess what they‘re saying is 10 days wasn‘t enough, and that had they had more time, they could have followed them. Perhaps they would have gone back to the scene of the crime. Maybe they could have listened to their cell phone calls and monitored their e-mails, that kind of thing.
TWITTY: Well, that‘s wishful thinking. If only that would have happened. Remember, within the first 24 hours, we knew who the suspects were. We knew the persons that Natalee were taken from Carlos and Charlie‘s. We knew the license plate of the gray Honda they placed her in. We knew the condition that Natalee was in. We knew the behavior or the conduct in which they engaged in with Natalee.
And then not only that, Jane, within 72 hours, we knew that their first story was totally fabricated, that within the first 72 hours, I faced a room of 12 -- at least 12 detectives, Aruban and Dutch detectives, and a lead detective, Dennis Jacobs (ph), and they knew after we reviewed video footage from the "Holiday Inn" casino lobby that my daughter had never been brought back to the "Holiday Inn." They knew that those suspects were fabricating a story from day one.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. And one of the reasons we‘re talking about this tonight is because of this “Vanity Fair” article, which was written by Bryan Burrough. And he does his own assessment of the Aruban authorities. Let‘s hear that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BURROUGH: What they would have liked to have seen happen is for the suspects, the three young men, to have remained at large for a period of weeks, where they could have been followed, where their phones could have been tapped, they could have been surveilled. That is SOP. That‘s how they normally would have done it. In this case, because of pressure from the family and the media, they were forced to make arrests that they call premature.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And Beth, I have to say that I want to stress nobody knows what it‘s like to be you right now unless they‘re in your shoes. And so very few people in the world are. So I have a lot of sympathy for your predicament. But we have to ask you about some of these things that were in this article.
For example—and we do have this quote that we can put up on our screen. This is from the deputy Aruban Police chief Dompig. And he says, “It was like nothing could satisfy them, nothing. Basically, Jug wanted us to come over and beat a confession out of these boys. We couldn‘t do that. These guys are hard-headed, especially Joran. We couldn‘t get a confession.”
He is talking about your husband. What do you say to that?
TWITTY: Well, Jane, something that the family knew—and we have to keep reminding everyone—after 72 hours -- 72 hours—we knew definitively that these suspects were not telling the truth. We knew that my daughter had never been brought back to the "Holiday Inn." Of course we were becoming frustrated. Who wouldn‘t, at this point? You know, we—and what was so unbelievable about this, is they knew this information and, still, chose to pursue the two security guards on June the 5th.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Now, stay right there because I think you‘re going to have some more to say about the next person we‘re going to bring in. One of the people mentioned in this new “Vanity Fair” article is Julia Renfro from the “Aruba Today” newspaper. Julia is on the phone live tonight from Aruba.
Thank you for joining us. You are mentioned quite a bit in this article, and basically, what it says is you were friends with Beth, you initially championed her cause and helped searched for Natalee. But at some point, you turned and ended up filing a Police complaint, it says, against her husband, Jug. What‘s the story there? Did you really do that?
JULIA RENFRO, (the transplanted AMERICAN in ARUBA who moved to ARUBA 17+ years ago and owns an interest in many ARUBA businesses including an ARUBAAN's news-source): Yes, I did. Actually, you know, everything you just said is absolutely correct, in that I went all out to help Beth in every way, to help find her daughter. And at some point, I believe it was early July, her husband, Jug, got very upset with me and actually physically pushed me and yelled and screamed at me in foul language in front of my children.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, was Beth there?
RENFRO: Yes, she was.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK, Beth, I want to hear what you have to say about this.
RENFRO: Well, Jane, you know, tempers—you know, you are frustrated. We were searching for answers. But as far as Jug physically pushing Julie Renfro, no, that did not happen. I was there. There was another witness there with us, and also a cab driver was there. I‘m sorry that—if she felt that—misconstrued that situation. But there were senior several witnesses there, and no, he did not physically push her, but there was a heated moment, yes.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And I guess—I don‘t want to dwell on this, but I think the whole theme of the article is that there was a certain high-handedness, a certain arrogance. And I really want to get your side of the story on that because that‘s a pretty serious charge. Beth?
TWITTY: You know, Jane it‘s—I‘m sorry, Jane...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Go ahead...
(CROSSTALK)
TWITTY: ... frustration—when you know the answers are there, when the family has hand-delivered the suspects to the authorities, and getting them to act on anything with any sense of urgency just became unbearable. You know, Jane, we pleaded with them early on, Tell us what you‘re gathering. Tell us how you‘re surveilling these guys. Tell us, are you tapping their phone lines? Are you recording their phone conversations? We never could get any answers from them.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Thank you for that. And nobody knows, as I said, what it‘s like to be you. And anybody who thinks they could act with grace, being in your shoes, well, let them try it first.
But let me ask Julia, what‘s next on this investigation? A lot of people feel that it‘s really reached a dead end.
RENFRO: Well, I don‘t believe it‘s (INAUDIBLE) a dead end. I did speak to commissioner Dompig today, and his team of detectives are continuing to investigate every angle still of Natalee‘s disappearance. And from what I understood, they received some new information today that they‘re going to follow up with tomorrow, and I would imagine, speak to the family about. And it sounds pretty serious.
I know that they did for quite a while put a lot of emphasis and a lot of hope into those Jamie Skeeters tapes, hoping that that—those tapes would be the key to a possible re-arrest of the trio.
[even though RENFRO claimed to "it sounds pretty serious,” when RENFRO was asked if she knew what the “serious” information was, she admitted she had not been told anything about the “serious” information]
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, and of course, that‘s just another controversy now.
RENFRO: Right. But unfortunately, those tapes turned out to be not very serious and basically don‘t have anything pertinent to the case.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, well, we don‘t know that yet. The FBI is looking at those tapes, trying to determine exactly what one of the suspects, Deepak Kalpoe, said. But you said that there might be some new information. Give us a hint. Anything? I mean, people are desperate for new information on this case.
RENFRO: Absolutely. And I believe that, as we all know, and as Beth knows and the family knows, it needs to go through the right vehicle, and that would be from the Police to her lawyers.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Do you know anything? I mean, you‘re just not telling us, or you don‘t know?
RENFRO: I don‘t know.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Well, let‘s bring in a former FBI agent Harold Copus. He has been following this case from the very beginning. He has been to Aruba. You‘ve been listening to all of this. It‘s getting really, really ugly. Is all this distraction going to keep the mystery from being solved?
HAROLD COPUS, FORMER FBI AGENT: Well, I think it certainly will. It seems like that what the Police need to do is go back, do their job. We‘ve been six months. We know that there‘s absolutely no way these three guys could have acted alone. They had to have more help. Let‘s just make this case and get past all this stuff. Pointing fingers from the chief back to Beth is really non-productive. It really merely means, as you know, pointing (INAUDIBLE) back at yourself.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: But the Aruban Investigators say they are also very frustrated. In fact, we have the “Vanity Fair” reporter describing their frustrations. Let‘s listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BURROUGHS: I really don‘t see any evidence of corruption or a cover-up here. What you see is a Police force that‘s done the best they can, but that, at least initially, moved slowly because they‘re presented with an awful lot of cases of missing American tourists.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: You know, one of the things that I found most fascinating about this “Vanity Fair” article is that it suggests at the very end that there is a sandbar about 200 feet, I believe, offshore, and this is a sandbar where lovers go to make out and fishermen sometimes watch them. And if you dump a body on the far side of that sandbar, it would wash off towards Panama. I hadn‘t heard any of that previous to this, and they‘ve been searching everywhere. What do you make of that?
HAROLD COPUS: Well, that‘s always interesting. Actually, I don‘t know about the sandbar. I definitely know about the fishermen‘s hut. And I question the “Vanity Fair” reporter, if he can‘t find corruption, then he probably needs to start back again. I think it‘s pretty plain that—I‘ve been down there. Any of us can do a Google search. You can see we have organized crime figures from America in Aruba.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Of course. All right. Thank you so much.
I want to go back to Beth. Final thoughts. I mean, what‘s next for you? Some people say this case really has hit a wall. Are you going to give up? Are you going to go back to Aruba and keep plowing ahead?
TWITTY: I don‘t think this case has hit a wall. I think what has happened in this case is they have terminated our line of communication, so the family is in the dark about where the Investigators are in this investigation. What we‘re hoping, though, is from the help of John Q. Kelly, that maybe he can open up a line of communication and bring us in the loop as to what‘s going on. I‘ve been hearing about possible new arrests or persons of interest being questioned through the media. So it would be nice to be getting that from Deputy Dompig or Karin Janssen herself.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hopefully, you will. And please keep us posted.
Thanks for joining us.

On 12-5 the “Crime Library” reported:

Beth Twitty To Join Massive Hunt for Missing Georgia Teacher

OCILLA, GA (Crime Library) — Beth Twitty, the grieving mother of missing Alabama teen Natalee Holloway, will join the search this weekend for Tara Grinstead, the 30-year-old school teacher and former beauty queen who vanished more than a month and a half ago after a local pageant.

Tim Miller, founder and executive director of Equuasearch, the Texas-based search and rescue operation said Twitty approached him and asked if she could participate in the massive search which is expected to draw some 500 volunteers to comb the brush and backwoods in a fifteen mile radius around Ocilla beginning Saturday. Miller's operation spent several weeks in Aruba earlier this year in what has so far been a futile search for Holloway, who vanished while on a trip to Aruba in May.

Twitty, who has become an icon to some and a bane to others for her dogged search for her own daughter, told Miller that she felt an obligation to participate in the search for Tara because of the support she has received.

"She said she wanted to be helpful for a couple of reasons," Miller told Crime Library. "She said, 'so many people have helped me in Natalee's case, I want to be able to start helping other people'."

Holloway also told Miller that she felt a special affinity to Grinstead, a high school history teacher who is, by all accounts, held in high esteem by her students.

"She said, 'you know what? I am a school teacher and I have been a school teacher my whole life and this is a school teacher over there that's missing, so please let me help'."
Twitty, who has drawn both praise and criticism, including allegations in a blistering article in the January issue of vanity Fair that she and her family may have actually impeded the search for Natalee, was adamant about pitching in on the search for Tara, Miller said.

"I said, you know what, Beth? If you're ready to help emotionally — because this has been very rough on you, I need you there. We need your help...so what you're going through right now with some of the bad publicity that you're getting, for you to now start helping other families because you know what they're going through...you can certainly be a valuable resource because there will me many more families that will need you."
In all likelihood, Twitty will help man the command center while the volunteers — 300 have signed up so far and another 200 are expected to join the search — fan out to scour a series of targeted locations arrayed in concentric rings beginning about two miles from Tara's home and extending out about 15 miles.

The search is expected to take two days.

On 12-5 MSNBC reported:

JOE SCARBOROUGH, HOST: … And shocking allegations out of Aruba. Officials there are trashing Natalee, her mother, and attacking the family and blaming Beth Holloway Twitty for their botched investigation. We will find out tonight.

…

But, first, a stunning turn of events in the Natalee Holloway story, and it comes from the man running the investigation in Aruba. Inside the January issue of “Vanity Fair” magazine, there is a big article on the Holloway investigation, in which Gerald Dompig, the deputy police chief, blames Beth Holloway Twitty for problems in the investigation.
Dompig he was pressured into arresting the three suspects in the case on June the 9th, even though he just wasn‘t ready to do it. Now, under normal circumstances, he says this—quote—“We would have taken much more time to monitor them. We would have had much more evidence had we waited.”
And that‘s just the beginning.
Let‘s bring in right now Natalee‘s aunt, Linda Allison, who‘s Beth Twitty‘s sister.
Linda, thank you so much for being with us.
I don‘t know where to start. I‘m not going to even repeat the slander that was aimed at Natalee. Of course, they attacked Jug. But they seem to be blaming Beth for all of their problems down there. What‘s the family‘s reaction tonight to these explosive charges?
LINDA ALLISON, AUNT OF NATALEE HOLLOWAY: Well, I haven‘t had an opportunity to speak with Beth or Dave this evening, but, after reading the article from “Vanity Fair,” I was just appalled to hear some of the things Dompig had said in that particular article, and just amazed at him attacking Natalee‘s character in this particular article, when actually they‘re trying to redirect this away from the actual investigation.
And I really wish they would focus on some of the other people that were questioned—or I guess a person of interest that they apparently never brought in for an interview. I‘m a little bit disappointed with—when EquuSearch was there on the island, waiting for a letter of approval from Dompig, and he never came through with that letter. So, EquuSearch and that dive team from Florida never was able to continue the search.
(CROSSTALK)
ALLISON: There are just numerous things like that, that just amaze me.
SCARBOROUGH: And, of course, again, after all that, after you have the 10, 11 days where they let these guys run free on the island without securing the cars, without doing any DNA tests on them, again, after all the mistakes, it‘s just—it‘s got to be stunning to you and the family that now they‘re coming after you all and blaming you.
Plus, you have the lead investigator talking about Natalee, saying she drank, she slept around, I mean, just spreading these rumors. And this is a guy running the investigation in Aruba.
ALLISON: I know.
I found that very disturbing when I read that particular part of the article. I just felt like, how dare this investigator go and attack Natalee, making these accusations? And, again, it‘s another diversion from the actual investigation. And I know a couple weeks ago, Dompig said he wanted to interview the Alabama teens that were with Natalee.
And he said he would travel to the U.S. or send an investigative team. And they have yet to do that. And Beth‘s only request is that the FBI agent be present during those interrogations. And he‘s welcome to come to the U.S. And I just wish they would move forward with this case and continue the investigation and see where we can go. It‘s been six months and we still don‘t have any information as to where Natalee is.
SCARBOROUGH: Well, unfortunately, Linda, I‘m afraid they have moved on, but they have moved on from this investigation and now they‘re just trying to cover themselves.
Thanks for being with us. We‘re obviously going to be following it in the coming days and see what happens.
ALLISON: Thank you, Joe.
SCARBOROUGH: Again, just bombshell accusations.
Thank you so much.
Let‘s bring in right now prosecutor Stacey Honowitz and retired FBI agent Candice DeLong, the author of “Special Agent: My Life on the Front Lines as a Woman in the FBI.”
Candice, I got to start with you.
Is there any—do you lend any credence at all to this lead investigator‘s claim, that, if the family had just shut up, if they had just backed off, then they may have been able to get these suspects, to trap them and get them to talk?
CANDICE DELONG, FORMER FBI PROFILER: No, none whatsoever.
Joe, can you imagine if the FBI was in charge of a case, a missing-person case or a homicide case, and blew it, and all the subjects of interest were released, and then they turned around and said, well, we really didn‘t want to do the investigation that way, but the family made us do it?
That‘s outrageous. It‘s shameful. And the shame is on them, the cops.
SCARBOROUGH: So, basically, you‘re saying that the fact that they‘re turning around now, six months later, and saying, the parents made us do it, is just further evidence that these guys are idiots down there and they don‘t know what they‘re doing.
DELONG: Well, they‘re admitting their incompetency simply by saying, the family made us do it.
Joe, in cases like this, someone generally in a police department is
assigned to work with the family. Of course the family members of a
missing or murdered individual is going to be all over the police, wanting
constantly wanting information and updates. The FBI generally, every office has someone to be liaison between the family and the investigator, to hold them at arm‘s length, keep them informed of what they need to know.
But the families do not call the shots in an investigation. Would you tell your surgeon how to take a tumor out of your head? No. You let him do it.
SCARBOROUGH: Exactly.
Stacey Honowitz, are they just looking for an excuse to explain away their sorry investigation?
STACEY HONOWITZ, FLORIDA ASSISTANT STATE ATTORNEY: Oh, absolutely, Joe.
Candice is 100 percent right. The family does not call the shots. There‘s always a victim advocate or a liaison involved in the case. And this is so typical. The same thing happens when you have a regular rape case in a courtroom. All of a sudden, it‘s the rape victim‘s fault that the rape was committed.
And that‘s basically what they‘re saying: We screwed up, but it wasn‘t our fault. It was because of Beth and because of Jug and everybody else, and we had so much pressure. So, this is typical behavior. I‘m not surprised by it. I‘m sure the Beth is thick-skinned enough. She‘s been through enough as a mother involved in all this that she could probably let this roll right off her back, as she should.
SCARBOROUGH: What do you all make—I really have never heard of any investigator doing this, certainly not in the United States. But what do you make of the lead investigator in Aruba now coming out, slandering, unfortunately, a young woman who is probably dead? Her parents said that they really buried her mentally back in June—but slandering a young lady, basically just spewing hearsay about what she did on the island—they talk about drinking and drugs and all these other things—and put words in her mouth about her mother.
And then, again, they attack Jug Twitty. And what do we make of all of this? Can there ever be any credibility lent to these Aruban authorities again?
DELONG: I don‘t think so, not for me.
(CROSSTALK)
HONOWITZ: I don‘t think so. You‘re certainly going to have a difficult time, especially when they‘re saying things like that.
How can you trust anything that is going to happen from here on? But, like I said earlier, this is typical behavior. They screwed up. They let these guys run free. They never secured evidence. They never got search warrants. They never took computers. They never took messaging. They never took blood.
And so, as a result of their screw-up, they‘re going to place the blame on the Twitty family. It‘s disgraceful. It‘s disgusting. And, like I said, hopefully, Beth can get some justice. Hopefully, they will focus now not on these collateral issues, which is what they are, but on the investigation.
SCARBOROUGH: Candice, do you agree with that?
DELONG: Yes.
And I would like to add, Joe, it‘s taking 40 or 50 years of specific education in major police departments in the United States that form sex crime units in how to treat victims of this kind of crime.
And this remark by this guy, who—the leader investigator—slandering Natalee kind of makes me wonder how seriously did they take this case in the first place?
SCARBOROUGH: Yes.
DELONG: Were they ever really seriously intent on—or was it a situation of, well, she‘s gone; she got what she deserved because she was making out with some guy on the beach?
SCARBOROUGH: Yes. It‘s unbelievable. You nailed it right on the head there.
Thank you so much, Candice DeLong.
Stacey Honowitz, thank you also for being with us. We really appreciate it.

12-6-05

On 12-6 when CBS asked BETH her response to allegations by ARUBAN Police chief ARUBAN Police commissioner GERALD DOMPIG that her and JUG TWITTY interfered with the ARUBAN Police investigation, BETH HOLLOWAY-TWITTY stated she and Jug “absolutely” didn’t hinder Investigators. “It’s hard for me even to respond to such a statement as that. Everyone knows that we remained nothing but respectful of the Dutch law, and worked with them until it failed Natalee greatly. That’s when the family became very concerned and began reaching out. We knew we needed additional help.” “I don’t know, but I remember specifically in a meeting, they (the ARUBAN Police authorities) were saying this is the most unusual man they had ever dealt with. They had never seen anyone who has just refused to cooperate with the authorities. He really toyed with them during the interrogations, and quite often would place his fingers in his ears and just refuse to speak. I think that they were all frustrated with Joran’s behavior from early on.” “It really just saddens us greatly if someone is suggesting that the family impeded the investigation or damaged the integrity of it. We all know that the officials that are involved … are the ones who are the professionals and should be making the correct judgments on whether to pursue or not to pursue suspects, and not relying on pressure from the family, which they were not doing.”

On 12-6 BETH HOLLOWAY-TWITTY stated to FOX News that early in the investigation, the family was told by the ARUBAN Police Investigators that blood was found inside the one 5-29/30-worn, “K-Swiss” brand, size 14, tennis shoe that is predominantly white with some blue trim that belongs to Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT that was taken into evidence (the other 5-29/30-worn “K-Swiss” brand, size 14 tennis shoe has--according to the ARUBAN Police authorities--never been found). The ARUBAN Police Investigators told the family that the found blood inside the one tennis shoe taken into evidence would be forensically tested, but, to date, BETH HOLLOWAY-TWITTY stated she does not recall for sure if the ARUBAN Police Investigators have ever reported about the results of any blood tests, nor have the ARUBAAN's even said if the blood tests have ever been completed.

On 12-6 “The website, www.2hellwitharuba.com , established six months before the Governors of Alabama and Arkansas publicly urged Americans to stop travel to Aruba, released Saturday (12-3) the results of an online poll the website conducted with their American members that suggests more that 87% of Americans would back an organized boycott effort.” “The poll, started late June after the website’s launch and concluded Sat., was taken by Americans 18 to 96 years of age and included representation from nearly every American racial background.” “The six-month-long poll that ended Saturday and taken by 73,212 of , www.2hellwitharuba.com’s 93,901 American members, carries a margin /f error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.” (meaning 82% to 92% of respondents support the ARUBA boycotts)

12-7-05

On 12-7 the "AP" reported “The father of missing Alabama teen Natalee Holloway would like Mississippi to join a travel boycott of Aruba to protest the way officials there have handled the disappearance of his daughter. Dave Holloway, a Meridian insurance agent, said he has called the governor's office to urge Gov. Haley Barbour to join Alabama Gov. Bob Riley and Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in the travel boycott of the Dutch Caribbean island.”

On 12-7 the ARUBAAN's news-source "Bon Dia” reported:

If by the 17 of December there’s no solution, Minister will take measures

Internal problems at the Public Prosecutor’s have to be solved soon

“chief prosecutor (Jansen) has to know that she has an AG ahead of her” – Minister Rudy Croes

ORANJESTAD – chief Prosecutor Karen Jansen has to know that there is a general attorney and an AG ahead of her. Everything has to do with rank. Minister Rudy Croes gave the Public Prosecution personnel until the 17 of December to solve the internal problems they have. Here he confirmed that there is still a problem at the Public Prosecution where there are certain persons who are looking for problems by undermining the authority of their boss.

He made specific mention of the chief prosecutor who has a problem with the AG. The mandatory said that he is aware of the situation. He is not happy with how things are going in the department and that after the 17 of this month, a decision will be taken of what measures to tackle

PROSECUTOR ANGELA

As first confirmed by Bon Dia Aruba some weeks back, Minister Rudy Croes spoke about the arrival of prosecutor Angela from Curacao, who is a respected Aruban in his field of work. His objective will be to conduct an independent investigation of the case of Natalee Holloway. However he will not be located at the Public Prosecution. The mandatory demonstrated that he doesn’t want for prosecutor Angela to be influenced by the Public Prosecution and as such, he will be given all the information for him to work on during his stay here in Aruba. Here he will be able to do work completely independently.

TALK A LOT

The work of the prosecutor will be to help with the investigation and solve this, and where things went badly, to solve this to avoid these from happening again in the future. The mandatory sent a strong signal for those who are talking too much, for them to stop talking a little and let the authorized people speak. According to the mandatory, a few times he has heard people speak nonsense on television.

LINE OF COMMAND

He spoke of a letter that he sent to all departments where they have to follow the line of command. If you a boss, you have to follow the line. If you show a lack of respect for your boss, the Minister cannot accept this from any government department, less still from the Public Prosecution.

On 12-7 TITO LACLE reported to FOX News that Former Murder Suspect PAULUS VAN DER SLOOT is returning to the ARUBA court and will probably be suing the ARUBA government (his current employer) for “tens of thousands of dollars” for the 4 days he spent under arrest in June. TITO LACLE also said that it is rumored that Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT will return from HOLLAND to ARUBA in a week or two for a two week Christmas vacation.

