Natalee Holloway

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Yearbook portrait of Natalee Holloway

Natalee Ann Holloway (born October 21, 1986) is a Mountain Brook teenager who disappeared on May 30, 2005 during a group vacation in in Aruba. She remains missing, and, according to Aruban authorities, is unlikely to be alive. Her disappearance, and later the investigation itself, caused a media sensation in the United States.

Disappearance

Holloway and 124 fellow graduates of Mountain Brook High School were visiting Aruba on an unofficial five-day graduation trip. Natalee was seen leaving Carlos’n Charlie’s, a popular tourist nightspot in Oranjestad, at about 1:30 a.m. on Monday, May 30 with Joran van der Sloot (17) and two companions, Deepak (21) and Satish Kalpoe (18), in Deepak's car.

Natalee did not arrive for her return flight that morning, nor did she appear in any security camera footage of the hotel lobby in the course of the night. Her passport, packed luggage, and mobile phone were found in her hotel room. Searches of the island and surrounding waters began immediately, but have been fruitless to date.

In March 2006, Gerold Dompig, then-deputy chief of police in Aruba, stated that he believes Holloway probably died from alcohol and/or drug poisoning and was not murdered, and that someone later hid her body.

Natalee's behavior on the night of her disappearance, and the behavior of the group as a whole during the trip, has gained recent attention, notably in a Vanity Fair feature. Joran's statements depict Natalee as drinking heavily and acting promiscuously at the bar before the group left. Dompig has alluded to testimony from others that confirm that she had been drinking heavily during the trip, and revealed that there was some evidence of possible drug use, as well.

Investigation

While searches continued, Aruban police, under Jan van der Straaten, began investigating the possibility of foul play. Van der Sloot and the Kalpoes initally told investigators that they dropped Natalee off at her hotel and drove away as she was approached by two men.



After extensive questioning, they now say that Joran and Natalee were left at a beach near the Marriott Hotel at about 1:40 a.m. Joran says he was picked up by Satish at about 3:00 a.m., leaving Natalee there - he says she wanted to stay, while he wanted to go home because he had to go to school later that morning. Satish has denied picking up Joran.

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

Initial story

On May 30, immediately following her missed flight, Natalee's stepfather and mother, Jug and Beth Twitty, traveled to Aruba with friends by private jet. Within four hours of landing in Aruba the Twittys and others went to the Aruban police with Van der Sloot's name and address, as the person last known to be seen with their daughter. Accompanied by two Aruban policemen, they went to the Van der Sloot home looking for Natalee. During this encounter, Joran and Deepak related their first story.

This initial story was that they drove Natalee to the "California Lighthouse" area of Arashi Beach where she and Joran "made out" for a short time before they dropped her off at her hotel around 2:00 A.M. They said she fell down and hit her head as she got out of the car, but refused help, and that she was approached by two men in black security guard outfits as they drove away. On June 5, Aruban Police, led by superintendent Jan van der Straaten, detained Antonius "Mickey" John (30) and Abraham Jones (28), former security guards for the nearby Allegro Hotel, which was closed for renovation.

Van der Sloot's arrest

On June 9, Joran and the Kalpoe brothers were arrested as suspects involved in a crime against Natalee with "reasonable suspicion of murder, manslaughter or intentional containment with the dead as consequence." John and Jones were released on June 13.

On Friday June 17, a fourth person, later identified as disc jockey Steve Gregory Croes (26) was also arrested. On June 22 Aruban police detained Joran's father, Paulus van der Sloot, for questioning, and arrested him the same day. He was released on June 26 after agreeing to waive his right not to testify against his son. Croes was released on June 27. On Monday, July 4, a Judge Commissioner released Deepak and Satish Kalpoe, but they were re-arrested on August 26 along with another new suspect, Freddy Arambatzis, Joran's friend and neighbour. [1]

Suspects released

On Saturday, September 3 2005, all four suspects were released on the condition that they remain available to police, however on September 14 all restrictions on the remaining suspects were removed by the Gemeenschappelijk Hof van Justitie van de Nederlandse Antillen en Aruba (the combined appeals court of the Dutch Antilles and Aruba). Though all of those arrested in 2005 technically remained suspects, they are not in custody and, without additional evidence (and a judge's permission), can only be interrogated voluntarily. Joran now resides in the Netherlands, where he is attending college. On November 10, 2005, Paulus won an unjust detention action against the Aruban government and, by virtue of that victory, is no longer legally a suspect. Paulus's action for damages, for himself and his family, because of his detention, is pending--he will be entitled to damages, and a decision on the amount is due May 1.

Physical search

The search for physical evidence has been extensive--and subject to apparently false leads. A small lake near the Aruba Racquet Club was partly drained between July 27 and 30 after an individual ("the gardener") claimed to have seen Joran, Deepak, and Satish sitting parked on a dirt road nearby between 2:30 AM and 3:00 AM on the morning Natalee disappeared. [2] Another individual ("the jogger") claimed to have seen Joran, Paulus, and Deepak burying a nude, blonde-haired woman in a landfill during the first week after Natalee disappeared. The police searched the landfill by hand for two hours, finding nothing of interest. Later, when a volunteer search team learned about the witness, the landfill was extensively searched with heavy garbage-moving/digging equipment. On August 15 it was reported that when the search team members arrived at the landfill, the excavated area had been filled in with new garbage. However, Vanity Fair has reported that the search team searched the landfill until satisfied there was no body present, and searched again in late October. On July 4, the Netherlands deployed three F-16 warplanes, equipped with infrared sensors, to aid in the search, also without result.

