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
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
7-16-05
On 7-16 the Police took Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT (and one of his attorneys) back to the stretch of beach near the “Marriott Hotel,” including the “fishermen’s huts” that on 6-11 Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT was reported to have confessed to Police interrogators is where “WE buried NATALEE.” ARUBAN Police commissioner VAN DER STRATEN declined to provide further details, saying only that it was "part of the investigation." As Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT returned to the Police car, he was filmed in handcuffs pounding the engine hood of the Police car. One of his attorneys accompanied Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT and the Police Investigators. It was reported that the Police also took Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT to the suspicious 6’ long and 4’ deep dug out hole excavated by “Texas EquuSearch” and 2 Aruban Policemen on 7-12. (possibly to see his reaction to viewing the hole) Walking suspects through the reconstruction of a scene is common practice in Aruba, according to the prosecutor's office.
Despite the appointment being cancelled, on 7-16 DAVE went to the prison, anyway, with MORGAN to try and meet with Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT. When DAVE got there, Current Murder Suspect PAULUS VAN DER SLOOT and his wife were also there waiting to go see Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT. DAVE HOLLOWAY stated, "I had two pictures with me, one of Natalee and one of my 7-year-old daughter. I told him, 'I have two daughters. I know where one of them is, but not the other and I am coming to you and your son to try and find out some answers,"' DAVE HOLLOWAY stated. DAVE asked Current Murder Suspect PAULUS VAN DER SLOOT to ask Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT if he wanted to speak with DAVE about NATALEE “eye to eye” and tell him about NATALEE and the night of 5-29/30. "I told him, 'I'm here and I want to meet him. If he says he's innocent, he can tell me that to my face,"' DAVE HOLLOWAY stated he and Current Murder Suspect PAULUS VAN DER SLOOT spoke for several minutes. DAVE asked Current Murder Suspect PAULUS VAN DER SLOOT if DAVE could meet with Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT. Current Murder Suspect PAULUS VAN DER SLOOT claimed DAVE, “It’s not possible. It’s too late for that.“ At the end of the brief, initial prison meeting DAVE gave to Current Murder Suspect PAULUS VAN DER SLOOT 3 books (a Bible, The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren and Living in the Moment by Mary Ann Morgan) to give to Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT.
After about an hour, Current Murder Suspect PAULUS VAN DER SLOOT and ANITA VAN DER SLOOT re-emerged from the prison and Current Murder Suspect PAULUS VAN DER SLOOT and DAVE were filmed shaking hands and they then spoke. (in DAVE’s book, “Aruba: The Tragic Story of Natalee Holloway and Corruption in Paradise” DAVE wrote that he held VAN DER SLOOT’s handshake continuously for at least 30 minutes) Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT , according to Current Murder Suspect PAULUS VAN DER SLOOT , claimed he did want to meet with DAVE, but Current Murder Suspect PAULUS VAN DER SLOOT claimed to DAVE “that will not happen until the investigation is over.” ANITA VAN DER SLOOT indicated that she thought Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT should speak to DAVE.
DAVE asked Current Murder Suspect PAULUS VAN DER SLOOT if Current Murder Suspect PAULUS VAN DER SLOOT was directly involved with anything that happened 5-29/30
(SLOOT denied being involved);
DAVE asked Current Murder Suspect PAULUS VAN DER SLOOT if Current Murder Suspect PAULUS VAN DER SLOOT why he was sweating and dripping sweat so much during his 6-22 FOX News recorded interview
(SLOOT claimed he is not comfortable around the media);
DAVE asked Current Murder Suspect PAULUS VAN DER SLOOT if Current Murder Suspect PAULUS VAN DER SLOOT hired the attorney’s for the Current Murder Suspects KALPOE’s
(SLOOT denied hiring their attorneys);
DAVE asked Current Murder Suspect PAULUS VAN DER SLOOT if Current Murder Suspect PAULUS VAN DER SLOOT had made the statement to the Murder Suspects, “if there is no body, there is no case”
(SLOOT denied he made that statement--even though the ARUBAN Police have stated that Current Murder Suspect PAULUS VAN DER SLOOT admitted to interrogators that he DID make that statement)
DAVE asked Current Murder Suspect PAULUS VAN DER SLOOT if Current Murder Suspect PAULUS VAN DER SLOOT if he has counseled the 3 Murder Suspects
(SLOOT denied he has counseled the 3 Murder Suspects “in any way“)
DAVE asked Current Murder Suspect PAULUS VAN DER SLOOT if Current Murder Suspect PAULUS VAN DE SLOOT has advised the KALPOE’s lawyers
(SLOOT claimed he has not)
DAVE asked Current Murder Suspect PAULUS VAN DER SLOOT about Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT gambling even though he is underage
(SLOOT claimed Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT only gambles in non-fee tournaments--even though he was witnessed by several Mountain Brook high school classmates gambling with them at their blackjack table)
DAVE HOLLOWAY stated Current Murder Suspect PAULUS VAN DER SLOOT kept referring to Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT as the “child,” and he told DAVE he would do anything for his child. DAVE HOLLOWAY stated that ANITA VAN DER SLOOT told him she thinks the alcohol consumption age in ARUBA is 16.
Despite Murder Suspect PAULUS VAN DER SLOOT dodging questions, DAVE HOLLOWAY stated, he may have hit on something vital near the end of their conversation. "I told him, 'I am a forgiving person. If he is innocent, he needs to profess his innocence to me. If an accident happened on this, I can live with that,"' DAVE HOLLOWAY stated. "And about that time, his eyes watered and his voice quivered and he said, 'I've got to do everything I can to protect my son."'
On August 1, 2005 DAVE HOLLOWAY stated to CNN that during the 7-16 encounter with Current Murder Suspect PAULUS VAN DER SLOOT that SLOOT denied everything DAVE asked about, but, DAVE HOLLOWAY stated he believed one thing that Current Murder Suspect PAULUS VAN DER SLOOT claimed to DAVE, which was, “I’ll do anything to protect my son.”
“Riehl World View” wrote on 7-16:
Conversation and confusion continue around what, if any cell phone calls may have been placed that night, not simply between the suspects, but possibly between the suspects, and / or Natalee and other parties and trip attendees from Mountain Brook high school.
While I will continue to post what I have learned from speaking with reliable sources with a genuine or direct knowledge of events, I must also continue to caution readers that accumulating one larger more solid truth from reading the grains of sand that can be provided by a group of teenagers more caught up in this tragedy than observers must be read in context.
Clearly a combination of factors including - some individuals state of mind that night and afterwards; an obvious over-indulgence in alcohol and possibly drugs, including Ecstasy by some in attendance at Carlos and Charlie's; a necessarily secretive investigation and a desire by some to not discuss certain events that 1) may not sit well with family and friends and 2) may not always be remembered clearly due to the haze of partying, all combine to confound the unraveling of the mystery behind the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.
As regards phone calls what I have learned from a reliable source is that at least two calls are said to have been placed by individuals on Aruba during the late night hours of the first evening of Natalee Holloway's disappearance. The calls were missed, either because phones were deactivated, or because of the poor performance of certain cell phones on the island of Aruba.
One male, said to be a close friend of Natalee Holloway discovered a message as he was riding home to Mountain Brook on a bus with other classmates and some chaperones. While I'm unable to verify the originating number of the call, I've been told it was not thought to be the cell phone of Natalee Holloway.
The message could not be clearly made out by ear and was characterized as being garbled "Aruban" voices. The call is said to have been originated in the "middle of the night" on the first evening of Natalee's disappearance.
A second "missed call" message is said to have been discovered by a female friend and possible vacation roommate of Natalee Holloway while flying home with the group from Aruba. The two groups of classmates mentioned were on separate flights.
As reported earlier, it is has been said that the remaining chaperone [PAUL LILLY] did use Natalee Holloway's cell phone the next day to reach her friends for more information that might have helped in finding Natalee early on in her disappearance. While that timing suggests the second call could have been placed by the chaperone, one source insists the missed call message was time stamped at 4 AM the previous night. That information has not been corroborated.
Attempts to clarify the circumstances surrounding Natalee's cell phone usage for the trip, specifically did she rent an alternate cell phone, as is common practice for some while visiting Aruba, were met with a no comment from one likely phone provider.
It is possible she had an additional phone resulting in some confusion as to where her cell phone was at any point in time. Also, the time stamp of the missed call from her phone could have been misinterpreted or reported incorrectly from the owner of the phone. It is assumed that authorities have verified those issues.
In the first instance above the young man notified a chaperone upon receiving the phone message and classmates quickly began to surmise that cell phones and any possible messages could become relevant to any potential investigation. I've been told that at that point most if not all phones were switched off and handed in, presumably to be handed over to investigating authorities.
I have no information as regards other possible phone messages left with anyone linked to this case.
On 7-16 BETH HOLLOWAY-TWITTY stated that the D.E.A. agent who helped the chaperone on 5-30 was also one of the witnesses present during the 5-31 early morning encounters between the TWITTY’s and Murder Suspects SLOOT’s where at Prime Murder Suspect SLOOT tried to, first, act like he did not even know NATALEE, then, changed his story to the “Holiday Inn” alibi-lies.
On May 30, 2006 when FOX News interviewed BETH in NATALEE’s bedroom it was pointed out that NATALEE had marked a reminder to herself on her calendar--along with many future events for her next 3+ months--that her step brother GEORGE’s birthday was on July 16, 2005 VIDEO)
7-17-05
On 7-17 an ARUBAN “Arikok National Park” ranger, MARIO RASMIJN, while collecting trash discovered what appeared to be a 5” piece of duct tape with blonde hairs adhered to the tape. It is reported there are 4 blonde hairs, each about 6” to 1’ long. The duct tape with hairs was discovered at 11:45 am on the north-central shoreline area of “Boca Tortuga” (near the “Natural Pool” tourist attraction) or “conchi” called "Cura di Tortuga." The “Cura di Tortuga” is a secret, hidden pool on the windward north-central coast surrounded by rocks. The duct tape and its blonde hairs was found in a cave that had access to the ocean. The Police also searched several other caves in the immediate area, including “Turtle Cave.” The blonde hairs and duct tape will be sent to Holland for forensic DNA, fingerprints, and other testing (estimated 2 days to 2 weeks for results) ARUBAN Police commissioner VAN DER STRATEN declined to provide further details, saying only that it was "part of the investigation." ARENDS said the duct tape was “still strongly adhesive,” indicating it might not have washed up from offshore. RASMIJN also said that since turning the tape and hairs into the ARUBAN Police, “I haven’t heard nothing from the Police” and the Police have not questioned him since.
Interestingly, the discovery site is less than 1 mile from the 6’ long, and 4’ deep, very suspicious dug out hole excavated by “Texas EquuSearch” and 2 Aruban Policemen on 7-12. (TIM MILLER refers to the excavated site as a “temporary grave”) ((recall that during the investigation that some fishermen at the “Marriott Hotel” beach area that Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT has claimed he was the last known person to be with NATALEE at reported to the Police that their duct tape and other items had been stolen from the fisherman’s huts…. Also recall that on 6-14 Police recovered duct tape on the “Marriott Hotel“ beach area))
There is also an un-confirmed report that a piece of NATALEE’s green and teal halter top has also been found.
CNN reported 7-18 that ARUBAN authorities and the F.B.I. will both be conducting individual DNA forensic tests on the long blonde hairs found at “Boca Tortuga” on 7-17.
On July 18, 2005 HUBERT TIEL also said he had been told that there are blonde hairs and some slightly darker hairs stuck to the duct tape.
On July 20, 2005 MICHELLE KOSINSKI reported that the piece of duct tape is now being described by authorities as a wadded-up, semi-“ball” of duct tape, and there are many, many more than just 4 long blonde hairs in it. NBC reported there are about a dozen hairs.
On July 22, 2005 ARUBAN “Arikok Park” ranger RASMIJN found another piece of duct tape, this one has a red paint-like substance on it.
On July 23, 2005 MSNBC reported that there have been many more than 2 pieces of duct tape found in the same area, but that most of the additional pieces probably have no evidentiary value, and may not be forensically tested.
On 7-17 Dr. BADEN stated it can take 1 or 3 days for the F.B.I. to determine if there is a nucleic DNA match between a duct tape hair and a NATALEE hair, while mitocondrial DNA testing could take another 3 or 4 days. Dr. BADEN also said that “even after months in the ocean” duct tape could contain DNA and fingerprints evidence.
On 7-17 JUG TWITTY stated that if he knew the ARUBAN Police were not going to search Current Murder Suspect DEEPAK KALPOE's “Honda” car on 5-31 that he would have blocked the “Honda” in with the 3 vans and waited for the Police to come back and search the “Honda,” or, he would have blocked the “Honda” and searched the “Honda” and its trunk, himself.
On 7-17 JUG TWITTY stated that SAMBO was coming out of the case investigation because SAMBO, supposedly, is returning to HOLLAND for heart surgery.
On 7-17 when asked if he has hired a private Investigator, JUG TWITTY stated “absolutely.” The private investigation team is composed of ex-F.B.I. and “other types” persons.
According to JUG TWITTY on 7-17, SANDBERG is taking over for STRATEN as ARUBAN Deputy Police Superintendent (“Police commissioner”) when STRATEN goes on a “pre-retirement-vacation” (and “escape” from the NATALEE case) very soon, then STRATEN retires on August 15, 2005. JUG TWITTY is hoping that the change of command will bring in new perspectives.
On 7-17 JUG TWITTY stated that he was not asked by ARUBAN Police Investigators to make a statement about hearing the Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT and Current Murder Suspect DEEPAK KALPOE claiming the “Holiday Inn” alibi-lies in the early morning hours meetings of 5-31 “until 30 days after” the events of 5-31 (his statement was not requested by the ARUBAN Police Investigators until 6-30). JUG TWITTY also stated 7-17 that the other witnesses to the early morning hours meetings of 5-31 were not asked by ARUBAN Police Investigators to make a statement about hearing the Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT and Current Murder Suspect DEEPAK KALPOE claiming the “Holiday Inn” alibi-lies “until 19 days after” the events of 5-31 (these several other witnesses statements were not requested by the ARUBAN Police Investigators until 6-19). JUG TWITTY also stated that the UNITED STATES D.E.A. agent who also heard Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT and Current Murder Suspect DEEPAK KALPOE claiming the “Holiday Inn” alibi-lies in the early morning hours meetings of 5-31 has never even been asked by ARUBAN Police to make a statement.
On 7-17 TITO LACLE reported to FOX News that that, according to his sources, do not be surprised if Current Murder Suspect PAULUS VAN DER SLOOT is arrested again, along with some persons previously not arrested, and some witnesses previously not spoken to brought in to make statements.
Instead of acting in Good Faith and going to the Police station and admitting that the “Holiday Inn” alibi is, in fact, full of lies (that had already been conspiratorially devised among several suspects), and instead of acting in Good Faith and telling the Police the, supposedly, most recent “truthful” alibi that NATALEE and Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT were left by the Current Murder Suspects KALPOE's at the “Marriott Hotel” beach, Current Murder Suspect PAULUS VAN DER SLOOT ’s action, instead, is to hire an attorney within hours of the encounters with the Police and the TWITTY’s, and less than 36 hours since NATALEE was last known to be with only Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT.
To date,
not a single one of the arrested Murder Suspects
(including the Murder Suspects SLOOT’s nor the Murder Suspects KALPOE's)
have never even once tried to clear their names
by acting in Good Faith and offering their help during even one of the
many physical searches that the many other good ARUBAN’s and
DUTCHMEN have helped participate in to help try and find NATALEE.