12-8-05

On 12-8 ARUBAAN's news-source “A. M. Digital” reported:

Minister Rudy Croes brings in Aruba Attorney from Curacao

“We have managed to convince a tremendous Attorney in Curacao to come to Aruba and help us in the case of Natalee Holloway, and especially to find out if and where mistakes could have been made. Attorney Angela is Aruba born and is presently stationed in Curacao” confirmed Minister of Justice Rudy Croes.

Angela already received all documents and the intentions were to have him work from one of the offices of the Public Prosecutor however, Minister Croes prevented this from happening and instructed to provide the attorney with a private office where he could work without any outside influence in order for him to function totally independent.

“I must ask those that like to talk a lot to stop doing that and leave the talking to those authorized” said Minister Croes but he did not mention who he was referring to.

The Justice Executive admitted that many times he heard certain individuals airing nonsense on the “radar” (we guess he meant “radio”) but he did not wish to point the finger at anybody.

In the meantime it seems that the situation is still tense in the Public Prosecutor’s office. Although Minister Croes stipulated a time frame in which he expected everything to be resolved, this did not happen. The Minister of Justice again admitted not to be pleased with the situation and said that by the end of this month a decision will be made on how to solve the situation in the Public Prosecutor’s office. Somebody has to go?

On 12-8 “The Barbados Advocate” reported:

ACCP countries to learn from Aruba’s experience

ANY of the countries in the Caribbean region can be faced, as Aruba was recently, with the issue of visitor safety and security, as such, this will be the theme of the upcoming Association of Caribbean commissioners of Police (ACCP) conference to be held in that Dutch territory next year.

Giving an outline of the draft agenda for the conference, Jeanette Richardson-Baar, chief of Staff, to the commissioner of Police of Aruba said that the conference will be a perfect opportunity to showcase to everyone abroad that Aruba still is a very safe and secure island to visit. Her comments came as she spoke to those gathered for the final day of the ACCP Intersessional meeting at the Amaryllis Beach Resort yesterday.
"The image of Aruba in terms of visitor safety was very badly damaged by the Natalee Holloway case, which is a case that never happened in Aruba before. We do not have a lot of murders, we have four or five murders a year, most of them connected to drugs or criminals shooting each other ... for us it was very unusual, and we have been working very hard on it and we have been trying to do whatever we can to boost up the image of Aruba again,” she said.

With that in mind, Richardson-Baar noted that at any time, a similar situation could occur in another country in the region and so it is imperative that all the countries are well prepared. One important issue that needs to be addressed, she stated, is how the authorities relate to the media, especially inter- national media entities.

"We have to train people more how to deal with the media. We have our information officers who are used to dealing with the local press and that is on a one-on-one basis. They all know each other, they don’t make trouble and they know what to expect of each other. But we were confronted with CNN and FOX and people who have different ethics in terms of gathering information,” she lamented.

As such, she explained that one of the items on the agenda for the conference will be "Strategies for Effective Media Management , in which law enforcement officers will be trained so that if something like that was to happen in another country, that they would be able to deal with it effectively and efficiently.

In addition to crime reporting and the media, the conference, she added, will look at three other main themes regional crime and security, community-policing philosophy in action and major events management.

She said that with respect to the major event management, presenters will look at some events that took place in the last couple of years, locally and internationally, and Cricket World Cup (CWC) is expected to be featured very prominently.

12-9-05

On 12-23 DAVE HOLLOWAY stated to MSNBC “Well I'm not really sure how to gauge it at this point in time, Lisa, but I'm encouraged anytime they bring them back in for questioning. What I'm confused on is that I had a very good source tell me that the boys or Joran especially has already a list of the questions that is going to be asked of him.” “My source tells me that he knows what's going to be asked and that information was provided to him approximately two weeks ago. [circa 12-9]” “I'm still trying to struggle with why they would give him questions in advance, according to this source. It may be so that he can think about them and you know really concentrate on what they're going to ask him. I don't know. It's—it may be all for show.” When asked what he would ask Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT , DAVE HOLLOWAY stated "Well, there's a number of things I would ask him. First would be, where is Natalee and what did he do with her if he's involved in this case. You know something else that disturbs me, Lisa, is the fact that suspects in Aruba can lie to Police and that's not a crime. Witnesses, on the other hand, cannot lie. And I asked a question since Paul van der Sloot is no longer a suspect, he can then be a witness and I'm wondering if he cannot be re-interviewed as well.” “Well as you recall, back about 60 days ago there was some indications that they were on a 60-day plan and the rumor was, was that you know after 60 days if they don't come up with anything they're going to close the case. And then after repercussions about that idea they changed their mind and said they would continue investigating the case. So you know where do we stand is what I want to know.” When asked if he was planning on returning to ARUBA, DAVE HOLLOWAY stated "You know that's up in the air. You know I did—a lot of my responsibilities was involved in searching. I know Texas EquuSearch is seriously considering going back to the island to do some searching in the water. Whether I'll go or not, that's—that will be determined in the next few weeks.”

On 12-9 the “Riehl World blog” reported:

Additionally, I've received other information on what is alleged to be leaked statements from the investigation. I've been told that most such statements and notes are often encrypted in high profile cases and that is the case with most documents from the Holloway case.

At right and below I'll be posting a sample of one of the encrypted documents I've been sent, along with the text of one unencrypted document said to be a statement of Joran van der Sloot - note - while the document text I'll post is obviously translated and not signed, I do have a photographic image of the alleged original in Dutch signed by the Investigators. That document is allegedly what led Investigators to take Joran van der Sloot to the beach one day in handcuffs to identify the location of where he left Natalee Holloway and where he suspected she may have been buried by Deepak Kalpoe. That beach visit resulted in nothing being found, so far as I am aware.

At right is a sample of an encrypted document allegedly leaked from the investigation - and below is the text of the translated document I referenced above.
Pardon typos or poor composition - I hadn't planned on posting anything substantive tonight.

DEPOSITION

We, Juan Enrique Boezem, Dennis Domico Jacobs, Luigi Angelo Giovanni Croes en Chrizanti Anuar Tromp, respectively Head Officer, Officer first Class and Officer at the Aruba Police Corps, respectively assigned at the Detective District 2 and Robbery Project Team, state the following.

That on June 13 2005, at approximately 7.50 P.M. , the suspect, “Joran A.P. van der Sloot ” stated that he probably knew the place were his fellow suspect “Deepak Sharma Kalpoe” hid the corpse of the missing girl “Natalee Ann Holloway” under the sand and that he was willing to show the location to the judicature. With reference to his statement we, the interrogating officers, drove with the suspect J.A.P. van der Sloot at approximately 8 P.M. in order to show the location.
Indicated by the suspect J.A.P. van der Sloot , we, the interrogating officers, drove to the beach north of the Marriott Hotel. Near the first fishing shack, north of the Marriott Hotel, the suspect stated that he had laid on the beach, on may 30, 2005 at approximately 02.00 A.M. with the missing girl “Natalee Ann Holloway”. At the moment that we, the interrogating officers, doing location indications,
the suspect J.A.P. van der Sloot , stated, that when the girl Natalee Holloway fell a sleep, he left the girl on the beach, by the first fishing shack, north of the Marriott Hotel.

The suspect J.A.P. van der Sloot then walked with us, the interrogating officers, a little further and stated that he suspected that the suspect Deepak KALPOE had returned to the girl after he left her sleeping on the beach.

In response to our question to the suspect J.A.P. van der Sloot , what he thought had happened between the girl Natalee Holloway and suspect Deepak KALPOE, he stated that he thought that the suspect Deepak KALPOE had raped the girl and then had killed her.
Following this by us, the interrogating officers, on oath of office is stated this deposition, closed and signed at Oranjestad on June 13, 2005.

The interrogating officers,

On 12-9 BETH HOLLOWAY-TWITTY helped in a search for TARA GRINSTEAD, for which “Texas EquuSearch“ is also working.

On 12-9 TV station “NBC13” in BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA reported “While on the (MSNBC) show Friday, (BETH) Twitty also heard some new information about her daughter's case. An Aruban official revealed that the three prime suspects in the case could be interrogated again and that the attorney general has placed a new prosecutor in charge of the case. Twitty also learned that back in September, one of the suspects' fathers, Paul van der Sloot, received a letter that was allegedly from Natalee Holloway. Officials said the letter will be sent to a lab in Holland to be tested.” (IF a letter claiming to be from NATALEE was received in September, WHY is it only now being sent by the ARUBAAN's to the DUTCH for forensic tests?)

12-9 ARUBAAN's news-source "Amigoe.com" reported:

Writ against public speaking for chief of Police Dompig

ARUBA – chief of Police, Gerold Dompig, who is in charge of the investigation on the missing Natalee Holloway, is no longer allowed to speak to the media. Justice-minister Rudy Croes has sent him a written order.
The letter came shortly after it became public that Dompig had given a interview to the American magazine vanity Fair. He told the magazine that the family Holloway / Twitty had obstructed the investigation from the beginning. Consequence to this article, Beth Twitty is again being interviewed in several American TV-shows. She said in The Early Show on CBS that it is very difficult for her to even react on the suggestion. “Everybody knows that we have always respected the Dutch judicial system and we have collaborated with them, until it became very disadvantageous for Natalee. ((**NOTE: ARUBAAN's news-source "Amigoe.com" MISQUOTED Beth--THE TRUTHFUL AND ACCURATE QUOTE OF BETH TO CBS IS “It’s hard for me even to respond to such a statement as that. Everyone knows that we remained nothing but respectful of the Dutch law, and worked with them until it failed Natalee greatly.”**)) That’s when it became necessary for us to seek help.” Dompig talks too much. Recently, he told the Amigoe how the investigation team was busy doing a profile investigation. Attention is not being focused on the possible suspects here, but the victim. By profiling the victim, the Police can figure out what type of people would approach her. “From this investigation it appeared that Natalee was not at all the exceptional person that her family made us believe. During her stay in Aruba, she was a party animal and consumed a lot of alcohol. She most probably used drugs and offered this to others. It appeared that Natalee was even after Joran van der Sloot. He didn’t need much persuasiveness to get her.” According to Dompig, there are three new analysts investigating the case. They read the file and ask questions. “Important is not to be blind.”

On 12-9 the “AP” reported:

Alabama's first lady backs Holloway family, condemns Aruba

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Alabama First Lady Patsy Riley promised the family of missing teenager Natalee Holloway that the state will always support the search for her, and accused the Aruban government of turning its back on the family.

"To know that another country turned its back," Riley said, her voice breaking with emotion during a candlelit prayer meeting Thursday night for missing children. "The people of Alabama will never turn their back."

Holloway was last seen leaving a bar with three young men from Aruba during a graduation trip to the island May 30.

Holloway's mother, Beth Twitty, and her stepfather, Jug Twitty, attended the prayer meeting at the Governor's Mansion along with two dozen friends from the 18-year-old's hometown of Mountain Brook, a suburb of Birmingham. At least four other families of missing children also attended the meeting.

"It touches me that they have so much strength to stand up for our family," Jug Twitty said, referring to Gov. Bob Riley and his wife.

Some 40 Alabama children are missing, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Tara Frazier, whose 15-year-old niece Sharnecia went missing a year ago, said that while the prayer meeting was largely focused on Holloway, she still felt consoled.

"It was a comfort," she said after the meeting. "Not so much sad, but comforting."

Patsy Riley, speaking from the steps of the mansion, asked the victims' families to stand together and draw from one another's strength. They held hands in prayer, later lighting white candles in memory of their missing children.

"This is about all missing children," the first lady told them. "The difference with Natalee is that a different country is involved. ...Therefore, there's a different crisis."

Holloway's family initially praised Aruban authorities for their work on the case, but they turned critical, alleging incompetence and conflicts of interest, and joined the governor in calling for a nationwide boycott of travel to Aruba.

Riley has sent letters to the 49 other American governors, urging them to join him in the boycott. So far, Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has been the only governor to join.

Meanwhile, Assistant Aruban Police chief Gerold G. Dompig has said in interviews that Beth Twitty has hurt the investigation by releasing sensitive information during her frequent appearances on U.S. television shows. And he said Holloway's classmates need to be questioned more because of "disturbing" statements they've made on TV and the Internet.

The first lady said she decided to hold the prayer meeting this year because the holidays can be the toughest time for families who have lost a child.

Patsy Riley told the families that blowing out their candles "does not mean the end of this prayer meeting.

"We will never stop searching for your loved ones."

On 12-9 the “Aruba Strategic Communications Task Force” wrote “The people of Aruba and their government warmly and wholeheartedly support the candlelight vigil being held this evening in the United States for Natalee Holloway. Almost from the moment Ms. Holloway disappeared, the nation of Aruba has been focused on finding her. The people of Aruba join those at the vigil in spirit this evening with Ms. Holloway in our hearts, in our thoughts, and in our prayers.”

On 12-9 when MSNBC asked STEVE COHEN, member of the ARUBA “STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS TASK FORCE,” about Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT and Current Murder Suspects KALPOE’s being re-interrogated?, COHEN claimed “I think it’s certainly a possibility. Everything is being done right now to accelerate the process of the investigation. By that I mean Investigators are going over all old ground. There’s about 12,000 pages of testimony they took during the original interrogations. And they‘re saying to themselves, we may have missed some pieces. Let’s quietly and carefully go over these pieces, and if we need to bring these boys back and interrogate them again, let’s not be afraid to do it because of the press or anyone else who is a naysayer. In fact, the attorney general has put a new prosecutor from Venezuela on this case, I’m sorry, from Curacao on this case to check out all the work that’s been done by Karin Janssen, and on the other side, Adolfo Richardson, who is one of the most experienced inspectors on the island, is returning to the case after training he’s done in Holland. So, you have two new people on it.” When MSNBC asked about a letter from someone claiming to be NATALEE HOLLOWAY that Former Murder Suspect PAULUS VAN DER SLOOT received, COHEN claimed “Well, first, I can tell you that this letter has just like any other piece of evidence, no one really thinks in the prosecution or in the Investigators it‘s worth anything. But because you want to know about it, here‘s what happened. He received a letter in September. This was a typed letter. It reportedly is from Natalee Holloway, and in the letter it lays out a number of scenarios about how she ran away from her mother and also other issues.” “And all the letter does intimate there is that you can get DNA off of the stamp licking, off of the licking of the envelop and off of the letter itself. There‘s no other obvious DNA that is put on the letter. Inspectors have taken it. Don Peg (ph), who is our chief Investigator, took the letter today from Paul van der Sloot and he immediately sent it onto our lab in Holland. Everything in the letter is not new. Everything comes from a variety of Web sites.”
((???? WHY did Former Murder Suspect PAULUS VAN DER SLOOT hold on to this letter for 3 months?))

12-10-05

On 12-10 the “Aruba Strategic Communications Task Force” wrote “Two leads are in the news. One without merit, the other unsubstantiated. The first, raised by David Holloway on Greta, concerns a shoe found in Joran’s room. The shoe was, in fact, Joran’s. But the trace blood was not Natalee’s. Inspectors examined Joran’s feet and found no cuts consistent with a struggle, a long walk, or any bleeding. The shoe therefore yielded no new evidence. The second lead concerns a letter received by Paulus van der Sloot in September. He just this week turned it over to Inspector Dompig. It tells a tale, supposedly by Natalee Holloway herself, of running away and becoming pregnant. The letter is very close in content to several web postings. It has been turned over to the forensic lab in Holland.”

12-12-05

On 12-12 the DUTCH TV channel “RTL4” showed a pre-recorded interview with BETH during the channel‘s “10 most discussed people of 2005.” BETH: Beth Holloway-Twitty, mother of missing teenager, Natalee Holloway; HOST: Peter van der Vorst URL: http://www.rtl.nl/shows/de10/ (voice-overs in italics) (Hat Tip thanks for translation to “Daniel”)
(video available here)

HOST: "On No. 4 the dramatic story of Natalee Holloway, the 18yr old American student who disappeared earlier this year after a vacation on Aruba. One of the three main suspects was Joran van der Sloot, son of a substitute judge on Aruba. He has been released from jail, but Natalee's mother is convinced he knows more about the case."

BETH: "What I would like to say to Joran is, 'tell what you did with my daughter when you were finished raping her. What did you do with her?' That is all that we're asking. we want to know. 'Where is she?'

HOST: "Ever since May, America has been intrigued by the disappearance of 18-year-old Natalee Holloway. The media were all over the case. [showing Greta van Susteren and Beth meeting with the Sloot's]. The Americans criticize the Dutch and Aruban justice system [showing American commentators], and there's harsh criticism of the Dutch prison system. Natalee's parents take the first flight to Aruba to look for their daughter. Whereas in our justice system a person is innocent until the contrary has been proven, Natalee's mother is convinced that Joran van der Sloot and his friends Deepak and Satish Kalpoe are guilty. She talked to Joran on Aruba"

HOST: "What was his first answer?"

BETH: "His first answer was, that he dropped her off at the "Holiday Inn" hotel, and we've all since found out that all that was a lie. And you know what he also did in front of about eight witnesses? He described the sexual assaults that he committed against my daughter while she was coming in and out of consciousness, with Deepak and Satish Kalpoe. What, what young man, what 17-year-old man would do that, in front of the young girl's mother, and stepfather and eight of her friends? It's almost as if he's such a sociopath that he doesn't even see the wrongdoing that he has done to my daughter."

HOST: "What do you think he did?"

BETH: "There's only one thing I know he did. I know that Joran van der Sloot and Deepak and Satish Kalpoe have raped my daughter on the island of Aruba while she was unable to defend herself. Whether they went ahead and killed her after that?, I don't know. But I know that's one thing they did do, is they participated in a gang rape."

HOST: "Natalee's mother is basing her strong allegations, in part, on a conversation with co-suspect Deepak that was aired by talkshow host Dr. Phil and in which the boy supposedly admitted to the gang rape. But when the Dutch Forensic Institute analyses the audio tape of the show, it turns out that it has been tampered with. On the original tape, the boy denies that there's been any sexual activity with Natalee.

HOST: "Is she still alive?"

BETH: "My gut feeling says that.... that Joran van der Sloot and Deepak and Satish Kalpoe know the answer."

HOST: "Witnesses supposedly last saw Natalee in the company of the three boys. Nine days after her disappearance, Joran is arrested.

Abraham Moszkowicz jr. (famous criminal lawyer): "That boy has been arrested, he has been confronted by a full team, those Police officers are skillfull in interrogating suspects, and no confession has come out. What we have here is a suspect who is a young man, not a hardened criminal, a highschool student really. That doesn't say it all, but it does say something".

HOST: "After three months, Joran is released, but he remains a suspect. He travels to the Netherlands."

Joran: "I've come to Holland to begin my studies, and I hope that I can do that like a normal student."

HOST: "Natalee Holloway too would have begun her studies this year. She received a scholarship for the University of Alabama. Sadly, it remains the question if she will ever have the opportunity to make use of it."

HOST: "What's the thing you miss most from Natalee?"

BETH (in tears): "... well, her room is empty all the time.. I drive up and her car is sitting here.. and.. I just sent her to the Island of Aruba, on her senior trip, to have a great time because she worked her tail off. She was, really, all she wanted to do was celebrate her graduation and begin college."

HOST: "We asked Joran's lawyer for a response to the accusations made by Natalee's mother."

[Lawyer statement]"Beth Twitty's allegations are completely unjustified. Joran has been very clear ever since the girl went missing: He did not harm her in any way. Joran is currently in a very difficult position. He wants to live like a regular teenager, but they're making that nearly impossible for him."

HOST: "One last thing you want to say to Joran? Because, now you have the possibility, you can look him in the eyes, even…"

BETH (addressing host): "You know what I…"

HOST: "…through the lense…"

BETH: "…But you know what I'd like, to look Joran in the eyes? Face to face, sitting right here with me. I'm not going to talk to him through the camera. I won't do that. I like face to face. In person. Talking to a camera, no.. that's the easy way. Oh no, I want him right here with me. That's what I want."

HOST: "On number 4, Natalee Holloway, still missing".

On 12-12 the “AP” reported:

Leader Says Arubaans to Visit D.C.

Washington, D.C.
The Associated Press

Alabama Congressman Spencer Bachus says Aruban authorities will meet with criminal justice officials in Washington, D.C., to provide a detailed review of the investigation into the disappearance of a Mountain Brook teenager.

Bachus said the meeting will be held this week in the case of Natalee Holloway. She has been missing since May 30. Bachus represents the Mountain Brook, Ala., area, where Natalee's mother lives.

Holloway, on a graduation class trip to Aruba, was last seen leaving a bar with Dutch national Joran van der Sloot and Surinamese brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe.
They were arrested in June but released after a court ruled there was not enough evidence to hold them.

Bachus did not specify which Aruban officials will visit Washington. He said more information would be released when available.

Alabama Gov. Bob Riley has called for a nationwide travel boycott of the Dutch Caribbean island.

Assistant Aruban Police chief Gerold Dompig previously said that Holloway's mother, Beth Twitty, has hurt the investigation by releasing sensitive information during her frequent appearances on television shows.

On 12-12 “Aruba.com” reported:

Bulletin Police Force Utrecht

Utrecht Detectives in Aruba

The other day, three Utrecht detectives were in Aruba to assist their Aruban colleagues in the Natalee Holloway case. Their experiences? The F.B.I. would not have acted differently.

Utrecht Detectives in Natalee Holloway Case.

The Natalee Holloway case had a lot of news coverage last summer. There is a Dutch prime suspect, Dutch F-16 fighter planes were used, as well as three Dutch detectives.
from Utrecht.

Ron de Ruiter of the Team of Detectives of Utrecht South in formation, Hans Burgwal of “JJZ Paardenveld”, and Wim Henzen of the Criminal Investigation Department finish some formalities and then they formally close the Natalee Holloway case.

Natalee Holloway is an 18-year old American girl who disappeared without a trace in the early morning of May 30, after a night on the town in Aruba with the Dutch prime suspect Joran van der S. and the Surinam brothers Deepak and Satish K., friends of Joran, and since the disappearance of Natalee also suspects. When this issue went to the printer’s, the pre-trial detention of the three suspects had been suspended, and Natalee still had not been found.

Professional Interrogators

A little less than two months after Holloway's disappearance, the Utrecht threesome flew to Aruba at the request of the Aruban Police and judiciary in order to assist in the interrogation of the prime suspect. Later, the interrogation of the two co-suspects was added to their job. This because Ron and Hans are trained professional interrogators. The “TPV” (Training Professional Interrogator) was developed by our force in cooperation with the criminal investigation school and mainly Utrecht Detectives participated in it. This is why, soon after the disappearance in Aruba, someone called Utrecht. Ron and Hans were selected to do the job, Wim accompanied them as coordinator and facilitator.

“We often work together with specialists of the “DNRI” (National Crime Squad Intelligence Division),” Wim says. “Behavioral scientist Bram van der Meer was already there within a couple of weeks. The suspects’ behavior was so exceptional that Bram thought assistance in the interrogations was required.”

And this is how the men from Utrecht stepped into a media circus. “It was crazy and it didn’t stop,” Hans says. “For 90 days, CNN covered the case on a daily basis, and Larry King an additional two times a week. As soon as we stepped outside, we were surrounded by camera crews, photographers, and reporters.”

