I believe it would be beneficial to have some quotes taken from interviews Beth, Dave, and others did, just to refresh our memories.
I am going to attempt to post quotes from an interview each day, as time permits.
Todays quotes are from an interview on
11-01-05 The Abrams Report
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9896554/
ABRAMS: All right. Let me—I want to read you some of Beth‘s statements and I want to have you respond. First of all, this one was specifically directed at you.
I hate that Deputy Dompig is losing focus of the investigation on the perpetrators that perpetrated a gang rape against my daughter. It‘s just unbelievable that they would protect these three perpetrators. I just can‘t imagine them thinking that it‘s going to go away. It just seems like to me it‘s getting worse with each twist that they take.
Your response.
DOMPIG: Well, I regret those statements because I think anybody should understand and can understand that we have made a lot of efforts to conduct a professional investigation and in many cases, we have given the family every chance to sit with us and to take their statements.
And I think Mrs. Twitty was the one who canceled an appointment that we made for her a couple of weeks ago. And I only heard about the cancellation after calling her attorney and so I regret that. And I think that it‘s not true at all.
We have to investigate and as we investigate, we seriously have to look at all angles and we need answers and I don‘t know maybe some people are getting nervous because we want more detailed statements from the Alabama kids and no one is saying that the focus is off these three boys. No. We just need more answers and maybe these answers can also help us to make the case stronger against these three boys...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9896554/
ABRAMS: You refer to the Alabama kids. Let me read you what Beth Holloway had to say about that because you‘ve been asking for more statements from her friends who were there with her in Aruba.
DOMPIG: Exactly.
ABRAMS: Beth Holloway say the following.
They have all the statements that they need from the FBI regarding the students being on the island that evening. They just need to look at them. They don‘t need to be advertising for these students to contact them. They have the statements. There‘s nothing else that they need.
DOMPIG: Well, again, I think that she must understand—with all due respect to Mrs. Twitty, she doesn‘t run the investigation. We do. And we ask the questions. If it was the other way around, we could all back up and let the family do the investigation. We are trained to do that.
We had a meeting three days ago with the FBI and we have good progress and we have spoken to the FBI and (INAUDIBLE) that we will ask them officially to assist us with all the investigators and questions we still have (INAUDIBLE) Alabama (INAUDIBLE) and that‘s going to happen and we‘re just going to have a kind of like a no-nonsense approach, not the emotional stuff and I (INAUDIBLE) the family or Mrs. Twitty tries to throw us off track but I am steadfast.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9896554/
ABRAMS: When you say she‘s trying to get you off track, I mean is there some dispute as to who the chief suspects are here? I mean you had three people in custody. She believes that those three people are the ones responsible here. Is there any doubt—you arrested them and charged them with the crime, your office did. Do you now have questions about whether they were responsible?
DOMPIG: No, but I need to make the case. And to make the case—in order to make the case, there are more witnesses who left Aruba the same day. So anybody should understand that when you have 120 kids, and even roommates, leaving the crime scene or the country where something happened, anybody should understand and appreciate that we have to get more detailed statements.
The statements we have received are not detailed and (INAUDIBLE) details and we need more statements. And that information that we only discuss with professional agents. Hence, the FBI, not with the family.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9896554/
ABRAMS: Let me ask you this. This is—Beth said—quote—“I called Deputy Dompig several times and left my name and number and I cannot even get him to return my phone calls. So hopefully when I land on the island, I will at least find him or run into him.”
Have you seen her down there? And what do you make of that statement?
DOMPIG: Well, again, Mrs. Twitty is in Aruba with a film crew and a large film crew and I don‘t know what the agenda is there. But we need her to make a statement (INAUDIBLE) claiming that we altered her statement in the past. So I offered her a chance to come in for a new statement and we‘re still waiting.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9896554/
ABRAMS: I would think...
DOMPIG: No. There‘s no dispute.
ABRAMS: ... you should return...
(CROSSTALK)
DOMPIG: We—no. No, there‘s no dispute. We set the rules. We invite first people to come in to—for statements and it‘s not the other way around.
ABRAMS: Yes, but she‘s also the victim‘s mother. I mean you have to have a responsibility to keep her updated, no?