To date,
not a single one of the arrested Murder Suspects
(including the Murder Suspects SLOOT’s nor Murder Suspects KALPOE's)
have never even once tried to clear their names
by acting in Good Faith and initiating even one in-person meeting with the TWITTY’s and HOLLOWAY’s to offer their 5-29/30 witnessed information to clear their own names.
Most of the “Texas EquuSearch” team temporarily departed on 7-17.
On 7-17 DAVE HOLLOWAY mentioned that the UNITED STATES F.B.I. Agent’s name was “Craig.“ (unknown if that is his first or last name)
On 7-17 the “New York Post” reported:
New York Post -- July 17, 2005 (interview of friends) -- NATALEE HOLLOWAY'S best friends watched help lessly as she climbed into a car with three men she barely knew after a night of partying on the island paradise of Aruba.
And they never saw her again.
Haunted by that thought and praying daily for her best friend, Ruth McVay, 18, spoke to The Post of the thrilling but finally shocking vacation during which Holloway disappeared, never to be seen of heard from again.
McVay and Holloway shared a bed in the hotel where they and 122 of their high-school buddies and seven chaperones went on vacation after graduation. They stayed up at night talking about their futures and their dreams.
On their last night, McVay turned in early while Holloway stayed out dancing with the men who would soon become suspects in her disappearance.
She woke up and realized Holloway was missing.
Other friends told her the story of how her friend got in the car with the strangers. "They said no, they tried to stop her," McVay said of the friends who watched as Holloway drove away with three guys the girls had met the day before.
It was so unlike Holloway — a straight-A student who graduated near the top of her class and a full-scholarship winner who dreamed of becoming a doctor — to go off with virtual strangers, McVay said.
Sure, the vivacious blonde had an infectious smile and outgoing personality.
"You're attracted to her. You want to be friends with her," said McVay.
But she had smarts and maturity. She knew better, McVay said.
"Natalee would never take off with people we didn't know," McVay said. "She was my most responsible friend ever."
Now all McVay and friends can wonder is why — on Holloway's last night in Aruba, on the trip of a lifetime, surrounded by friends who loved and admired her — why this smart, savvy youngster would go by herself with three near-strangers.
And why her friends could do nothing to protect her.
That moment on May 30 was the last Holloway's friends saw of her — and the start of a compelling drama that has haunted friends and family and stymied police.
"The million-dollar question is why she got in the car," McVay told The Post from her Mountain Brook, Ala., home. "It's the biggest mystery ever."
EACH day since then, McVay and Holloway's other high- school friends — refusing to believe the worst — have racked their brains for something, anything, they could have done to stop her that night.
There is only what came before: days filled with friends and sun and beach, and nights of music and casinos — and a charming stranger.
"We would stay up talking, we talked about college. She was going to the University of Alabama on a full scholarship," McVay told The Post. "She wanted to be a doctor, and we talked about that. She was going to visit me at my college."
On one of their nights out, Holloway met Joran van der Sloot, a tall, smooth-talking gambler son of a prominent local judge-in-waiting and the last person to see Holloway alive.
"Nat met him in the hotel casino called Excelsior," McVay said. "She talked to him for a matter of five minutes when we were playing blackjack."
McVay, who was interrogated by the FBI, said the group of girls with Holloway told van der Sloot they would be at Carlos 'N Charlie's the following night.
"I found it weird because he mentioned earlier that no one went out on Sunday nights, that it was a bad night," McVay recalled.
"And then he showed up at the place," she said.
Before those last hours at the hot spot — the last night of the teens' vacation on the Dutch Caribbean Island — Holloway went to a Boyz II Men and Lauryn Hill concert on Surfside Beach, McVay said. Then she headed for Carlos 'N Charlie's; van der Sloot showed up around midnight.
McVay said she left soon after.
"I was tired," she said.
But van der Sloot and Holloway were seen dancing and drinking until the bar closed about 1:30 a.m. May 30.
Then Holloway did something that shocked her friends: She jumped into a car with van der Sloot and Surinamese brothers, Satish Kalpoe, 18, and Deepak Kalpoe, 21. It just didn't make sense, McVay said. "I know that Natalee is responsible enough to leave on her own," McVay said.
Later that morning, when McVay woke up, Holloway wasn't next to her like she'd been every other night during their stay at the Holiday Inn.
"We thought she slept in another room so as not to wake us up," she said. "We thought she was being polite." With Holloway's packed bags and passport untouched and departure time looming, McVay and the group began to panic.
"We started walking down the halls knocking on all the doors," she said. "We told the chaperone, 'There's a problem, she's not here.'
"As we were boarding, we called [Holloway's mother] Beth," she said. "We were freaking out on the plane ride, trying to figure out anything that could have happened."
As the teens' plane took off from the island whose slogan is "Where happiness lives," a frantic Beth Holloway Twitty in Alabama was booking a flight to a destination where a nightmare was unfolding.
"Her mom is going insane, but she's the strongest person I know," McVay said.
Stubbornly refusing to give up hope or the search for her daughter, Holloway Twitty has lived in the same hotel where her daughter stayed since the disappearance.
"While I have not seen my beautiful daughter in many days, I will continue to search for her until I find her," she said last week. "I want her back. I want the truth."
McVay refuses to cave in to despair.
"It's the worst thing in the world, but I have as much optimism as I did from day one," she said. "We're like family. I can't wait until she comes home."
The protracted search for the smiling blonde is now the largest in Aruba's history.
Investigators are focusing on the jailed 17-year-old van der Sloot, who maintains his innocence.
7-18-05
On 7-18 JUG TWITTY stated to FOX News that if he knew the 2 ARUBAN Police officers also present during the 5-31 "first encounter" were not going to search Current Murder Suspect DEEPAK KALPOE's “Honda” car that night, he would have blocked the “Honda” in with the 3 vans and waited for the Police to come back and search the “Honda,” or, he would have blocked the “Honda” from leaving and searched the “Honda” and its trunk, himself.
On 7-18 BETH HOLLOWAY-TWITTY stated she found it a bit unusual that a hairbrush containing NATALEE’s hair that BETH had given to the Police around 7-4 was returned to her on 7-17--the same day the duct tape with blonde hairs was found.
On 7-18 BETH HOLLOWAY-TWITTY stated that we are not even sure that the “Marriott Hotel” was the last place that NATALEE and the suspects were last at. She also said she feels that the Murder Suspects KALPOE’s are being surveiled. She is not sure if the duct tape and blonde hairs have even left Aruba because no one in authority has told her.
On 7-18 ARENDS stated that the long, blond hairs were stuck to a piece of duct tape found Sunday by a park ranger in “Arikok National Park.” She said the tape was adhered to the rocks on the shore of Boca Tortuga, an inlet near a series of caves. Arends said the material was sent Sunday 7-18 to the Netherlands Forensic Institute, which has handled tests of other materials in the case. (yet several TV news channels reported 7-18 that the hairs have NOT been sent to the NETHERLANDS; TITO LACLE reported to FOX News that 7-20 that the hairs had still not left ARUBA yet, but are presumably being carried by ARUBA Prosecutor KARIN JANSSEN on a 7-20 at 10:30 PM flight to HOLLAND when ARUBA Prosecutor KARIN JANSSEN leaves ARUBA for a two week vacation) She said the area is frequently cleared by rangers and would have been spotted if it had been there for months. She also said the tape was “still strongly adhesive,” indicating it might not have washed up from offshore.
On 7-18 JUG TWITTY stated he is not sure if the duct tape and blonde hairs have even left Aruba because no one in authority has told him.
On 7-18 JUG TWITTY had returned to BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, UNITED STATES.
On 7-18 JUG TWITTY stated that the chaperone who had stayed behind to help look for NATALEE, was also one of the witnesses to the 5-30/31 search activities and early morning first encounter between the TWITTY’s and the Murder Suspects SLOOT’s.
On 7-18 JUG TWITTY stated he met with STRATEN today, but nothing new was told them.
On 7-18 when asked about the blonde hairs stuck to duct tape that have been found, DAVE HOLLOWAY stated, “We've had a lot of information that turned out false," as he prepared to leave Aruba and return home to Meridian, Miss.
On 7-18 CBS News reported:
Blond Hair On Tape Found In Aruba
DNA Testing To Be Done In The Netherlands, FBI Lab In Virginia
(AP) Investigators said Monday they will conduct DNA tests on blond hair attached to duct tape that was found along Aruba's coast to see if it came from Natalee Holloway in a possible break to the six-week-old mystery.A park ranger found the duct tape while collecting trash Sunday on rocks at Boca Tortuga, an inlet near a series of caves on Aruba's northeast coast, said National Park Ranger Service spokeswoman Dilma Arends.Boca Tortuga is on the opposite side of Aruba from where the 18-year-old was last seen in public, and her father expressed little hope that the find would yield an important clue."We've had a lot of information that turned out false," David Holloway said as he prepared to leave Aruba and return home to Meridian, Miss.The ranger who made the find, Mario Rasmijn, said there were several strands, each about 12 inches long, and that some were light blond and others were dark.The hair will be sent to the Netherlands for DNA analysis, said police spokesman Edwin Comemencia. Aruba, a Dutch protectorate, doesn't have a lab to conduct the genetic testing.A separate test will be conducted by the FBI at its lab in Quantico, Va., said FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela in Miami.It was unknown when the results would be disclosed.Searches by Dutch marines, Aruban police, and some 2,000 volunteers have found no trace of Holloway, of Mountain Brook, Ala., who was last seen in public in the early hours of May 30, at the end of a high school graduation trip to the Caribbean island.
A volunteer group from Dickinson, Texas, that had searched for three weeks left the island Sunday.A 17-year-old Dutch resident of Aruba, Joran van der Sloot, has been detained in connection with Holloway's disappearance, but no charges have been filed.David Holloway said he tried to visit van der Sloot in jail Saturday because "I wanted Joran to meet with me and tell me face to face what happened."Authorities did not allow the meeting and Holloway ran into the detained youth's father, a judge in training on the island, outside the jail.Holloway said he gave the elder van der Sloot, Paul, three books to pass along to his son — the Bible and two Christian inspirational works. It was not immediately known if Joran received the material.Paul van der Sloot was detained on June 23 for allegedly aiding his son, but released four days later by a judge who ruled there was not enough evidence to hold him.Outside the jail, the two men exchanged a few words. "I said I was a forgiving person," and the Dutch father's eyes filled with tears, Holloway said."He said he understands my situation, that he's a father, too, and that he'll do anything for his son," Holloway said.Authorities can hold van der Sloot until Sept. 4, when he must be charged or released. Six other men detained at various times during the investigation have been released.Also over the weekend, the missing teen's family posted a new reward of $175,000 for her safe return in addition to the $50,000 already offered for a tip to her whereabouts.
On 7-18 AL.com” reported:
Hair found on Aruba sent for DNA testsInvestigators have sent strands of blond hair found on Aruba’s coast for DNA testing to see if they belong to a missing Mountain Brook teen. They could find out as soon as Tuesday whether the hair, which was stuck to piece of duct tape found in Arikok National Park, comes from Natalee Holloway. Holloway, 18, has been missing on the Caribbean island since May 30. The tape and hair were found stuck to rocks on the shore by a park ranger collecting trash at Boca Tortuga, said National Park Ranger Service spokeswoman Dilma Arends. She said the material was sent to the Netherlands Forensic Institute for examination. Meanwhile, a team of American searchers who have returned to the United States say they’ll head back to Aruba immediately if tests turn up positive. Tim Miller, director of Texas EquuSearch, said he has a team of 12 waiting for the news. “If this DNA comes back as Natalee’s, then we’re going to get ... everything back there as quick as possible and get back out there and see if we can find any remains,” he said. His group, which is made up of volunteers, left Aruba on Sunday. Even if the tests are negative, he said, they plan to return next week to use equipment that checks soil density to determine if digging has occurred in specific areas.Hannah Wolfson
**NOTE** WOLFSON is a reporter in BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA for the “Birmingham News”
On 7-18 “Riehl World View” reported:
New information has emerged suggesting that one of the mainstays in the Natalee Holloway mystery, that she left the club in a grey car with Joran van der Sloot and the two Kalpoe brothers, Satish and Deepak, may be incorrect.
It appears she may have left the front of the club on foot with Deepak Kalpoe.
Beginning with an Internet message referenced here:
When we saw her leave she left by herself. No one was with her but we did notice some local guys talking to her while she was in there.
the story of Natalee Holloway entering a car and calling out to friends begins to unravel. One individual who may have played a pivotal role in initiating that version of events is now re-considering and says she "hasn't heard it first-hand from a single eyewitness."
Evidently many of the classmates on the trip were discussing that version of events early on in the disappearance but further conversations have been unable to pin down any solid first hand account.
"The actual words change each time it's told. Possibilities are: "Woohoo!" "Aruba!" "Seniors 2K5!" But did any of it *actually* happen? We can't get an eyewitness to confirm."
Now, another source from Mountain Brook has come forward and offered an eyewitness account more in line with the Internet message which suggests Natalee Holloway did, at least once, walk out of Carlos and Charlie's alone.
A witness outside of Carlos and Charlie's that night states that Natalee Holloway came out of the club alone and appeared to be looking for someone. She stood in front of the night club for a short time and did present the appearance of someone who had been drinking, though she was certainly standing and in complete control. The words used to describe her appearance were "a little tipsy."
It's unclear what she may have been looking for, but it is possible she was looking for Joran van der Sloot, who, along with Satish, "was nowhere in sight." At least one student on the trip suggests that Natalee, along with other young woman from Mountain Brook were actually quite attracted to the young Dutch boy.
Unlike the image painted by some in American media, his behavior to me, as described from a member of the Alabama community with knowledge of the trip suggests a rather laid back boy, charming, who seemed to draw women to him as opposed to taking a more aggressive approach. I've been told that it was actually Deepak Kalpoe who was more of an "in your face" type.
While an earlier report of a confrontation between Joran van der Sloot and a male graduate from Mountain Brook may be true, I have not been able to independently confirm that story. I have been able to confirm a skirmish the previous night between Deepak Kalpoe and a student from Mountain Brook. It was presented more as a minor conflict soon forgotten and easily broken up by a friend other than a Mr. Reynolds, who has claimed to break up a fight between Joran van der Sloot and a Mountain Brook student.
As to the possible Joran confrontation, one Mother of a student on the trip reports, "I tend to think it must have been the most minor of events. We did not even hear of it until it came out in the paper, so obviously it was not on a scale to even elicit gossip on the trip. Often as not these things occur when one boy bumps into another, causing offense. It very likely was something as small as that. It couldn't have been very heated if one guy could step in and verbally break it up."
As to what became of Natalee Holloway, one witness insists that after standing in front of Carlos and Charlie's alone and looking about for a short time - she actually re-entered the night club for a brief period. She then emerged not with Joran van der Sloot, but with Deepak Kalpoe, who is said to have had her by the arm in a manner suggesting he was helping her to maintain her balance.
The two are reported to have walked off down the street, turning the corner - possibly into a small alley, or a side street.
One possibility is that Natalee was actually looking for Joran van der Sloot and relying upon Deepak Kalpoe to take her to him. That opinion is speculation and unconfirmed.
On 7-18 TIM MILLER stated that the last 2 team members departed 7-18, but members of the team will be returning this week with other advanced equipment, including ground sonar and side search radar to search the 2 “Arikok National Park suspected sites.”
On 7-18 TIM MILLER stated the "AP" when asked about the blonde hairs stuck to the duct tape, “If this DNA comes back as Natalee's, then we're going to get... everything back there as quick as possible and get back out there and see if we can find any remains," he said. Even if the tests are negative, he said, the team plans to return next week to use equipment that checks soil density to determine whether digging has occurred in specific areas. Miller said that instrument couldn't be used before because heavy rains had soaked the ground. Miller also said Hurricane Emily, which swept through the Caribbean over the weekend, may help the search by blowing in debris from offshore.