What else did the colleagues find? “Sceptical Aruban colleagues,” Hans says. “But this is not a strange thought if suddenly a few Dutch colleagues join your investigation after two months of investigating. After all, you then have to prove that you are good at your job.” But soon they broke the ice; the cooperation with the Arubaans was good and gradually became better.

“The Arubaans had already done a tremendous amount of work,” Hans states, “both in a qualitative and in a quantitative way. There was already a lot on paper. Some Aruban colleagues had worked on the case for 80 days straight. The result of it was plain to see.”

Were you able to add anything to this? Yes, is undoubtedly the reply, although especially the interrogations provided few new facts. But isn’t this your specialty? “Sure,” Hans states, “We looked for new facts and circumstances in all statements made. This turned up a lot.” But the case has not been solved. Was it worthwhile? And are you satisfied? Hans: “Of course suspects who are unwilling to make a statement are extremely frustrating, and the fact that the girl has not been found also makes us feel very unsatisfied. Of course, this is very tragic for the family in particular. But the FBI, following the case from a distance, stated that it would not have acted differently than we did. That is a very nice compliment. Emotionally, this case does not leave you in peace until the girl is found, for this has been a once-in-a-lifetime investigation. Despite the outcome of the case, we were able to do a lot and cooperate well with the Aruban colleagues, and this is why we are not unsatisfied.”

12-13-05

On 12-13 ARUBAAN's news-source "Diario" reported:

Police Union president confirms that Holloway case investigation has officially stopped Until the government explains what exactly the role of the new prosecutor will be

ORANJESTAD (AAN): Monday, the Police union (SPA) held a press conference to clear up certain matters that are still pending with the Police force. According to SPA president Eric Zaandam, there are some things that are going in a troublesome route and because of this he felt it would be good to hold a press conference.

According to Zaandam, he noted that letters that were sent to the Police force, to indicate that certain persons cannot speak with the press anymore, etc. Also, in the Public Prosecutor’s Office, certain people cannot speak to the press, which makes everything fall upon the Police force, on its employees.

According to the SPA president, it is now enough and they have to explain to the press what is taking place, so that the press can see what is going on.

Zaandam said that he wants to elaborate on the matter of commissioner Dompig, where he has been prohibited from speaking to the press and that the Minister of Justice said that Dompig speaks too much with the press and because of this he has forbidden him from doing so.

According to Zaandam, 2 months ago Dompig was approached by AHATA’s CEO, who is a member of the Communications Task Force, Jorge Pesquera, to become spokesperson of the task force.

The reason was that a few consultancy companies in the US showed that the message on the part of Aruba was not reaching in a clear and strong manner internationally using the spokespersons that they were using.

The consultancy companies counseled the Task Force to get a person who knows the legal process and knows about investigations in Aruba and so they decided to approach Dompig to do this.

The arrangement for Dompig’s interviews was that all questions that were to be asked of Dompig, among others for the magazine ‘Vanity Fair’, were first screened by the consultancy companies so that commissioner Dompig could give the appropriate answers. All this took place according rules and wording, with the Prime Minister’s knowledge who gave the OK for this.

Now that everything has come out in vanity Fair and that the American producers have come out with another strategy to attack Aruba, all of a sudden Dompig has become a person who speaks too much.

The Minister of Justice came into the game, as if there was no communication between the Prime Minister and the Minister of Justice, and now all the press knows that the Minister of Justice prohibited commissioner Dompig from speaking.

These dirty games are unacceptable, according to Zaadam, who said that, for example, no one from the Task Force has come forward to say that they gave commissioner Dompig the OK themselves, and that they have screened everything and that all was done in a correct manner.

The Prime Minister also can come forward to say that the Minister of Justice was at fault for prohibiting Dompig from speaking. This, according to Zaandam, who said that he wants to bring this type of thing forward to show how the Police is being played by all other institutions.

All these games are for one sole objective that is unacceptable for the Police, where for example prosecutor Karin Janssen was also prohibited to speak. After some time, now the Minister of Justice has expressed that prosecutor Angela from Curacao has come to Aruba to conduct an investigation of the team of Investigators.

According to the SPA president, Angela has come to Aruba to do this and not to assist in the investigation. This cannot be, according to Zaandam, who said that there can never be and investigation in an investigation.

After that SPA met with the team of Investigators, they agreed that they are going to have everything on hold, until they are able to find out exactly what prosecutor Angela has come to do in Aruba. When they asked chief prosecutor Karin Janssen what prosecutor Angela came to do in Aruba, she said that she doesn’t know, that it’s something she can’t.

Prosecutor Angela hasn’t been in contact with the investigative team either, about for example, certain documents that he has related to the case, to see in detail what is taking place.

According to Zaandam, prosecutor Angela is sitting in an office at the Attorney General’s, is looking at the investigation files, which is something that cannot take place, and because of this they have stopped the investigation of the case, temporarily. Zaandam said that he realizes that this is a very troublesome decision, but it will be taken until they find more clarity about this.

He continued to say that now the American Senate has asked for more information on the case of Holloway and the intention of the government to send Arlene Schipper and commissioner Dolfi Richardson to Washington.

Zaandam said that this is after three commissioners that they added to the investigation of the disappearance of Natalee Holloway. This way people’s attention is diverted.

This, according to the SPA president, who said that it is a public secret that there is a problem between the Attorney General and chief prosecutor Karin Janssen, and this is just something that cannot go on in the Police force. According to Zaandam, he wants to avoid any division within the Police force, that they government and others are trying to create.

First there was the supposed clash between commissioner van der Straten and commissioner Dompig, where van der Straten retired and things calmed down. Now Dompig took over the case, where they involved Dolfi Richardson in the game, to see if there was a clash.

SPA advised the two commissioners that there is no clash in the Police force and they expressed together that they are behind the investigative team, that they are together in this and that they speak together in respect to the team and the case. It is clear that if there is a separate power who wants to divide this team, they can forget about it.

According to Zaandam, the investigative team is doing a tremendous job and this has also been expressed by the Dutch colleagues, who were also in Aruba for the investigation.

These Dutch experts expressed in an F.B.I. magazine that they could not have done a better job than the Aruban investigative team, however the Minister of Justice indicated that there will be an investigation of the investigative team, on the part of prosecutor Angela (whom he has respect for, according to Zaandam), who has barely 2 years as prosecutor, compared to the 15/16 years of experience of the prosecution’s office.

According to Zaandam, it’s best if they brought a prosecutor or expert from Holland, for example, who has a lit of experience in this area, for them to come do their investigation.

Zaandam said that the Police of Aruba even listened to the F.B.I. agents in Aruba speaking to their superiors in the US, saying what a good job the Aruban Investigators are doing and do with the resources they have.

On 12-13 ARUBAAN's news-source "Diario" reported:

If a new investigative team comes in, it’ll take a lot of time for them to go over everything in the investigation

According to Eric Zaandam, in regards to Beth Twitty’s request which is madness

ORANJESTAD (AAN): SPA president Eric Zaandam said that we have to be careful with the madness that Mrs. Twitty is requesting and saying, among others the fact that there has to be a new investigative team come in, in the case of the disappearance of her daughter.

This because his tactical and technical experience shows that if a new team comes in, they can’t obtain clarity In 6 months, to read all documents of what has happened in the case of Holloway.

It will take at least one year, in order to afterwards start with their investigation.

According to Zaandam, the time has come for the Public Prosecutor’s Office or the chief of Police to start relating to the press what work has been done in this case and not do this in a global way, but to give specific information about what the investigative team has done.

Zaandam said that he was astounded when he saw the extensive work that the team has done, where they are investigating various different scenarios, in regards to the disappearance of the young American.

DIARIO asked Mr. Zaandam what is happening with the delegation that is thinking of going to the US, where he explained that attorney Arlene Schipper and commissioner Dolfi Richardson will travel to Washington next week, for them to speak with an American senator, to give information about the case.

According to Zaandam, as long as this case is not solved, American show producers will continue to look for strategies to come up with bombs for Aruba.

On 12-13 JOSSY MANSUR stated to FOX News that the ARUBAN Police union is angry that an outside-of-ARUBA prosecutor is being brought in to review the case. MANSUR stated “the minister is intent on getting rid of Miss Karin Janssen after [December] the 16th--on the 16th, or, after the 16th because he [the ARUBA Justice Minister] gave her a grace period of 30 days in which to settle her differences with her boss the Attorney General, and if she can‘t, then he will give her her ‘walking papers‘.“ MANSUR stated that the ARUBAN Police are now refusing to continue investigating NATALEE’s disappearance while in ARUBA. “As a matter of fact, since Friday [12-9] the Police have informed that they are not cooperating anymore with the case--the Natalee Holloway case--and haven’t done any further work on it until they have clarity as to what this prosecutor from Curacao came to do in Aruba--contribute or investigate?” “We hear from very reliable sources that the minister wants to replace Dompig, also, with another commissary called, Richardson.” When asked if it is fair to say there is an enormous amount of chaos in this investigation?, MANSUR stated "There has been since the beginning, but now it’s worse. Now the factors [people] involved are unhappy because of certain decisions that were made on top of their heads that they knew nothing about. They find a [new] prosecutor come in, suddenly--and all she’s been asking for are documents that indicate to the Police that she is there to investigate the investigative team and Karin Janssen, and not to contribute necessarily.” When asked if JANNSEN is “being given a fair shake on this, or, is she sort of being cheated by her boss?,” MANSUR stated “My personal opinion is she’s not been given a fair shake in this. She’s done her best. I mean, she really went out on a limb to try to solve this case. She presented very solid evidence for sexual assault to the judges, but, I think there’s a lot of politics involved here.”

On 12-13 BETH HOLLOWAY-TWITTY stated to FOX News her attorney phoned her December 9, 2005 about the new prosecutor coming in and the Police probably would quit their investigation. BETH HOLLOWAY-TWITTY stated we should recall how, early on, the ARUBAN Police Investigators kept the F.B.I. at arm‘s length and they worked so hard not to let anyone else into the case, and this chaos with a new prosecutor coming into the case “just makes me wonder, why they would be less receptive to a new prosecutor coming in, too? What is it that they do not want anyone else to discover?” “Natalee was robbed of an investigation from the beginning.” BETH HOLLOWAY-TWITTY stated she has not heard a word from JANNSEN since 8-26 or 8-28. BETH HOLLOWAY-TWITTY stated she has never spoken to the ARUBAN Attorney General, and that NATALEE’s Loved Ones had heard early on about the feuding between the Attorney General and ARUBA Prosecutor KARIN JANSSEN.

On 12-13 the “AP” reported:

Congressman says Aruban authorities going to Washington on Holloway case

MONTGOMERY (AP) — Aruban authorities, under pressure because of the unsolved disappearance of an Alabama teenager, will meet with officials in Washington to provide a detailed review of the investigation, a congressman said Monday.

The meetings will be held later this week in the case of Natalee Holloway, said Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Birmingham.

"This meeting will provide an opportunity, out of the media glare and in as unemotional manner as possible, for the Aruban and Dutch authorities to give a detailed review of the facts and evidence in the case, and to present us with information regarding the progress of the investigation and of their efforts and intentions going forward," Bachus said in a statement.

Bachus did not specify which officials from the Dutch Caribbean island will visit and said only that they would meet with him and "criminal justice and law enforcement officials."

Holloway, who was on a class trip to Aruba, was last seen on May 30, leaving a bar with a young Dutch national and two Surinamese brothers. They were arrested in June but were released after a court ruled there was insufficient evidence to hold them, drawing criticism from the Holloway family.

Gov. Bob Riley has called for a nationwide travel boycott of Aruba. Prime Minister Nelson Oduber, while expressing sympathy for the Holloway family, has said the boycott call is irresponsible.

Assistant Aruban Police Chief Gerold G. Dompig also has said Holloway's mother, Beth Twitty, has hurt the investigation by releasing sensitive information during her frequent television appearances.

12-14-05

On 12-14 internet service provider “America Online” reported:

AOL Top Searches 2005

America Online's AOL Search announced the top searches on AOL Search, the AOL.com portal and the AOL service during 2005.

"Lottery" was the most searched word in 2005, followed by "horoscopes" and "tattoos". Paris Hilton was the most searched celebrity in 2005.

The disappearance of Natalee Holloway in Aruba was the most searched news topic online in 2005.

"Millions of people search online through AOL Search for a wide spectrum of things, but there are those terms that are looked-up more frequently than others. From news and people that grab attention to popular products and common queries, the most searched for topics online during 2005 are a reflection of what was top of mind or what people wanted to find more information about," says Jim Riesenbach, senior vice president of AOL Search and Directional Media.

On 12-14 JOSSY MANSUR stated to FOX News that “reliable sources” have told him that if the ARUBAN Police cannot come up with solid evidence and/or information to base charging someone(s) with a crime(s) by mid-January 2006, that the ARUBAN justice system will close the case. MANSUR stated that the ARUBAN Police received the notification in mid-November of only 60 more days, making the deadline for closing the case mid-January. MANSUR also stated that ARUBA Prosecutor KARIN JANSSEN has prosecuted the case to the DUTCH judges as best she could, and that it has been the DUTCH judges who have freed the son of an ex-DUTCH judge-in-training, Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT , and, it is the DUTCH judges who have freed the Current Murder Suspects KALPOE’s, allowing them to walk among ARUBAAN's.
????WHO set this, supposed, mid-January 2006 deadline; the ARUBA Minister of Justice and/or the ARUBAN Attorney General and/or HOLLAND?

On 12-14 ARUBAAN's news-source "Amigoe.com" reported, “An American cruise ship passenger that took a tour of the island while in Aruba was arrested by the custom detectives when he wanted to go on board of the Carnival Destiny with cocaine and marihuana that he had bought on the island. His pockets were actually searched for a metal object that showed up on the monitor, which turned out to be a cigarette lighter. The district attorney confiscated the drugs and after he had paid the 250 dollar fine, he was permitted to board the ship. From his interrogation, the Police found out that he was on Baby Beach and in San Nicolas. A cab-driver told him that Carlos & Charlie’s was a good place to buy drugs, but that he could take him to a place where he can buy enough to make his trip m ore pleasant. Another person got into the taxi and took him to a white house in San Nicolas. He paid 100 dollars for the drugs.”

On 12-14 STEVE COHEN, member of the ARUBA “STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS TASK FORCE,” claimed to MSNBC about the group of ARUBAAN's going to Washington D.C. “Well, the delegation that‘s going, it‘s basically a courtesy call. When the governor, Governor Riley, imposed this boycott on Aruba, Congressman Bachus said to us, Why don‘t you come and visit with me and tell me everything you know about the investigation? So we said, Look, give us a few weeks and we‘ll come by and we‘ll talk to you about it, and that‘s what we‘ve done. When COHEN was asked if this delegation is just sort of a public relations show versus anything of substance?, COHEN claimed “No. No, we‘re way past public relations here in the Natalee Holloway case. Everything has to be substantive. We‘re going to be giving him everything that we‘ve done since the release of the Kalpoe’s and Joran from the Kia institution on Labor Day, everything subsequent to that, as well as the first 10 days of the case. So then he can ask us any question he wants. And this is a deep background session, and that‘s its purpose.”
((time will tell))

12-15-05

On 12-15 the AP” reported:

Georgia Governor Calls for Travel Boycott of Aruba

(The Associated Press - ATLANTA) Gov. Sonny Perdue encouraged Georgians on Thursday to boycott travel to Aruba to protest the way officials there have handled the disappearance of missing Alabama teen Natalee Holloway.

Perdue joins Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Alabama Gov. Bob Riley in calling for a boycott of the Dutch Caribbean island.

"This boycott is necessary because Aruban authorities have failed to conduct a serious investigation" of the teen's disappearance, Perdue said. "We have no quarrel with good citizens of Aruba, but the actions of their leaders cannot be taken lightly."

Riley sent letters to his fellow governors across the country this month asking for their support of the boycott.

In the letters, Riley blames the Aruban government for what he called "missteps, miscommunication and inconsistencies" plaguing the investigation into the 18-year-old's disappearance.

Tomorrow in Washington, Alabama Congressman Spencer Bachus and a state delegation will meet with Aruban Investigators to discuss the Holloway case.

Holloway's family initially praised Aruban authorities for their work on the case, but they recently turned critical, alleging incompetence and conflicts of interest.

On 12-15 JOE SCARBOROUGH of MSNBC reported “Three young men were arrested, as you know, and then released. Natalee’s family is convinced they know what happened, and most Americans are, too. And they’re concerned that this trip by Aruban authorities may be nothing more than a P.R. stunt.” “You know what’s interesting here, Beth, is that what really launched the boycott is when you got upset and what—quite frankly a lot of people in America got upset that the Arubaans said, hey, we have got no authority. We can’t do anything. It’s all up to the Dutch officials. Well, if that’s the case, why aren’t they sending over law enforcement officers that actually have some say in this investigation? These people have already admitted they are just irrelevant to finding Natalee.” “They [the ARUBAN Police Investigators] have to admit incompetency, or they have to admit what a lot of Americans think they did, and the fact is that they engaged in a cover-up, so you and the rest of us could never find out what happened.” “None of us know where the evidence in this case is, but we know that it is not in Washington, D.C. And as Beth was saying, I can‘t imagine what bringing in a bunch of people with third and fourth-hand information is going to do.”

On 12-15 BETH HOLLOWAY-TWITTY stated to MSNBC “Well, Joe, you‘re exactly right. The boycott is effective. And something, though, that I‘m very concerned about is the officials that they have chosen to send to D.C. I mean, the lineup to me couldn‘t be any worse, Joe.” Those that they have chosen to send, Aldofo Richardson, Arlene Schipper, and another man. Two of those, I‘m not even familiar with, Joe. And what I‘m so disappointed in is, the people that they should have sent are ones that have first-hand knowledge and a handle on the investigation. I mean, the perfect ones to send would have been Jan van der Straten and Karin Janssen and Dennis Jacobs. These three are—these three have the answers. From there on, Joe, they could have sent so many other—they had so many other choices of officials who have a handle on the investigation.” “Well, one of them [ELLIS-SCHIPPER] is an Aruban attorney. And she is a spokesperson on behalf of the strategic communications task force [and she also has worked with Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT ‘s father, the Former Murder Suspect PAULUS VAN DER SLOOT ]. She has not been speaking on behalf of Natalee from the beginning. The other is—the others are persons that we have never heard of, Joe, nor have…” “And other perfect choices would have been the four Dutch interrogators from Holland. They know Natalee‘s case. They presented before the judge. They know the reasonable doubt was there. They knew the list of inconsistencies were there in all the statements. They have so much first-hand knowledge and a handle on the investigation than any of those three officials that Aruba chose to send.” “And, Joe, it all goes back to the beginning. And I think the reason why they are shutting—they are going shut down the investigation is, you know, Joe, for them to go back to the beginning and conduct a proper investigation, for one thing, it would take a year or more, and secondly they would have to go back to the beginning and admit—they would have to admit their incompetency. And they are too arrogant to do that, Joe. They‘re too arrogant to admit incompetency.”

12-16-05

On 12-16 JOSSY MANSUR stated to MSNBC “The latest is that apparently in a few hours we will know whether Karin Janssen, the prosecutor that‘s been in charge of the case, will stay on, will be removed from the case or will be removed from her position altogether by the minister of justice.” “Because the minister of justice apparently is not satisfied with the working relationship that exists between the prosecutor and the attorney general. There seems to have been differences that have, according to him, influenced the proper functioning of the department.”

On 12-16 the "AP" reported:

Congressman, Aruban Officials Discuss Teen's Disappearance

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Spencer Bachus said he came away from a Friday meeting with Aruban officials with the sense that they plan to vigorously pursue leads in the disappearance of American student Natalee Holloway.

Bachus, R-Ala., whose district includes Mountain Brook, where Holloway is from, divulged little about the substance of the meeting, saying only it was a "frank and open discussion" and that Aruban authorities have devoted "tremendous resources" to the case.

"Their intention going forward ... is not to shut this case down, but to continue to pursue it vigorously," Bachus told reporters. "They do not consider it a closed case nor do they consider that they have a dead end. They continue to develop information and pursue leads."

He said the Aruban officials also assured him that the case would move forward with 14 Investigators.

Apparently, Aruban law enforcement has spent 40 percent of its budget on the case, Bachus said.

The Aruban officials did have one request of Bachus: to facilitate greater cooperation and coordination with federal authorities.
"I will most certainly honor that request," he said.

Holloway, then 18, was last seen on May 30 leaving a bar with a young Dutch national and two Surinamese brothers while on a high school class trip to Aruba. The three were arrested in June but were released after a court ruled there was insufficient evidence to hold them.

Bachus said he has had ongoing communications with Aruban authorities ever since he contacted them the day after Holloway's disappearance and "they agreed to invite the F.B.I. to the island."

"That communication has continued," he said. "As a result, an invitation was extended to them to come to Washington to review the Holloway investigation and answer our questions."

Bachus met with three state prosecutors from Alabama and at least three officials from the Dutch Caribbean island, including Aruban Deputy Police chief Dolf Richardson, for more than two hours. He said the Aruban officials also met with F.B.I. officials while in Washington.

Bachus said Aruban Deputy Police chief Dompig participated in the meeting via telephone.

Dompig has said that Holloway's mother, Beth Twitty, has hurt the investigation by releasing sensitive information during her frequent appearances on U.S. television shows.

David Barber, district attorney for Jefferson County, Ala., said he offered his assistance to the Arubaans but added that in order for them to contact people in Alabama who may have more information about Holloway, they must go through international protocols.
Holloway's family initially praised Aruban authorities for their work on the case, but they recently turned critical, alleging incompetence and conflicts of interest. The governors of Alabama, Arkansas and Georgia have called for a boycott of travel to Aruba to protest the way the case has been handled.

John Quinlan Kelly, a New York-based attorney for the Holloway family, said Natalee Holloway's parents wanted him to attend the meeting, but the lawmaker's office told Holloway's family the Arubaans objected to that.

"They've (Aruban authorities) indicated they're still investigating," Kelly said by telephone Friday. "We'll wait to see if there are any answers or prosecution resulting from that investigation."

On 12-16 NBC channel 13 in BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA reported:

Bachus Meets With Aruban Authorities About Holloway Case

Aruban officials spent part of the day Friday in Washington, D.C., talking with local prosecutors and U.S. Rep. Spencer Bachus about the Natalee Holloway case.
The meeting lasted more than 2½ hours and it was a chance to grill those investigating the disappearance of Holloway, who has been missing for seven months.

Bachus had asked for the Aruban delegation to come to the United States. Jefferson County District Attorney David Barber attended, as well as Shelby County District Attorney Robby Owens.

The Alabama contingency called the Aruban Investigators professional and thorough, despite the fact that the island only sees one murder a year.

The Aruban group claims the island devoted 40 percent of its annual budget to finding Holloway.

Bachus said he got the 25 questions he asked answered.

"I'd heard they were shutting down the investigation, but there are 14 full-time Investigators on the case," Bachus said.

The Arubaans said they want more access to the F.B.I. and to interview the students who went on the graduation trip with Holloway.

Barber offered to help facilitate interviews with the graduates who went on the senior trip with Holloway.

Beth Twitty, Holloway's mother, said the interviews and investigation would need to be conducted by the FBI.

In addition to the meeting with the Alabama delegation, the Aruban officials met with the FBI.

