June 7, 2005
ORANJESTAD, Aruba (AP) - Two men charged in the disappearance of a U.S. teenager who went missing in Aruba more than a week ago were known to police for trolling area hotels to pick up women, and at least one had a previous brush with the law, a police officer said Tuesday.
The two suspects had lost their jobs as security guards at a hotel about two blocks from the Holiday Inn where Natalee Holloway, 18, was staying in the Dutch Caribbean island. They weren't fired but their work contracts had expired, a police officer told The Associated Press.
They were known to police because they had a habit of cruising hotels trying to pick up women or bum cigarettes, said the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
About 700 volunteers joined police, soldiers and FBI agents on Monday, combing scrubland and beaches on Aruba's southeastern tip in an unprecedented search for Holloway.
Search parties found numerous items including T-shirts and sunglasses, but none had been tied to the missing teen, and the search was not scheduled to resume Tuesday, authorities said. FBI agents were to continue their own investigation while volunteers distributed fliers on the missing girl, they said.
One of the suspects had a previous brush with the law, but it was not a violent or sexual offence, the officer said.
The men - aged 28 and 30 - will appear before a judge in a closed hearing Wednesday to determine whether their detention is warranted, Attorney General Caren Janssen said.
With a nine-day-old search unsuccessful, authorities have not ruled out any possibilities, including accidental death, Janssen said.
Holloway, of Mountain Brook, Ala., has been missing since May 30. She vanished while on a five-day trip with more than 100 classmates celebrating their high-school graduation. Seven chaperones accompanied them.
"Seven chaperones ..."
I've heard so many numbers of chaperones. But to have only 7 adults in charge of over 100 students is just plain stupid.