DOMPIG: Of course, but I insist that we—I need to—her to make her statement first and on the base of that, discuss with the prosecutor, what a meeting would be like with her afterwards. But we need her to come in for a statement first.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9896554/
ABRAMS: What do you mean come in for a statement? I mean she‘s given a number of statements, has she not? I mean I know you‘re right that she‘s made an allegation that one of her previous statements were altered. When you say that she needs to come in and give a statement...
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: ... what exactly are you talking about?
DOMPIG: Well, I can only say this. I‘m not willing to go into details but we need her. We still have a couple of questions open and we need her to help us with those blanks and if she really wants to help with the investigation, I think that she should—we have an appointment with her as a matter of fact for Thursday and so we‘re looking forward to her coming in to correct that was supposedly, according to her, statement wrong. And she will get that chance, opportunity and also the fact that we still have other questions, so that we can wrap that up.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9896554/
ABRAMS: When you say—I mean just the way you‘re talking Chief it doesn‘t sound like the way I‘m used to hearing the police chief and—talking about the victim‘s mother. I mean it sounds like you‘re saying you have questions that suggest she might have information with regard to the investigation that she‘s not sharing with you?
DOMPIG: No. No. No. I think you‘re misreading me. You should understand that I, as I said in the beginning, I sympathize 100 percent with the mother and with the family. And—but I need to go forward with this investigation and the meeting we had with the FBI was a great meeting.
And the path that we set out to follow is also—we follow that. So
we‘re just moving ahead and I regret once more, I think you can understand
that I really regret, and that‘s maybe the tone of my voice, that I‘m very
you could say, I regret again the fact that the mother comes in—the grieving mother comes in with a film crew and so that I think it would be (INAUDIBLE) to stick with the investigating team so that we can fill up all the blanks instead of coming over with a film crew. I don‘t know what that agenda is about.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9896554/
ABRAMS: All right. Finally, I‘ve got to just clear up something else about whether you made some allegations against her about money. Again, this is Beth Holloway saying, when I‘m hearing quotes from Deputy Dompig about me scamming millions of dollars, I feel like I must respond to those. Hopefully, I can find Deputy Dompig and see just where this information is coming from and where he‘s going with it.
Are you accusing her of somehow being involved in a scam?
DOMPIG: Absolutely not. If there‘s any money somewhere for a relief fund or Holloway fund, that‘s none of my business. And—but the only problem that I have and that‘s where I had a question. That it became my business once Mr. Miller and Mr. Dave Holloway had problems (INAUDIBLE) not really problems, but tried to get some things for certain search activities and comp hotel rooms and so on.
So—and other people like Fred Goldberg (ph), the one who came in
with the dogs, also called and tried to find out how he could get his cost
back or who could pay for the searches. And so I don‘t know. I have
questions about who do they turn to and who do they call. And that was the
only thing I had. And other than that, I think that people just turned it
blew it out of proportion. Because that is absolutely not part of the investigation.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9896554/
ABRAMS: Finally, last time you were on we were talking about the possibility you might be re-arresting Deepak Kalpoe as a result of that interview...
DOMPIG: Yes.
ABRAMS: ... that he seemed to have done where he said that all three of them had sex with Natalee. Any updates on that?
DOMPIG: Well, we‘re still waiting for Holland to give us the outcome of that test. We are also contemplating an official request to the FBI to also look at the original material. I have—I understood from Mr. Skeeters that that would be the hard disk off his computer. So as we speak we are working on a official request, which is going to be sent to Washington to the prosecutor (INAUDIBLE) where we will request—one is the special equipment that Mr. Dave Holloway wanted to use that probably the FBI has—uses and the other part is also the official assistance in getting more detailed statements from the Alabama teens. So we are moving ahead and as we speak trying to get that into one document because as (INAUDIBLE) pointed out to us, these things have to be done officially.
ABRAMS: Right. All right.
DOMPIG: ... not just picking up a phone.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9896554/
ABRAMS: Chief look, I mean I don‘t think you‘d disagree with this. It‘s not going to help the investigation if you and Beth Holloway are at odds in any way. I hope that you reach out to her, that she reaches out to you while she‘s down there and that you‘re able to work out any differences that you had. Because I know that you both are trying to achieve the same goal and that is finding out exactly what happened to Natalee. So Chief, thanks for coming on the program.
DOMPIG: You‘re welcome.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9896554/
Joining me now on the phone is Dave Holloway, Natalee‘s father, just back from Aruba. Dave thanks again for taking the time. All right. What do you make of Gerold Dompig‘s comments?