Thursday, Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue joined Gov. Bob Riley's travel boycott of Aruba. Perdue said he has no quarrel with the citizens of Aruba, but the actions of their leaders cannot be taken lightly.

On 12-16 MSNBC reported:

DAN ABRAMS, HOST: Plus, Aruban officials meet with congressional leaders about the Natalee Holloway investigation. All the talk outside sure sounds friendly, but does this mean the call for a boycott of Aruba will end?
…
ABRAMS: Coming up, the Natalee Holloway investigation goes to Capitol Hill. What I don‘t get is a U.S. congressman comes out and says the Aruban authorities are cooperating with the FBI, so do we still need to have a boycott?
And later, remember this video? “Dateline‘s” Chris Hansen is back with an update on some of the men, a teacher, a doctor, a rabbi who showed up at a suburban Washington, D.C. house looking for sex with children. What happened to those men in the month and a half since the story aired?
(NEWS BREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ABRAMS: Under pressure, Aruban authorities spent the day meeting with officials in Washington for a detailed review of the investigation into Natalee Holloway‘s disappearance. The Aruban investigation has come under a lot of criticism. The governor of Alabama even joined Natalee‘s family calling for a boycott of Aruba. Today Alabama Congressman Spencer Bachus, who organized the meeting, seemed to be defending the Arubans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. SPENCER BACHUS ®, ALABAMA: I have asked them if the Arubans are not cooperating with you, if they‘re shutting you out (UNINTELLIGIBLE) case, please let me know. And they have never advised me of a lack of cooperation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABRAMS: They is the FBI, so is a boycott still necessary? Is it working?
Joining me now is Dave Holloway, Natalee Holloway‘s father. Jossy Mansur joins me, managing editor of Aruba‘s “Diario” newspaper and Kathy Sudeikis, who is president and CEO of the American Society of Travel Agents. Thank you all for coming on the program. Appreciate it.
Dave, let me start with you. It sure does sound when you listen to the congressman as if they‘re are all getting along, that he‘s not really being particularly critical of the Aruban authorities, et cetera.
DAVE HOLLOWAY, NATALEE HOLLOWAY‘S FATHER (via phone): You know, I haven‘t had the opportunity to talk to Representative Bachus yet, but I do know this. You know if Aruba is going to take on the responsibility of bringing in almost a million tourists a year and 70 percent of their income comes from the United States, they need to take on the responsibility to have a properly trained, a properly staffed and a properly funded police department.
ABRAMS: Well Dave, let me...
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: ... let you listen to this from Congressman Bachus today.
HOLLOWAY: OK.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BACHUS: I think that the people I have met with, they are professional. They are devoting a tremendous amount of resources to the case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABRAMS: And when he talks about them as professionals, talks about how much resources they have devoted to the case, I mean it sure does sound like the congressman is saying look, they are doing everything that they can.
HOLLOWAY: Well you know this case all falls back on the situation where the Arubans admitted that they failed in the first 10 days and that‘s where the training issues recognizing where a case needs to be handled. The lead detective is a narcotics agent and nothing against a narcotics agent, but you know you would think that they would have somebody better trained and better equipped than a narcotics agent handling the lead investigation.
ABRAMS: Jossy, this is—the Aruban authorities are in Washington because they are concerned about the very issue that Dave Holloway is talking about, which is tourism, right?
JOSSY MANSUR, “DIARIO” MANAGING EDITOR: Right.
ABRAMS: And what are they hoping to achieve?
MANSUR: Well they are hoping to in one way or another to avoid the boycott, which I am also against because I don‘t know see what kind of positive results it can bring for the case.
ABRAMS: This is what—this is number one. This is what Congressman Bachus said. The congressman seems to be suggesting that this meting is not about the boycott.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BACHUS: Well there have been a lot of people who have said well, is this effort by the Arubans simply an effort to mitigate the boycott or the bad publicity? I can‘t answer that other than to say they did not suggest this to me. This was my suggestion to them. That I would like them to come to the United States and meet with both state and federal officials.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABRAMS: Dave, are you happy this meeting is happening?
HOLLOWAY: Very much so. I was happy to see the meeting come about and I hope that something will come out about it. I just hope that the Arubans can go back and get back to the basics and see if they can come up with something.
ABRAMS: Before I go back to Jossy and talk about the latest in the investigation, Kathy, as the president and CEO of the American Society of Travel Agents, do you get the sense that this boycott has worked with regard to Aruba? Has it had an impact on Arubans—on Aruba‘s tourism?
KATHY SUDEIKIS, AMERICAN SOCIETY OF TRAVEL AGENTS: Well you know we
really have not seen any response one way or the other, but we can‘t tell -
measure exactly where the—whether customers are not coming to us and not asking for Aruba, but this is a really tough case. And our hearts and prayers go out to all the Holloway family and the friends.
ABRAMS: Are people saying when they‘re calling up travel agents, are they saying—I mean are you getting a sense talking to the people who are part of your society, that people are saying, I‘m not going to go to Aruba because of everything that‘s gone on in the Natalee Holloway—because I get a lot of viewers who write in saying I‘m never go to Aruba. On the other hand, I get probably more people writing in saying this boycott isn‘t going to have any impact on me regardless of what I think of the case.
SUDEIKIS: That‘s really what we are finding anecdotally. And also there was a survey by one of the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) called Travel Trade and it asked specifically would you not go to Aruba or your client is asking about not going to Aruba and there was absolutely no blip on the screen in terms of additional people going or people staying home from Aruba. It—and I‘m in Kansas City.
What they‘ll ask for is where is an all-inclusive resort that I can go and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) a terrific value. And that‘s not an island we necessarily recommend when you talk about an all-inclusive, but there is no pushback from people doing that (UNINTELLIGIBLE) to say.
ABRAMS: All right, Jossy, let‘s get back to the investigation.
What‘s the latest?
MANSUR: The latest is that apparently in a few hours we will know whether Karin Janssen, the prosecutor that‘s been in charge of the case, will stay on, will be removed from the case or will be removed from her position altogether by the minister of justice.
ABRAMS: And why would she be removed by the minister of justice?
MANSUR: Because the minister of justice apparently is not satisfied with the working relationship that exists between the prosecutor and the attorney general. There seems to have been differences that have, according to him, influenced the proper functioning of the department.
ABRAMS: Dave, do you want her to get fired?
HOLLOWAY: Well, what I would like to see is the same thing that happens in the United States. You know if you can‘t solve the case, let somebody else try to solve it. It‘s just like anything else. If you can‘t hit the ball and get to first base, why don‘t you just set it aside and let somebody else try.
ABRAMS: And Jossy, you say we‘ll know very soon, right?
MANSUR: What?
ABRAMS: We‘ll know very soon the outcome of that?
MANSUR: A few hours.
ABRAMS: All right.
MANSUR: In a few hours we‘ll know.
ABRAMS: All right. Dave Holloway, Jossy Mansur, and Kathy Sudeikis thanks a lot. Appreciate it.

12-17-05

On 12-17 the “Montgomery Advertiser” reported:

((the video of UNITED STATES Congressman BACHUS’ complete press conference after the meeting with the ARUBAAN's is available for everyone here ))

Arubaans Say Investigation Will Continue

By Greg Wright
Montgomery Advertiser

WASHINGTON -- Aruban officials denied rumors they will end the investigation surrounding missing Natalee Holloway, a Birmingham teen who disappeared while visiting the Caribbean island in May, Rep. Spencer Bachus said Friday.

Bachus, Jefferson County District Attorney David Barber and other Alabama law officials met for two hours with a team of Aruban law enforcement officials, including Aruban Deputy Police chief Dolf Richardson.

((PHOTO))
((PHOTO CAPTION) Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Vestavia Hills, left, discusses the Natalee Holloway case at a Capitol Hill news conference Friday. Joining him are, from left, Alabama District Attorneys David Barber and Robert Owens and Investigator Russell Yawn.)

"They do not consider it a closed case nor do they consider that they have a dead end," Bachus told reporters after the meeting.

Holloway's family has criticized Arubaans for slow progress in the case. Three young men seen leaving a tourist bar with Holloway were questioned several times by Police and released.

Bachus, who represents the affluent Mountain Brook community south of Birmingham where Holloway lived, initially said he was frustrated with the pace of the investigation. But after Friday's meeting, Bachus said he feels better about the case.

Bachus and Alabama officials would not comment on exactly what Richardson, Aruban Police analyst Renato Emerencia and Aruban attorney Arlene Ellis Schipper told them about the investigation.

Aruban Police have little experience with murder, Alabama officials noted. The island of 100,000 has only about one homicide a year, Bachus said.

Richardson and other Aruban officials did not speak to reporters after the meeting. They instead went to a meeting with F.B.I. officials, including Charles C. Gregorski, director of the violent crimes unit. Bachus helped get the F.B.I. involved in the investigation within days of Holloway's disappearance.

Aruban officials want to interview some of Holloway's classmates who went on the trip to the island, Bachus said.

Those interviews must first be cleared through the State Department, Barber said. And the parents of some of the children on the trip do not want Aruban Police talking to their children, Bachus said.

Holloway's mother, Beth Twitty, praised Bachus for working with the family to find her daughter.

"He is doing the right thing," Twitty said by phone from Alabama.

But she was disappointed that higher-level Aruban officials did not meet with the congressman.

On 12-17 MERIDIAN, MISSISSIPPI “The Meridian Star” reported:

Carmichael supports Aruban boycott

By Georgia E. Frye / staff writer

State Sen. Videt Carmichael, R-Meridian, wants Mississippi to join Alabama and Arkansas in the boycott of Aruba.

So far, the governors of Alabama and Arkansas have urged their citizens not to travel to the Dutch Caribbean island until authorities cooperate more fully with the family of Natalee Holloway, an Alabama teenager who has been missing since May.

Holloway's father, Dave, lives in Meridian and is a State Farm insurance agent. Holloway said he called Gov. Haley Barbour's office a few weeks ago to talk about his state joining the boycott, but he has yet to hear a response.

“I talked with Dave Holloway a few days ago because I wanted him to be OK with what I was doing,” Carmichael said. “I know the governor's time has been taken with Katrina, but at the same time, this is a local person and it is time for me to do something.”

Alabama Gov. Bob Riley has said he is concerned because the Aruban investigation has produced no results in the case of Holloway, who was 18 when she disappeared - and he's not convinced everything possible is being done. Last month, he asked other governors to urge their citizens not to vacation in Aruba.

Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee joined the boycott late last month. He is the only other governor so far to join the boycott.
Dave Holloway said he is pleased that Carmichael called him, and he said he understands that the governor is busy dealing with Hurricane Katrina issues.

“The governor has a lot on his shoulders, and the result of that phone call was that Videt called and got it working from his end,” Holloway said. “If I had remembered my history lessons, I would have remembered to start with the local representatives first.”

Holloway said he believes Aruban authorities are worried about the boycott and have added two new detectives to his daughter's case. He said Aruban officials also are working on a 60-day plan, in which they will close Natalee's case if there are no new developments within that time period.

He said he had not planned to return to Aruba, but he may visit one more time in January to see how the case is going.

Carmichael said he has filed a resolution is support of the boycott to be considered when the Legislature is in session in January. Read the complete Editorial Board interview with Carmichael in Monday's edition of The Meridian Star.

12-19-05

On 12-19 JOHN Q. KELLY (who said tonight he has been involved in the case for 3 weeks or so) told MSNBC “Well, they made the distinction down there; suspects cannot be charged with lying, witnesses can. And that begs the question, who makes the decision as to who‘s a witness and who‘s a suspect? These three young men clearly lied the first time they were questioned. And, as a result of their statements, the two security guards were arrested. So they were being treated technically as witnesses, from what I could see at the time, and clearly did lie.” “And they [ARUBA Prosecutor KARIN JANSSEN and ARUBAN Police commissioner GERALD DOMPIG] indicated, as has been made known now, that the F.B.I. is going to re-interview these girls [NATALEE’s friends on ARUBA trip]. But, you know, these girls from Alabama have no idea what happened to Natalee. I mean, they just don‘t know. The people that know what happened to Natalee are down in Aruba. And instead of worrying about questioning these girls, they’ve got to bring in these three young men again. They‘ve got to bring in Joran’s father. They’ve got to bring in Freddy Croes (meant either STEVE CROES or FREDDY ZEDAN?). They‘ve got to bring in the people that have some knowledge of what happened to Natalee and question them again and stop worrying about side shows.” “The girls have been available at any time to be interviewed, but they don‘t have the answers. The answers are down in Aruba. The resources are in Aruba. The information‘s in Aruba, and the access in Aruba. Aruba‘s got to come up with the answers and resolution to this matter.”

On 12-19 ELLIS-SCHIPPER (member of the "Aruba Strategic Communications Task Force") claimed to MSNBC “I spoke with the prosecutors and the Police Investigators. And they surely plan to re-interrogate these boys again; however, what their objective is, is to make a plan of interrogation. And to do so, they need some more information about what happened the hours before. And that‘s the objective why they want to interview, re-interview also the [Mountain Brook] students.” When asked when the 3 Main Murder Suspects will be re-interrogated, ELLIS-SCHIPPER, member of the ARUBA “STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS TASK FORCE,” claimed “Well, that is something that I cannot comment on, because that is what we call tactical information, because, as I said, they need to carefully zoom in on them. They need to work on their plan of investigation, on interrogation, because, given the information that they‘ve get of the re-interviews of the witnesses [Mountain Brook] students, as well as the friends, they‘re going to—they have to have to reestablish, for instance, the relationship between Joran, if there was a relationship between Joran and Natalee, how the events unfolded that night, et cetera, et cetera. So based that, they will move in on a technical way how and when they will interrogate these boys again.” When asked if the ARUBAN Police Investigators intend for sure to bring back in the [KALPOE] brothers and also Joran van der Sloot?, ELLIS-SCHIPPER claimed “Absolutely. It‘s one of the—bring in for interrogation. It‘s one of their objectives. And they‘re working on an interrogation plan, but, you know, as our laws, our procedural laws differs a little bit, that influences the investigative methods that we can use here. So they have to carefully go about it. And to zoom in, as we call it, back on these suspects, they need to carefully do that and strategically do that.” When asked if friends of Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT and the Current Murder Suspects KALPOE’s will be interrogated, ELLIS-SCHIPPER claimed “Absolutely. That is one of the current activities of the Police and of the planned objectives of the Police. We gave an expose to the congressman on the current and planned actions. And one of those actions are interviewing friends, interviewing witnesses, re-interviewing witnesses. It‘s all already happening and going on.”

On 12-19 ARUBAAN's news-source "Amigoe.com" reported:

Less passengers through airport

Airport Reina Beatrix has, compared to a year ago, in the last five months of 2005 less passengers have who come to Aruba. The decreasing number of passengers is according to Peter Steinmetz, director of Aruba Airport Authority (AAA), a direct consequence of disappeared American teenager Natalee Holloway.

Although the year is not yet over and the figures of the number of processed passengers is not definite, the airport director puts now all that the number of incoming passengers in the first half year of 2005 was well, but that this for the second half of the year, this is definitely not the case. The forecast for December is also not well. The exact figures over 2005 are announced in January 2006.

Previous year came 1.7 million passengers from foreign countries to Aruba. According to Steinmetz it is now already certain that this number in 2005, is not obtained. The airport director blames this directly to the matter Holloway.

On 12-19 ARUBAAN's news-source "Diario" wrote”

Complexes and Envy: a bad combination!

In Aruba, everyone is aware that there is a big quantity of complexed people, and still more envious ones. What many people do not know is that the combination of both is twice as repugnant. An Aruban, for example, doesn’t have the same grade of acceptance for his merits like any citizen of other countries do, because the theory of the hemchi [basket?] full of crabs exists on our island.

If one of the crabs wants to grab them rim of the hemchi [basket?] to come out, the others pull it down! For them, it’s better to be mediocre than for any one of them to be successful! This is part of the mentality that is an obstacle to the total progress of Aruba.

The case of Natalee has categorically emphasized this concept. Those who have no opinion, or who do not want to give the opinion that they have, or are convinced that their opinion is worthless, refuse to voice it, but on the other hand criticize those who have to courage to do so.

It is the eternal negative human factor, without prosperity and without remedy. Instead of letting those who can contribute to a solution of the case, or at the very lease avoid the worst for Aruba, do their work in peace, the complexed and envious people employ their tongues as a destructive weapon that gives no respite or rest.

What they do not understand, because it cannot penetrate the small alley of their brains, is that a confrontational attitude is not going to help solve Natalee’s case, nor avoid a boycott against Aruba.

The People of America do not care one bit for the comparison of Natalee with the many thousands other cases in the US of youngsters who have disappeared. It is this case, the one of Natalee in particular, which has captured their attention, not the others, amen if they will be solved or not.

Are they by any chance not aware of them? The American People are very well informed as to what happens in their country and do not need anyone to remind them of all the cases that they seriously lament.

I feel for the families of these youngsters, and because there is nothing worse than losing a child, but the case of Natalee is the one that has the actual emphasis in the American media, along with others in similar or worse situations.

Closing your eyes to this reality is demonstrative of a level of stupidity more profound that can be imagined, and to go in a confrontation to try to bury that of Natalee comparing her with thousands of others that are missing in the US, proves this level.

With the three suspects having admitted that they had sexual relations with Natalee when she was temporarily unconscious, is categorical and in the Police records.

At such a time where a person is unconscious, they don’t have the capacity to consent to anything. And in our law, if I’m not mistaken, any sexual act that does not have the consent of both parties, is punishable by law. And this is just what happened with Natalee, who was submitted against her will (because she was unconscious) to sexual acts imposed upon her. That is to say, she was raped. There is no defense lawyer who can argue to the contrary.

I’m not going to waste time with envious people, and even less with complexed people, nor with their criticisms, and if they are looking for a debate for me to give them the importance that they do not have, let them lose hope because this is not going to happen.

The dogs can bark as much as they want; the caravan is destined to continue its way without interruption. I consider my time to be too valuable to lose one second with the people who do not even deserve my attention. As the Persian savant (Omar Khayam) said so many years ago in a paragraph of his Rubiyat:

And so the rooster sang, to those standing in front
In the tavern the shout “Open the door then!
“You know how little time we have left,
“And once we are gone, we will never be able to go back.”

12-20-05

On 12-20 ARUBAAN's news-source "Diario" wrote

Joran van der Sloot Returns to Aruba Today

Although sources said that his visit to Aruba is to spend “Christmas and New Year’s” with his family, there is an indication that local authorities want to speak with him again, after officials have reviewed all evidence months back. Sources showed that Joran’s ticket had already been purchased [sic] and he’s leaving Cold Land to come to Aruba. The news that he is leaving Holland for vacations was also noted by the American media.

On 12-20 MSNBC reported:

RITA COSBY, HOST: … And the attorney who took on O.J. Simpson is jumping into the Natalee Holloway case. John Q. Kelly is going to join me live. He‘s coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BETH HOLLOWAY TWITTY, MOTHER OF NATALEE HOLLOWAY: We have enlisted now the help of John Quinlan Kelly. He just spent a week on the island of Aruba meeting with the officials. And, you know, we are just hopeful now that we will be kept in the loop and knowing what‘s happening in the investigation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSBY: Well, the family of Natalee Holloway has enlisted some big-named legal help to solve the case. John Q. Kelly may be best-known for representing the family of Nicole Brown Simpson in the civil case against O.J. and won.
He joins us now live in his first interview on MSNBC since taking on the case. John, why do you want to get involved?
JOHN Q. KELLY, ATTORNEY FOR NATALEE HOLLOWAY‘S FAMILY: It‘s just a tragic situation. There‘s been some egregious conduct here, from what I can see. And I just am fully committed to helping the family at this point, Rita.
COSBY: What legal options does the family have?
KELLY: Well, I think the only option we‘re looking at right now is the criminal investigation. We want that to bear fruit. We want prosecution. And we want some answers as to what happened to Natalee, and we want to bring her home.
COSBY: You know, you‘re obviously very well-known for filing that wrongful death suit against O.J. Simpson and, as I pointed out, winning, doing a successful job there. Is there a possibility of this family maybe going after the Kalpoe brothers or the van der Sloots?
KELLY: You know, we‘re leaving that to the Aruban authorities and the Police and the prosecutors right now, to go after the people responsible down there, Rita.
COSBY: Is that an option, though, down the road? I mean, are you ruling that out?
KELLY: We‘re not ruling anything out. We‘re relying on the Aruban authorities right now. If they fail in what we hope they‘ll do, then we‘ll look at our other options.
COSBY: Have they opened their eyes a little bit, seeing that now the family has an attorney? Has that put some pressure?
KELLY: Well, I don‘t know if it‘s pressure. I think there was—you know, a line had been drawn in the sand. There was a need for some communication.
I went down there. I met with the deputy chief, Dompig, and the prosecutor, Karen Janssen. And, you know, there was a start. We had a global discussion of sorts. And, you know, that‘s happened, at least.
COSBY: You know, last week, John—and I‘m sure you heard about this
you know, they came to Washington, a lot of Aruban officials, and they made some pretty stunning claims. I mean, one of them—they basically said it‘s OK in Aruba to lie as long as it‘s not under oath, but you could lie to Police, which is what these boys did. Even the Police acknowledge that.
Let me show a comment—first of all, this is from Steve Cohen. He‘s a representative of the Aruban government. He spoke with us last week. And I‘m going to get you to respond, John.
KELLY: OK.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE COHEN, member of the ARUBA “STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS TASK FORCE,” : It‘s not ever OK to lie. But if you‘re in the midst of being interrogated and you do lie and you‘re are caught in that lie, unless you‘re under oath, which only happens once you‘re charged, you can‘t be charged with anything. It is odd, and it is difficult to deal with it, but it certainly isn‘t the be-all and end-all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSBY: No, but, John, it certainly helps when you can hold somebody accountable for lying to Police. How challenging is it, when you‘re dealing with Aruban law?
KELLY: Well, they made the distinction down there; suspects cannot be charged with lying, witnesses can. And that begs the question, who makes the decision as to who‘s a witness and who‘s a suspect?
These three young men clearly lied the first time they were questioned. And, as a result of their statements, the two security guards were arrested. So they were being treated technically as witnesses, from what I could see at the time, and clearly did lie.
So, you know, they can wiggle their way out by someone else calling them a suspect instead of a witness, but, you know, that‘s where the real problem lies here.
COSBY: Sounds like a lot of semantics.
KELLY: It is a lot of semantics.
COSBY: In terms of questioning, too, Dompig, the deputy chief, of course, was talking about the possibility of also re-interviewing some folks when he was coming to the States, some of Natalee‘s family sort of backtracked what happened in those final hours before she disappeared. Do you know what‘s happening with that?
KELLY: Well, yes, I mean, we actually talked about down there. I offered to facilitate it. And they indicated, as has been made known now, that the FBI is going to re-interview these girls.
But, you know, these girls from Alabama have no idea what happened to Natalee. I mean, they just don‘t know. The people that know what happened to Natalee are down in Aruba. And instead of worrying about questioning these girls, they‘ve got to bring in these three young men again. They‘ve got to bring in Joran‘s father. They‘ve got to bring in Freddy Croes (ph). They‘ve got to bring in the people that have some knowledge of what happened to Natalee and question them again and stop worrying about side shows.
COSBY: Yes, do you think this is just sort of a deflection?
KELLY: Of course it is.
COSBY: I mean, it seems absurd that—like you said, they‘re talking about the folks over here.
KELLY: Yes. And that‘s been a non-issue. The girls have been available at any time to be interviewed, but they don‘t have the answers. The answers are down in Aruba. The resources are in Aruba. The information‘s in Aruba, and the access in Aruba. Aruba‘s got to come up with the answers and resolution to this matter.
COSBY: John, what‘s your sense, from looking at this case now? I mean, you‘ve been involved for a few weeks, right? How long has it been?
KELLY: Three weeks or so.
COSBY: OK. Are you getting a sense that justice is going to be served, that we‘re going to have some answers in this case?
KELLY: You know, we demand answers, we expect answers. Aruba has indicated that they‘re working on answers. So, you know, time will tell. It‘s incumbent upon them to come up with a result right now.
COSBY: All right. Thank you very much, John. We appreciate it.
KELLY: Thank you, Rita.
COSBY: Thank you very much. Keep us posted, John.
Joining us now on the phone for the Aruban perspective is Arlene Ellis Schipper with the Aruban Strategic Communications Task Force.
Arlene, what is the latest? We talked about, you know, questioning the girls here. What about questioning the Kalpoe brothers and also Joran van der Sloot again? What‘s happening with that?
ARLENE ELLIS-SCHIPPER, ARUBA “STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS TASK FORCE” MEMBER: Well, I spoke with the prosecutors and the Police investigators. And they surely plan to re-interrogate these boys again; however, what their objective is, is to make a plan of interrogation. And to do so, they need some more information about what happened the hours before. And that‘s the objective why they want to interview, re-interview also the (INAUDIBLE) students.
COSBY: When do you think they‘re going to interview those students?
What sort of time line are you looking at, Arlene?
ELLIS-SCHIPPER: Well, that is an (INAUDIBLE) procedure request that they‘ve made, already more than a month ago. And basically, it is a request that the FBI has to fulfill.
We spoke to the FBI. And they promised us to look where the—where that request at this moment is, because it‘s a really difficult request. It has to go to the State Department. And they promised us, as did Congressman Bachus, to speed it up.
COSBY: Now, you said that, OK, after that, they do intend for sure to bring back in the brothers and also Joran van der Sloot?
ELLIS-SCHIPPER: Absolutely. It‘s one of the—bring in for interrogation. It‘s one of their objectives. And they‘re working on an interrogation plan, but, you know, as our laws, our procedural laws differs a little bit, that influences the investigative methods that we can use here.
So they have to carefully go about it. And to zoom in, as we call it, back on these suspects, they need to carefully do that and strategically do that.
COSBY: What about some of the suspects‘ friends?
ELLIS-SCHIPPER: Absolutely. That is one of the current activities of the Police and of the planned objectives of the Police. We gave an expose to the congressman on the current and planned actions. And one of those actions are interviewing friends, interviewing witnesses, re-interviewing witnesses. It‘s all already happening and going on.
COSBY: Arlene, when could we see—as we were looking at a picture of Deepak, and Satish, and Joran a second ago—when could we see them called in again? How soon?
ELLIS-SCHIPPER: Well, that is something that I cannot comment on, because that is what we call tactical information, because, as I said, they need to carefully zoom in on them. They need to work on their plan of investigation, on interrogation, because, given the information that they‘ve get of the re-interviews of the witnesses (INAUDIBLE) students, as well as the friends, they‘re going to—they have to have to reestablish, for instance, the relationship between Joran, if there was a relationship between Joran and Natalee, how the events unfolded that night, et cetera, et cetera.
So based that, they will move in on a technical way how and when they will interrogate these boys again.
COSBY: You know, Arlene, I don‘t know if you just heard the interview we did with John Q. Kelly. He‘s now the new attorney representing Natalee‘s family. He didn‘t rule out that a lawsuit could come. We talked with him about the boys. But are you worried that maybe you may see some lawsuit against the Aruban government at some point?
ELLIS-SCHIPPER: Well, I doubt it, because a lawsuit would imply that there‘s some liability of the government. The government has basically done all efforts that it could in this case. And we have gave an extensive expose on that already onto Congressman Bachus.
I think it‘s time to depolarize a little bit. I mean, the main objective is to solve this case. That‘s our objective. We‘re well-intentioned. That‘s also the impression that D.A.‘s assistants—the district attorneys, Mr. Owen (ph) and Mr. Barbour got from Alabama. I think the attorney, the new attorney, should try also to work with the authorities and to depolarize this. And it‘s time to work together.
COSBY: All right, Arlene, thank you very much. We appreciate you being with us.
ELLIS-SCHIPPER: Thank you.

12-21-05

On 12-21 MSNBC reported:

RITA COSBY, HOST: But first, some late-breaking details out of Aruba tonight. LIVE AND DIRECT has learned that authorities are about to re-question the three main suspects in the case of missing Alabama student Natalee Holloway.
Joining me now on the phone is a special adviser to the Aruban government, Steve Cohen. Steve, when could this happen?
STEVE COHEN, ARUBA “STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS TASK FORCE” MEMBER: Well, I think the sequence of events is fairly simple. Joran will be arriving back in Aruba in the next 24 to 48 hours. It is expected that he will be re-questioned somewhere in the next 10-day period. I doubt that they will bring him back for questioning immediately, but it will be in that period. And also, it is expected the Kalpoes will also be brought in for questioning.
I do want to make the distinction for you and your audience between questioning and re-arrest. This is a questioning procedure that Chief Dompig is going to go through with them because as they‘ve analyzed the timeline, they‘ve found some other discrepancies and they want to review these discrepancies with the three suspects.
COSBY: Hey, Steve, what are those discrepancies exactly?
COHEN: Well, I think it‘s mostly timeline discrepancies, Rita. As you look at their testimony and their interrogations of where they were at different times between 1:30-something in the morning and between 3:30 in the morning, these are very important two or three-hour blocks that the Investigators want to review in detail. I can‘t go much further than that because, obviously, we don‘t want to give away the nature of the interrogation.
By the way, the attorneys of these boys are aware that questioning was likely to occur within the next few week periods. So this is not a surprise to anyone.
COSBY: Although it‘s interesting, the time. We heard it might be coming, but now this is the first time we‘re hearing when it‘s going to happen. Incidentally, Steve, it just crossed the Associated Press wires, I‘m being told, that Joran has returned to the island, they said today. So Joran van der Sloot apparently just returned to the island. That‘s crossing the Associated Press wires that he met with his parents at the airport and left without speaking to reporters, but that he is back in Aruba. So that‘s good that her will be at least available for that re-questioning.
Steve, I want to show a comment, first. Let me roll this, if we could. This is Chief Gerold Dompig, the Police chief there in Aruba. This is what he said to me last month when we talked about the boys.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEROLD DOMPIG, ARUBAN DEPUTY POLICE CHIEF: I still believe that these boys have been lying. They‘re still lying. And everybody knows that by now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSBY: That, of course, was the Police chief talking to me last month here on the show. You know, Steve, as we hear that, is this a voluntary questioning or involuntary?
COHEN: Well, they can be compelled to come back because they continue to be suspects. Remember that when Joran was allowed to go begin school, that basically, the suspect characteristic had not been waived, nor has it been with the Kalpoes, so...
COSBY: I guess what I‘m asking you is, Can they lie under oath? That was a distinction you and I talked about the other day.
COHEN: Yes, I think it‘s important to clarify all this, is that if they‘re under oath and they lie, that could be felonious. If they‘re involved in an interrogation and they lie, if the result of that lie leads to something that‘s a felony, obviously, that could be prosecuted. But it‘s not like the United States. If you lie to a federal agent, that‘s a felony, like Martha Stewart did to an FBI agent.
COSBY: Will they be under oath, Steven, in this new series of questioning?
COHEN: Well, the interrogation is not really an under-oath procedure to the way it would be in our court if you were under oath in front of a judge. It does not have the same sense of urgency and the same weight as it would. However, they have specific questions to ask them along the timeline, and as Dompig said, he‘s certain that there‘s discrepancies in what they said and he wants to see if he can clear them up. That‘s not to say that even if they‘re not cleared up and they are—if they were still lying, that that‘s going to lead to a felony count.
COSBY: Right. Steve, if you could stick with us because I want to bring in—this is the new attorney for the Holloway family, John Q. Kelly. John, of course, represented a lot of high-profile clients, including the family of Nicole Brown Simpson in the civil case against O.J. Simpson, and of course, son that. A lot of folks remember that well. And also, we have with us on the phone, Natalee‘s father, Dave Holloway, who joins us on the phone from his home.
John, let me get your reaction to this breaking news that now the suspects, as we just heard from Steve, probably in the next 10 days, will be re-questioned.
JOHN Q. KELLY, ATTORNEY FOR NATALEE HOLLOWAY‘S FAMILY: That‘s terrific. It shows some progress. But once again, I wish the family or myself would not hear it through the media and be the last ones to know, that we‘d be kept in the loop by the media and the journalists and the Strategic Communications Task Force and be privy to some of this information.
COSBY: Let me get Dave Holloway. Dave Holloway, your reaction to the news that the three suspects are going to be re-questioned in the next 10 days?
DAVE HOLLOWAY, NATALEE HOLLOWAY‘S FATHER: Well, that is good news they‘re going to be re-questioned. Of course, the question I have now is, Are they going to watch and see if they all get together and get all their stories straight now? You know, it‘s good to see that they give them all advance notice and tell them exactly what they need to know and what they need to be questioned on.
COSBY: Yes, Steve, how can you guarantee that they‘re not going to sort of try to combine their stories, like they did that very first night, when they got caught in that first lie?
HOLLOWAY: Well, there‘s not any guarantees. I mean, they already have notice now, so, you know...
(CROSSTALK)
COHEN: I don‘t think there are guarantees of any of it. And as I said, this isn‘t something that just came up. I mean, the attorneys knew for some time the likelihood that these boys would be brought back for questioning. I think it‘s a little silly to expect that the attorneys wouldn‘t have briefed them anyway. And again, of course, the attorneys will be with them for any interrogations. They cannot speak during interrogation, but they can take breaks and inform their clients.
COSBY: Is that something that John Q. Kelly could play a role in, you know, so we can get the family representative involved, Steve?
COHEN: No, I don‘t—unfortunately, I don‘t think. And I know that John, of course, is after very good purposes for the family. I just think that this is part of the process that is a closed process by the inspectors involved in the interrogation. I do think, though, that we‘re at a point now where it‘s very important that Mr. Kelly and the Holloways be able to reinsert themselves into communication with either Karin Janssen or Chief Dompig on a confidential basis, so that they can, in fact, know what‘s going on.
I think we‘re all hoping that we can sort of put away to the acrimony of the last months and just get down to all of us putting our energy on both sides of this issue because I think we‘re all on the same side, and to try to get as much faith and power together to solve this case.
COSBY: John, are you concerned that, as we just heard, at least right now, this is questioning not under oath, so they could technically lie again under Aruban law. What concerns you the most, John?
KELLY: Well, the suspects are not going to be under oath, and there‘s no repercussions for lying once again. And certainly, the element of surprise has been lost, too. But you know, as Steve pointed out, I‘m sure they‘ve themselves and the attorneys have known this day was going to come at some point, and I just hope that law enforcement rises to the occasion down there and finds a way to get the answers the family so desperately needs.
COSBY: And Dave Holloway, what concerns you the most? And what question, if you had them in front of you, what would you ask?
HOLLOWAY: Well, you know, I know the timeline is important. And certainly, I would ask them about any other people that may be involved, such as the father. You know, he‘s no longer a suspect, and I‘m wondering if he could be interviewed as a witness now.
COSBY: Real quick, Steve. You got a two-second answer. Will the father come in, Paulus van der Sloot?
COHEN: He could be brought in—he could definitely be brought in either voluntarily or he could be brought in again as a suspect, if that is the case...
COSBY: Is that in the plan?
(CROSSTALK)
COHEN: ... if they thought he could.
COSBY: Is that the plan?
COHEN: No, I don‘t believe that is in the plan.
COSBY: OK, guys, thank you very much. Steve, we do appreciate it. John Kelly, I‘m glad to hear that these guys are coming back in. And Dave, our prayers are going to be with you, too, during this holiday season. Thank you all very, very much.
So what should authorities look for when they re-question these three boys now with this new news, especially now that we know that Joran is back in Aruba? Is it possible to tell whether or not someone‘s lying just by the sound of their voice? Well, a piece of technology is putting that idea to the test. One voice analyst listened to an interview from suspect Joran van der Sloot that aired on American television, and he has big-time doubts about Joran‘s story.
Joining me now is layered voice analyst Richard Parton. He‘s the president of a company simply called V. Richard, how does this technology work? I see you sitting in front of the screen there.
RICHARD PARTON, LAYERED VOICE ANALYST: We work off the frequencies of the voice. From frequencies, we can tell the psychological parameters of the speaker, his willingness to talk, his concentration levels, how much he‘s thinking, if he‘s thinking from his memory or his imagination. We can see his emotional states. We can tell how many things he‘s deciding to hide from us.
At this point right here, he thought of about two different items he decided to withhold from us and tell us. You can also see his deception rate.
COSBY: Let me play a little chunk, and I‘m going to get to you analyze it. This is when Joran talked about the night that Natalee disappeared. He also addresses that allegation that the three suspects raped her. Here‘s what he had to say?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JORAN VAN DER SLOOT , SUSPECT IN NATALEE HOLLOWAY DISAPPEARANCE: Well, yes, I kissed with her, but neither me, Deepak or Satish ever had sex with her, and no one ever—ever said otherwise.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSBY: Richard, what did you take from that?
PARTON: Well, when he said, “Yes, I kissed with her,” those were
inaccurate statements, you know, which would indicate that there was
something a little bit more involved with the kissing. But we were very
fortunate because he also mentioned Deepak and Satish‘s name also, and that
and that they didn‘t do anything, and that in itself came in as an inaccuracy. So we know for a fact now-...
COSBY: That‘s by the vibrations?
PARTON: From the frequency. We look at about 120 different parameters of the voice‘s frequency, and what we come up with is what we call the DNA of thought.
COSBY: Let me...
PARTON: So we are very precise.
COSBY: Let me play another chunk. This is about the night that Joran met her and about his feelings about Natalee. That is what he had to say before.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VAN DER SLOOT: I didn‘t have any feelings for her because I didn‘t know her at all. I just—the feelings I had for her were because she was attractive. I thought she was very outgoing. She came to me. She was the one that talked to me. She asked for me to dance with her, which I didn‘t even do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSBY: And what did you carry away from that, Richard?
PARTON: Number one, she didn‘t approach him. The most that she did was come into his field of vision. He was accurate when he said he didn‘t have any feelings for her. From this and other statements that he offered on that meeting with Natalee, the nearest thing we can find that can describe his feelings for her was akin to prey. He did not see her as a person. He did not see her as particularly—she was attractive, but not in an emotional sense but more in a—in a physical qualifying sense.
COSBY: And Richard, how do you know that this maybe just is an innocent boy who‘s nervous and that he comes across that way in the sound waves and the frequencies?
PARTON: The technology that we have analyzes the person from the situation, the ambient stress that they‘re in at that moment. Basically, you can be defusing a nuclear bomb, and we could calibrate you in that stress situation and tell if you‘re lying about touching the red wire or the black white. So the Ambient stress at the moment is irrelevant to us.
COSBY: Interesting stuff. Richard, thank you. Love to have you back on again. Fascinating technology.
And we‘re going to continue, of course, following all the developments
in Aruba. The new word, Joran van der Sloot back on the island of Aruba
and the new details that we just heard, that he and the two boys will be
re-questioned. We‘re going to keep following this case for you.

On 12-21 the ARUBAAN's news-source "Aruba Tradewinds Times" reported:

Continental's Innaugural Flight from La Guardia

Continental Serves Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao

ORANJESTAD-The first flight of Continental Airlines from La Guardia arrived in Aruba at 1:05pm last Saturday [12-17]. The Boeing 737-700 type aircraft was baptized by the airport's fire department once it was parked on the platform. Peter Steinmets , director of Aruba Airport Authority cut the ribbon granting passengers and the crew access to Aruba. Present at the ceremony were representatives of the Ministry of Tourism, Aruba Tourism Authority, AHATA and Continental Airlines.

La Guardia is Continental's third destination to Aruba. Continental already serves Aruba from their Houston and Newark hubs. In that same weekend Continental inaugurated their service to Curacao from their Newark hub and service to Bonaire from their Houston hub. It is the first time in history that the island of Bonaire is served with scheduled flights by an American carrier from the U.S. It is also the first time in history that the ABC islands are each served by the same American carrier at the
same time. Continental Airlines is committed in becoming the leading airline to the Caribbean from the U.S. mainland.

On 12-21 ARUBAAN's news-source "Amigoe.com" reported another ARUBA tourists safety issue:

Air Traffic in Aruba in Danger

ORANJESTAD — Delays in the air traffic from Aruba are so substantial that several airliners are considering suspending their flights. Apparently the main reason seems to be due to the malfunctioning radar in Curacao, the use of outdated software and an unreliable radio communication between the control towers of the Reina Beatrix and Hato airports. American Airlines already threatened to cancel the connections between Aruba and San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Peter Steinmetz, director of Aruba Airport Authority (AAA), admits that there are problems and stated they have been trying to bring this matter to the attention of minister Edison Briesen (MEP) of Tourism and Transportation and Ady Maduro of the Aviation administration. “Up till now it has not yielded any results”, stated Steinmetz. The problems continue to escalate, because aircrafts on the runway oftentimes need to wait for an hour or even longer before they are cleared for take off and sometimes they can’t even leave the gate.

The delays are especially damaging for connections to hubs in the US, where passengers need to change flights to reach their final destination. In most cases when these passengers miss their connecting flights due to reasons beyond their control, the airliner oftentimes covers the expenses of meals and eventual stay-overs.

Steinmetz has been given to understand that the air traffic control in Curacao is waiting for the move of their department to a new building and that they are also waiting for new equipment. He considers it unacceptable that he can’t inform the users of ‘his’ airport on when they can expect an improvement. “Curacao has been using this argument for too long.” What AAA can do is try to get the problem included in the agenda of the reunion of a delegation of the kingdom who will visit Aruba shortly to discuss a security investigation by the international civil aviation organization ICAO. “This is a kingdom’s affair and pressure could be exerted on Curacao from The Netherlands to put their affairs in order”, stated Steinmetz.

The tower control in Curacao supervises a large section of the airspace surrounding the ABC-islands. This aerospace is also largely used by aircrafts that fly from South-America to northern destinations. If the traffic can’t be controlled with the help of radar, it is done trough radio contact. This takes more time however which is why the safe distance between two flights is automatically made larger. Steinmetz estimates that the routes can be flown by approx. four times the amount of aircrafts with radar controls compared to the current situation.

Ineke Lampe, manager of American Airlines op Aruba, declared in front of TV cameras that she found it strange that the AA flights from Curacao to San Juan did manage to depart on time. During the same program the Antillean minister of Transportation, Omayra Leeflang (PAR), offered her apologies and declared to expect to see a clear report on the delays as to find a solution to the problem. “It’s not a problem related with personnel,” stated the Antillean minister, “because we have sufficient traffic controllers in place.” She did not however come up with a possible solution.

The association of traffic conductors in Aruba indicated that the service from Curacao’s end certainly left a lot to be desired, but that the problem did not only focus there. The radar doesn’t only malfunction in Curacao; it malfunctions in Aruba as well. The omni directional beacon at the Reina Beatrix airport has been out of service for approx. a year and a half. The one in Curacao on the other hand is still operational and according to the Aruban traffic conductors it accounts for better results. Another point that can’t be blamed on Curacao is the fact that the flight connections between Aruba and the US have increased in frequency and thus also the amount of traffic in the airspace.

Air Traffic Control can't meet the requirements set in the current situation. The air traffic conductors also point out the added pressure they must deal with and warn that this could lead to what they call ‘human error’.

The air traffic conductors believe that the beacon at the airport should become operational again as soon as possible, but that more importantly the radar installations in Curacao as well as Aruba should be put to use. This would not only increase the efficiency but also the air traffic’s safety. The air traffic conductors cynically point out that minister Briesen has been promising to solve the radar problem for four years, but that nothing has yet been done. The radar is also not mentioned in the governing program of the recently appointed cabinet. “Don’t only look for the splinter in the eye of Curacao, but look at the two by four in your own eye.

On 12-21 ARUBAAN's news-source "Amigoe.com" reported:

AVP Enters Claim Against Rudy Croes

ORANJESTAD — The AVP wants the District Attorney to investigate the alleged irregularities by Justice minister Rudy Croes (MEP). According to the AVP there are more than enough indications that the minister and his colleagues have committed possible misdemeanors, which is why the fraction of the green party handed a letter to the DA yesterday.

In the letter the AVP refers to two articles that appeared in the morning paper Diario and a radio-interview in which it looks as if the minister, or his colleagues, took money to grant permits. The AVP believes these actions should not be seen separate from the previously discovered inconsistencies within the ministry of Justice and the Aruban Immigration and Naturalization Department (DINA), such as the case of the three Dominican ladies that were brought to Aruba contrary to the legal regulations to help in the elections campaign of minister Croes.

In the letter, directed to the Attorney General Theresa Croes-Fernandes Pedra the AVP writes: “As you already know we informed the DA in the last mentioned case of the corruptive practices within the Ministry of Justice and the DINA. We have also reported a felony committed by the minister of Justice, H.R. (Rudy) Croes. You however concluded In said case, without even investigating the matter apparently as the ladies in question were not even interrogated, that there was no just cause for a criminal investigation.”

The AVP fraction refers to the letter by the Dutch ministers Ben Bot of Foreign Affairs, Rita Verdonk of Foreign Affairs and Integration, and Alexander Pechthold of Governmental Reform and Kingdom relations dated September 9 to the Governor of Aruba. In said letter the three Dutch ministers request the Governor of Aruba to start an investigation into the “issuance of stay permits” and “the degree in which the minister of Justice makes use of his discretionary authority with the allowance and admittance of foreigners, as this would in fact eradicate the visa duty.

The articles in the Diario published two checks. The first one is signed by ‘Aruba Tigers Org. a/o Oslin Quijada’ for an amount of 5,000 florins. The article identifies the beneficiary of this check as a government official who works at the bureau of the minister of Justice, according to Diario the right hand and advisor of the minister of Justice. A second check was for 2,500 florins and was made out to Fundacion Pro Rudy Croes. According to both articles the checks were made to fix permits. Allegedly coordinators and campaign co-workers of the minister, Juan Lopez and Edward Croes, stipulated payments from companies to handle and grant work and stay-permits.

Furthermore a businessman stated last week in a radio-broadcast that during a personal conversation with Rudy Croes concerning a work and stay-permit for personnel in his company, he was referred to Croes’ cousin Edward Croes. In a conversation with this Edward Croes the businessman was informed that he would have to contribute to the minister’s campaign in order to obtain the permits he had requested. The businessman consequently adhered to this condition. According to the businessman several other members of the minister’s bureau also had to be paid off in order to obtain other types of permits.

