Natalee Holloway

Natalee Holloway

On May 30, 2005, Natalee Holloway, from Birmingham, Alabama was on a five day graduation trip to Aruba, along with 124 other graduates of Mountain Brook High School. She was last seen in the company of Deepak and Satish Kalpoe, and Joran van der Sloot, in Deepak’s car.

Natalee’s belongings were found in her hotel room, along with her passport, when she didn’t arrive for her return flight.

The search began around the island and waters, to no avail. There has been continual controversy amidst the constant misinformation with the police and other authorities in Aruba. Natalee’s mother, Beth Twitty, had reviewed surveillance video of the hotel along with the police, showing no images of Natalie, yet it was reported later that the cameras were not working that night.

The three young men’s statements said that Natalee wanted to see the sharks, so they drove her to the “California Lighthouse” area of Arashi Beach. They said they dropped her off at her hotel around 2:00 a.m. As they drove away, the noted that she was approached by a dark man in a black shirt, similar to the one’s worn by security men.

Two security guards for the nearby Allegro Hotel were arrested, June 5, 2005, on suspicion of murder and kidnapping, partly because of suspicion of thefts from the other students on the trip. On June 9, 2005 the Kalpoe brothers and Van der Sloot were arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and possible murder.

On June, 11, 2005, spokesman for the Aruban Minister of Justice, David Cruz, reported that Holloway was dead and that authorities knew where her body was. He later retracted the statement saying he was a victim of a “misinformation campaign.” And misinformation and retractions continued to pour out throughout the investigations. Police Commissioner, Dompig alleged to the Associated Press that one of the young men detained admitted “something bad happened” to Holloway once they all got to the beach, and was going to be leading police to the scene. Rudy Croes, Aruban Justice Minister, contradicted the report the next morning saying it was just a rumor and that the supposed confession was not true.

The two security guards, Antonius,”Mickey” John and Abraham Jones were released on June 13, 2005.

The investigation lingered on with arrests and releases of several people, one including Freddy Arambatizis, Joran’s friend and neighbor.

On September 3, 2005, the four detained suspects were released, despite the efforts of the prosecution to keep them in custody. They were told to remain available to police. On September 14, 2005, all of the restrictions put upon them were removed by the combined appeals court of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba.

In April and May of 2006, two other suspects were arrested and then later released on suspicion that they were involved with the Holloway case.

Investigations and searches have gone on since and now we come to the date of November 21, 2007, when the same three original suspects were re-arrested. Read updates below.

Case Digest
Cloey

UPDATES

12/04/07

John Q. Kelly, the lawyer for Natalee's parents, spent the weekend with the Holloways in Aruba and met with the prosecutor, Hans Mos. Will there be an appeal? What's going to happen next? What do the Holloways think about all of this? All these questions for John Q. Kelly, who joins us in New York. John, how was your weekend?

JOHN Q. KELLY, HOLLOWAY ATTORNEY: Disappointing, Greta. I think it was disappointing to me and actually extraordinarily painful and almost cruel for Beth and Dave after being down there.

Read the phone transcripts of Greta Van Susteren with John Kelley: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,314966,00.html

A judge on Friday (today) ordered the release of two brothers suspected in the disappearance of American teenager Natalee Holloway, ruling that the evidence wasn't strong enough to continue holding them, a prosecutor said.

Satish and Deepak Kalpoe, who were re-arrested in the case for a third time last week, were to be released from jail by Saturday.

Prosecutor Dop Kruimel said she hasn't decided whether to appeal the decision to release the men.

The two brothers and a third suspect who remains in jail, Joran van der Sloot, were the last known people to see Holloway alive before she vanished on May 30, 2005, hours before she was scheduled to return home to Alabama with fellow high school classmates celebrating their graduation. Read more...

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/ARUBA_MISSING_TEEN?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT No longer available

11/30/07

The chief prosecutor in the Natalee Holloway investigation has agreed to meet Saturday with the parents of the missing Alabama teen, who is presumed dead. "I'm really anxious to meet him," Beth Holloway told CNN. "I've waited a long time for this meeting."

A lawyer for Beth Holloway contacted prosecutor Hans Mos last week after suspects Joran van der Sloot and brothers Satish and Deepak Kalpoe were arrested on suspicion of manslaughter.

"There's no doubt in my mind that [Natalee Holloway] is dead. ... I think we have enough evidence to prove the girl is not alive anymore, even without a body," Mos said last week.

Natalee Holloway's mother said she has hope that Mos will be able to solve the case.

"He seems great. The case seems to be handled well. I'm going to ask him some long-awaited questions," she said. Read more...

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americas/11/29/aruba.holloway/

11/26/07

See Video Tape: Joran van der Sloot, a suspect in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway in Aruba, was detained for possibly incriminating cell-phone calls. His attorney, Joseph Tacopina, talks to Harry Smith.

http://www.brightcove.tv/title.jsp?title=1323277138

11/24/07

Recorded phone conversations between three suspects in the disappearance of Alabama teen Natalee Holloway could be the evidence needed to propel the case forward, according to a Dutch newspaper.

Citing anonymous detectives in Aruba, De Telegraff reported Friday that police have taped conversations between Joran van der Sloot and brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe from earlier this year which contradict their earlier testimony regarding Holloway’s disappearance.

The Kalpoe brothers were arrested in Aruba Wednesday while police in the Netherlands took in Dutch college student van der Sloot.

“New material in the investigation” led to the arrests, prosecutors said — although they refused to reveal the nature of the new evidence.

http://gretawire.foxnews.com/2007/11/23/update-in-natalee-holloway-story/

11/22/07

Three re-arrested in disappearance of U.S. teen in Aruba
Officials cite 'new incriminating evidence' in case of Natalee Holloway

ORANJESTAD, Aruba - Three young men previously detained as suspects in the 2005 disappearance of American teenager Natalee Holloway were re-arrested today, the Aruban public prosecutor's office said, citing new evidence in the case.

Dutch student Joran van der Sloot and two Surinamese brothers, Satish and Deepak Kalpoe, were arrested on suspicion of involvement in voluntary manslaughter and causing serious bodily harm that resulted in the death of Holloway, the prosecutor's office said in a statement.