DAVE HOLLOWAY, NATALEE HOLLOWAY‘S FATHER: Well I arrived on the island on October the 18th and the following day I met with Dompig and he requested the assistance of the FBI, indicated that he would like for them to come back and utilize them as much as he could. So we said well, we‘ll try to see if we can make that happen.
In the meantime, he indicated that we needed to focus our search efforts into the ocean so you know, we‘re not going to waste any time. So we took off along with Tim Miller with EquuSearch and had boats in the water I believe by the weekend and we soon realized that we would need the assistance of the FBI and some of their search equipment, so we forwarded an e-mail to Mr. Dompig on Wednesday, sometime Wednesday requesting that he make a phone call to the FBI so that we can get this underwater equipment.
And I ended up having to leave the island on Thursday and then—and my reports back from those individuals who were left, they felt like the light had been turned out. And so I followed up again Saturday with the same e-mail the you know we‘re all sitting on the bank and we cannot get in the water until we get the assistance of the FBI and that team finally had to leave this past Monday or Tuesday.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9896554/
ABRAMS: It sound—look, according to Dompig, he says that he now has spoken with the FBI and they had a very productive conversation, et cetera. I mean is the real divide here occurring over who he wants to interview? I mean he really seems to want to talk to Natalee‘s friends again. What‘s the problem with that?
HOLLOWAY: I don‘t think there is any problem with it, to tell you the truth about it. The FBI arrived on the island Thursday, the same day that I left, and I don‘t know what happened or whatever, but you know the right protocol is to go through the FBI if you want any information in the United States. It‘s that simple and so I don‘t know what the issue is there, to tell you the truth about it.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9896554/
ABRAMS: All right. Because as you heard, I mean Beth seems to be suggesting they have the interviews. That there‘s really no need to speak to the friends anymore and there seems to be some issue about whether Beth is going to come in versus whether you know who‘s at fault for the lack of communication between Beth and the authorities there as well.
HOLLOWAY: Yes. Of course they run the investigations and they determine who they want to see and who they want to talk to. So you know without any further information, I don‘t know why they would want to pursue that lead any further. But if there‘s anything needed from the states, I think the FBI is capable of handling it.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9896554/
Almost 15 percent less tourists in the first quarter
ARUBA – In the monthly bulletin of April that the Central Bank of Aruba (CBA) published recently is stated that in the first quarter of 2006, 14.7 percent less tourists visited Aruba than in 2005.
CBA does not have recent figures on the amount of money the tourists have spent. The last figures that Aruba Tourism Authority (ATA) had published were in January of 2005. When CBA published her April bulletin, ATA didn’t have the figures on arriving tourists and the number of staying over tourists for February, March and April yet.
The data in the financial bulletin of April came from the Immigration administration and the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). The Bank concluded that the number of tourists as well as the room occupancy in the hotels had dropped. The number of cruise tourists in April of 2006 had dropped with 12.9 percent compared to same month last year and 17.1 percent less cruise ships had called on the port of Aruba. The number of tourists that came to Aruba via air dropped with 14.7 percent. This percentage is the result of the difference between the first quarter of 2006 and the same period in 2005. The Bank indicated further that the average room occupancy in hotels dropped to 81.3 percent compared with April of 2005.
As part of financial developments, the Bank reported an increase of money of 32 million florins to an amount of 2474.1 million florins. The increase is attributed to an increase of the number of loans by businesses and mortgages of 1.4 percent (13.6 million florins). Consumer credits decreased with 0.2 percent, which is equal to more or less 1 million florins.
http://www.amigoe.com/english/
I believe it would be beneficial to have some quotes taken from interviews Beth, Dave, and others did, just to refresh our memories.
I am going to attempt to post quotes from an interview each day, as time permits.
Todays quotes are from an interview on
10-11-05 Rita Cosby Live
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9671528/
COSBY: New high-tech efforts to find answers tonight in the Natalee Holloway case. And these efforts are going underwater off the island of Aruba to search for any sign of the missing Alabama teen. High-tech underwater surveillance equipment never used before is expected to arrive on the island in just a matter of days.
And joining me now live is the man who‘s responsible for this equipment, Jason Whittle. He‘s the vice president of Ocean Systems Incorporated.
Mr. Whittle, first of all, who contacted you about this equipment?
How‘d you get involved?