The AVP believes the articles and radio broadcast are indications of felonies committed by Croes and his co-workers. The party urges the DA to start a criminal investigation. The party wants to know from the attorney general if the articles and radio transcripts delivered by them is enough to start a criminal investigation.

12-22-05

On 12-22 STEVE COHEN, member of the ARUBA “STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS TASK FORCE,” claimed to MSNBC “But I have to say to her [BETH HOLLOWAY-TWITTY] and the audience that this re-questioning is a very important next step. Out of it may come a re-arrest. If that happens, then we're on our way to a case and to a judge of instruction.” When asked if he had any more specifics about the re-questioning of the 3 Main Murder Suspects, COHEN claimed “No, I don't have more specifics, just because of the nature of the relationship between the attorneys for the Kalpoe’s and Joran and the Investigators. Obviously, they have to be talking. They're trying to work out a schedule that is amenable to everyone. No one's trying to destroy anyone else's holiday season. But our Investigators are very adamant that this re-questioning does need to occur.” When asked about re-questioning guidelines, COHEN claimed “ Yes, the ground rules are fairly firm under Dutch law. There will be an Investigator who would be the interrogator. There will be an attorney that is permitted with either of the suspects. The attorney cannot speak during the interrogation, but can ask for a pause in the interrogation to talk to his client privately. And then the interrogation would continue. It's exactly what happened over the last—over the 80 days that the boys were detained in the first place.” COHEN also claimed he has not spoken with Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT since his release from prison.

On 12-22 when MSNBC asked BETH about STEVE COHEN, member of the ARUBA “STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS TASK FORCE,” claiming on 12-21 that the 3 Main Murder Suspects would be questioned within 10 days, BETH HOLLOWAY-TWITTY stated "I think it's a huge sign. I just hope that it is done the correct way. And you know, it's just hard, like I said, for us to put all of our faith in this. But we know that Congressman Bachus has offered Aruba—he's offered it to Adolfo (ph) Richardson—if there's any additional tools or resources that they need, that they have the authority, they can pick up the phone and contact the U.S. and request this, Rita.” “And I think that everyone in the United States is just waiting and watching to see what Aruba is going to do with Joran van der Sloot, Deepak and Satish Kalpoe. And the Aruban officials have publicly admitted that these three suspects are responsible for the disappearance of Natalee. So we expect results.”

On 12-22 ARUBAAN's news-source "Bon Dia" reported:

According to veteran Policeman he will restructure the Bonaire force

Jan van der Straten will serve as High commissioner for 6 to 12 months

He has an agreement with the Bonaire Police union so he doesn’t understand the conflict

ORANJESTAD – As long as the country decision is not signed and in his hands, Jan vd Straten does not plan to start his new job in Bonaire as High commissioner of the island of flamingos. Jan vd Straten said this to Bon Dia Aruba yesterday in an exclusive interview.

He confirmed the Bon Dia Aruba news that he will be the next chief of Police of Bonaire and said that while he accepted this job, Aruba remains his home.

REQUEST FOR VD STRATEN

It was 2 to 3 years ago that the Antilles made the first attempt to seek vd Straten to work in Bonaire. “But my contract (in Aruba) was to end in August 15, 2005, so there wasn’t a possibility to go”, vd Straten said to this publication. He will procure to finalize this re-organization in Aruba first. After the invitation from the current Minister of Justice of the Antilles (sic), David Dick, he accepted the position. It was after two months passed that he spoke to his colleague and current Bonaire Police chief Gerold Daantje.

WORKING TOGETHER

Here, they spoke about how they’re going to work together to see how vd Straten can work in Bonaire to prepare the Police force in a new way and establish a relationship with Holland. While Daantje shared his opinion about the functioning in Bonaire, he expressed his preference to continue to study IT via a study task of the government of the US. As such, he came to an agreement with Minister Dick to leave Bonaire.

COUNTRY DECIDES

Once the country decision is made and in vd Straten’s hands, in what relates to his new function, he has to write a letter to Holland to postpone the payment of his pension for 6 to 12 months, which is the duration of his contract with Bonaire. The reason is that during this time, vd Straten will prepare the position for another person who has to assume the role as commissioner. The intention is to work on some project that will procure more security for the people of Bonaire, something that vd Straten considers an assured challenge.

UPSET IN THE FORCE

The fact that there is mention of an upset among members of the Bonaire Police force with the arrival of vd Straten, is no very comprehensible for the former Police commissioner of Aruba. This is because, according to the veteran Policeman, he had a good understanding with the Bonaire Police union. “It has always been my opinion that you have to care about these things that are very regulated for my colleagues. Then vd Straten will come”, the former commissioner continues to say. “That is an agreement with the union that they said to me 2 months ago. They assured me that they didn’t have a problem with anything”, vd Straten continued to say, reiterating that these issues have to be solved. “Van der Straten will not go work in a place where a colleague is already sitting as Police chief”, vd Straten said.

STARTING DATE

The initial date mentioned for the Police veteran to start his new position in Bonaire, according to Minister David Dick, is the 1st of January, 2006. But in practice, it seems that this will be a little later. “This is the main point. But everything has to be settled” vd Straten continued to say. He will not base it on a verbal agreement nor on a written one, but on a country decision.

“It is on a letter from the Minister that they will be in full agreement, but for me it has to be a country agreement to delay my pension”, vd Straten said. About the question that if he is asked to extend his permanency in Bonaire after a year, he categorically said no. “I am willing to work between 6 and 12 months in Bonaire. However, do not forget that I am retired. And my heart is in Aruba. I like working in Bonaire, but until now I live very well in Aruba” vd Straten finally said.

12-23-05

On 12-23 STEVE COHEN, member of the ARUBA “STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS TASK FORCE,” claimed to MSNBC “But the truth is that when Joran left the prison and went to Holland he was still a suspect. The Kalpoe’s are suspects and their attorneys have known for some time that at some point, probably the end of the year they were told, that they would be brought back for questioning. Now it shouldn't be too much of a mystery what they're going to be asked about. And obviously only the Investigators know exactly what they're going to want to know, but there are some discrepancies in this timeline that have existed for some time and I think what's going to happen is they're going to try and nail them on all those discrepancies.” When asked what the difference will be between questions asked while the Main Murder Suspects were under arrest and “new“ questions now, COHEN claimed “Well the difference is, is that the Investigators have had a chance over these many months to go back over all this testimony, also to interview some new witnesses. New witnesses have brought some new information into the case. And when we put that all on the table, we're hopeful that we'll be able to get some different testimony from these three boys that will give us a better clue to what really happened that night to Natalee Holloway.” “The ground rules are because they are suspects they can be brought back. They are coming back voluntarily. They have an attorney with them. The attorney cannot speak during the interrogation, but the attorney can ask for a pause and then talk to his client before they go forward.” “Yes, my information is that they all will be interviewed separately. They all again will have attorneys with them. But again, Investigators are saying at this point to us that this is a time to accelerate this case. If we can find out what happened, now is the time to do it. We've done a lot of interviewing over the last few weeks with other witnesses that have not come forward up to this point. And therefore, we're very hopeful that in the next few weeks we'll be able to move forward with this case.” When asked if Former Murder Suspect PAULUS VAN DER SLOOT will be re-questioned COHEN claimed “Well he was actually exonerated by the court of instruction. The reason for that was he went to the court and petitioned them saying look, if you have anything on me, I'm still a suspect. Am I or not? They said no you're not. However, under Dutch law he still can be brought back for questioning.”

On 12-23 DAVE HOLLOWAY stated to MSNBC “Well I'm not really sure how to gauge it at this point in time, Lisa, but I'm encouraged anytime they bring them back in for questioning. What I'm confused on is that I had a very good source tell me that the boys or Joran especially has already a list of the questions that is going to be asked of him.” “My source tells me that he knows what's going to be asked and that information was provided to him approximately two weeks ago. (circa 12-9)” “I'm still trying to struggle with why they would give him questions in advance, according to this source. It may be so that he can think about them and you know really concentrate on what they're going to ask him. I don't know. It's—it may be all for show.” When asked what he would ask Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT , DAVE HOLLOWAY stated "Well, there's a number of things I would ask him. First would be, where is Natalee and what did he do with her if he's involved in this case. You know something else that disturbs me, Lisa, is the fact that suspects in Aruba can lie to Police and that's not a crime. Witnesses, on the other hand, cannot lie. And I asked a question since Paul van der Sloot is no longer a suspect, he can then be a witness and I'm wondering if he cannot be re-interviewed as well.” “Well as you recall, back about 60 days ago there was some indications that they were on a 60-day plan and the rumor was, was that you know after 60 days if they don't come up with anything they're going to close the case. And then after repercussions about that idea they changed their mind and said they would continue investigating the case. So you know where do we stand is what I want to know.” When asked if he was planning on returning to ARUBA, DAVE HOLLOWAY stated "You know that's up in the air. You know I did—a lot of my responsibilities was involved in searching. I know Texas EquuSearch is seriously considering going back to the island to do some searching in the water. Whether I'll go or not, that's—that will be determined in the next few weeks.”

On 12-23 the “National Enquirer” reported:

NATALEE PREGNANCY SHOCKER

By DON GENTILE and REBECCA MOWLING

Forensic experts are investigating a letter reportedly written by Natalee Holloway from a secret hiding place, confessing that she ran off in Aruba out of shame that she was PREGNANT.

The letter was turned over just weeks ago to Aruban police and was immediately sent to Holland, the island's mother country, for scientific testing to determine if it is a breakthrough clue in the seven-month-old case of the missing 18-year-old from Alabama.

"In the letter, Natalee tells her mom that she's sorry for all the pain she's caused her family," said a source close to the investigation. "She said that she was already pregnant when she got to Aruba and that she was too embarrassed to tell anyone. Natalee said she decided she had to run away to have the child because she didn't think anyone back home would understand her."

Read the rest of this story in this week's issue of The National Enquirer — on newsstands now!

12-24-05

On 12-24 the "AP" reported “Beth Twitty did her homework before sending her daughter, Natalee Holloway, off to Aruba on her senior trip: She went to planning meetings, and so did Holloway. They asked questions. They talked about underage drinking, chaperones and traveling with buddies.” “‘When I think about Natalee being abducted in Aruba, I can't help but know if she had made a plan with friends to not leave that establishment alone,’ Twitty said, ‘it would never put her in a situation where she was left defenseless against her perpetrators. But regardless, it should not cost our sons and daughters their lives.’”

12-27-05

On 12-27 ARUBAAN's news-source "Diario" reporter GIOVANNI LANE reported:

In a telephone interview with Joran van der Sloot

I would have sued those responsible for the tape manipulation

Referring to the supposed manipulation of the Deepak recording

ORANJESTAD(AAN): Recently, DIARIO obtained an interview with Joran van der Sloot via telephone and asked him how he’s doing now that he’s back in Aruba.

As it is known, Joran arrived in Aruba on the 14 of December to spend Christmas and New Year’s with his family, after he left for Holland a few months ago to study.

He confirmed to DIARIO that he’s studying International Business and that it is going very well.

He explained that he still has not gone to any parties [in Aruba], but he has received visits from friends and family and is enjoying his time with loved ones.

DIARIO asked him if he’s recognized on the street, and he said that it’s true that this is the case.

At the time where he goes out, different people recognize him and wish him a merry Christmas and a happy new year for him and his family.

Joran explained to DIARIO that he cannot talk about the details of the case, until it is resolved, but he said that he does not believe that it is fair what Natalee Holloway's mother is trying to do to Aruba, in regards to the boycott.

He said that he understands that the mother perhaps is angry at him, because she believes that he has something to do with the disappearance of Natalee, but this is not a reason to start a boycott against Aruba.

Joran said that Beth Twitty’s anger is unfounded, because he didn’t do anything bad to the American girl.

In what relates to the matter of the recording of Deepak Kalpoe, where supposedly the Dr. Phil program manipulated the tape, Joran told DIARIO that he doesn’t understand how Deepak does not look for a way to sue the program.

At the end of the interview he said that he is happy that he still hasn’t been bothered by the press here in Aruba, now that he’s back, and that he’s happy that he’s back to spend time with his family.

On 12-27 “Travel Weekly.com” reported: “For the first six months of 2005, cruise ships made 172 calls in Aruba, compared to 153 calls over the same period in 2004; in terms of people, 302,893 passengers called on Aruba in 2005, vs. 298,397 in 2004.” ((only a +1.5% increase for the 6 months mostly prior to NATALEE’s disappearance in ARUBA))

12-28-05

On 12-28 ARUBAAN's news-source "Diario" reporter GIOVANNI LANE told FOX News that “we have information that within a few days they will be interrogating Joran, Deepak, and Satish one more time” “probably after new years.” LANE said last week he spoke with ARUBA Prosecutor KARIN JANSSEN and she told him that “they are going to interrogate people, that’s for sure. She did not want to say who, but I‘m sure it was them, and she did not want to--let‘s say--’wake up sleeping dogs.’” LANE also said that during the recent interview with Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT that SLOOT claimed he had not gone out at all to any clubs or bars “as yet” since he has been back in ARUBA, and he has not seen Current Murder Suspect DEEPAK KALPOE nor Current Murder Suspect SATISH KALPOE.

On 12-28 ARUBAAN's news-source "Amigoe.com" reported:

Steve Cohen on Holloway-case:

‘Prompt clarity on evidence for lawsuit’

ARUBA – The spokesperson in the United States for the Strategic Communications Task Force, Steven Cohen says that within 8 to 10 weeks it will become clear whether justice has collected enough evidence against the three suspects in order to take the Holloway-case before the judge. He says that this is his personal opinion.

Cohen is Aruba’s special advisor on the Natalee Holloway case. Police commissioner Dolfi Richardson briefs him every other day. Cohen also mentioned that the three suspects in the case, Joran van der Sloot, Satish and Deepak Kalpoe, will be interrogated again these coming days. “We will then have more information.”

Upon request of the Aruba Hotel and Tourism Authority (AHATA), Cohen is involved in the Holloway-case since the first week in June, and is the official spokesperson of the Taskforce in the US since early December.

Cohen is a media person and worked as news editor in New York, Los Angeles, Boston en San Diego, and was the founder of the TV-channel Court TV. Cohen says that the reaction on the Holloway-case in the US is quite positive. “It is not as negative as it looks like. Most people in America really believe that Aruba is doing everything in her power to solve the case.”

Cohen represents Aruba in several TV-shows, like Bill O’Reilly (Fox), Rita Cosby (MSNBC), and will appear in the show of Geraldo (Fox) early January. He has also been on the radio at numerous occasions. He is not welcome on the show of Greta van Susteren (Fox). They only want to talk to people that can tell the story at first hand, like chief of Police Gerold Dompig and chief district attorney Karin Janssen. They were told that those people will not be allowed to speak to them. Nevertheless, they do not want to talk to Cohen. Cohen gets paid for the work he does for the taskforce, but not enough, so he has a second job.

12-29-05

On 12-29 MSNBC reported:

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, GUEST HOST: …
But first, new information in the Natalee Holloway case and what the key suspect in the case is telling an Aruban newspaper in a revealing interview. Joran van der Sloot is reportedly now admitting to this paper that he and Natalee Holloway had sex that night, the very night the 18-year-old vanished. The statement is a switch for van der Sloot. He had previously denied any allegations of having sex with Natalee.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JORAN VAN DER SLOOT , SUSPECT IN NATALEE HOLLOWAY DISAPPEARANCE: Well, yes, I kissed with her, but neither me, Deepak or Satish ever had sex with her. And no one ever said otherwise.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: LIVE AND DIRECT tonight is Jossy Mansur with the Aruban newspaper “Diario.” A “Diario” reporter [GIOVANNI LANE, my insertion] is the person who talked to Joran van der Sloot on the phone. Jossy, thank you for joining us. Please walk us through the key points of this really amazing conversation. What exactly did Joran say?
JOSSY MANSUR, MANAGING EDITOR, “DIARIO”: Well, Joran said many things. He avoided, of course, giving any details on the case itself, but he did admit to the reporter that he had sex with her, that it was consensual sex. He also admitted to him that the girl was going in and out of consciousness at a certain period. And he added that the girl was coming on to him, and the more that she drank, the more she wanted to have whatever she wanted to have with him.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And apparently, he also said that he expects to get questions from the Aruban government. And this is a real shocker because we had expected that he was going to be brought in for more questioning, and if they just give him a list of questions, I mean, that's almost a joke.
MANSUR: I agree with you because he's still a suspect. According to our laws, he will remain a suspect for the next year-and-a-half, at least, because six months have gone by by now. But I think that the Police have the right to question him any time while he remains a suspect in the case.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, thank you for that, Jossy. Stand by. We want to talk to you a bit more, but let's get reaction for the attorney for Natalee Holloway's family. LIVE AND DIRECT tonight is John Q. Kelly. Sir, if this information is correct, this is a real bombshell. If they had sex and she was going in and out of consciousness, isn't that exactly why Natalee's mom felt Joran should be charged with rape?
JOHN Q. KELLY, HOLLOWAY FAMILY ATTORNEY: Well, you know, he should be. This is—this would be called admissions against interest. They would certainly be admissible in U.S. courts, at least. And he's admitting to having sexual intercourse with her when she's incapable of consenting, and that constitutes rape. And I, for one, and the general public for another, have a very difficult time understanding why he's walking the streets and not being prosecuted for this.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And there are so many unanswered questions. This just causes all sorts of concern, I'm sure, for Natalee Holloway's mother. When did he have sex with her? Where? Were the Kalpoe brothers there? Was it on the beach? Did he leave her immediately afterwards? I mean, does this create more anxiety for her?
KELLY: Well, it does, Jane. You know, and apparently, one of the other things he had indicated to the reporter, that when the investigation was closed, and he appears confident that he's not going to be prosecuted for this, that he would give the full details. But you know, it'd be really nice, if he was half a man, that Mr. van der Sloot would step forward and at least indicate to the family what had happened to Natalee that night and where she was and try to give some answer and give some closure here. This cat-and-mouse game, where he's hiding behind lawyers and hiding behind his family and, you know, ducking the Police and knowing all the time it's causing extreme anguish and, you know, anxiety to the family—it's just not right.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Stand by. We want to get back to you, but we want to
get the Aruban government's take on this alleged admission and the possible
re-questioning of the three suspects. LIVE AND DIRECT right now, island
spokesman Steve Cohen. Steve, before you say anything, I want to play what you said to Rita Cosby on this very show on December 21. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE COHEN, ARUBA “STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS TASK FORCE” MEMBER: It is expected that he will be re-questioned somewhere in the next 10-day period. I doubt that they will bring him back for questioning immediately, but it will be in that period. And also, it is expected the Kalpoes will also be brought in for questioning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: That was last week. On Saturday, it will be 10 days. Obviously, they're not going to be able to question all three tomorrow. So essentially, you broke your promise to us, to the American people. He wasn't brought in for questioning.
COHEN: Oh, well—well, Jane, I think you're being overly severe with me and with the Aruban prosecutorial system. These timelines that you guys continue to create on American cable are hard to...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I have to interrupt you. You created the timeline. You said on December 21, the day he arrived, he will be interviewed within 10 days, and the Kalpoe brothers will also be brought in. It's going to be 10 days on Saturday. They haven't been interrogated. Joran's now saying they're going to send him some questions to answer, which he will undoubtedly answer with his attorney and with his father, who's a judge. I mean, that almost seems like a cruel joke.
COHEN: It's not a cruel joke, and I think you're wrong on a number of counts. One, the situation continues, in that there's an investigation ongoing. We do expect that he'll be brought in for questioning. We also have to expect that all three of these boys have attorneys. These attorneys do not want them to be brought in for questioning.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK, when?
COHEN: There's no—there's no—there's no lies here. The when is when the Investigators are ready to bring them in, when they're prepared to bring them in. It also is not the case that they have been given preordained questions, any of them or their attorneys, but it is true that the scope of the questions have been discussed with the attorneys. You would expect that to be the case.
There's no mystery here about what they're going to be questioned about. And this interview that Jossy's reporter has done, I mean, we're quite interested in that. Nobody's going to slough off any of this information. For anybody out there to think that the Aruban government and the prosecutor does not want this case to go forward or does not want a result that everyone else seems to want, which is justice—we all want justice...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, Steve, with all...
COHEN: ... is not the case.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: ... due respect, he's been there for at least eight days. He's going to go back to school in Holland. The clock is ticking. What's the hold-up? Why not bring him in? Why this wait? Why this delay?
COHEN: Well, why not allow us to prepare properly, put everything together that we want. As you know, he can go back to Holland. As long as he's in the kingdom, he can be interrogated. It is not expected that he'll go back to the kingdom before he is questioned. I want to make that clear with you. We're not moving backwards here in this investigation, we're moving forward.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Jossy, I'd like to ask you, what has Joran been doing in Aruba the eight days he's been there? Has he been holed up at his parents' home, or is he out and about? Because it is possible that maybe we're not giving the Aruban government enough credit. Maybe they're tailing him. Maybe they're following him, meeting with Deepak Kalpoe and Satish. Maybe he's going back to a possible scene of the crime. And obviously, he's innocent until proven guilty, but maybe they are doing something and we just don't know about it. Jossy? Oh, Jossy? Well, maybe John—OK, Jossy, I think I hear you now.
MANSUR: OK. They are doing many things. I mean, the prosecutor is on top of the case. She's very upbeat with it. I think that she's going to make some revelations by the end of January that will be quite important. I think that the investigating team—not think, I know that the investigating team is on top of the story. They are investigating. They've talked to a whole range of friends of Joran in the past few weeks. I mean, it is moving forward. Maybe it's not coming in publicity that way, but it is moving forward.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And I have to ask you, I see pictures of Joran hugging people, hand-shaking. Has he become some sort of sick celebrity in Aruba, where people are coming up to him like he's a rock star?
MANSUR: Absolutely not. In Holland, for example, he told the reporter that people don't even know who he is.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: No, I'm talking about Aruba, though.
MANSUR: I'm getting to that. In Aruba, he says that when he walks in the streets, some people wave at him, wave to him, and other peoples come and wish him a happy new year, et cetera. That's just courtesy.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And apparently, he told your reporter, When this all solved, I will come out and tell the real story. What do you think he means by that? Is he goading people, saying, Hey, I know a lot that you don't know? Because what everybody—the entire world wants him to tell the real story right now, today.
MANSUR: I agree with that, but I think that what he means, what he said to the reporter is that after the case is solved, he will come out and put all the blame on this girl. He's going to come out and say exactly what she did that was wrong with him, and not vice versa.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right, Steve. Well, I want to get your side of the story. I really do. I think there's a lot of impatience, but perhaps the Aruban government is doing something right now that you want to explain to us in terms of preparing for this interrogation.
COHEN: I would like to, but I just can't. I mean, there's a number of things that they are doing that are part of the background of the investigation. There has to be some lack of transparency as you go through an investigation. I know that everyone would agree with that. At the same time, we understand the impatience, but the lack of transparency about this investigation does not mean, as Jossy just said, that things are not going forward.
The final result of it, I don't think we know. But the result we want is to be able to bring justice to this case, but we cannot and will not reveal the techniques that are being employed at this moment that may bring us the break in the case that we're looking for.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, John Q. Kelly, what do you make of all this? You're an attorney. You've dealt with situations like this. What could they be working on that would preclude them from bringing in this young man and the other two?
KELLY: Jane, for the life of me, I don't know. I mean, they've had four months to prepare for any interrogation of Joran they want to conduct when he came back from college. You know, they claimed they were working on an ongoing investigation. Things change daily. You know, we had a 10-day timeline. That's obviously not being stuck to now. It's my understanding that the Kalpoes' attorneys are fighting the accessibility of their clients. They might not be brought in at all, and who knows when Joran's even going to be brought in. At this point, he's sort of taunting us, taunting the family, taunting the American public and taunting the system with his cockiness and his tight-lipped-ness that he won't give answers and he won't help the family out at all. And we need some answers. We need a prosecution. We need results.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And John, let's say he is brought in. Does he have any incentive to talk now and say something that he hasn't said before? He's changed his story many times. What pressure can they bring to bear on him to break this standstill?
KELLY: I don't know. I mean, it's rather disturbing to even hear that they'd even talked about the scope of the interrogation ahead of time so he can prepare for that. Yes, clearly, they know they're going to ask him about that night and the after-actions of both he and the Kalpoes, but I don't think they should be giving him the scope of the interrogation and what ground they're going to cover.
And you know, the whole situation is sad. I'm going to try to reserve judgment. I have my own thoughts on this. But you know, we want to see results. Hopefully, we'll get results. But right now, the ball's in their court, and they're certainly will be hearing about it if we don't see results down the road from the investigation they keep alluding to.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And Steve, you represent the Aruban government, the Aruban people. This is not just for the Holloway family but for the Aruban people. They want closure, too. They want to see tourism back to its normal levels. How is that going? Are tourists coming in?
COHEN: Yes, they are. Obviously, we're not going to pretend that this hasn't all had an impact on tourism. Tourism is off a few percentage points. But any percentage point hurts the island. The important thing is the psychology of people in the United States is very important to the Aruban government, and we want people to believe that Aruba is a safe place to come. However, this case is in the way of some of that, and we know that we can't back to the Aruba that we want it to be until this case is resolved.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Steve, thank you. Thank you for taking the time to answer some tough questions, and we do appreciate it. And last question to John. How is Beth holding up? I mean, here we are in the middle of the holidays, and she's still in a waiting game.
KELLY: Well, you know, she is. You know, Christmas, you know, Thanksgiving was extremely difficult. Christmas, you know, when I talked to her afterwards, she said there was just—she never thought she'd get through that day. And it's just—you know, you hug your child, you kiss her, you tell her you love her and you tell her you'll see her in a few days at the highlight of her, you know, 18 years, and she's never been able to talk to her again, hold her again and has no answers to this date. So it is, you know, almost impossible for her right now.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I'm sure the emotions really come up on Christmas. That certainly does happen. Psychologists will say that. Thank you so much, John. Thank you, Jossy. Jossy, great work on that exclusive interview with Joran van der Sloot.