On January 17, 2006, Aruban police searched sand dunes on the northwest coast of Aruba for Natalee Holloway. More than 50 police officers searched a one-square-mile area around where the young woman was last known to be seen. Additional searches took place in March and April 2006, without result.[3]

Arrest of Geoffrey van Cromvoirt

On April 15, 2006, Geoffrey van Cromvoirt, 19, was arrested by Aruban authorities on suspicion of criminal offenses that, according to the prosecutor, may be related to the disappearance of Holloway and of offenses related to dealing in illegal narcotics [4]. His sister is a member of the Aruban police. At his first court appearance, his detention was extended for eight days. However, Van Cromvoirt was released on April 24, 2006.[5] In addition, another individual with initials "A.B." was arrested on April 22, 2006, but released the same day.

Reward

The reward for information leading to Natalee's safe return, pledged by her family, private donors, the Aruban government, and Carlos 'n Charlie's Restaurant, is $1,000,000. A $250,000 reward is also offered for information about her whereabouts, alive or dead. [6].

Beth Twitty's involvement

Beth Twitty has alleged in televised interviews that Joran, Deepak and Satish Kalpoe raped her daughter. She bases her allegations on parts of an interview with Deepak Kalpoe in which (at least on the version aired on Dr. Phil) he seems to answer "She did" to a suggestion that Natalee had sex with all of them. These clips were first aired on the popular television talk show Dr. Phil. However, in versions of the tapes provided by Aruban authorities, Deepak appears to say "No, she didn't" (the version provided by Dr. Phil has heavy, dramatic music making it harder to discern what Deepak said). According to Satish Kalpoe's attorneys, David Koch and Elgin Zeppenfeldt, the audio has been cut and pasted. The Dutch forensic institute has investigated the credibility of the tapes, and concluded that content of the aired tape did not match the original tape and that he said "No, she didn't". It has been stated that the FBI is also investigating the credibility of the tapes.

Twitty claims to have received papers stating that Joran admitted having sex with Natalee at his home and described private details of her. She has failed to produce any copies of such papers, and the evidenciary basis for this is unclear. Vinda de Sousa, former Holloway-Twitty family Aruban attorney, has indicated that no such statment was made.[7], In addition, former deputy chief of police Gerold Dompig has denied that any such statements were made, stating that all three suspects have consistently denied having sexual intercourse with Natalee. [8] Zeppenfeldt, and a number of experts on the various talk shows, have stated that Deepak clearly answered "No, we didn't" to the question if they all had sex with Natalee. A copy of the tape [9] (provided by the Aruban police) is available at Scrux.com.

Criticism of the investigation, call for boycott

The Twittys and their supporters have criticized the lack of progress by Aruban police [10]. Aruban officials and non-US press have attributed their criticism as a lack of understanding of Dutch judicial procedures employed on the island for much of the tension. Various uncorroborated theories alleging a cover-up have so far not resulted in any official response. The Twittys' own actions in Aruba have also been criticized. Some allege that they are actively stifling any evidence that would impugn their daughter's character by asking her fellow students to remain silent about the case and using their access to the media to push their own version of events. .

Jug Twitty wrote Governor Bob Riley on August 4 discouraging an official boycott. [11]. As tensions heightened between Natalee's family and Aruban investigators in September, renewed calls for a boycott of the island have been aired by supporters on American television. Beth Twitty again asked Americans not to travel to Aruba: "I've never called for a boycott, but I am... I am... I am pleading with people to please consider not traveling to Aruba and Dutch.. other Dutch territories until Natalee is returned to me" [12]. Governor Riley, joined by the Twittys, renewed his call for an unofficial boycott on November 8, 2005 in a news conference [13]. He also wrote to other United States governors seeking their support. The Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, city council voted to ask the governor of Pennsylvania to call for a boycott. [14]. The National Coalition of Victims in Action, a little-known special interest group, called for their own boycott of Aruba on November 10. [15] The deputy chief of mission at the US embassy in The Hague, Mr. Chat Blakeman, stated that the call for a travel boycott for Aruba by the Governor of Alabama is not supported by the government of the United States. [16]

Members of the Aruba Hotel and Tourism Association, the Aruba Tourism Authority, the Aruba Hospitality & Security Foundation, the Aruban Chamber of Commerce and government figures, including Public Relations Representative Ruben Trappenberg, formed a "Strategic Communications Task Force" to respond collectively to unfounded portrayals of the island. The group publishes the weblog Aruba Truth, issues press releases, and sends representatives to appear in news media. They have joined the Aruban government in opposing the calls for a boycott of the island.

Media coverage

U.S. television networks have devoted much air time to the search for Natalee, the investigation of her disappearance, and rumors surrounding the case; Greta Van Susteren, host of On The Record on Fox News, perhaps most prominently. As the case has worn on, much of the attention has been given to Beth Twitty's endeavors [17].

Criticism of Media Coverage

The saturation of coverage triggered a backlash among some critics who allude to the media's supposed "missing white woman syndrome". CNN ran a segment criticizing the amount of coverage their competitors have been giving to the story [18]. Locally, the Aruban Press has published extensive news on the story both in Dutch [19] and in the local Papiamento language [20]. The story generated only mild interest in the Netherlands.

The saturation coverage of Natalee's disappearance by the American media was largely eclipsed in late August 2005 by Hurricane Katrina. Beth Twitty has alleged that Aruba took advantage of the media lull to release the suspects and discourage continued U.S. media presence on the island. [21]. However, the deadline for hearings on extending their detention was set long before the hurricane.

Police procedurals on American television have aired episodes based to some extent on the Natalee Holloway case:

See also

References

media articles, through early December 2005)

External links

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