Posted on 06/13/2005 2:01:55 AM PDT by bd476
ORANJESTAD, Aruba - The mother of a missing Alabama teenager said Sunday that she believes three young men who were with her daughter the day of her disappearance know what happened to her. Beth Holloway Twitty said Aruban authorities should pressure the young men to reveal what they know about the disappearance of 18-year-old Natalee Holloway.
"All three of those boys know what happened to her," Holloway Twitty said during a 45-minute interview with The Associated Press in her room at the Holiday Inn, the same hotel where her daughter was staying before she disappeared on May 30. "They all know what they did with her that night."
Holloway Twitty, 44, declined to say what she thought the boys had done or whether she thought her daughter was still alive. She also said she thought that two former hotel security guards detained in connection with Holloway's disappearance were innocent and should be released.
The three young men — the 17-year-old son of a Dutch justice ministry official and two Surinamese brothers — have told police they brought Natalee Holloway to a lighthouse beside the island's Arisha Beach, but didn't get out of the car. The brothers, Satish Kalpoe, 18, and Deepak Kalpoe, 21, also told police that Natalee and the Dutch boy had been kissing in the back seat of the car. They said they dropped her off at her hotel about 2 a.m. and last saw her being approached by a man in a security guard uniform before they drove off, a lawyer for the brother's has said.
The three young men were detained on Thursday. Two former hotel security guards who worked at a hotel not far from the Holiday Inn have been detained since June 5. Lawyers for all five have insisted their clients are innocent, and no one has been charged in the case.
Holloway Twitty said she appreciated all that Aruban authorities have done but added, "I will not be satisfied until they give me back my daughter. I want her and I want her now."
But Holloway Twitty also said that she reviewed all of the security videos from the Holiday Inn and that she has concluded that the young men never brought her daughter back to the hotel as they told police.
"That story was a lie," she said. "I don't believe they ever brought Natalee back to the hotel."
Authorities have said they are pursuing all leads, while Prime Minister Nelson Oduber has said that "no one stands above the law" on the island.
Natalee Holloway vanished hours before she was expected at the airport following a five-day trip to the Dutch Caribbean island with 124 classmates and seven chaperones celebrating their graduation from Mountain Brook High School, near Birmingham, Ala. Her U.S. passport and packed bags were found in her hotel room.
Defense lawyers for the former security guards said there wasn't enough evidence to continue holding them.
"This is turning into a game, an illogical investigation," said Noraina Pietersz, the attorney representing Antonius "Mickey" John, 30. John and Abraham Jones, 28, had been detained a week as of Sunday, and have denied any connection to Holloway. "The prosecution is pretending it has information that we don't have."
Attorney General Caren Janssen said Sunday that wasn't the case but declined to give details. "We are still in the middle of an investigation," she said.
A confession reported by a polic chief and its subsequent retraction by the attorney general fueled rumors of the young woman's demise. The family has said no body has been found, and islanders and tourists attended church services Sunday to pray for the teen.
Valerie Stanton, a 35-year-old computer technician visiting from Washington, D.C., prayed Sunday at the Alto Vista chapel outside the capital. "This could happen in any city and it's unfortunate a dark cloud is now over the island because people here are so nice," she said.
At the Santa Ana Catholic church in the town of Noord, also outside the capital, the Rev. Rudy Lampe told about 300 parishioners to "pray to give the family an oasis of peace."
Holloway Twitty said she she will not leave Aruba until her daughter is found.
"I have no choice but to stay strong. I was somehow chosen for this (situation) and I've got to see it to the end."
I'm wondering if she was taken away into 'white sex slavery' or something weird like that.
| Natalee's body found... (false report) |
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...the headline has been amended. |
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Kids who go on class trips should stay with their class and not go off with three boys for flirtations. My guess is she slipped away from the chaperones who didnt pay enough attention. This happens on a lot of class trips and now the chaperones have a guilt trip laid on them for the rest of their lives.
If the girl had behaved responsibly they wouldnt be looking for her now. I guess thats beside the point , but it still remains a factor in her dissappearance.
True.
It is also true that hindsight is 20/20.
The mother is sadly right. I personally believe that Natalee ran into Aruba's version of Robert Chambers.
Hopefully they will find her soon.
It doesnt take hindsight to know that kids will screw up on class trips if they arent watched religiously. They have been doing it for years and will continue to do it. Most girls dont slip off with three boys usually one is enough.
What you are saying is true.
However until the truth or a complete story is revealed, I am unwilling to lay blame at her feet, or assume anything about what happened.
Let us hold hope that that is not the case.
I agree. I certainly do hope that that is not the case.
(Lord knows, I've been wrong before.)
After talking to my wife, sister, and some girl friends, they are all of the opinion that her BEST FRIENDS should be raked over the coals for this disappearance too, and I agree with them. What kind of friend(s) lets you go off on some strange island with three guys she just met by herself? I mean, if Natalee was drinking, a "friend" is someone who keeps an eye out for you, and says "that might not be a good idea for you to leave with them".
...and on the drinking thing, I was married in Aruba last October, and we had a crew of people go to Carlos n Charlies one night, and EVERYONE in the place is drinking. Natalees mother is living in a dream world if she didn't think her daughter wasn't drinking that night.
I don't see how seven chaperones can reasonably hope to keep tabs on 124 teenagers. That is almost 1 to 20. I have not heard anything about how the trip was organized, what sort of guidelines, if any, were given to the children. Were there any behaviors that would result in being sent home? Was there even a system for sending a child home who violate any rules, if they existed. Had such a trip been done in the past? Had more reasonable alternatives, like Disney World or Panama City, Florida, been considered? Were they given any guidelines about hanging out at bars until the wee hours of the morning and picking up locals? What sort of activities were the other children in the group doing? Were there organized activities or were they all just on their own?
Natalee was 18. That is an adult. You cannot blame the chaperones for the actions of an adult.
A lot of these "children" were 18, like Natalee.
From the start I've thought that she may not have had a lot of close friends, or at least none on this trip. All of the comments I've seen thus far seem to have come from acquaintances. Good friends would've been looking out for her and wouldn't have let her go off on her own like this. It seemed odd from the beginning that nobody noticed that she was missing until she failed to show up for the plane.
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