On 12-29 ARUBAAN's news-source "Diario" reported:

According to Otmar Oduber

ATA’s duty is to publish the tourism numbers

It has been more than 6 months since they’ve done this

ORANJESTAD(AAN): Otmar Oduber, from the AVP faction, signaled during a press conference of the green party, that it is very troublesome and reproachable that the Aruba Tourism Authority (ATA), for the last 6 months hasn’t published tourism numbers.

He explained that this is something very irresponsible.

Oduber also said that he saw on NBC that they reported that Aruba was in the 10 news stories with the most impact of 2005, while the case of Natalee Holloway is the number 1 unresolved case.

According to Oduber, they also said that tourism has declined by a certain percentage, which is something that ATA has to give information about.

The parliamentarian also said that Aruba received 42,000 less tourists from cruise ships in 2005, compared with 2004.

If one multiplies this by the average amount of money that they would have spent in Aruba, which is $112, Aruba potentially lost more than 4 million dollars.

Oduber also indicated that there were 4.2% less travelers who passed through our airport, which could turn into 10%, which is an alarming effect that cannot continue.

On 12-29 ARUBAAN's news-source "Diario" reported:

According to Steve Cohen

Majority of Americans convinced that Aruba is doing everything possible to solve the Holloway case

ORANJESTAD(AAN): According to the spokesman from America who is part of the Strategic Communications Task Force, Steve Cohen, in 8 to 10 weeks (February 23 to March 9, 2006), it will be known if the Ministry of Justice collected sufficient proof against the 3 suspects in the case of Natalee Holloway, to bring the case in front of a judge.

This is a personal calculation that Cohen made. Cohen is being informed of all developments on the case, by commissioner Dolfi Richardson.

According to Cohen, the 3 suspects, Joran van der Sloot, Satish Kalpoe and Deepak Kalpoe will be interrogated in the coming days.

According to Cohen, the reaction from people in the US is less negative than everyone believes.

He said that the majority of people in the US is convinced that justice in Aruba is doing everything possible to solve the case.

12-30-05

On 12-30 ROBIN HOLLOWAY stated to MSNBC that she phoned the ARUBAN prosecutor and ARUBA Prosecutor KARIN JANSSEN told her that THERE ARE NO ARUBAN PLANS TO RE-QUESTION ANY OF THE MAIN SUSPECTS. ROBIN HOLLOWAY stated "She said that was misinformation [that the Main Murder Suspects would be re-interrogated], that the judge, when he released them, it was unconditional that they were unable to re-question them without them being brought in voluntarily, because they were released by the judge and they were unable to interrogate them again.”

++++ROBIN HOLLOWAY also stated that ARUBA Prosecutor KARIN JANSSEN told her that there may be major movement in the case by the end of January 2006.
(entire MSNBC transcript)

On 12-30 MSNBC reported:

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, GUEST HOST: … But first, there is some confusion in the Natalee Holloway investigation tonight. Will the three suspects really be questioned again in connection with her disappearance? An Aruban spokesman says yes, but now the prosecutor says, Not so fast.
Live on the phone right now is Natalee Holloway‘s stepmother, Robin Holloway. Robin, thank you so much for joining us, especially during the holidays.
ROBIN HOLLOWAY, NATALEE HOLLOWAY‘S STEPMOTHER: Thank you, Jane.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: You heard us on this very show trying to nail down Aruban officials, who were giving us conflicting stories, and you decided to take action by picking up the phone and calling the prosecutor, Karin Janssen, yourself. What did you learn?
HOLLOWAY: Well, just—I—basically, it was out of frustration. You know, we watch your show and we watched Steve Cohen on, you know, the - - several times. And the last time we watched, we found out every other day, he‘s getting updates from Adolpho (ph) Richardson, and it‘s been weeks since we‘ve had an update (INAUDIBLE) our attorney, to the best of my knowledge. So I—you know, a while back, Ms. Janssen had told Vinda that we could call her any time, so I took her at her word and I did. And she was receptive to my phone call and talked to me, and you know, we had a very good conversation.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: But what did she say about Joran van der Sloot being brought in for questioning?
HOLLOWAY: Well, that was something I learned that—you know, we were so excited they would be in for re-questioning, and she said that was misinformation, that the judge, when he released him, it was with no—it was unconditional and that they were unable to re-question them without them being brought in voluntarily because they were released by the judge and they were unable to interrogate them again.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: So I just want to make sure I‘m hearing you correctly because this is a bombshell. Joran van der Sloot has been back in Aruba from his college in Holland, on holiday vacation since December 21, about nine days now. You—the Natalee Holloway extended family has been waiting for him to be re-interrogated, and now prosecutor says it‘s not going to happen. Is that correct?
HOLLOWAY: That‘s correct, according to Ms. Janssen.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I have to tell you that is a shocker because we had Steve Cohen, the Aruban government spokesperson, on our show on December 21 and last night, saying something very different. Let‘s listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE COHEN, ARUBA “STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS TASK FORCE” MEMBER: It is expected he will be re-questioned somewhere in the next 10-day period. I doubt that they will bring him back for questioning immediately, but it will be in that period. And also, it is expected that the Kalpoes will also be brought in for questioning.
The when is, is when the Investigators are ready to bring them in, when they‘re prepared to bring them in. It also is not the case that they have been given preordained questions, any of them or their attorneys. But it is true that the scope of the questions have been discussed with the attorneys. You would expect that to be the case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: You would expect that. Really, Robin? Would you expect that? Was that something you were expecting?
HOLLOWAY: Well, I hope Mr. Cohen‘s right, but it‘s straight from Ms. Janssen. She said that was not going to happen because of the judge‘s ruling, but...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, this is the holidays. You and your husband, Dave, Natalee‘s father, have been waiting through the holidays. How has this impacted you emotionally during this time?
HOLLOWAY: Oh, it‘s frustrating. And today is seven months exactly that she‘s been missing. You know, Christmas, she should have been there with us. And you know, we were hoping to get some information when they did re-question them, and it‘s—it‘s—yes, Ms. Janssen was very open with us, and she assured us they‘re working hard on the case. And you know, they‘re still doing searches, but she did let us know that they were not able to re-question them unless it was voluntarily.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right, Robin. Thank you so much. Please stand by.
So here‘s the question. Should we expect these three suspects to be pulled for questioning or not? We still don‘t have the definitive answer, we don‘t think. Live on the phone tonight from the island of Aruba is Antonio Carlo. He is Joran van der Sloot‘s attorney. Sir, thank you so much for joining us. What are you hearing? Has your client declined to go in for questioning? And is that, in your opinion, his privilege to do so?
ANTONIO CARLO, JORAN VAN DER SLOOT ‘S ATTORNEY: OK, the information that I can provide at this time is that my client, under the Aruban law, cannot be obligated to come before the (INAUDIBLE) prosecutor to answer questions because he has now—he has been released without any conditions. So under Aruban—under Aruban law, he cannot be obligated to be brought forth to answer questions.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I would assume that would have to change, for example, if they got other evidence. What if they found—and this is a morbid premise, but we have to talk about it—Natalee‘s body, with clear evidence that pointed to Joran? Wouldn‘t that make him even more of a suspect, and wouldn‘t they then have to bring him in?
CARLO: Again, I think you have—you need to pose that question to the public (ph) prosecutor.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Well, stand by. We may have more questions for you.
What do we make of all this? What does all this confusion possibly say about the state of the investigation? LIVE AND DIRECT tonight are private Investigator Vito Colucci and criminal defense attorney Ron Richards. Ron, let‘s start with you. Is there something we‘re not seeing here, or is the Holloway family right to be upset and outraged that Joran has not been brought in? And he‘s been in Aruba since December 21.
RON RICHARDS, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, what we‘re seeing here is that this investigation‘s going nowhere. If they‘re hoping that they‘re going to receive voluntary interviews, my colleague over in Aruba would be committing legal malpractice to put his client back in front of the public prosecutor. I think the judge made a finding that there‘s not enough evidence and has unconditionally released him, and I think investigation is in bad shape.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: So this is some kind of limbo. Vito Colucci, is he a suspect or not? Because we‘ve been referring to him as a suspect.
VITO COLUCCI, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR: Well, you know, Jane, in our country, he‘s already arrested, OK? In Aruba, to call him a suspect, we don‘t know. You know what the sorry part of this, Jane, is it gets the family‘s hopes up, when they hear these guys are going to be brought in. They‘ve had disappointment after disappointment for months and months and months on this case. And it‘s horrible what they‘re doing to the family.
This is a simple case in the United States to solve, and they‘ve done everything wrong. And I‘m so sorry, I wish I could be wrong on this case once, but this case has been horrible from day one.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Antonio Carlo, everybody, the whole world is wondering, what is Joran van der Sloot doing while he‘s there in Aruba? Is he holed up in his parents‘ house, or is he out and about? Could you give us sort of a description of his time there?
CARLO: Yes, you know, he is just being himself. He is with his family now, and that is what I can inform you at this time.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, has he stepped out of the house? Has he—for example, the two other suspects...
CARLO: Well, listen, Jane...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: ... the Kalpoe brothers—has he visited the Kalpoe brothers?
CARLO: I‘m his attorney, I‘m not his father or his mother or something like that, so I really cannot answer that question.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Have you had contact with him, as his attorney?
CARLO: Yes. Yes. I have spoken with him.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, we had heard...
CARLO: He‘s doing fine.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: We had heard from through a reporter from “Diario” that he was going to get a list of questions from the prosecution. That‘s yet another story. Have you heard anything about a list of questions?
CARLO: No.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, we heard from Robin just moments ago that they said they would have to discus the scope of the questions with the attorney, if he were to come in, albeit voluntarily. You‘re his attorney. Have they discussed the scope of the questioning with you?
CARLO: No.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: So even the explanation of why they haven‘t brought him in doesn‘t seem to track because you would think before they could say he‘s not going to come in, they would have to ask you, Would he like to come in for more questioning, here are the scope of the questions. Have you had that conversation with the prosecution?
CARLO: No, I haven‘t been in any contact with the prosecution. What I can inform you is that the defense yesterday, we did receive a letter from the (INAUDIBLE) prosecutor. My client has been invited to answer some questions. We haven‘t responded to that letter as yet, so—and I‘m not able to provide you an answer. I‘m not going to respond to that letter via your program.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. So you have received a letter just yesterday, you said, inviting Joran to come in and answer questions. How long is he going to be in Aruba before he returns to Holland to college?
CARLO: I‘m not able to give you an answer to that question.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Vito Colucci, this is starting to sound a little bit like a capta (ph) novel. They were supposed to question him, according to the Aruban spokesperson, and today, almost 10 days later, he‘s getting a letter—or yesterday.
COLUCCI: Well, Jane, truthfully, we can‘t be surprised at the actions here, even your questioning of this counselor and the different things that have gone on. What has happened to the whole thing of him having sex with Natalee while she went in and out of consciousness, OK? I mean, come on!
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, a reporter from “Diario” told us that—or Jossy Mansur said his reporter spoke to Joran and that Joran said that he did have sex with Natalee while she was going in and out of consciousness. That was according to Jossy Mansur, who was quoting his reporter, who said he had a conversation with Joran recently.
COLUCCI: Jane, if that‘s in this country and I read that in the newspaper, that guy is back in my office right away for questioning and probably an arrest, OK? So I mean, you know, we can‘t be surprised at what‘s happening there. I just feel horrible for the family, and I just—
I don‘t see any future in this case. I hate to say it, and I want to be wrong on it.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ron Richards, can you make sense of my any of this?
Because it seems to be spiraling sort of out of control.
RICHARDS: Well, it—it—I sort of disagree with my investigative colleague. If it was in this country, he would have a right to remain silent. But the case is spiraling out of control in the sense that they don‘t have enough evidence to make an arrest. These ex parte or off-the-cuff admissions to a reporter isn‘t going to be enough.
One advantage they do have in Aruba, it seems they can, if they initiate new proceedings, interrogate the suspect, even against his assertion of a refusal not to testify or answer questions. But my colleague in Aruba is going to do what I think he should do and just delay this until he gets out of the jurisdiction again and then come up with some excuse as to why his client doesn‘t want to cooperate.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, apparently, Holland is the jurisdiction because it‘s all part of the same government and they can call him at any time. But of course, if you are half a world away, it does make it much more difficult, just logistically.
Vito, let me ask you, what should happen next? I mean, let‘s say you were down there, you were in charge of the investigation. What would you do, assuming that you cannot bring them in? Let‘s accept that assumption for a second.
COLUCCI: Well, you know, the sorry part, Jane, is when they were first brought in, you‘re supposed to do the scrapings of their nails, full body searches. You take their shoes, their sneakers, their clothing. You take the shoes and sneakers to see the mud or dirt that‘s on it that would show different parts of the island. See, all that time is gone. All that time is gone. If I‘m in charge of it now, I have to bring them in, have to bring them in to speak to them again.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. So this is one of these...
RICHARDS: The judge isn‘t going to let you.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Sort of the circle goes around and around and around.
Final word, Ron Richards?
RICHARDS: Yes, the judge isn‘t going to let that happen. The due process has already unfolded in this case, and the judge has issued, basically, an order saying, I‘m not going to hold these two citizens on these charges anymore. And I think that it‘s too late.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Thank you all. Thank you, especially, also Antonio and Robin, for coming on the show. Vito and Ron, all of your input is very much appreciated.

On January 3, 2006 the ARUBAAN's news-source "Diario" reported, “Recently, the American press published that Joran van der Sloot left Aruba on December 30, to go back and continue his studies in Holland, without being interrogated once again as was speculated” and “DIARIO called the van der Sloot family home, where Joran’s brother said that he already went back to Holland. DIARIO asked on what day he went back to Holland, but the brother did not want to say.”

On 12-30 JULIA RENFRO, the transplanted AMERICAN who moved to ARUBA 17+ years ago and owns an interest in many ARUBA businesses including the “Aruba Today” news, claimed to FOX News that the ARUBAN Police “are coming up with a list of questions to re-interview the three main suspects.” RENFRO claimed the Murder Suspects have been asked to come in for re-interrogation, but at least one attorney has already said that the Murder Suspects will not voluntarily not go to the ARUBAN Police for an interrogation, so, the prosecutor will have to present to a DUTCH judge that there is a “solid foundation” for the DUTCH judge to allow the prosecutor to ask a suspect to be questioned. RENFRO claims she called the ARUBAN Police who supposedly told her that no reporter has told the ARUBAN Police that Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT claimed him that he did have sex with NATALEE on 5-30. RENFRO claimed the ARUBAN Police are “definitely keeping their options open” by considering other Murder Suspects besides the 3 Main Murder Suspects. RENFRO claimed 3 new detectives along with RICHARDSON and ANGELA have been added to the ARUBAN Police investigative team. RENFRO claimed the team has been reviewing all case documentations.

On 12-30 AMERICAN homicide detective MARK FUHRMAN stated to FOX News of the ARUBAN Police investigation “I think it’s a complete stroke job. I think they’re fearful that Americans won‘t go to Aruba to spend their hard-earned money, and they‘re afraid of that, so, they’re doing a ‘dog and pony show’ for everybody to think that they’re doing something.” “You need forensic evidence-some form of evidence to corroborate their own confessions, so, they can scrutinize all the statements they want--they need a body--they need to do a search warrant at the van der Sloot house--they need to take all the vehicles--they need to, possibly, dig up the grounds at the van der Sloot house. They need to look for evidence that way, not do this stupid ‘read over statements’ ‘routine’.” FURHMAN said the DUTCH are involved, and they don’t want the case solved. FUHRMAN stated to FOX News that since the suspects were making statements that are being overheard by outside people, what statements were they making between themselves? “The father probably transported somebody, some time, some where.” “I don’t believe she was in the water. I think she is in the ground, and I say that because these three boys--in this un-planned, possibly, accidental homicide--they are not going to have the presence of mind to effectively hide a body, go some where, transport the body, get back, come up with a story without help. They got help.”

On 12-30 TIM MILLER stated to FOX News that he and “Texas EquuSearch” volunteers are “planning on returning to Aruba in the middle of next month.” [January 2006]

On 12-30 ARUBAAN's news-sourced "Diario" reported:

While Minister of Tourism continues to hide
Tourism is faltering

ORANJESTAD (AAN) – Aruba’s pillar of the economy, tourism, is not well placed and as aren’t its foundation as was the case 7 years ago, because in the last 4 years tourism has been going backwards.

Not even when the MEP government tried to let people believe that tourism has increased, the reality shows that hotels are not filling up anymore as they once were, and worse now in this season in which it’s increasingly clear that things do not bode well.

Cruise ship tourism has decreased and the quantity of passengers who have transited [through Aruba] has also dropped, while hotels which were once at 100% occupancy in high season, now painfully reach a 60% rate of occupancy.

While the Minister of tourism remains in hiding, same with the Attorney General who is hiding because of her mismanagement of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the situation in our economy in what relates to tourism is going backwards day after day.

Global influences such as what happened in Mexico, where in the area of Cancun, which is the center of tourism of Mexico and remained almost completely destroyed after a hurricane did not lead to more tourism for Aruba.

What happened in Europe where there where bombings in different countries and public disorder in France didn’t lead to more tourism for Aruba either.

A hurricane which destroyed many tourist areas in the US, such as New Orleans and neighbouring cities where the casino industry had largely flourished, didn’t lead to more tourists from the US to come to Aruba either.

All these are factors that indicate that the MEP government is undertaking a disastrous management in the area of tourism and they haven’t showed any intention of doing anything to save the Aruba’s pillar of the economy either.

The year 2006 will open with many difficulties where the government will increase taxes on a long list of product imports which people use, and also in the hotel sector and this will turn tourism even more expensive for those who want to visit Aruba and the consequence of the developments and negative effects for tourism will have even more impact in the year 2006.

Those who work directly in the tourism industry and also thousands of others who indirectly work with tourism have to take into account that next year something has to be done to rectify the situation otherwise the working class will find themselves in serious problems because it will get to a point where hotels and other companies who work in the tourist sector will have to take measures to lower expenses and will start sending workers home.

Tourism is faltering while a little group in the MEP government continues to fill their pockets and the last loan of 84 million will let them continue their party for some time, until the time that the elastic patience of the people breaks and the weight of the charge on the back of the people becomes too much to bear.

On 12-30 ARUBAAN's news-sourced "Diario" reported:

Aruba losing its tranquility?

FTA Worried with Messages Received by Repeat Tourists

ORANJESTAD (AAN) – In a press conference on Thursday morning, Anselmo Pontilius referred to the lack of tranquility in recent times, that tourists come to look for in Aruba, that it’s going backwards, and this can bring consequences to our economy.

Pontilius underlined that Aruba “ketobay” [=tranquility, peace?] is in demand, despite the problem known worldwide, and tourists who visit our island pay their money to find peace. Nevertheless, in the press F.T.A. read in the news about a mugging on a tourist couple, which could simply be a bad symptom.

He also said that visitors invest to have a good time enjoying our beaches, but if they find a congestion from the airport until their hotel, it can take almost an hour because of traffic, then they cannot enjoy the tranquility when they have to be on the street.

Aside from this, he has encountered another type of problem in the manner of itinerant addicts, which is one of the gravest situation in our country; also, he has noticed a situation where the service is not the same that tourists are accustomed to, and a beach which is full of people, which they doesn’t care for because they comes in search of tranquility, and our tourism can go backwards.

Pontilius mentioned that tourists known in our country, because of their many long years of visiting Aruba, are sending messages to hotel employees daily.

For this reason, F.T.A. is convinced that only via a process of permanent dialogue, solutions can be found.

On 12-30 ARUBAAN's news-sourced "Amigoe.com" reported:

Uncertainty About Tourism Figures

ARUBA – It is not clear whether the tourism is affected by the Natalee Holloway case. Aruba Tourism Authority (ATA) has not announced yet how many tourists had visited Aruba between July and September. The October figures show a drop. “Very bad, Aruba’s economy depends on the tourism. We must know what the situation is”, is the opinion of the AVP.

It is incomprehensible that the tourism-minister Edison Briesen does not realize that something is wrong. The AVP is concerned about the tourism. It is irresponsible not to know whether there is a Holloway-effect. AVP wants a meeting with the taskforce, the parliament, and the minister in early 2006 to talk about a marketing plan.