On 7-18 FOX News GRETA VAN SUSTEREN stated that she spoke to an un-named friend of NATALEE’s Loved Ones who said, “they are hopeful” but “they do not really believe she is alive.”
On 7-18 ARUBA government spokesman TRAPENBERG claims the majority of U.S. media teams have left Aruba already. He said that initially the FOX News crew consisted of about 24 people, but currently only 3 members of the FOX News team are still on the island. According to TRAPENBERG the entire news crews of ABC and CBS left the island already, while CNN has only one correspondent still on the island.
On 7-18 HUBERT TIEL, an ARUBAN sports reporter (from ARUBAAN's news-source "Diario") stated to FOX News that when (??) he was in VENEZUELA and he started following/chasing a Venezuelan car that had a woman he thought looked like NATALEE in it. (he eventually lost track of the car) TIEL also said there are blonde hairs and some slightly darker hairs within the found duct tape.
On 7-18, after listening to FORNARO describe the one bone she found in the ocean near the “Marriott Hotel” beach then she gave to the ARUBAN Police, Dr. BADEN stated that the bone sounded like it was from a human or an animal (possibly a cow). BADEN stated it can be determined to be human or not by any first year medical anatomy student, and also x-rays could help. He also said the bone sounded like it originated from a thigh (femur bone) or upper arm (humerous bone). BADEN noted the recent storm could have churned up other evidence also, if a body had been put into the ocean. BADEN also stated that even if a hair has been in the ocean it will retain evidence of any drugs use, but will not retain alcohol.
On 7-18 CNN reported:
LAW CENTER
FBI, Aruban authorities to test hair in search for missing girl
ORANJESTAD, Aruba (CNN) -- The FBI and Aruban authorities plan to test strands of blond hair found on a piece of duct tape to see if it belongs to Natalee Holloway, a missing Alabama teenager, a law enforcement source told CNN.
A park ranger found the tape Sunday on Turtle Beach and turned it over to authorities, the source said.
Aruban Investigators were sending a sample to a lab in the Netherlands and shared it with the FBI. It was not known when the hair would be sent to the FBI's crime lab in Quantico, Virginia.
One of the goals of the tests will be to determine if the hair is that of Natalee Holloway, the blond 18-year-old who has been missing since May 30.
It is not known how large the piece of tape is, or how much hair was found on it. The hair was described as blond.
Aruban authorities continue to hold Joran van der Sloot, 17, in connection with the investigation into Holloway's disappearance. He has denied harming Holloway and has not been formally charged.
Holloway was seen leaving a night club with van der Sloot and two other men the night she disappeared.
She was part of a group of about 100 classmates and parent chaperones from the Birmingham, Alabama, suburb of Mountain Brook, who were in Aruba to celebrate their high school graduation.
Van der Sloot 's mother has said the teen told her that he was on the beach with Holloway but left her there because she wanted to stay.
The Associated Press reports that Police took van der Sloot back to the beach Saturday as part of their investigation.
No one has been formally charged in the case.
The island has been searched by hundreds of volunteers, including a team from Texas EquuSearch, a group that also brought in dogs and side-scan sonar equipment.
Earlier this month, the Dutch air force sent three F-16 reconnaissance jets equipped with lasers and special cameras to aid in the search.
The aircraft made several passes over the island in hopes of finding some clue to Holloway's disappearance, but they were unsuccessful.
Aruba is a protectorate of the Netherlands.
On 7-18 CNNHN reported:
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Tonight, breaking news. We go live to Aruba. Is there a major break in the case of Natalee Holloway, the 18-year-old American girl who went missing the very last night of her high school senior trip on the tiny island of Aruba? Blonde hair discovered on duct tape on an Aruban beach sent off the island for DNA testing. Does it belong to Natalee Holloway? Plus, Aruban Police take the judge's son, Joran van der Sloot , back to the beach to reenact the story he told the cops about the night he claims he left Natalee alone on the beach.
…
But first, tonight, we go live to Aruba, breaking news. It's day 50 - - five-zero -- on the Natalee Holloway missing girl case. Strands of blonde hair, dark duct tape, a beach in Aruba. Is this hair Natalee's? FBI and Dutch authorities testing the hair to see if it belongs to the 18- year-old blonde honor student from Alabama. Tonight, in Birmingham, Natalee's stepdad Jug Twitty is with us; in Aruba, editor and publisher of "Exclusivo" magazine, Jacqueline Suttle; in New York, forensic scientist Dr. Larry Kobilinsky and defense attorney Jason Oshins; in Atlanta, veteran trial lawyer Renee Rockwell; in New York, psychotherapist Dr. Robi Ludwig. But first, let's go to Birmingham and WBMA-TV reporter, Anastasiya Bolton. Anastasiya, bring us up-to-date. ANASTASIYA BOLTON, WBMA REPORTER: Well, Nancy, as you've mentioned, on Sunday a piece of duct tape with blonde hair was found on the northern side of the island. That's where the caves are, actually the opposite side where Natalee Holloway was last seen. That, of course, if you remember, was on the hotel side, at the Marriott, as Joran van der Sloot has mentioned. DNA testing is being performed in Holland because Aruba does not have the capability to do the DNA testing on those hair strands. And another thing that happened, Joran van der Sloot was taken to the beach on Sunday to possibly reenact or tell Investigators exactly what happened the night that Natalee Holloway disappeared. He's done this for the second time.Before this, in early July, he was taken to the beach and was asked by authorities what happened. We do not know what he told them. That time and this time again, the authorities have been very secretive about what they've been finding out. Also, Dave Holloway, he's on the plane right now going back to his Mississippi. Natalee's dad has tried to meet with Joran, as he says to try to get the truth out of the 17-year-old. But he was not allowed to the jail. Although he ran into the van der Sloot s, the parents of Joran at the jail, I'm told that they had a brief conversation. Dave gave them three books. One of the books was the Bible. The second book was "Purpose- Driven Life." He said he just wants to know the truth and, of course, he and Mr. van der Sloot have spoken. He said he told Mr. van der Sloot that, "I want to know the truth about my daughter." Mr. van der Sloot says, "I stand by my son, just like any parent would." GRACE: I want to go very quickly to Aruba. Standing by, the reporter with "Exclusivo" magazine, Jacqueline Suttle. Jacqueline, do we know how many hair approximately were on that duct tape? JACQUELINE SUTTLE, "EXCLUSIVO" MAGAZINE: Hi, Nancy. The information we have so far is that it's true. Duct tape has been found on a national protected area here on the island with some strands of blonde hair. The fact is also that information I got was that this duct tape doesn't seem to have the wear and tear of a month. So I think we should not rush to judgment and let the DNA bring out the results, if this is Natalee's hair. GRACE: Take a listen to this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BETH HOLLOWAY TWITTY, MOTHER OF NATALEE HOLLOWAY: I go back to the beginning of the investigation. And you know, I think of what the -- all four of the individuals are involved in -- when you`re involved in obstruction of justice, and lying to authorities, and implicating innocent people.I mean, I certainly wish those were enforceable laws to some degree, because I feel that all four of those were occurring early on. (END VIDEO CLIP) GRACE: Now there is a woman, a mother who has gone down to Aruba to find her girl. And she's not only taking on the Aruban authorities, but everyone, it seems. She was forced to give some kind of apology last week because she dared to criticize the Aruban investigation of the disappearance of her girl, Natalee Holloway, still there on Aruba looking for her girl. Very quickly, I want to go to Jug Twitty. This is Natalee's stepdad, Beth's husband.Jug, do we know that it is four hairs on the duct tape? GEORGE "JUG" TWITTY, STEPFATHER OF NATALEE HOLLOWAY: That's what I've been told. I was told that there's not enough hair to send some to the United States and some to Holland, so...GRACE: Now, it's my understanding they had, in fact, split it up. And Jug, question to you. I understand that the hair is about 12 inches long, correct? TWITTY: That's what I was told. GRACE: How long was Natalee's hair? TWITTY: Probably about that length. GRACE: And, Jug, explain to me again, where was the double tape found in relation to where Natalee was staying? TWITTY: Now, that I don't know, Nancy. Since I wasn't there yesterday when they found all this, I don't know that. GRACE: I'm going to go back then to Jacqueline Suttle with "Exclusivo" magazine. Jacqueline, where was the duct tape found in relation to where Natalee was staying? SUTTLE: I would say, in minutes of distance, probably 25 minutes. It's almost in the middle. It's a protected national area of the island. And, Nancy, I must say that there isn't any fact that it was one piece of hair that was 12 inches long. These are not facts. These are assumptions. GRACE: Assumptions by who? SUTTLE: Assumptions that you bring up yourself, because I'm a press here in Aruba. And we have access to a lot of information. We dig for information. And so far, information we got is that it is not one string of hair...(CROSSTALK) GRACE: OK, Jacqueline, Jacqueline...SUTTLE: ... any information of the size either, so...GRACE: ... Jacqueline...SUTTLE: I think it should -- Nancy...(CROSSTALK) GRACE: Jacqueline, I'm reading it right here in an A.P. wire. That's called the Associated Press. Very quickly to Dr. Kobilinsky. The A.P. has reported -- and I have no reason to think that the A.P., the Associated Press, has made up a story about Natalee Holloway's hair. Dr. Kobilinsky, this theory that the tape that Jacqueline has just told us about doesn't show the wear and tear that you would expect.You know, it's only been 50 days. With tape that could possibly have been in a cave, behind a rock, under a rock, who knows where, what kind of wear and tear do you expect to find on a piece of duct tape? LARRY KOBILINSKY, FORENSIC SCIENTIST: Nancy, I don't think you can draw any conclusions about how old the tape is. GRACE: I mean, can you date duct tape, for Pete's sake? KOBILINSKY: You cannot. And what we have to remember here is that this was found on Boca Tortuga, on the opposite side of the island to the Marriott area. And quite frankly, we still don't know if this is significant, whether it really is Natalee's hair, or it's simply debris that washed ashore. However, I can tell you this, that testing hair for mitochondrial DNA requires only less than an inch. In fact, one to two centimeters is all that is required to do mitochondrial DNA. And I can tell you this, that the laboratory in Amsterdam is a top- notch forensic institute. It is an excellent lab. GRACE: How do you know that?KOBILINSKY: I know the people that are running the lab. It is an excellent lab. The FBI would have no problems with conclusions drawn by that lab. GRACE: Mitochondrial DNA with hair. Everybody, you can make a comparison to hair, but you can't make an exact DNA match, unless there is a root from the hair. From that, you get what we call mitochondrial DNA. It is traced back through the mother. Now, once again, in front of me, I have the A.P. wire. Dusty, if you want to come over.It says, "The ranger who made the find, Mario Rasmijn, said there were several strands, each one 12 inches long, and some are light blonde, others were dark." OK, let's talk about it very quickly. Dr. Kobilinsky, say we have a root, we have a root of -- I mean, the reality is, this may not be her hair. But if it is...KOBILINSKY: If it is...GRACE: ... how do we make the comparison? Do we need the mom's hair? KOBILINSKY: Well, first of all, if there's a root, we can do nuclear DNA testing and we can find out absolutely if its hers or not. On the other hand, if we don't have a root, what we can do is mitochondrial DNA testing. And that will take about a week or so. It's not something that will just happen overnight. GRACE: So mitochondrial takes longer than regular? KOBILINSKY: It absolutely takes longer. GRACE: OK. Very quickly to Jug Twitty. This is Natalee's stepdad. Jug, how did Beth, your wife, Natalee's mom, respond when she found out about the duct tape with the hair on it? TWITTY: She didn't. I mean, Nancy, we've been through this so many times with different findings down there. It's just -- we've been through the emotional highs and lows. And this does not, you know, get us excited one way or another, because we've gone through so many things like this. GRACE: Jug...TWITTY: We want to find out things with the investigation. GRACE: Hey, you're preaching to the choir. Remember when they leaked that there was blood in the -- blood found on a mattress. It was a dog's blood. Last week there were bones; they were donkey bones. First, we heard there was a confession. That was retracted. Robi Ludwig, how is Beth Holloway? I saw a picture of her this weekend in a magazine. She looked so thin and so frail, but she's got the voice of a lion. She just keeps on.How? How do you keep on? DR. ROBI LUDWIG, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: It's the strength of a mother that will do anything to find out the truth, when it comes to their child. And she has done an amazing job describing the torture that she has gone through and what it means to her to have people reach out to her. So she's really an incredible woman. GRACE: I want to let everyone know that we invited the families of Joran van der Sloot , the Kalpoe brothers, the prosecutors to come on tonight. They do not want to comment on the case. When we get back, we're going to be speaking to Natalee's stepfather about Natalee's dad meeting up with the judge's son, Joran van der Sloot 's dad, in the parking lot of the jail. Why would the authorities in Aruba refuse to let Natalee's father speak to the chief suspect? Stay with us. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DAVE HOLLOWAY, NATALEE'S FATHER: We don't know that the whole story. All we really know for a fact is they left Carlos and Charlies. After that, it's a lot of speculation and a lot of fill-in-the-blanks. If you and I were involved in something, and then I come to you and ask you to make up a story about, "We dropped her off at the Holiday Inn," wouldn't you ask questions of why, if you were not involved in something, why would you make up the story? This is the 15th story he's told, and the Marriott story may not even be true at all.(END VIDEO CLIP)(COMMERCIAL BREAK)(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GEORGE "JUG" TWITTY, STEPFATHER OF NATALEE HOLLOWAY: I think the world knows that all of them know more than they're saying. And that's why this case is where it is today. Everybody is concerned that, you know, why are they not getting the answers? Those boys have the answers, you know? They know what they did with Natalee. (END VIDEO CLIP) GRACE: Welcome back, everybody. Is there a break in the Natalee Holloway case? Duct tape found by a park ranger has blonde hair, darker hair on it, the hair about 12 inches long. Let me quickly go to Anastasiya Bolton with WBMA-TV. Anastasiya, so much happened over the weekend. What can you tell us about, a, the father's meeting in the jail parking lot, and, b, about the books that were handed over by Natalee's father to Joran van der Sloot 's dad, the judge? BOLTON: I've heard from the stepmom, Dave's wife, that Dave went to meet Joran at the jail and he was refused that meeting. But he was telling the parents that he met Joran's parents and he just wanted to talk to Joran and just to get the truth, just the facts. He said he's a forgiving man. He just wants to know what happened to his daughter. And since he was refused the meeting, he passed along the Bible and the "Purpose-Driven Life," which was, of course, read by millions of people around the world at this point. We do not know if the books had actually gotten to Joran. Of course, the system, the jail system and the criminal system, is different in Aruba than from here. We do not know if they allow any passage of information back and forth or books, newspapers, so forth. Paul van der Sloot who was, of course, previously arrested and spent four days in jail, he talked and said that he stands beside his son, and he did not reveal any information about the case. GRACE: Well, Anastasiya, it's my understanding that Judge van der Sloot said something along the lines -- there is a shot of him, everybody - - I don't recognize his face as much as I do his back side, because he always seems to run away from the camera whenever we try ask him anything. Anastasiya, it was my understanding he said something to the effect, "I would do anything for my son," Anastasiya?BOLTON: He did say that. Yes, Nancy, he did say that. But as just any parent would say the same thing. Just as Beth Twitty is on the island for more than 50 days now looking for her daughter, Paul van der Sloot will do the same thing. At this point I don't think it's safe for us to assume that this is an admission of guilt. He did...GRACE: I don't think anybody said tonight, Anastasiya, that it was an admission to anything. But here in the studio with me, psychotherapist Dr. Robi Ludwig. It would seem to me that Judge van der Sloot would say, "I'm sorry about your daughter. What can I do to help find your daughter?" instead of saying, "Look, I'm going to do anything to help my son." To me, that doesn't make sense. LUDWIG: That's what's missing here. There doesn't seem to be any remorse on Joran's part or on the judge's part. It also smacks of themes of the Peterson case with the parents stood by their son no matter what. And we know that parents want to believe in their child's innocence, whether they are or not. GRACE: You know, I want to quickly speak to Dr. Larry Kobilinsky here with us. I want to go back to this break