JASON WHITTLE, OCEAN SYSTEMS, INC.: Well, we were contacted a couple of weeks ago by a gal that found us on the Internet and asked if we would provide some video equipment.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9671528/
COSBY: And what makes this different than the other high-tech sort of devices they‘ve used before underwater?
WHITTLE: Well, it‘s very simple to use. Our equipment is used all over the place. A team of just a couple of people can cover a large area in a small amount of time.
COSBY: Why did it take so long? You know, I mean, we‘re looking at it now, it‘s been four months since she went missing. Why‘d it take so long for you to get involved?
WHITTLE: Well, we were really never aware of what they were looking to do. We were contacted a couple of weeks ago. And once we knew that we might be able to be of assistance, we stepped forward.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9671528/
COSBY: Have they given you a sense that there is a point of interest? I know when I was down there we were looking at sort of that point, sort of a direct line, from the fisherman‘s huts, where we believed they spent some time with Natalee. Have you been told that there‘s sort of an area, and how big of an area will you be checking?
WHITTLE: Well, my understanding, that it‘s less than a square mile with the equipment that we‘ve provided. You know, that amount of space can probably be covered, you know, in a week or two. You know, there‘s been all kinds of success stories in the past with areas of similar size.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9671528/
Beth, are you hopeful with this new device? It sounds like they have had some success before.
BETH HOLLOWAY TWITTY, MOTHER OF NATALEE HOLLOWAY: Oh, yes, Rita, very. And, you know, there have always been areas of concern in the water. And, you know, from fisherman‘s hut area. And also, September the 30th was the last update that we had gotten from the prosecuting attorney. And, of course, they were doing some dives there. And, so, you know, it‘s always been an area of concern.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9671528/
COSBY: Are you going to be guiding this team and sort of giving them, you know, points of interest? It sounds like they‘ve narrowed it—as he said—one square mile. At least that it‘s an area; it‘s not this huge ocean area to go to.
TWITTY: Well, I believe Art Wood will be spending most of his time with them. And, of course, while we‘re there, if we get any new information from the investigators or the prosecuting attorney, we will certainly communicate that with them. And we‘re also hoping that maybe they could communicate with this group that‘s coming to the island. That would be very helpful.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9671528/
COSBY: Absolutely. You know, and Art Wood, of course, is the investigator who‘s been working just tirelessly on this case, donating his own time. I mean, he‘s just been amazing down there.
Is he planning to go back there, Beth? And are you planning on it?
What are your plans when you do head down there?
TWITTY: We are going back. And it will be within the next week. And Art will be also arriving about the same time that I am. They‘ll be a couple of different searches going on. One will be concentrating on the water. And the other will be concentrating on some areas of concern on the island itself.
COSBY: Where are those areas of concern on the island? Are some of them the ones that we‘ve talked about, fisherman‘s hut, the lighthouse? Are there new points?
TWITTY: Well, you know, pretty much, Rita, it‘s just the ones that we‘ve already been over. But they just want to be so thorough and see if there‘s any area of concern that they have missed.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9671528/
COSBY: How do you think it‘s going to be being back there? You stepped back for a bit, you know, sort of rekindled. You still have so much great support with the folks of Joe Mamana. You‘ve got art.
Do you still feel there‘s definitely still a lot of support and a lot of effort—it‘s almost more than ever—to get some answers now?
TWITTY: Oh, absolutely, Rita. And, you know, I feel like every time I return, it‘s, you know, I expect answers. And I feel like we hit it a little more aggressively each time.
And we expect that, you know, also this new taped confession from Deepak will be utilized. It should arrive in the prosecuting attorney‘s office as early as Thursday. And hopefully, they will act upon this, this new evidence.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9671528/
COSBY: You bet. Because some of his statements, particularly of the fact that he said that they all had sex with your daughter, a lot of people are wondering, “Look, are they going to go after rape charges, at least find something to hold these guys on?”
Beth, you know, the other statement came from the prosecutors, too. Suddenly, there it was, late in the day on Friday. And a lot of people think that that was just sort of a preempted strike because they‘re worried about a boycott.
Should they be worried? And how do you feel about a boycott?
TWITTY: Well, you know, Rita, some requests have been made from some officials in Aruba. And they are requests that should be honored. And, you know, I think that we have worked so hard, and we‘ve tried to, you know, have a good working relationship between them and the FBI.
And, you know, they held them at such an assisted mode and really not let them be in a participatory mode, which they should have from the beginning, or we would not be faced with what we‘re facing right now.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9671528/