Recently, the Central Bank of Aruba and the Aruba Airport Authority (AAA) reported alarming figures about the tourism. According to the Bank, the cruise passengers have dropped with almost 40 percent in October of this year. The hotel occupancy was almost 78 percent in October. The Bank couldn’t give the results in the months July up till September, because they depend on the data from ATA that were not available. Also compared to last year, the airport of Aruba registered fewer passengers that entered Aruba. According to AAA-director Peter Steinmetz, the 2004 amount of passengers (1.7 millions) is not feasible in 2005. His opinion is that this has directly to do with the disappeared American teenager, Natalee Holloway.

On 12-30 the “Aruba Strategic Communications Task Force” reported:

When Will The Questioning of the Kalpoes and Joran Commence?

The questioning of the Kalpoes and Joran is still expected. But, the timing is not certain. Attorneys for the Kalpoes are expected to fight the re-questioning, and Joran’s attorney is also opposed. However, Investigators still believe that they have reason to bring them in to review the timeline that is still the central focus of the case.

Investigators are carefully preparing details from the questioning of others on Aruba. And they hope to have a meticulously prepared interrogation for Joran and the Kalpoes. But, they are not prepared to be rushed by an artificial timeline. It was originally thought this might occur over the holiday period.

But while the timing has been altered by the changing dynamics of the case, there is no question the investigation is moving forward. On Rita Cosby, Thursday, special adviser, Steve Cohen, explained the timing issue, but said, “make no mistake, this investigation continues, and the delay in the interviews does not signify a change in direction in the case.”

12-31-05

On 12-31 the “Aruba Strategic Communications Task Force” reported:

Where The Investigation Is Going In 2006

In 2006, the investigation into the disappearance of Natalee Holloway will continue to pursue a number of scenarios focusing on the involvement of the Kalpoes and Joran van der Sloot. In this regard, Investigators are interested in questioning the three in the coming weeks. However, Dutch law will not allow a mandatory appearance unless there is new evidence or they are about to be charged. Still, it is hoped that they will voluntarily present themselves to review their earlier statements and other discrepancies in the timeline surrounding Ms. Holloway's disappearance.

Earlier statements that they might be interviewed before the start of the New Year were premature. “The nature of the Dutch system makes it much more problematic, to have them re-interviewed than first thought,” commented Special Adviser, Steve Cohen.

A Call For Witnesses

The Investigators also continue to encourage Arubaans who may have seen anything related to the case that night to come forward and speak to authorities. Authorities have interviewed many Arubaans but continue to encourage anyone with possible information to come forward. Their privacy and anonymity will be strictly guarded.

Alabama Teens

There are still members of the Alabama teen group that Investigators hope to question. They are working through US connections to have their questions posed to the teens. Both Alabama prosecutors and the F.B.I. have agreed to aid in this matter.
Overview

The team headed by Karin Janssen and Gerold Dompig continue in their efforts to accelerate the investigation and follow all leads. They are reviewing testimony, seeking new witnesses, and continue the review of forensic leads as well.

They are available to representatives of the Holloway and Twitty families, to explain the developments and conduct of the case.

On 12-31 ARUBAAN’s news-source “Bon Dia” reported:

The Impact of Natalee Holloway

Story of the disappearance of a young American in Aruba and her mother’s determination to keep it in the world’s attention, at our island’s expense

Bon Dia Aruba
12/31/2005

The news surprised many. A young American of 18 years of age did not return to her hotel after a night at Carlos ‘n Charlies, and missed her flight home. However, there was no reason for alarm, because no one disappears in Aruba and tourists always turn up one or two days later. Police say that they experience this regularly.

It is because of this that no one expected that this story would turn global and certainly not a nightmare for a whole country on the one hand, and various families on the other. The story of Natalee Holloway does not end in 2005, and given the attention that it has found, especially on American TV channels, it will continue strong in 2006. It is the story about Natalee, but perhaps still more about Beth Twitty, her mother, who is determined to boycott Aruba, as long as authorities do not return her daughter or punish the three youths suspected of having something to do with the disappearance of the blonde, white and pretty daughter. It is a story that has three ingredients, Natalee, Beth and the attack against Aruba.

It is a story that begins as many others. A youth enthused with the end of school and who came to Aruba in a group of approximately 140 students from the same school, Mountain Brook High from Birmingham, Alabama. According to her mother, Beth Twitty, a girl who finished school with honours and a scholarship to go to the University of Alabama. Not much else is known about Natalee. Her mother has never said much about her daughter, except for saying that her favorite movie is The Wizard of Oz. We hear about Natalee every day, but we don’t know much more about her, and no one has said who this girl really is.

JUNE:

The first week.

The group came to Aruba for 5 days, and on the last night, May 29, Natalee met Joran van der Sloot in the casino of the Holiday Inn and invited him to go to Carlos ‘n Charlies. Joran, 17 at the time, went home at 11:00 pm, where his father passed to pick him up at the McDonald’s Palm Beach. But later, he called his friend Deepak for them to go to the night spot to meet the group from Mountain Brook. Satish Kalpoe also went, and as soon as Carlos ‘n Charlies closed, Natalee got in Deepak’s car and went with the three supposedly to the Lighthouse and the area where the sharks are. This was the last time that Natalee’s companions say they saw the young woman, the suspects and Aruba. Bon Dia observed especially the first weeks, which was marked with many developments in the case.

In the morning, May 30, when it was time to go to the airport, it was noticed that Natalee wasn’t there. However, they waited until they were at the airport to advise the family and afterwards, police.

In less than 12 hours after receiving the call, Natalee’s family, Beth Twitty, was already in Aruba, with the conviction that her daughter was kidnapped. With the help of some people in Aruba, she was able to identify Joran van der Sloot and went to his house. Here, she confronted Joran’s father, Paul van der Sloot, who determined that his son was not home. Joran was once again with Deepak and when they got home, they found themselves in front of a desperate mother. Here came the version that they left Natalee in front of the lobby of the Holiday Inn. Natalee tripped, and got up. They also said that there was a man who resembled a security guard close by.

In the morning of the 31st of May, there were already ‘kidnapped’ posters, which afterwards turned into ‘missing’. And who can forget the most salient, where Beth asked Natalee to call her “Mom is really here in Aruba and I really want to talk to you”. At that time there was already a reward for people who could have more information.

Although police had not yet reacted, the Tuesday in question (something that was later followed), they were able to organize an intense search.

Wednesday 1st of June, the Royal Marines as well as local groups organized for people from Aruba and International Friends of Aruba searched especially in the area of the Lighthouse, Arashi, North of the Marriott and also in crack houses, with no results. The matter turned serious and fell under the charge of Commissioner Jan van der Straten of the Noord district, and chief prosecutor Karin Jansen was put in charge of the case. In the meantime, the FBI was already in Aruba.

The news reached the U.S. and for the 1st of June, there were already in the news of some important web sites. Thursday, the news was already on all TV channels. The first news teams from the U.S. arrived in Aruba, FOX, with NBC being the first. By the following Friday there were already CNN, CBS. ABC and various teams from FOX and NBC/MSNBC.

Minister of Justice Rudy Croes arrived in Aruba Friday June 3 and was the first to criticize the investigation openly, during a press conference that took place in Santa Cruz, in the presence of Commissioner Gerold Dompig. The Minister’s intention was to remove Jan van der Straten from the case, especially for not arresting the three who were last seen with Natalee. The same night, a tip came in that Natalee was in an apartment. An intense search led to another American, but the family was completely destroyed since it wasn’t Natalee.

Saturday, June 4 an ‘inval’ was done at the Alegro Resort, under construction. Police searched the whole hotel for a possible lead. This was the same day that CNN reported that Aruba is a trampoline for drugs and prostitution. Although the reportage was based on a State Department report published in March, and that the reported pointed out that Aruba had little crime, this was the first ‘flavour’ of all negative reporting to come. Minister Croes was furious and threatened to expel the CNN team if they did not rectify. Neither happened. CNN did not rectify, nor were they expelled.

However, in these days, SPA (Police Union) stood firmly behind Jan van der Straten, and finally he remained in charge of the case.

Sunday, June 5, two former security guards were arrested, Mikky John and Abraham Jones, under suspicion of having something to do with the disappearance. An intense search started in Grapefield and area, and a mattress with blood was found, which later resulted to be the blood of a dog. By the afternoon, Commissioner van der Straten and Chief Prosecutor Jansen held the first press conference of the investigative team, which was one of the biggest there have ever been. In the afternoon hours there was a vigil and prayers for Natalee at the Lighthouse.

Next two weeks:
Monday there was another press meeting, which announced that the Minister of Justice called for a National Day of Search for Natalee. Carlos ‘n Charlies had to go to court to prevent the government from closing their facilities.

The next day, June 7, the government closed half a day and under the supervision of Commissioner Trudy Hassell, a big search was organized. About 700 people participated with no result. Meanwhile, lawyers for Jones and John started to fight the detention of their clients. It was the first in a long series of cases in court for this entire case, which is still ongoing.

Thursday, June 9, police detained simultaneously Joran van der Sloot and brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe, exactly on the day that Joran was to receive his diploma from ISA (International School of Aruba). They also searched their rooms and confiscated a computer, a car, and other articles. Lawyers Antonio Carlo, Rudy Oomen and David Kock are their defense attorneys. According to Commissioner van der Straten, the reason they delayed the arrest of the three was a tactic, to follow their steps. The Prime Minister met with the American press to clear up the negative reports and said that the American press is putting and end to 50 years of hard work in tourism.

Friday, June 10, information came in that Joran had confessed. The news was transmitted by CNN and people came out to the street, looking for something without knowing what. Police denied this confession later. However, what did come out was that the three started to change their first version. Joran said that he left Natalee on the beach north of the Marriott. Meanwhile, prosecutor Flanegin joined the team and Joran’s mother, Anita van der Sloot spoke for the first time to say that his son was innocent.

Monday, June 13, the two security guards were set free, and Mikky John in particular became a regular that week on American television. Aruba was already being accused of ‘racial profiling’. It has to be said that already for this time, the tone of announcers in the US was very negative against police and the judicial system, especially given that the three principal suspects were not officially accused.

What followed were intense searches for any proof of culpability. Police were already looking for a body, while Beth Twitty was still talking of her daughter alive. But the tone started to change, and every time there was increasing criticism of police and she started accusing the police force and the investigative team of a ‘cover up’ and corruption. They combed the area north of the Marriott, along with the FBI and three experts from the Dutch Forensic Institute. They brought in a dog from Miami, and a Coast Guard helicopter equipped with a special machine, which made its turns on top of Aruba. It was in this week that the first call of boycott against Aruba came in, on the part of radio announcers Russ and Dee.

The case took a turn when they detained Steve Croes, who said that he saw the three suspects drop off Natalee at the Holiday Inn. Police already knew that this was a lie, according to them, to have someone he knew, Deepak, be set free. Croes was later set free, but he lost his job and his reputation.

On the 23 of June, Paul van der Sloot was detained on suspicion of helping to get rid of the body or to cover up the case. On the same day, Texas Equusearch arrived in Aruba, to start their search. They came with a dog, and more sophisticated equipment. The group found assistance from Aruba and local businesses. Banks gave the organization $20,000. In the end, Tim Miller also spoke against Aruba that authorities were “interfering with their search”. This came after Miller received a special pin from Prime Minister Nelson Oduber and had thanked Aruba for all the cooperation received.

Paul van der Sloot did not remain locked up much time. The following Sunday, the Judge Commissioner from Curacao found that there wasn’t enough motive for his detention. This took place while it was published that Joran tried to blame Deepak. Lawyers categorically deny this.

Given the supremely negative tone, the government along with AHATA and ATA, formed a Strategic Communications Commission to counteract all bad information on the case and Aruba.

JULY:
One month after her disappearance, the Strategic Commission organized a human chain to remember Natalee and pray for a solution to the case. After letting the three suspects show authorities where they finally left Natalee, not much later the Judge Commissioner set Deepak and Satish Kalpoe free. Joran’s detention was prolonged.

Beth Twitty reacted strongly, calling the Kalpoe brothers criminals and asking the rest of the world not to accept these two. This comment set off a reaction from a group of citizens worried with the manner in which the American media was covering the case. They organized a spontaneous protest, followed a day after with an apology from Beth Twitty, who in the meantime sought the services of attorney Vinda de Souza.

For the first time, Dutch Ambassador in Washington, Boudewijn van Eenennaam declared that Aruba was doing everything possible to solve the case. Meanwhile, insistent rumours started about the tension between Attorney General Theresa Croes and Chief Prosecutor Karin Jansen.
It can also be remembered that duct tape was found in Boca Tortuga and Texas Equusearch made much noise about a hole found at the Arirok National Park, which also resulted in nothing.

Authorities brought the suspects to give saliva for a DNA test, since they found someone’s DNA on Natalee’s toothbrush. In any case, it wasn’t Satish’s and later, Jug Twitty declared that perhaps it was his, since he helped Natalee pack her bags. Meanwhile Natalee’s family increased the reward to 200 thousand dollars and brought in their own private investigators. Some days later, the reward went to 1 million dollars. They didn’t want to say who made the donation.

At the end of the month, prosecutor Flanegin went to the U.S. with the interrogation tapes for analysis at the FBI, and expert interrogators were requested from Holland to speak with Joran.

At the same time, the Alabama parliament passed a resolution asking for a boycott against Aruba. Beth Twitty said that she didn’t know anything about it, and her spouse, Jug Twitty sent a letter to stop the boycott.

Meanwhile, police were looking for Joran’s show and found indications that it could be in the pond near the Racquet Club. An immense undertaking was initiated to take out the water from the pond, which lasted a few days. There were no results.

AUGUST:
Texas Equusearch went to look at the van der Sloot house and found a problem with Commissioner Dompig, who had in the meantime replaced van der Straten who took his retirement. Beth Twitty, on her side, became completely negative against Aruba in all her daily interviews with American television, especially with FOX and Headline News. Her lawyer urged Aruba for understanding for pain of a mother with a lost child.

In all this, a gardener who saw the three at the pond the night Natalee disappeared presented himself. The gardener went ‘missing’ himself on the day that he had to give a declaration to the Judge Commissioner, supposedly for fear that he was an illegal. But at the end, his declaration did not help the investigation much, given that the judge did not consider his declaration very valid. Also, police asked the community to locate a jogger who also could have seen something that night. There was no reaction.

On the other side, Beth Twitty and a cameraman from MSNBC went to Deepak’s work, where she offered him 250 thousand dollars to say what Joran did with her daughter. Deepak filed a complaint, and Beth reacted with a complaint of her own.

Another search expert, Fred Golba, came to Aruba with his special dog. But in this case, he did count with the respect of the Aruba police.

In the U.S. some more respected media, such as the New York Times and the St. Petersburg Times questioned all the attention of the case of Natalee Holloway. Even the CNN President, Jonathan Klein accused FOX of giving worth to ‘nonsense’ for the sake of ratings. When it was thought that nothing else would happen, MSNBC went to KIA for an interview with the director, Mr. Freddy Maduro, who invited them to go look where Joran was. The case resulted in a lightning treatment in court, where Joran himself described what happened. MSNBC was prohibited from airing the images and Maduro found a suspension of a few weeks.

At the end of the month, the prosecutor added rape accusations against Joran van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers, who were once again detained, along with Joran’s friend, Freddy Arambatsis. This was also the time that attorneys de Sousa, Mohamed and Rojer pulled back from Beth Twitty and remained representing only Dave Holloway. Helen Lejuez became the Twitty family attorney.

The end of August was marked also by a series of cases in court, where the detention of the suspects was challenged and vice-versa. The Judge Commissioner decided to let the three suspects confront each other in court. According to witnesses, Joran cried on this occasion and all denied the new rape charges.

SEPTEMBER:
The American press was preparing for Hurricane Katrina, which happened at the same time that they had to either prolong the detention or let the suspects go free. The Judge decided to suspend the detention conditionally, as much for Joran as for the Kalpoe brothers could leave prison the first Saturday of the month. All this happened at the moment that once again Karin Jansen ordered a new search north of the Marriott. On the same day, Beth criticized the decision but as strange as it sounds, thanked Aruba and Dutch authorities for all their cooperation.

After giving his first public declaration, where he emphasized his innocence, Joran van der Sloot traveled to Holland where he is now studying. The Public Prosecutor tried to stop the case via a court case, but was not able to. Some days later, the court determined that there was no reason for the detention of the three, and all three remained free, officially, although they are still suspects.

Beth Twitty, who in Aruba expressed gratitude for our people, but who in her interviews was speaking against our island, left Aruba after being here two months. A friend of hers, Joe Mammana, in the US threatened to bring ‘hell to Aruba’ but Beth did not want to say if she supported this view. But in the meantime, she was already planning to appear in the Dr. Phil show, who did openly ask for a boycott against Aruba. One of the reasons was an interview with Deepak, by the former FBI agent, Jamie Skeeters. Here, Deepak admitted to having sexual relations with Natalee and that it was easy. Deepak Kalpoe denied saying such a thing, and already the rumours that the tape was ‘doctored’ began.

But the damage was done and the Strategic Commission was aware of the negative impact of the Dr. Phil show, but they couldn’t do much.

And while the investigation continued in Aruba, among other things a search in the sea on the side of the Lighthouse, A Current Affair was able to obtain an interview with Joran in Holland. Here, Joran stood firm again that he didn’t do anything and that he regretted lying the first time.

OCTOBER:
The Strategic Commission urged the government for a meeting to see what would be the best way to deal with the grave accusations against Aruba. The reason was that they wanted an official person to explain the process. They were in agreement with Commissioner Dompig to take the word.

On the other side, Paul van der Sloot started a case to see if he was a suspect or not, following up with a case of damages and prejudice.

Dave Holloway on his side, asked the community of Aruba to continue to help with information and tips and spoke against the boycott given that “my mother works in a gas station. If she were working in Aruba, then she would also be affected by a boycott. I do not support a boycott against Aruba.” Further still, Holloway said that he supports the police force of Aruba, who in the meantime was able to obtain the Jamie Skeeters tape of the interview with Deepak Kalpoe and sent it to the Dutch Forensic Institute for analysis.

NOVEMBER:
After canceling her trip to Aruba, given that in her interview in which she declared to America that she was threatened and was going to be arrested, Beth Twitty returned to Aruba for two days to speak with police. Along with her, again, were some members of the American press. At first instance, it was feared that she came to disturb the ATCA conference. However, this did not happen. Beth Twitty spoke with police and also with the Strategic Commission where she promised better cooperation and communication.

But one week later, she was standing next to her husband, Jug Twitty, in the presence of Alabama Governor Bob Riley who asked for a boycott against Aruba. The accusation was made that authorities in Aruba were not doing anything to solve the case of Natalee Holloway. Prime Minister Nelson Oduber claimed that Riley did not make an attempt to get in touch before the call for a boycott and showed how many disappearance cases there are in Alabama. The State Department, on the other hand, said that there is no official boycott. Ambassador van Eenennaam in Washington condemned the call for a boycott and Minister Ben Bot attended to the matter with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

In one of two shows, Dr. Phil showed that perhaps Natalee is alive, based on a call that Beth received. But some days later, it was announced that DFI confirmed the suspicion that they ‘played’ with Skeeter’s Deepak interview. They manipulated where the tape said ‘no we didn’t’ to say only ‘we did’. In the same time period, an American citizen in California Lisa Chiafullo got in contact with Aruba because she was angry with Beth’s circus and that it was time to start a boycott against Natalee’s mother. A certain quantity of signatures was collected to support Chiafullo, but the action was never followed up. What’s more, the Strategic Commission did not agree.

After sending letters to all Governor colleagues, Bob Riley found support from Mike Huckabee of Arkansas in the call for a boycott against Aruba. Dave Holloway approached Mississippi Governor to get his opinion, but there has still not been any reaction from this state. Lawyers for Dave Holloway denied that he also asked for a boycott. On the other side, Dave Holloway also now is strongly criticizing Aruba.

Ironically, the same month that the calls for boycott were made, Aruba opened its doors to 7 American Congressmen who were denied entry at the Venezuela airport. Prime Minister Oduber said to the leader of the delegation, Mr. Henry Hyde that friends have to be treated well if they want to keep a good relationship. Hyde, on his side, complimented Aruba for supporting the U.S. in the region.

To close the month, Beth Twitty was named one of the 10 most fascinating people of 2005 by Barbara Walters.

DECEMBER:
Aruba named Steve Cohen, co-founder of Court TV and former CBS executive as Aruba spokesperson to the US, along with Arlene Ellis-Schipper. His first declaration was that “sadness is no reason to not speak the truth”, referring to Beth Twitty.

Renowned American lawyer Mark Garagos criticized Dr. Phil on the Larry King show, saying that the psychologist acted in a supremely irresponsible manner when he involved himself in the investigation.

On his side, Paul van der Sloot, who according to the Court is not a suspect in the case of the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, tended to the case of damages and prejudice personally in the other year. He wants monkey to cover lawyer expenses. The divide between the Attorney General and the Chief Prosecutor continued, and Minister of Justice reminded Mrs. Jansen that the Attorney General remains her boss. This happened at the time when he forbid Commissioner Dompig from speaking. According to information, he took the decision because he was not happy with his declarations on the American press, among others on the prestigious magazine Vanity Fair, where he said that Beth Twitty is also at fault for the investigation not going as it should have. It is ironic that SPA, after their criticism of Dompig in June, stood firmly behind the Commissioner.

There was another divide between ATA and AHATA in the thought of whether they have to send a special mission to the Alabama Congressman, Spencer Bachus. Finally, the visit turned out to be a success, since they took all documents. Bachus complimented the investigators and said that never had he seen such a complete dossier. The mission consisted of Arlene Ellis-Schipper, Commissioner Dolfi Richardson, and Steve Cohen.

However, the trip did not stop Georgia Governor George Perdue to join the boycott. However, the reaction in Atlanta, in particular was not much, and even negative against this call.

Joran returned to Aruba to spend Christmas vacation and there are indications that they want to interrogate him again, along with the Kalpoe brothers.

Current events:
Until today, no one knows where Natalee Holloway is. The suspicion remains on Joran van der Sloot, and Deepak and Satish Kalpoe. There is neither a confession, nor any admission of sexual relations in the most explicit sense. And it in this way that the investigation has no solid proof to say that the three suspects are indeed responsible for her death or disappearance. Of rape, nothing can be said still, since Natalee is not there to clear this up. However, there has still not been an official interrogation of the students who were with Natalee in Aruba. There are many questions in Aruba that have gone unanswered. That the coverage of the case of Natalee Holloway had an impact is a fact. How it will affect our island, time will tell. There is already fear that perhaps the constant and negative coverage affected the business of the Aruba airport. AHATA foresees an ‘off season’ 2006 with many challenges, especially given that they conducted research on some important markets for Aruba and the results showed that the people who were surveyed did not have much trust in our judicial system. On the other hand, every crisis creates a need to become creative.

Perhaps the story of Natalee Holloway is more of a ‘wake up call’ for Aruba, for us to procure a more secure infrastructure for our country, as much as for our people as for tourists, and most importantly, to remove an almost complete dependence on only one market and open our eyes to others.

But most important is for justice to prevail and that any person who could be involved in the disappearance or who knows more about the case be identified. Because Natalee and Aruba deserve this.

The Natalee Holloway Timeline.... References Archived

December 31, 2005

Detailed Timeline.... December 1 - 31, 2005.... the start of the long road of the assassination of Aruba - Dutch "justice"

WorldJOURNIER