in the case, the duct tape found by a park ranger. Now, first of all, you note, Doctor, from handling evidence in court, writing books about it and so forth, who finds the evidence is very important, as well. KOBILINSKY: Well, sure, that person becomes part of the chain of evidence. GRACE: This is a totally an impartial person, it seems to me. KOBILINSKY: Indeed, it is. GRACE: A park ranger.KOBILINSKY: Indeed, it is. I think the critical part here is that, if her hair is -- if it's confirmed that it's her hair, it's on duct tape, we have an indication that some criminal violent activity took place. And I think that we should know within about a week or so, certainly, if it is her hair. I know initially they're going to be doing some microscopic analysis. That's very quick.They probably have a good indication right now of whether it is hers or not. But to confirm it, they really need to do mitochondrial DNA. And as you said, Nancy -- you're the best forensic scientist -- you know very well mitochondrial DNA does not give you an absolute identification. So I think, when you put that together with the potential confessions that we're hearing about and everything else, it all fits together. GRACE: You know, Renee Rockwell is with us, a veteran trial lawyer who has practiced law not only in the states but has been in Aruba many, many times, as well, legally. Renee, the area -- you're familiar with the island -- the are where they found the duct tape. You and I both know duct tape, like a fingerprint and many other types of scientific evidence, cannot be dated, so we don't know how old the duct tape is. But, Renee, you know the island. The reality is, when you find duct tape with hair still attached to it, I just can't imagine it being very old. RENEE ROCKWELL, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It can't be old, Nancy. But what's interesting is, if they sent it to a lab, they can also determine whether or not anybody else's hair's on it. And then, at that point, you can take samples from any of the people that have already been in question in this investigation, namely van der Sloot , the Kalpoe boys, even the judge or the disc jockey. You're getting a little bit closer to some physical evidence. This is all you have. It's a long shot. But at least it's something. Another thing, Nancy, just briefly, you have two separate dynamics going on here. You've got to feel for the family. You've got the government that's trying to solve a crime, but you also have...GRACE: Ha! I don't know about that. ROCKWELL: Well, but you also have the family. They just want to know. And I think, at this point, where they've hit so many dead-ends that the government should let the parents talk to the young man that's in jail. I don't know if the lawyers would allow that, or let the family go and watch the young man go out to the beach and try to reenact where he was, just to get a little bit of closure on this. Because, Nancy, if he's telling the truth, whether he starts at the beginning, the middle, or the end of the story, it's going to be the same story. And I'd just be interested to see if it's the same story he told a month ago. GRACE: Renee, I want to throw this to Jason. Jason Oshins, the reality is, all of that is like in a fantasy world that Renee Rockwell was just talking about. Everybody's going to sit down and all get together. "Can't we all just get along?" Are you kidding me? This guy has already changed his story we know between nine and 15 times. I say, Jason, all they need is one piece -- one piece -- of forensic evidence. And between all of his changed stories, they got a case. JASON OSHINS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, certainly, Nancy, from the prosecutor's perspective, you want to get something, something additionally besides the conjecture, to lean on him a little bit, or lean on the Kalpoe, or lean on anyone that might have something where they -- as Renee said -- where there's some other hairs, or Larry said that, where there's some other hairs that they could use and try to get something out of it, try to put some of this together, you know, to exert some pressure on van der Sloot . GRACE: One piece of forensic evidence. It's a long shot. Renee's right about that. But will this hair attached to duct tape on the beach be a break in the Holloway case? We'll all be right back, including Natalee's stepfather with us. …
GRACE: Day 50 -- five-zero -- since Natalee Holloway went missing on a high school senior trip. Just this weekend, breaking developments in the story. The lead suspect in the case taken back to the beach to reenact the night he was with her. And duct tape emerges covered in blonde hair. Very quickly, down to Jug Twitty, Natalee's stepfather. Jug, why do you think that Aruban authorities refused to allow Natalee's dad to speak to Joran van der Sloot ? TWITTY: I'm sure it's the attorneys that are saying that he can't do that. You know, Nancy, you talked about a minute ago how you've seen no concern or remorse from either one of those families, and that's the way I feel. I've seen none from the van der Sloot s. I've seen none from the Kalpoes. I saw them smiling, laughing. Their boys are home, you know, with their families. But Natalee's not. And it concerns me. GRACE: With us, Jug Twitty. Everyone, stay with us.
On 7-18 MSNBC reported:
JOE SCARBOROUGH, HOST: Tonight‘s top headline: There is a new clue in Aruba that could be the answer Natalee‘s family has been waiting for.
Welcome back to SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY, no passport required and only common sense allowed.
Four strands of hair now being analyzed by Dutch authorities and the FBI, could they break open the mystery of Natalee Holloway's disappearance? Plus, this dramatic encounter between Natalee‘s dad and the parents of prime suspect Joran van der Sloot. We‘re live in Aruba. And we are going to have all the details.
And did a T-ball coach pay a 7-year-old boy to throw a ball intentionally to hurt a disabled teammate? The coach is now charged with a crime and parents are outraged. But are we getting the full story? And what does it mean in a community out of control with competitiveness?
And her one-woman show is shaking up Broadway. Now Suzanne Somers is coming to SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY. And, friends, no topic is off-limits, not even the Thigh Master.
ANNOUNCER: From the press room, to the courtroom, to the halls of Congress, Joe Scarborough has seen it all. Welcome to SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY.
SCARBOROUGH: This is a remarkable story. Good evening.
You know, it has been seven weeks since Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway disappeared from her high school trip in Aruba. Now there is what some are calling a potentially major find in this case.
Let‘s go live to Aruba right now and talk to NBC News‘s Michelle Kosinski.
Michelle, good evening.
(CROSSTALK)
SCARBOROUGH: Talk about the latest developments in Natalee‘s case.
MICHELLE KOSINSKI, NBC CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know Investigators here and in the states are testing strands of hair found on a piece of duct tape in a national park by the park ranger. He said he saw it in a cove by the water.
When he looked at it, it had four strands on it, two of them blonde and two a bit darker. Usually, he said he would throw something like this away. But, in this case, given what has been going on, on this island for weeks, he just couldn‘t ignore it this time.
SCARBOROUGH: You know, there is—there is actually, also, some reports coming in. You were talking about—or, we talked about at the top a meeting this weekend between the prime suspect‘s father and Natalee‘s father. What can you tell us about what went on?
KOSINSKI: It was really remarkable to see this happen, and it was completely unexpected.
Dave Holloway, Natalee‘s father, left the island this afternoon. But he said, before he left, he had one thing in mind that he wanted to do, given there is no sign of his daughter. He wanted to talk to the key suspect in her disappearance, Joran van der Sloot, face-to-face. So, he heads down to the jail, tries to gain access. And, as he is there, Joran‘s parents are coming out.
So, they meet. They clasp hands. And the whole time, they are holding hands and talking to each other. Dave Holloway told us that Joran‘s parents, actually, the mother wanted him to talk to their son and she said that Joran wanted to talk to him. But the father didn‘t want that to happen until after the investigation is over.
And he says that they started talking about their son‘s mental state, that he feels tortured. They said he hates himself, that he cries and that he feels stupid for leaving Natalee alone on the beach the morning she disappeared. But they say that he denies hurting her in any way. Dave Holloway also told us that Paulus van der Sloot, the father, denies ever telling any of these three suspects, no body, no case, and that he denies that anybody in his family had anything to do with Natalee‘s disappearance.
SCARBOROUGH: You know, I want to ask, if my staff can once again role those images, because, Michelle, while you were talking, we were seeing pictures of the meetings between the fathers. And it looks like—we saw hugs.
But, also, the father gave Joran‘s father, I understand, what, a Bible and “The Purpose-Driven Life,” gave him a couple of books.
KOSINSKI: Right.
(CROSSTALK)
KOSINSKI: Go ahead.
SCARBOROUGH: Go ahead. Tell us—no, tell us about that.
KOSINSKI: Well, he brought the books with him, wasn‘t sure how that would go over. He brought three books, one of which is the Bible and “A Purpose-Driven Life.” Another is a book written by a spiritualist. And he offered these to the parents. And they willingly took them and thanked him.
And, at this point, Dave Holloway said, Paulus van der Sloot had broke down and cried. They hugged each other, as you saw. And then he offers them these books. And they said, well, Joran already has a Bible in jail and he has been reading it. But they accepted the other two books and said thank you very much.
And then these two families just walked their separate ways. But Dave Holloway did tell us, he is not done trying. He still wants to come back to this island and try once again. That would be the fourth time now to try to talk to Joran man-to-man, as he put it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVE HOLLOWAY, FATHER OF NATALEE HOLLOWAY: The last word was, you got have to understand, this is my son, and I will do anything for my son. And with that, you know, my confidence level was not very high with him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSINSKI: Of course, any bit of evidence that is presented, whatever it will come to, is very important to the Holloway family. They are really desperate for any clues in this case.
So, when this tape turns up with hairs on it, yes, that could be something significant. And that is why it is being tested as we speak.
SCARBOROUGH: All right, thanks so much, Michelle. We always—we always appreciate you coming on and getting us up-to-date in this case that so many Americans are following.
We really appreciate it.
I want to go now to Natalee‘s uncle, Paul Reynolds.
Paul, thanks a lot for being back with us today.
I‘ve got to ask, what is the family‘s reaction to this evidence found on the beach that actually could lead you all to at least give you some insight on what happened to Natalee?
PAUL REYNOLDS, UNCLE OF NATALEE HOLLOWAY: We are certainly very interested in the evidence, or finding out if it is evidence.
But we are not—we‘re not sure where it will lead us. But we want to follow up on every lead and every bit of information that we can find and see where it leads us. The main thing is that we are just very encouraged by the fact that people are still looking, and that the park ranger was looking, that he is thinking about it. And we have heard reports that tourists are still looking.
So, we are encouraged by—by the fact that everyone wants to find her and wants to find out what happened.
SCARBOROUGH: Have you talked to Beth recently, since they found this evidence?
REYNOLDS: I spoke to her this morning. And, you know, of course, she is also interested in it. We are anxious to find out, you know, what is determined after it has been researched and tested.
But we are trying to avoid all the highs and lows that we have experienced over the last seven weeks. We are trying to stay level-headed and focused on our objective. And that is finding out where Natalee is.
SCARBOROUGH: Boy, that has got to be so tough, having the ups and the downs and, again, finding yourself in this catch-22 position, where you want to know what happened to Natalee. But at the same time, when you open up a barrel, you certainly don‘t want to find Natalee inside of there dead.
And, in the case of the hair, obviously, if it‘s her hair on the duct tape, also, that is very bad news. But, again, at least there is possibly some closure there.
I have got to ask you a question. You know, you have been critical, as I have—I have been a lot more critical than you and just about anybody else following this case—about Dutch authorities, about Aruban authorities and how they have handled this case, how they have botched it, how I think that they have actually engaged in a cover-up.
Do you trust the Dutch authorities to handle this evidence carefully and to have a thorough investigation to see if it is in fact Natalee‘s hair on that duct tape?
REYNOLDS: Well, as we have talked about, we have had some concerns about the investigation.
You know, this—that has nothing to do with the Aruban people, who have been overwhelmingly gracious to us, who have helped in the searches. You know, I think the spirit of the island is a great force.
But we have been concerned about certain things in the investigation. But, you know, at this point, I‘m optimistic about some of the things I‘m seeing. We are seeing an increase in responsiveness. And we‘re hoping that what we see is a dedication towards resolving this case. And we are going to try to keep our hopes up and hope that we can make some progress here.
SCARBOROUGH: Well, I‘ll tell you what, Paul. That is great news tonight, hearing that you are feeling a little more positive tonight about the way the investigation is moving forward.
Obviously, we have all been greatly concerned. Thank you for being with us again tonight. Look forward to getting an update tomorrow with you.
Let‘s bring in now criminal defense attorney Larry Pozner and former F.B.I. profiler Candice DeLong.
Candice, I want to start with you.
You know, I remember when the runaway bride got out of town, went to Vegas. We didn‘t know where she was going, but they found some hair cut in a parking lot. Remember, everybody just laughed when people were trying to tie that with her. It ended up—it ended up actually it was her hair. This obviously also is a long shot. But let‘s just assume—let‘s just assume this is her hair on the duct tape. What does that mean?
CANDICE DELONG, FORMER F.B.I. PROFILER: Well, if that is her hair on the duct tape, and the Police—well, one thing that occurred to me is that, possibly, if those hairs indicate that they were pulled out and they are on the duct tape, you know, as if the duct tape was being removed from her and got some of her hairs, that speaks to premeditation.
Someone brought duct tape with them to do whatever it was, whatever interaction they were going to have with her is one possibility. If the Police can tie that duct tape to the suspect in any way, his home, his car or himself, case over.
SCARBOROUGH: I was just going ask—I was just going to actually ask you that, because, obviously, what the Dutch authorities, what the F.B.I. are looking at right now, is, they are looking to see if this is Natalee‘s hair.
But if it is Natalee‘s hair, that really doesn‘t nail van der Sloot, doesn‘t nail the two Kalpoe brothers.
DELONG: No.
SCARBOROUGH: How do you tie the duct tape together with van der Sloot or the Kalpoe brothers?
DELONG: Well, it would be easy to do if, in their searches, they found duct tape in the car or the home or anything, anyplace where they were able to put any of the suspects. But let‘s not...
(CROSSTALK)
SCARBOROUGH: It is a fairly—obviously, it‘s a fairly common household—household possession that you have.
DELONG: Yes.
SCARBOROUGH: I mean, what—you do—what do you do, duct tape testing?
DELONG: Yes.
And duct tape can be—there‘s a variety of ways they can test it. If they find the original role, if they find other pieces of duct tape that match that type of duct tape that they found—whoever this forestry officer was that found on the beach. There is a variety of things they can do, not the least of which there may be there—you said there were two blonde hairs on the duct tape and two dark hairs. Who are the two dark hairs?
Are they able to—it is not an identical match, by the way, not like a fingerprint. The best they can say is similar, dissimilar, inconclusive. If they were to find a fingerprint on that duct tape belonging to any of the suspects, once again, case closed.
SCARBOROUGH: Yes.
DELONG: And, like I said, that would speak to premeditation.
SCARBOROUGH: It is all over.
Candice, stay with me.
We are going to be bringing in Larry Pozner when we come back in just a minute, as we continue our conversation.
Also coming up, the Karl Rove controversy continues, with the president going on record today. We are going to be telling you all about that. But does this whole mess really hide the true story? I am going to give you the “Real Deal” on hypocrisy in Washington, not just from powerful politicians, but also from the media.
Also, did a T-ball coach try to injure one of his own disabled players? Wait until you hear why the Police arrested him.
SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY is just getting started. Stick around. We‘ll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCARBOROUGH: Volunteers continue to search for Natalee Holloway, now missing for seven weeks. Will some strands of hair be a potential break in the case?
I am back with a criminal defense attorney Larry Pozner and also former F.B.I. profiler Candice DeLong.
Larry, let me go to you.
Let‘s talk about this tape. How significant could it be?
LARRY POZNER, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, this could be the most important thing in the case.
