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By MICHAEL STARR

Thu Jul 7, 4:01 AM ET

BETH Holloway Twitty has become a cable-news star for all the wrong reasons: the mysterious disappearance of her 18-year-old daughter, Natalee Holloway, in Aruba.

Ever since her daughter failed to return from high-school graduation trip, Beth Twitty has been on cable news nearly every night — singlehandedly keeping the case alive and refusing to leave Aruba until she finds her daughter.

The mother has become a haunting presence over the story and the camera does not seem to tire of her.

"It may sound crass, but it's reality — it certainly helps that she's telegenic, and that grabs a lot of people's attention," says Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC's "Scarborough Country," who has covered the story since Natalee's disappearance.

"She's fighting to find her daughter . . . and American moms and dads can relate to the fear of the loss of a son or daughter, and they can certainly relate to Beth Twitty," Scarborough says.

"She's their next-door-neighbor, someone they go to church with and go to PTA meetings with."

"She's going through a very difficult time but she's composed and articulate . . . and that comes across," says Meade Cooper, senior producer of Fox News Channel's "On The Record with Greta Van Susteren," which has devoted itself to covering the story each night.

Twitty has also gone the extra mile in getting to know the reporters covering the story in Aruba.

"I know they don't have a professional PR person working with them, and if you notice, she spaces her interviews out well," Scarborough says.

"The reporters down in Aruba say she knows their names and is being very friendly with them, which certainly helps get the message out.

"She obviously has a great relationship with the reporters. [NBC's] Martin Savidge interviewed her on our show, and she was breaking down," he says.

"She was connecting with Martin, saying, 'Martin, I want my daughter back. I haven't seen her in 30 days. I want the truth.' "

"She's obviously very distraught on a personal level, but she's very determined to get answers," says FNC's Cooper.

"And that motivates her to go out there every day."