Clearly, the case has not come together or there would have been charges by now. So, let‘s assume the worst in one respect, that the tape verifies the hair of the missing woman. We have to presume at this point, seven weeks into it, that she is dead. Now, the question is, is somebody else‘s DNA on this tape? Can they tie the tape to a particular person?
If they can tie it to one of the suspects they currently have, then they are getting very close to a case. But until we know, first, is it her hair and can they tie it to a person, without the two things coming together, we are nowhere.
SCARBOROUGH: Larry, and, of course, what we have here is physical evidence, something that has been missing obviously over the past seven weeks. Without—without—without this sort of physical evidence, do they have a case against van der Sloot? In fact, would van der Sloot still be in jail were he in America instead of Aruba?
POZNER: No, Jim (sic).
If he were in America, undoubtedly, he would have been released now, released reluctantly, for sure, but released nonetheless. In America, we say, if you have it, file it. If you don‘t have it, we will give you a brief extension. But there comes a point where we say in America, look, you can‘t hold a citizen just willy-nilly, with no rules, until you—you are ready to charge him.
In America, clearly, this case would not have come together. He would be out right now.
SCARBOROUGH: Candice, let me ask you, what do seven weeks in the Aruban sun or the saltwater or the sand and the heat do to duct tape, do to hair, do to physical evidence? I mean, it has got to be—it has got to be in terrible shape by now. Can you get anything out of it seven weeks later?
DELONG: Sure, should be able to get quite a bit out of it. Of course, it would be degraded and soiled, but that doesn‘t mean it would beyond—be beyond redemption.
And I would like to clarify something that I said earlier about, they wouldn‘t be able to DNA-type the hair. They will if part of the hair follicle or root is still attached to the hair. And then that, it would be mitochondrial DNA testing. And it would show—for example, they did it in the Laci Peterson case and were able to say that the hair found in the boat, it was someone who was very likely the offspring of Sharon Rocha.
It is through the—it‘s a gene passed through the mother.
(CROSSTALK)
DELONG: But this happens all the time, where evidence is found very, very much after the fact and they are able to get quite a bit of good stuff from it.
SCARBOROUGH: All right, Candice, thanks so much. I appreciate you being with us, as always.
Candice DeLong and Larry Pozner, thanks a lot.
POZNER: Thank you.
On 7-18 FOX News reported:
GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, HOST: Four strands of long blond hair washed ashore on duct tape in Aruba. Is it Natalee's? Joining us live in Birmingham, Alabama is Natalee Holloway's (search) stepfather, George "Jug" Twitty.
Welcome, Jug.
GEORGE "JUG" TWITTY, NATALEE'S STEPFATHER: Hello, Greta.
VAN SUSTEREN: Jug, the hair that's been found — how did you learn about this?
TWITTY: You want to know the truth? I actually learned about it from Craig Rivera.
VAN SUSTEREN: And Craig Rivera being the brother and producer of my colleague, Geraldo, is that right?
TWITTY: Exactly.
VAN SUSTEREN: I guess that speaks pretty loudly, Jug, about the level of communication between the Police and you and Beth and everybody else, right?
TWITTY: I tell you, Greta, it is so frustrating. It's just unbelievable. And that's why I tell Beth — and it's hard because I'm in Birmingham and she's there, but I know her frustration levels are high, but when you get back here and you see all of it, it really, really starts to get your blood flowing.
But you know, we don't. I mean, as you know, Van der Straten (search) is now retiring from this case, and Van der Straten and the Jug Twitty have not seen eye-to-eye from day one, even though I went in and had a long conversation with he and the man that was going to take over the investigation. And I thought we had things worked out because I basically said, Well, I don't understand why you won't call me directly and, you know, give me the information directly. And we shook hands, and you know, but it never happened.
And so I'm concerned because van der Straten is leaving the case and we're bringing in somebody new. I think his name's Erik Zuma (ph). He's been there about three days. Sandbo's (ph) had some heart problems. He's going to have to have a bypass and go to Holland or the United States. So you know, it concerns me who's taking over the investigation. Somebody asked me, Was I concerned? But you know, honestly, Greta, I think that may be good. You know, we've made so many mistakes in the beginning and everybody in the world knows that they've made mistakes, and now this guy is coming in to take over, and maybe he can shake some things up and get some answers.
VAN SUSTEREN: And for reference, for those who — I think everyone pretty much does know the story — but van der Straten is the Police commissioner who's been in charge of the investigation.
Jug, I know the frustration. I've spoken to you, and you've been back and forth to Aruba, and you and I have spoken many times. Are you bringing a private Investigator in to sort of supplement or to try to avoid the problems you have felt so far?
TWITTY: Absolutely. Hired a private Investigator this weekend, has a team of ex-FBI personnel. And you know, my goal here, Greta, is to get somebody down there on the ground that will give us answers. And I understand that they're, you know, doing an investigation their way in Aruba, but they won't talk to us. And everybody knows it's frustrating for the family when we have to hear things from the media, and I want a guy on the ground that can dig and try to get us some information and you know, can communicate with us every day.
VAN SUSTEREN: And I take it that it doesn't help that you have to keep running back to the United States to attend to family business. I mean, and other family members have the same sort of struggle, back and forth, back and forth, and no information, right?
TWITTY: It's hard. I mean, even when I call Beth down there, you know, the phones are ringing like crazy and, you know, trying to get information of what's happening because I have to do the shows or whatever, and I need to know what to talk about.
But I will tell you, Greta, that back here, it's unbelievable. I come home from work and turn my answering machine on, and I think it holds 25 messages, and probably 15 of them are on there, Ask Greta this, Ask Greta that. And you've been a tremendous help to my wife in staying with her, and she trusts you as a friend, and helping us try to find an answer to this story. And I think everybody in the United States knows that you're trying to help us.
VAN SUSTEREN: And I think that, Jug, is also true of, you know, my colleagues and all the news services, you know, because everyone has been down there.
TWITTY: Oh, absolutely. I'm not leaving out anybody.
VAN SUSTEREN: And it's been trying...
TWITTY: Yes, I'm just saying that I know my wife really trusts you, Greta, and knows that you're helping push. But the whole FOX network — as people have said before, if it hadn't been for FOX and for my family and friends, this would just have been another little girl that would have been swept under the carpet, you know, a week-and-a-half after.
VAN SUSTEREN: What's going to be the mandate for this Investigator that you've hired? I mean, what are you telling him to do or what's going to be his plan?
TWITTY: I think he's going to get down there and start asking questions. I mean, there are so many things that went wrong in the beginning. And probably people know by now, Beth said the other night, we had an agent there on the ground when we got there with a chaperone, and we didn't find out until two days ago that this is an American — I think he was a DEA agent. I think he was just there vacationing, though. But anyway, he helped us that night, and he also waited and said, Wait before you go to the judge's house. I want to go with you.
And I find out two days ago that the Aruban authorities never took this man's statement. Beth and I are going, It's unbelievable. But you know what? They didn't take my statement until 30 days later, and I sat there and talked to the man for two hours, and his son. And they didn't take any of the statements from the people that were there. I probably had seven people in my so-called search party that night that we hit the ground, and it took them 19 days to take their statements.
So you know, if I had it all to do over again, Greta, when we got to that judge's house that night, we would have taken — we had three vans. I would have blocked that car in, and if I didn't think, you know, that the Police were going to do anything the next morning, I would have parked those cars there and let them tow them away until I could open that car, open that trunk and look in that silver car the next morning.
VAN SUSTEREN: Jug, thank you. I'm sure that we'll be talking about this again until we can finally get some information.
Thank you, Jug.
TWITTY: Thank you, Greta.
7-19-05
On 7-19, NATALEE’s Loved Ones posted a new reward of
US$200,000.00 for her safe return
US$100,000.00 already offered for a tip to her whereabouts
the money has come from donors all over the United States. It is separate from funds being raised for a trust to pay for expenses incurred during the search for Holloway, now in its seventh week.
Previous donors include the Aruban government, local tourism organizations and the City of Mountain Brook.
On 7-19 Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT , Current Murder Suspect DEEPAK KALPOE , and Current Murder Suspect SATISH KALPOE had to be court-order-forced by an ARUBAN judge to give up a mandatory sample of their DNA for comparative purposes
(were the Main and Current Murder Suspects court-order-forced to give up their DNA for the purpose of comparing to something actually in the physical evidence, and/or were the Main and Current Murder Suspects court-order-forced to give up their DNA for the purpose of looking ahead to a future match to some as yet untested DNA evidence?)
((were Current Murder Suspects PAULUS VAN DER SLOOT , STEVEN CROES, Antonius JOHN, and ABRAHAM JONES also court-order-forced to provide their DNA sample?))
(((seems to me that an "innocent" person(s) would be more than glad to quickly comply without having to actually be court-order-forced--to CONFIRM his "innocence" and CLEAR his name)))
TITO LACLE reported to FOX News that 7-19 that on 7-14 the prosecutors requested saliva from Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT , Current Murder Suspect DEEPAK KALPOE and Current Murder Suspect SATISH KALPOE but they refused. On 7-19 the judge ordered that all 3 had to provide saliva for a DNA comparative purposes and if that saliva sample turns out to be not enough, this order could also compel a blood and/or hair sample.
On 7-19 Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT was taken to a hospital and submitted a saliva sample via mouth swab for the genetic testing sought by prosecutors, his attorney Richie Kock said. Current Murder Suspect D. Kalpoe and Current Murder Suspect S. Kalpoe also submitted saliva samples via mouth swab the same day, said Ruud Offringa, an attorney for the older brother. Authorities told defense attorneys the DNA would be compared to material found by Investigators but did not disclose what would be used in the comparison, Offringa and Kock said.
TIM MILLER stated to MSNBC on July 29, 2005 that the landfill witness described to him that the body was that of a woman with long blonde hair. The landfill witness claimed he saw her breasts. He also noticed a jeep-like vehicle sitting close to the white truck. The landfill witness said he witnessed this on 6-1. The landfill witness saw the 3 persons bury the blonde woman’s body in a specific spot, after which the 3 men found a blue plastic “kiddie’s pool” in the dump and placed the “kiddie’s pool” over where they buried the blonde woman. TIM MILLER also stated that the ARUBAN Police Investigators have known about the landfill witness “for one-and-a-half weeks” (since 7-19 or 7-20)
On 7-19 BETH HOLLOWAY-TWITTY stated she thinks it is odd that ANITA VAN DER SLOOT is the only SLOOT making public statements.
MSNBC reported that as of 7-21 there is a new ARUBAN Police lead Investigator on the case. The prior one retired on 7-21. (is this a reference to STRATEN, or, someone else?) MSNBC also reported that “the question has been, will this investigation take a new tack, possibly more aggressive? That remains to be seen. But we know from Police today that they plan to get a new statement from Joran van der Sloot in jail tomorrow. They say the last one they took from him was a couple of days ago (circa 7-19). And what's more, Police tell me today that they are doing all they can to get the Kalpoe brothers put back in jail. The appeals court said there just wasn't enough right now to have those boys in custody, but Police say they plan to interview them again in the next few days and that they want them back behind bars.” “At the same time this is going on, the family of Natalee Holloway has hired a P.I., private Investigator, got here two days ago, rather. And he brings with him something called layered voice stress analysis. Now, he says he ran an interview that was done with PvdS, Joran's father, through this technology, and he says the results were—quote—‘interesting.’ This technology is used by dozens of Police departments and several federal agencies in the state. It's supposed to tell you through someone's voice if they are holding something back, if they are lying. So, he plans to use that here. He says he is basically starting from square one, old-fashioned Police work. But he feels the suspects in this case are the right people to be looking at.”
On 7-19 TIM MILLER stated when he arrived on ARUBA circa 6-26 he met with ARUBAN Police commissioner VAN DER STRATEN and signed an agreement that “Texas EquuSearch” will not charge the ARUBAN government, the ARUBAN Police, nor charge NATALEE’s Loved Ones for “Texas EquuSearch” search efforts. TIM MILLER and STRATEN agreed there would be no leaks to the public nor media if anything was found, and that “Texas EquuSearch” and the ARUBAN Police should work together. TIM MILLER also expressed that NATALEE’s disappearance was becoming too much of a political factor between certain high ARUBAN authorities (he specifically mentioned ODUBER and STRATEN having political differences; TIM MILLER stated "politics play a big role there“). He also said that the ARUBAN Police have not performed competent searches. TIM MILLER’s theory is that NATALEE died, she is not now in the “Marriott Hotel” beach but TIM MILLER stated "it is in the transcripts that they did bury her there,” that she was temporarily buried in the 6’ long by 4’ deep “Arikok National Park” hole, then someone was hired to dig her up and dispose of the body.
On 7-19 KATHERINE WEATHERLY told FOX News that she was at "Carlos 'n Charlies" and that NATALEE was not doing any drugs. She also said she remembers seeing NATALEE around 12:00 AM that night. She said she never saw Current Murder Suspect ’s KALPOE’s inside nor outside “Carlos 'N Charlie's.”
On 7-19 ELLEN BYRD told FOX News she is going to be NATALEE’s roommate at the “University of Alabama” for the 2005-06 school year. BYRD also said when the got outside of "Carlos 'N Charlie's" there were many taxi’s outside. BYRD said she had never heard of “date-rape drugs” until now.
On 7-19 FOX News reported that Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT has told his parents that he “feels stupid” for leaving NATALEE alone at the “Marriott Hotel” beach.
On 7-19 more F.B.I. special agents flew into ARUBA to join the investigation.
On 7-19 SOUSA, the ARUBAN attorney hired by the TWITTY’s, said the ARUBAN authorities have told her that when the results of the duct tape hairs forensic testing by the DUTCH are known, SOUSA will be notified what the results are.
T. J. WARD, private Investigator hired by the TWITTY’s, traveled to Aruba 7-19 to begin his work for the family.
7-20-05
On 7-20 BETH HOLLOWAY-TWITTY stated to MSNBC that NATALEE “has been ripped from her life.”
On 7-20 JUG TWITTY stated to MSNBC that he wishes, "Paulus van der Sloot and Deepak's parents would come forward and talk to the media, like Beth and I are here tonight and telling you everything we can tell you to try to help find Natalee, because you talk about the parents' relationship. If they want to—if they want to take care of their children like we want to take care of Natalee and find Natalee, they can just step forward and tell you guys the truth and help us find Natalee.”
On 7-20 Psychic remote viewer MARY MORGAN claims in at least 3 trips to ARUBA she has taken 16 total pages of large-lettered, hand-written notes while speaking with NATALEE and that MORGAN has showed these same notes to “Texas EquuSearch” and an ARUBAN authority-woman closely involved in the investigation, and this ARUBAN authority-woman who MORGAN would not name has confirmed some of MORGAN’s notes, denied other MORGAN details, and shared some additional details the ARUBAN authority-woman knows. MORGAN also said the Investigators requested and made xeroxes of her hand-written notes. When DAVE HOLLOWAY was initially told that he could not meet with Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT on 7-16, MORGAN claims she prompted him to go to the prison anyway because she “was told that something very important was going to happen.”
According to a 7-20 NBC News report, the court will release the reason for the DNA test 7-20. When the test results will be released has not been specified.
On 7-20 TIM MILLER stated "Texas EquuSearch” planned to dispatch three people to the Caribbean island on 7-28 with ground-penetrating radar.
Mary Ann MORGAN, AMERICAN and Self-titled Psychic Medium on 7-20 MORGAN claimed she has taken 16 total pages of large-lettered, hand-written notes while speaking with NATALEE and that MORGAN has showed these same notes to “Texas EquuSearch” and an ARUBAN authority-woman closely involved in the investigation, and this woman who MORGAN would not name has confirmed some of MORGAN’s notes and shared some additional details the woman knows. MORGAN also said the Investigators requested and made xeroxes of her hand-written notes.
On 7-20 ELLIS-SCHIPPER (member of the "Aruba Strategic Communications Task Force") claimed that a Mrs. “Sunnahee” (ph) has been working closely with ARUBA Prosecutor KARIN JANSSEN on the case.
On 7-20 Dr. BADEN stated the duct tape hair is at the F.B.I. Lab in Quantico, Virginia. BADEN called the F.B.I. Lab “the best DNA lab in the entire world.” He stated that mitocondrial DNA testing would only take “a few more days” than nucleic DNA testing.
On 7-20 TITO LACLE reported to FOX News that at 10:00 PM est that the duct tape and hairs had not even left ARUBA yet, but ARUBA Prosecutor KARIN JANSSEN herself was flying out at 10:30 PM, presumably with the duct tape and hairs to take them to HOLLAND because she was going on vacation. TITO LACLE also reported that STRATEN would be going on a pre-retirement vacation 7-22. TITO LACLE also reported that some of the defense attorneys are on vacation. TITO LACLE reported to FOX News that competent assistants would be handling the case while ARUBA Prosecutor KARIN JANSSEN was gone and that the person replacing STRATEN might bring a change in direction and new perspectives and interrogation techniques into the case. TITO LACLE reported to FOX News that as far as is known Current Murder Suspect PAULUS VAN DER SLOOT has not been asked to submit a DNA saliva sample.
On 7-20 MAJESKI told FOX News his theory of the case is that one or all three of the suspects were on the “Marriott Hotel” beach with NATALEE (“Why would the KALPOE‘s leave them at the “Marriott Hotel“ beach without a ride?”=“KALPOE‘s stayed at the beach“); possibly drugs were involved knowingly or unknowingly by NATALEE; there was possibly a sexual assault involving one or all three; NATALEE overdosed and died; the suspect(s) panicked; the body was quickly buried on the island that night (he mentioned caves near the “California lighthouse” as another possible hiding spot); the body was relocated later and that panicked suspect(s) more-than-likely hide a body in an area most familiar to the suspect(s).
A spokesman for the Aruban government, Ruben Trapenberg, declined to comment 7-20 on the investigation, and the prosecutor could not be reached.
On 7-20 the eBirminghamAL Internet magazine wrote, “Friends of the Holloway family who have been searching the island since her disappearance have become hardened and cynical about the progress of the investigation. Asked to comment on the above theories, one family friend who has been on the island since the first day of Holloway's disappearance said, ‘There is something very wrong with the van der Straten guy. If someone were to tell me one day that he was criminally involved in this matter, I would not be surprised in the least.’”
On 7-20 CNN reported:
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: … And what could be a key development in the Natalee Holloway case. DNA evidence involved. We're life in Aruba with a new twist in that case on this AMERICAN MORNING.
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SOLEDAD O’BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Also, some new developments in the Natalee Holloway case. Why do authorities want DNA tests from a suspect and two of his friends?
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O’BRIEN: Still to come, a new twist in the Natalee Holloway case. DNA tests are ordered for a suspect and two of his friends. Why now, after all this time?
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CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Also, we'll talk to the attorney for Natalee Holloway's family about some possible DNA evidence that could be discussed in court today.
On 7-20 CNNHN reported:
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Tonight, live to Aruba, breaking news in the search for 18-year-old missing American girl Natalee Holloway. Aruban authorities now order an Aruban judge's son, Joran van der Sloot , to hand over a DNA sample. I'm talking about a mouth swabbing. And tonight, DNA also taken from those Kalpoe brothers, also seen with Natalee the night she disappeared off her high school senior trip. Tonight, we are waiting for DNA results on long, blond hair found on duct tape on a beach in Aruba. Does it belong to Natalee Holloway? And why is it on that thick duct tape?
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But first, live to Aruba. Breaking news tonight. DNA testing ordered for Joran van der Sloot , the Aruban judge's son. DNA samples also taken from the two Kalpoe brothers, Deepak and Satish Kalpoe. And tonight, we are waiting on those DNA test results, results on long strands of blond hair attached to the duct tape on that Aruban beach. Is it Natalee's? She vanished into thin air the final night of her senior class trip now 52 days ago. Tonight, in Aruba, Natalee's mother is with us, Beth Twitty. In New York, forensic scientist Lawrence Kobilinsky. In Denver, defense attorney Lisa Wayne. In Atlanta, defense attorney Randy Keen and psychologist Michelle Callahan. But first, let's go down to CNN correspondent Susan Candiotti. She's been on the Aruba case from the get-go. Susan, what's with the request of DNA on the three suspects? SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Nancy, I'm told that the request for this DNA was made back on July 13th. Why? According to my sources, it's because they wanted to get the samples, get them in hand, that there wasn't a specific reason for asking for them.And perhaps unlike some instances in the United States, you don't have to have a specific reason, we are told, in Aruba in order to ask for a DNA sample. Again, that was done on the 13th, but now there is a reason, because, on Sunday, a park ranger, who was collecting trash on a beach -- I'll tell you more about that beach in a second -- found a piece of duct tape with hair on it. How much hair, how long is the hair, we're not precisely sure. Yes, I've heard blonde hair and brown hair, as well. Now, so the authorities there, of course, want to get DNA samples and have gotten them from both the Kalpoe brothers, as well as Joran van der Sloot , so that they can compare this hair, found on the duct tape, with them, and, of course, they have samples from Natalee's hair, to see whether there is any connection. Now, what's happened to them? I can tell you this: They have sent one sample to the Netherlands for the laboratory work to be done there. But also, I can tell you that the FBI tells me that, tonight, a sample was also shared with the FBI, and an FBI agent hand-carried it out of Aruba. And that is arriving at the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia, this night. It's expected they'll begin test work on it first thing in the morning. GRACE: Well, Susan Candiotti, I get the timeline you're referring to, that the hair found on the duct tape, the 12-inch blonde hair on duct tape on an Aruban beach was found Sunday. The request for the DNA was made by prosecutors before Sunday.But what about this, Susan? What about anything that may have been found in the car or in the home? I'm talking about saliva. I'm talking about sperm, fingerprints, blood, who knows what? That could be a reason for the DNA testing.And when we say testing, everybody, there's two forms. You can get DNA from any bodily secretion, almost, but normally it's done through an oral swabbing, although, Susan, when I took DNA testing from defendants, I would insist on a blood test. CANDIOTTI: Well, in this case, I'm told it was saliva, a saliva swab. I am told, Nancy -- and this is according to my law enforcement sources -- that all of the tests, DNA tests that have been done, from anything obtained from the van der Sloot home, from the vehicle that was searched there, tested for DNA evidence, has turned up negative without any connection. So you have to take it from there. GRACE: Yes. CANDIOTTI: I think it's interesting, as well, in terms of where this duct tape was found. It was found on a beach called Boca Tortuga, also known as Turtle Beach, and it's near a natural bridge, where a lot of kids, I'm told, like to hang out. This is on the opposite end of the island, on the north end, far away from where Natalee was supposedly last seen with van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers. GRACE: Well, they've come up with so many different stories, Lisa Wayne, as to where they dropped her off. How do we know where she last was? LISA WAYNE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I think that's true. And I think, Nancy, that the reason to get the DNA now is to have that there, in case something does happen, there's a body, there's a crime scene, and that they can make that comparison, and have that there at the lab and do it right away. That's the only reason because, again, they've been making these comparisons all during the investigation and now are only asking for it. GRACE: Right. Take a listen to this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) VINDA DE SOUSA, HOLLOWAY FAMILY ATTORNEY: Obviously, first of all, they want to establish if that hair is indeed human. And if it's human, if it's Natalee Holloway's hair. And furthermore, they want to see if there is any other DNA or other evidence that could link this piece of duct tape to the three suspects, or one of them, or, for that matter, anybody else. (END VIDEO CLIP) GRACE: I want to go to Natalee's mother. She is joining us tonight. Beth, thank you for being with us. I understand you have hired a private Investigator. Why? Lost her completely?Oh, darn. Beth, can you not hear me? OK, Rosie, see if you can get that satellite back up. You know, Randy Keen, very often, you will see in investigations the victim`s family hired their own private Investigator when they are not getting answers from authorities. Are you surprised? RANDY KEEN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Not at all surprised. This investigation has been going on an awfully long time, dead end, after dead end, after dead end. I'm glad that this DNA is coming up, but the more people who are interested, who are aggressively going after the meeting here, the end result, the better. GRACE: I agree with you, Randy. Back to Susan Candiotti. What can you tell us about Natalee's family hiring a private eye? CANDIOTTI: Well, that they've done so. And of course, it's not uncommon for families who want to go that one extra step to see if perhaps that private eye can sometimes shake down people or question people, make them perhaps feel more comfortable, to get some information that might not otherwise be available. As you know, sometimes people feel uncomfortable with talking to authorities, Police officials, detectives, that kind of thing. And so that's what they're doing. And I understand they will also try to up the reward to see whether that might shake loose some additional information. GRACE: That's right, the reward is growing. And another thing, Susan Candiotti, private Investigators are not held to the same standards that Police officers are held to. For Police to get, for instance, DNA, you've got to have a warrant. You've got to go through a lot of legal hoops to get things. Private eyes, they're just like you and me, Susan. What we may see or learn on our own is not held up to all of the legal standards that lawyers, prosecutors, Investigators are held to. I want to quickly go to Dr. Lawrence Kobilinsky. A question about this hair. There are apparently two different types of hair. There's blonde hair, there is dark hair. The blonde hair we know is about 12 inches long. What if there's not a root, a root, a hair follicle, attached to the hair? What good is it? LAWRENCE KOBILINSKY, FORENSIC SCIENTIST: Well, the root would be important if we're going to be doing nuclear DNA. On the other hand, doing mitochondrial DNA would be no problem. In fact, all you would need is about a third of an inch of that hair to do that analysis. However, you need something to compare it to. And that brings us back to the duct tape. The duct tape is probably the key to this entire investigation, if indeed it's found that is Natalee's hair. And I must tell you that there's a lot more to forensics than just DNA. That duct tape could have a lot of other information that could be critical in linking Joran or the Kalpoe brothers...GRACE: Are you talking about fingerprints or fiber? KOBILINSKY: Well, it could be fingerprints. It could be fibers. It could be other trace evidence, because that duct tape seems to imply something criminal took place. And if you can find something there that reflects the presence of Joran or the others, that would be important. GRACE: I want to go try Natalee's mother one more time, Rosie. Beth Twitty, can you hear me now? BETH HOLLOWAY TWITTY, MOTHER OF NATALEE HOLLOWAY: Yes, I can, Nancy. GRACE: Hi, Beth. Thank you for being with us. TWITTY: Hi, Nancy. Thanks for having me. GRACE: Beth, I understand, a, that you have hired a private Investigator. Why? TWITTY: Well, you're right, Nancy. And as a matter of fact, they're on grounds today. And I think there are two of them. And they will be on the grounds for the next couple of months.And you know, I think that's just another resource that we've just been so fortunate to be able to utilize. And it's just having more eyes and ears here. And I just think, if anything, it can turn something up. You just don't ever know, Nancy. GRACE: Beth, I understand that a reward, a substantial reward, is in place. TWITTY: Well, we'll implement it in full force tomorrow. But just a little bit of information about it is, you know, we've always had the reward in place, but we feel like we're opening up another facet of it. It's going to be $200,000 for her safe return and then $100,000 for the whereabouts of Natalee. And also, it's going to remain -- it's going to let individuals here, you know, or whoever has information, to remain anonymous. They will be assigned a code. And I just think that might help the comfort level of someone who might know some information about Natalee to feel forward -- you know, feel like they can come forward now. GRACE: And Beth, we're about to go to break. Please stay with us. Everyone, Natalee's mother is with us. We've just got the satellite link hooked up down to Aruba. Beth, very quickly, the lead Investigator that had been on the case from the beginning, van der Straten, he's retiring off the investigation. Happy to see him go? TWITTY: Well, you know, Nancy, you know, Jug and I are just hoping, and Dave, and you know, the new guy coming in, you know, maybe just have a fresh set of eyes to look at the investigation and, you know, see what happens. GRACE: Beth, Beth, you know what, Beth? You're so much more discrete than me. You should be a diplomat at the U.N., Beth Twitty, because this is the guy in charge of the investigation that told me, told us all, "There's blood on a mattress." Uh-oh, it's a dog's blood. "We found bones." It's a donkey's bones. "We didn't seize the car. It's been sitting in the driveway for two weeks. There was a confession. No, there wasn't." Putting the two defendants in handcuffs for a nice drive through the country so they could cook up a story. You know, you're very, very diplomatic, Beth, but I say, "Van Der Straten, bye-bye! Good riddance." Ms. Twitty, please don't leave us. Everybody, we are live in Aruba with Natalee's mother. We'll all be right back. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DAVE HOLLOWAY, NATALEE HOLLOWAY'S FATHER: We've got three kids here that's holding up everyone's lives, including the people here in Aruba. We ran across a lady that had asked me, "Are you searching for Natalee?"And I said, "Well, yes, are you searching for Natalee?" And she said yes. And you know, I had a conversation with her. And she was from around here. And she indicated that a lot of her friends and family members were just like us, you know, wanting to find Natalee. (END VIDEO CLIP)(COMMERCIAL BREAK)(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are voices on a wall. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The lord is faithful. He has already worked. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Natalee, you're in our thoughts and prayers every day. We miss and love you. Come home soon.UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I pray that God will use this to be glorified in each of you. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Words of love and hope, prayer and faith, messages from classmates, parents, strangers, all touched by a young woman who, for them, remains as vibrant as the day she left. BETH HOLLOWAY TWITTY, MOTHER OF NATALEE HOLLOWAY: I think she's just a well-rounded young lady who can not only have this fun and enjoyment of life, yet still have the serious side of accomplishments and achievements. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think she was too concerned about setting an example, as much as she was about being herself. She was more just like, "this is me, and if you don't like it, then that's too bad." (END VIDEO CLIP) GRACE: We're talking about 18-year-old Natalee Holloway. Welcome back, everybody. To CNN correspondent Susan Candiotti. Susan, I understand the FBI are there and have met with Natalee's family. CANDIOTTI: That's right. Yesterday, the head of the FBI's Miami office, the special agent in charge, Michael Clemens, had a private meeting with Beth Holloway. And I'm sure she can tell us more about it.And then today, he spent a part of the day meeting with the attorney general there, as well as other law enforcement officials, and the prime minister was also at this meting. Now, you might be wondering whether the subject of perhaps more cooperation -- or you might recall just last week we were talking about the FBI being denied access to certain bits of evidence so that they could look them over again, give it a fresh eye, but were turned down because it was explained it was against the local rules there. I am told that didn't come up in the meeting, but that the FBI did continue to offer its full support and cooperation to the authorities down there and that they would continue to offer that support as long as possible, that the FBI director, Mr. Mueller, is behind this cooperative effort down there and, again, offered his sincere wishes to the efforts down there to try to find out what happened to Natalee, and that, however realistically speaking, it is a question as to how long the FBI will be able to remain on the island. Certainly, they will stay there as long as everyone feels they will be able to make a difference. GRACE: To Beth Twitty, Natalee's mother. Wishes, shmishes. What does that mean? They wish them well? What good are all those well-wishers if the Aruban government will not cooperate with the FBI? I know for a fact that the Aruban authorities have frozen out the FBI. TWITTY: Nancy, I'm going to have to let them speak on their behalf. I really think I just have to let them do their own communication about that. GRACE: There you go, being diplomatic again. I'm going to go straight back to Dr. Lawrence Kobilinsky. With me in Aruba is Natalee's mother, Beth, who is still in Aruba searching for her daughter. I want to quickly ask you about this duct tape. What else can we hope to learn from it? KOBILINSKY: Well, it's possible that, by examining the edges of the duct tape, and making a comparison to, perhaps, duct tape that they have found in one of the homes of these individuals, that they could actually have a physical link up, and therefore, tell the origin of that duct tape. If that doesn't work, it's generally speaking very difficult to determine the source of duct tape because it's ubiquitous. It's sold all over. It's manufactured all over the world. GRACE: You know what? Let's slow that down. Maybe the Aruban authorities are listening tonight. See if you can match up the duct tape to any duct tape in the suspect's home, all right? We do that here in America all the time, or at least we try to. KOBILINSKY: Well, there are adhesive chemicals that can be analyzed instrumentally, the backing. GRACE: An identical link? KOBILINSKY: Absolutely, they can determine if there's a match or not. GRACE: I want to go to psychologist Dr. Michelle Callahan. Doctor, the significance of the duct tape to me is huge. MICHELLE CALLAHAN, PSYCHOLOGIST: Emotionally, this is changing the nature of the game. Now we're getting closer. We've got something tangible. And it could mean that there's really a chance to begin to link things up. This island is so small. It's barely 20 wide and barely six miles high. It's just -- there's not that much...GRACE: You were just there. CALLAHAN: I was just there three weeks ago. There's just not that many places for her to be, you know? And so for us to not be able to put our hands around this thing and make something happen, her parents have got to be feeling so torn with wanting to run with this thing and then being held up. We're hoping, just praying that this duct tape breaks this thing open, absolutely. GRACE: Take a listen to this. OK, Rosie, see if you can pull up that sound for me. Very quickly back to Susan Candiotti. Susan, you told me that they took oral swabbings. Why not blood? CANDIOTTI: I don't know why they didn't ask for blood, Nancy. But you know, saliva is commonly taken. And I don't know why the Aruban authorities only decided to ask for and take those swabs instead. You know, maybe -- this is pure speculation -- I'm sure if it got to that point, they'd go back to the judge and ask for it, if that became necessary. But that much I have to do a little more digging to find that out. And I just wanted to say, as well...GRACE: Well, maybe...CANDIOTTI: And I just wanted to say, as well, that I am being told, in terms of the cooperative level, that the FBI is sitting in on more and more interviews, I'm told, that are being done, as more and more leads come in, perhaps a little more so than before.And to stress -- I'm told that the people on the ground are working well together. It's a matter of, as you pointed out, not being able to get past certain rules that don't allow, apparently, the sharing of certain information with the FBI. GRACE: Well, the reality is though, Randy Keen, the most important moments during a criminal investigation are the early moments, the early hours. After 72 hours have passed, that the FBI was frozen out, they've lost a lot of lead time. KEEN: That's right. That's right. Time is very, very important in this case, which was -- it was very impressive that Natalee's mother was there on the scene early on. GRACE: Oh, man. You're not kidding. KEEN: And just pushed this thing. She didn't let any time pass before she was all over this thing. And I think that was the single best thing that could have happened in this case. I wish the result had been a little different, though. GRACE: Well, Randy, you're right. I think she got more out of the van der Sloot family than the Police have managed to get. Very quick break, everybody. To "Trial Tracking." Today, the president called for the confirmation of John Roberts, Jr., to the Supreme Court by October 3, when the Supremes come back from a nice, long vacation. Roberts, who currently sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals in D.C. has argued 39 cases before the Supremes and he even clerked for Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JUDGE JOHN ROBERTS, SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: It is both an honor and very humbling to be nominated to serve on the Supreme Court. Before I became a judge, my law practice consisted largely of arguing cases before the court. That experience left me with a profound appreciation for the role of the court in our constitutional democracy and a deep regard for the court as an institution. (END VIDEO CLIP) GRACE: But now, dig in, everybody. The Senate has its say. The U.S. Supreme Court has a profound impact on all of our lives. They rule on issues like abortion, gay marriage, privacy rights, and the continuing fight on terror in the years to come. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)GRACE: A $200,000 reward for the safe return of Natalee, more money for information on Natalee's whereabouts. Welcome back, everybody. Very quickly to Dr. Lawrence Kobilinsky. What's the difference? What would you do an oral swabbing as opposed to blood? I always got blood samples when doing DNA comparison. KOBILINSKY: Well, I think scientists would prefer a blood sample rather than saliva. GRACE: That's what the crime lab told me.KOBILINSKY: Yes, well, you've got other things in blood that might be useful, enzymes and other substances that could be tested if need be. But the fact of the matter is, saliva and blood both have DNA. And it doesn't matter where you get it, as long as you've got enough DNA to test. GRACE: And Lisa Wayne, of course, is the issue of the ease of getting the DNA. It's a lot easier getting on oral swabbing than holding somebody down and sticking a needle in their arm. WAYNE: A lot of courts, at least in this country, perceive that as less intrusive. So if you just do the swabbing, it's not considered as intrusive.GRACE: Quick break, everybody. We'll all be right back in Aruba.(COMMERCIAL BREAK)(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)ARLENE ELLIS-SCHIPPER, ARUBA “STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS TASK FORCE” MEMBER: There is no grand jury in Aruba. It's a different system. You are arrested based on suspicion, on strong suspicion. After a maximum of 146 days, the prosecution must determine the criminal offense that has been committed and make an official summation for court. And God forbid that they cannot determine what criminal offense has been committed, the case remains open, and it can remain open for a whole number of years, actually, until the due process, the international rules about due process, up to two years.(END VIDEO CLIP)GRACE: Welcome back, everybody. We are live in Aruba tonight with Natalee Holloway's mother, Beth Holloway Twitty. Ms. Twitty, you had your blood sample taken, correct?BETH HOLLOWAY TWITTY, MISSING GIRL'S MOTHER: Well, I did. And I heard you mentioning that to a guest earlier on your show, and you seem to be questioning why they didn't draw blood, why did they only do the swabbing.GRACE: I was. I was. Of course, you can get DNA from an oral swabbing, but for all of the years I prosecuted, I would -- the crime lab told me they would prefer to have a blood sample, so I always got them a blood sample -- pursuant to warrant! I didn't go grab the person myself and actually drain their blood. But yes, we always, always got a blood sample, Beth.TWITTY: Well, Nancy, I had my blood drawn on two separate occasions, one from the Aruban authorities' side and then also from the United States officials. So I was just wondering why I had to have two separate ones, in addition to the swabbing.GRACE: And I also want to ask you about all these various stories Joran van der Sloot has given. The other night, I was talking to Karl Penhaul, and he told me on air that there were between 9 and 15 different versions that Joran van der Sloot had given about the night Natalee went missing. Do you know what the different versions are, Beth?TWITTY: No. And you know what's even more frightening than that, Nancy, is I don't know if we've heard all of them. And let alone, I don't know if he's finally disclosed the last story. I don't think we've ever gotten to where he actually -- that he and the Kalpoe brothers actually left Natalee or were with her last.GRACE: I think you're right. I think there are more revisions modifications to come from Joran van der Sloot .And to Randy Keen. The reality is that you can easily get a conviction when a defendant, a suspect, keeps changing their stories. You know there's only one version of the truth, so even if this duct tape does not reveal anything forensic, with Joran van der Sloot , at least nine different stories -- Randy, come on! You were a judge.RANDY KEEN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: The problem with the defendants and what`s going to happen in this situation, I think, is the defendant -- is Mr. van der Sloot is going to paint himself into a corner with all these different renditions. That's going to be the problem. What's going to put the nail in -- nail the coffin shut is going to be the duct tape. Hopefully, there'll be some DNA there.GRACE: Yes. And very quickly, before we go, Dr. Kobilinsky, regarding the hair on the duct tape, I know now from Susan Candiotti for sure some of that hair went to the FBI. Right, Susan?SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And they will probably begin testing on it first thing in the morning. And it could take up to 72 hours, three days, if they're doing the nuclear test. It kind of depends on whether they have a hair root on there. But it may not even take that long. They could get the results much more quickly than that.GRACE: So she's saying you've got the nuclear DNA testing from a hair follicle, a root. You got mitochondrial possibilities...LAWRENCE KOBILINSKY, FORENSIC SCIENTIST: Right.GRACE: ... and that is DNA passed down through the mother specifically. That would be Beth Twitty we've been talking to. But how do you part the hair so the Netherlands get hair and Quantico FBI gets hair?KOBILINSKY: It's really not a problem because all you need is about one to two centimeters to do the testing, so no problem parceling out the hair. Let me just say this, that first they do a microscopic analysis to determine whether the hairs are similar or not. If they're not, there's an exclusion, no further testing is warranted.GRACE: Guys, as we switch gears and go to another story -- Beth Twitty, I'm going to put up on a full screen again the newly announced reward amount, $200,000 for Natalee's safe return, $100,000 for info on Natalee's whereabouts. Tip line, 877-628-2533. That's a toll-free number. Take a look at Natalee Holloway. Beth, thank you for being with us, friend.TWITTY: Thank you, Nancy. Thanks for having me.
On 7-20 CNN reported:
CNN LARRY KING LIVE
Judge John Roberts Nominated To Supreme Court; Panel Discusses Natalee Holloway Case
LARRY KING, HOST: … And then, 52 days after Natalee Holloway vanished in Aruba, why is everybody talking about DNA and duct tape? We've got all the latest with Natalee's father, Dave Holloway. Joining us in Aruba, Holloway family attorney Vinda De Sousa, also with us the renowned forensic scientist Dr. Henry Lee, Florida assistant state attorney Stacey Honowitz , high profile defense attorney Michael Cardoza and CNN correspondent Susan Candiotti, they're all next on LARRY KING LIVE.
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The extraordinary story of the disappearance in Aruba continues to confound many around the world. We'll look at it again after this.(COMMERCIAL BREAK)KING: Eighteen-year-old student, Natalee Holloway, now 52 days missing on the island of Aruba. Seventeen-year-old Joran van der Sloot is one of three people who was seen with her in the early hours remains in custody. Joining us in Meridian, Mississippi, is Dave Holloway, Natalee's father. In Aruba is Vinda Desousa, the attorney for Holloway and Twitty families. Twitty, by the way, the last name of Natalee's biological mother, Beth Holloway Twitty. In West Palm Beach is Dr. Henry Lee, one of the foremost forensic scientists, founder and professor of the forensic of science program at the University of New Haven and Chief Emeritus of the Connecticut State Police. In Miami is Stacey Honowitz, the Florida assistant state attorney specializing in sex crimes and child abuse cases, in San Francisco, Michael Cardoza, the noted defense attorney and in Naples, Florida, Susan Candiotti, CNN correspondent reporting on the Holloway case. What's the latest with the DNA thing? We'll start with you, Susan.SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Larry, it started on Sunday actually, you could say, when a park ranger who was picking up trash at a beach called Boca Tortuga, or Turtle Beach, found a piece of duct tape with some hair on it. Some describe it as blonde hair, some darker colored hair. In the meantime, let's put this into perspective what happened before that. Back on July 13, the prosecutors filed a motion with the court, asking for DNA samples, saliva swabs, to be taken from the Kalpoe brothers, who of course, as you recall, have already been freed, and also from Joran van der Sloot. Nothing happened until yesterday, a couple of days after that duct tape was found, a court yesterday approved of those DNA samples to be taken. And in fact they were taken yesterday from all three of those young men.So what happens to them next? They are -- samples are on their way to a laboratory in the Netherlands. And also, the FBI tells me that, upon their request, a sample was also shared with them. And an FBI agent hand carried that sample out of Aruba this very day. It arrived back in the United States at the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia, tonight, and it is expected that testing will begin on that hair sample first thing in the morning -- Larry.KING: And Dr. Henry Lee, how long does that test take?DR. HENRY LEE, FORENSIC SCIENTIST, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAVEN: Well, it depends on the hair test or the DNA test. That's two separate things. It's an important break-through to find the tape with the hair because the tape itself can give us physical characteristics, and those are microscopic. A comparison can be done in one day, to thread count, type of fiber, type of glue, adhesive material, determine the manufacturer of the tape.The important thing is whatever the trace evidence adhered on the adhesive side could be tissues, blood, and could be fingerprint. Now, if it's a -- have some dead tissue, if the suspect handed the tape, they may have gotten a mixture of DNA, let's say with van -- Natalee's own DNA, it -- with another male's DNA. That's why you need sort of a DNA from van der Sloot and others to exclude them or include them in the whole issue.KING: How long does it take?LEE: The DNA analysis, if you do STR, probably three to four days. If midochondrial DNA, just the hair itself, hair itself will not link to the suspect, only can tell us microscopic...KING: I got you.LEE: ...or similar too. Yes. That probably takes about three, four days.KING: Dave Holloway, does this at least give you some encouragement at closure? DAVE HOLLOWAY, NATALEE HOLLOWAY'S FATHER: Well, for closure, yes, but you know we've had a lot of false hopes and you know maybe this is one that God's given us for closure. But you know, we've had everything from the empty grave to the barrel, to clothing and more clothing, to the bones, you know, and other things. And by the way, I did find out that one of those bones was a human bone, and it had been in there for at least two years. So I hope the authorities are at least searching, you know, for whatever missing person was several years ago.KING: Vinda, why does Dave Holloway need an attorney?VINDA DESOUSA, ATTORNEY FOR NATALEE'S PARENTS, STEP-PARETNS IN ARUBA: Well, first of all, to navigate and to explain about the Aruban legal system, to -- so they would understand what's going on and why the investigation is tight-lipped and done the way it's done. And secondly, as soon as I was retained by the family, I filed a victimized jointer party. That is -- when you file that, whenever somebody feels that he or she is a victim of a possible crime, you become a civilian party in a criminal procedure and that will give you a few perks, as you would call them. One of them would be to be informed on the progress of the investigation. One of the other benefits would be if, for instance, the prosecutor or the investigative authorities -- I should say the prosecution should decide for one or another reason, I'm talking in general, because this is done in more cases -- should decide not to prosecute one of the suspects, the victimized party can appeal that decision. So it's a few of the benefits that comes with it.KING: Stacey Honowitz, that does not occur in the States, does it?STACEY HONOWITZ, FLORIDA ASSISTANT STATE ATTORNEY: Well, normally, I mean, in the states the victims are informed at every stage of the proceeding and that...KING: Yes, but they can't appeal a decision, can they?HONOWITZ: No, they're not going to appeal the decision. No, not in the United States. It's not going to happen. But the idea of them having an attorney over there is very important because everything is so private and secretive that they need to have somebody on their side. They can inform them how the system works because they're not familiar with it. Over here we're very lucky. The victims are made aware of everything that going on at every stage of the proceeding or at least should be made aware of everything that's going on.KING: Michael Cardoza, as a defense attorney does this being boggle you this whole thing?MICHAEL CARDOZA, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Oh, yes, it's boggled me right from the get-go, Larry. The secrecy of it is certainly contrary to what we have here in the United States. And I'll tell you one other thing with this new evidence that boggles me, they take Satish and Deepak's DNA and they want Joran's DNA. Why didn't they take the judge's DNA because -- is he involved with this? Who knows? What if it's his hair on those tapes? So why didn't they go to the judge and ask him, "You give us a DNA sample, too," which raises all sorts of questions for me as to what's going on down there.KING: Let me take a break. We'll come back. We'll be including your phone calls as well. Don't go away.(COMMERCIAL BREAK)(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Police say Natalee Holloway was here in the Holiday Inn Casino on Saturday night, May 28. It was her first known contact with one of the suspects, Joran van der Sloot, the 17-year-old son of an Aruban judge.(END VIDEO CLIP)KING: By the way, tomorrow night Kirk Bloodsworth is our guest. Wrongfully convicted, he sat on death row. He's with us tomorrow night.Before we take calls, LARRY KING LIVE has extended standing invitations to Robin van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers, as well as their attorneys, and family members, to appear on this show. So far, those invitations have not been accepted. The prosecutor's office on Aruba is not doing media interviews at this time. Vinda, why not? DESOUSA: Because this is how the system works here. Normally, prosecution -- the investigative authorities will not give interviews, will not talk about the investigation. It's simply not done. It's how the system is. KING: Let's take a call. Montreal, Quebec. Hello. CALLER: Larry? KING: Yes, go ahead. CALLER: Hi. My understanding is that, you know, that Jorgan (sic) was a gambler, or is a gambler. Is it possible that he could have owed some bad people a lot of money, and he couldn't pay it back, and maybe he kidnapped or lured Natalee to the beach only to have these people kidnap her and bring her say to Venezuela or Colombia? Is that a possibility? KING: That would be a hope. Dave, that a possibility to you? HOLLOWAY: The last known facts was they were leaving the Holiday -- excuse me, Carlos 'n Charlie's. After that, you know, you have a suitcase full of lies. Nine to 15 different stories. So you know, I don't have any access to any of the evidence that the police hold, so you know, we could only speculate as bystanders. KING: Dr. Lee, forensically, without a corpus delecti, it's difficult, isn't it. It's hard -- where do you go? LEE: Yes, it's difficult, without corpus delecti, you have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt. Of course, this tape with hair become important. We don't know how many hairs. If it's a bundle of hair, second if those hairs are not (INAUDIBLE) hair, in other words full naturely (ph) but collagen or active growth hair, those become important because physically separated from somebody's skull. So that could prove foul play. Now, if we can prove those hair in fact (INAUDIBLE), because when I look at her picture, it looks like her hair have two different tones, two different color, some are blond, some little like a brunette color. So which, whether or not she dyed her hair or bleach her hair becomes one of the comparison characteristics. Midochondrial DNA become important. If on the tape you found some tissue, those tissue not necessarily from Natalee could be suspect's finger touch the tape, left some tissue, those can do STR DNA. If you can prove that, this case can be very, very prosecutable. KING: Stacey, should the prosecution speak out? HONOWITZ: You know, you always run the risk, Larry, when the prosecutor begins to speak, especially when someone has not been formally charged, of really tainting the investigation. So, as far as them speaking nationally, internationally about what's going on, I can understand why they have to keep some of the facts secret. They really do. But it frustrates everybody else, because nobody knows what's going on. The one thing I want to say that the idea that this hair was found in this tape is a huge breakthrough for the prosecution, because as Dr. Lee said, No. 1, through forensic testing, they are going to be able to tell whether or not that is, in fact, Natalee's hair. They take the hair, they send it to the lab, they do mitochondrial DNA. And they can also take DNA from her toothbrush, or from her hair brush and make the comparison to see if it's her hair to begin with. That's the first thing.And then as Dr. Lee said, if there's any tissue, anything left on that tape: fibers, forensics, fingerprints, anything of that nature, then certainly this could be the corpus in the case, if we can prove that there's foul play -- if it's bundles of hair, if any of their DNA is on there, then there you have a corpus coupled with everything else that she's missing, you have a prosecutable case. So this is a huge breakthrough, even though the media is not talking about -- I mean, the prosecutor is not talking about it, it's a big breakthrough. We're going to have to wait and see what the lab says. KING: We'll take a break. Hear from Michael and Susan and more phone calls right after this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PENHAUL: Carlos 'n Charlie's bar. Holloway came here to party the following Sunday night. She was with high school friends. The bar is in Aruba's capital, Oranjestad, about 15 minutes' drive from the Holiday Inn where Holloway and her classmates were staying. Joran van der Sloot and brothers Deepak and is Satish Kalpoe, seen here printed in an Aruban newspaper, showed up about 10:25. According to police, it was around 1:00 a.m., closing time early Monday, when Natalee Holloway's friends watched her walk out of the bar and into a silver gray car with van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers. (END VIDEOTAPE)KING: Winchester, Illinois, hello. CALLER: Hi. KING: Hi. CALLER: Thoughts and prayers go out to Natalee's family. I just wondered if lie detector tests were allowed in the Aruban government? And also, I had heard of a shallow grave that was found.KING: Vinda, what can you tell us?DESOUSA: Well about the shallow grave, there was a shallow hole, yes, found by EquuSearch, and the authorities took a look at it and apparently it had no evidence or nothing to link it to any crime. And about the lie detector --KING: Can lie detector tests be used? DESOUSA: No. The lie detector is not used here in Aruba. It's not admissible in court and it's simply -- it's not used. It's not an investigative tool in the Dutch system. KING: Michael, if you're a defense attorney for this, for Joran van der Sloot, what do you do at this point? CARDOZA: You tell him to be quiet, just as he's being. Remember, he's got what, maybe 50 more days in jail in this particular case. So the only way that he could really incriminate himself here is to talk. And you bet his lawyers are saying, look Joran, you could face life imprisonment or you spend 50 more days in here. Be quiet, don't talk. That's what you tell him as a defense attorney.KING: But what if he didn't do anything? Why shouldn't he tell them what he knows if he didn't do anything? CARDOZA: Basically he has told them that so far. So can he talk to that regard? Sure. But I'll tell you what, Larry, I've learned that when clients talk, everything gets spun the way law enforcement wants it to. You say A, they say well that really means B. So you never know how someone's going to interpret something. You never know what inferences they can draw from that. So basically, and I'm talking as a defense attorney, certainly not for the family, because they certainly wish if he knew something he would tell where, but as a defense attorney, I tell them don't say anything at all, because, believe me, it will be misinterpreted, so we are not talking, even if you're innocent, you be quiet. KING: Susan Candiotti, reportorially, is this a tough story to cover? CANDIOTTI: It is, because everyone is so close-lipped about this, and as we also heard time and again from law enforcement sources, the suspects in this case have told many different versions of what happened that night. Anywhere from nine to 15 possibly, as many as 15 different versions, and even pointing fingers at each other. But one of the other difficulties, even when there have been court proceedings, you can't attend them as you can in the United States, and you have to wait for someone to come outside and tell you what happened. So it's very difficult trying to develop inside sources to find out what's going on. KING: To Danville, Virginia. Hello. CALLER: Hello?KING: Hi.CALLER: I enjoy your show. KING: Thank you. CALLER: And I have a question. KING: Go ahead. CALLER: What are your thoughts for Beth Holloway to acquire a psychic to go to Aruba to maybe try to assist? KING: Dave? HOLLOWAY: No one hired a psychic to go to Aruba. There was one that visited with the Texas EquuSearch team, and provided her input, but there's been a number of people, probably hundreds of people, who have called in and given information that they felt like would be beneficial. KING: What keeps you going, Dave? HOLLOWAY: You know, I've said this from the beginning, you know, I left Meridian with a prayer, you know, God give us strength to get through this, and I continue to remember that prayer every day. We have the family and all of our friends in the community that continue to pray for us and lend support, and you know, that's what keeps us going. You know, my car went into neutral, you know, and God's just pushing it. KING: Cocoa Beach, Florida. Hello. CALLER: Hello. KING: Hi. CALLER: A reference has been made to EquuSearch, and was asked if they have searched the Dutch boy's yard, and he was told that he could not get permission, but could not some of the Aruban officials themselves go and search that? KING: Stacey? HONOWITZ: Yes, as a matter of fact, Tim was on the show last week, and we were talking about how much information he actually got from the Aruban government, where they searched so that -- well he wanted to go back to the same places, and he said that they gave him some information as to where they've already searched but you never know, you can go back two or three times to search. But it's true. You could.Certainly they could search anywhere that they thought that there could be evidence of a crime. So the authorities certainly could have applied for a search warrant for certain places. I know that they did. But they certainly could have gone into these places that sounded like a crime could have taken -- evidence of a crime was there, go in and see what's there. And we don't know, because of this vow of secrecy and everything that's going on, we don't know the exact places that they've searched. But I think what's really going to come out of this, Larry, and we're hoping that there seems -- there's a reward up for any information, and you rewards bring out very interesting things.And in this case, maybe the idea that the reward is out there now, maybe there are people who do have information that will come forward. I think that's the hopes of the family. I think it's even maybe the hopes of the police at this point, that somebody who didn't come forward before, now being enticed by money will come forward and give some information. KING: We'll take a break and be back with more, and more of your phone calls on this edition of LARRY KING LIVE. Don't go away. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)PENHAUL: Those who've read the Kalpoe brothers statements. CHRIS LEJUEZ, ATTORNEY FOR RELEASED SUSPECT: After they get in of the car, one of them says she wanted to see the other side of the island, and the other one says she wanted to see, to go have a look at the sharks. PENHAUL: You can make it to the light house from Carlos N' Charlies in around 20 minutes. The Kalpoes were said to be up front, Holloway and van der Sloot in the back. LEJUEZ: They say that he was not only kissing her, but fondling her sexually.
PENHAUL: It's called California light house. It's a tourist attraction by day. By night, an isolated romantic rendezvous.(END VIDEOTAPE)(COMMERCIAL BREAK)KING: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Hello. Hello? We try Chattanooga, Tennessee. Hello. Go ahead. Chattanooga, are you there? CALLER: Yes. KING: All right, go ahead. CALLER: I wonder if anyone has ever checked the party boat that the cruise guy with the deejay on, and you know it was vacant that night, and they could have all taken went out on the boat. KING: Dave? HOLLOWAY: Well the authorities have told us that all boats that leave and come back are monitored, so that particular boat is stationary in the water, and I don't think it leaves off the island, but just a few hundred yards. KING: Susan, reports about some kind of well on the van der Sloot property, is that true? CANDIOTTI: Well, we don't know of any well on that property. There is -- there are wells certainly in the area. I can tell you that the property was searched thoroughly by authorities there, and even FBI agents observed those searches. There's also a dam near there, but you know, you mentioned difficulties in covering the stories. Rumors have just been rampant, and these are the types of things that you hear again.Even the duct tape -- let's see where it leads, but it was found on the opposite side of the island, where Natalee was allegedly last known to have been. So, let's see where that goes. Hopefully it won't be an empty lead as well. KING: Dr. Lee, would you say this might be very difficult to ever solve, if, God forbid, she was tossed out deep at sea? LEE: It's very difficult, Larry. However, it's not impossible. We-- in my past and -- we did solve a couple of cases. One of the cases, this suspect, killed a teenager (inaudible). After two years, some lady walking on the beach saw a sneaker that had socks in there. She was kind of interested in that and called the police. Subsequently was able to link the sneaker to the victim. We found a toe bone inside of the socks and Tommy Moro (ph) was convicted for the homicide. Nancy: Roane County, West Virginia. Hello. CALLER: Hello. KING: Hi. CALLER: Yes. I wanted to know if they thought that was Natalee's hair on the duct tape, wouldn't they have to have a DNA or other hair from Natalee to prove that's her hair? KING: Yes. Wouldn't they need other -- something else from her, Dr. Lee? LEE: Yes. We definitely need her head known head hair or from her mother's DNA because mitochondrial DNA is a maternity-linked DNA. You cannot compare it to the father's side. Of course, very important, Larry, I'm sure they should look on the duct tape. Where did that duct tape come from? In the suspect's home or the boat? Any place that have duct tape should be compared. KING: And Stacey, you're saying this is big. HONOWITZ: Yes. Absolutely. I mean, you know, out of that one piece -- the hairs with the tape, there's so much evidence that can come from that and back to your caller with regard to comparing her hair, they can go to her hair brush or her comb. Certainly, that's probably in the hotel room that her mother has and be able to take that hair and compare the DNA, but this one piece of evidence so far -- we're calling it evidence. We don't know if it's evidence in the case, but what they found can contain a whole story.So, the lab results on this, the DNA on this, the comparisons of the tape, the fibers, the breaking of the tape, the comparing of the edges of the tape are crucial. What Dr. Lee said: Where did the tape come from? Was it a part of a search? Did -- was it seized out of one of the houses? So, we're going to wait and see. This could unlock a lot of answers to this case. KING: Michael, you agree? CARDOZA: You know, I hope Stacey is right. I really hope you're right on this one, Stacey, that it does lead. But let's look at the best- case scenario. If the duct tape has hair on it. If it's Natalee's hair, the best-case scenario would be to have Joran's hair on it, too. That certainly would be damning evidence against him and you could prove the criminality that way, because then you've coupled that with his changing his stories. What? we've heard up to -- he's told, what, eight different stories. So, you take that story change, you couple it with this duct tape. If his hair and Natalee's hair is on it, yes it'll be very damning evidence and possibly proof beyond a reasonable doubt. I hope she's right, but what if it's only Natalee's hair? How do you connect that to Joran? It may not connect to him. LEE: Well, maybe fingerprints; you can find them on the tape or... CARDOZA: Well, hopefully. LEE: ... Or DNA. CARDOZA: Sure.LEE: We found a lot of DNA on the duct tape in the past and linked a suspect -- or mixture of DNA, Natalee's DNA and the suspects DNA.CARDOZA: Right. All I'm saying is... LEE: ... You can link -- Yes.CARDOZA: If it's only her hair on it, you know, what do you have? You have her hair on duct tape. I mean somebody did something awful to her, probably. LEE: Right, but on the other hand, if you found in his house or his car, similar duct tape. CARDOZA: Absolutely.LEE: So some lead. KING: Yes. Let me get a break and we'll be back with more. Don't go away. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)PENHAUL: As they looped back around, they would have pasted Arashi Beach. Experts say if you dump an object here, the current will drag it west toward open ocean. According to Lejuez, the suspects statements deny stopping at the beach, but the area was searched shortly after Holloway's disappearance. From Aruba's northwest tip, Lejuez says the Kalpoe brother's statement describes heading back to the Holiday Inn. When they dropped off Holloway, Lejuez quotes the statement of one of the Kalpoe brothers, saying she was drunk and stumbled from the car. (END VIDEO CLIP)(COMMERCIAL BREAK)KING: Columbia, South Carolina. Hello. CALLER: Hi, Larry. My question is for Mr. Holloway. KING: Sure. Caller: There have been reports of a white Suzuki that was seen on the beach by fisherman the night that Natalee was missing. Do you know if that vehicle had been searched by the investigators for evidence? HOLLOWAY: You know, I'm not aware of any vehicle that was on the beach. From what I understand, the fishermen reported that no one came to the beach that night. Again, we're limited to the information we get from the police. So if you heard about the Suzuki, it may have been a leak or whatever, but I'm not familiar with it. KING: Vinda, do they keep you posted generally on developments? DESOUSA: Yes, they do. I have daily contact with the prosecutor and I do relay that information daily to the family. And moreover, the family is briefed daily by the FBI, who does sit in, in the interrogations, who attends the briefings and the work meetings of the investigative authorities. They are kept as-much-as-possible informed and when I say as much as possible, I mean in order not to jeopardize the investigation, because they're still trying to gather as much evidence as possible. They are kept informed, yes. KING: Susan Candiotti, does the FBI talk to you? CANDIOTTI: Well, they did today. Let's just say this, the head of the Miami's FBI office was down on the island yesterday and met with Mrs. Holloway and today, he met with the U.S. -- the attorney general down there, rather, as well as other law enforcement authorities to talk about the good rapport that they have. They have been able to, as your guest pointed out, observe interviews, attend briefings and -- however, they did ask previously to look at overall evidence that had been gathered. They were denied that request because of local rules down there.
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