Ala. Teen's Mom: Men 'Know What Happened' (Natalee Holloway)

Yahoo Associated Press ^ | 1:57am, Mon June 13, 2005 | PETER PRENGAMAN

[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."

[johnb838]

I hear what you're saying. I don't think anybody's saying she's REALLY an adult. But legally at 18 in that situation there wasn't much anybody could do.

[johnb838]

As a matter of fact, three other perps are walking free who must have known.

I don't know why no one has publicly considered that John Couhey's "roomates" probably not only "knew" but participated.

[Labyrinthos]

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.

"Kids" who are 18 years old, are not kids, but adults, and shouldn't need chaperones. Thanks to the nanny state mentality, however, we have raised children to become adults who lack the common sense and wisdom to care for themselves.

[johnb838]

I wonder too what the deal is with the fluid in the car. They say it's not blood, maybe saliva. MAYBE SALIVA? What the heck does that mean? How does one produce enough saliva to be collected and tested? In the trunk? Everything just seems to produce more questions, few of which are ever even addressed by our blunt pencilled media, much less answered.

[SandyB]

Unfortunatley, this happens constantly in many cities in the US

It doesnt happen to armed women!

...and there is a reason why Alabama allows 18 year old women to carry ccw.

It was no accident why the Alabama legislature allows 18 year olds like Natalie to carry a gun for self defense. How many 18 year old armed Alabama women disapeared in Alabama in the last month?

[massgopguy]

I spoke with my parents about allowing me to go the 1975 Key Club convention in New Orleans. Knowing what I know now, I asked them if they were out of their minds.

[GB]

Sort of touching on my post at No. 28 about the seven adults on the trip not being true chapherones, my understanding is that this wasn't a "class trip" because the kids had already graduated, they were under no official sanction or control of the school.

[Quilla]

MAYBE SALIVA? What the heck does that mean?

No kidding. Since the boys admitted Natalee was in the Honda, apparently anything except for blood is moot. From the quality of the investigation to this point, I afraid the truth about Natalee Holloway won't be uncovered for some time.

[GB]

Legally, you speak the truth. However, when my children are 18 years old, if they want to exercise their "legal right" to get on a plane and go to a Caribbean island to celebrate their graduation and their "adulthood" at a place where there are no limits, restrictions, etc., on drinking and the like, when they return home they'll find that I've exercised my legal right to tell them, as "adults," to find (a.) other living accomodations and (b.) another source for college money.

I don't intend to keep my kids in a bubble. And I fully expect them to dabble in and experiment with things they ought not to. I'll be there to pick them up and/or kick them in the gluteus maximus afterward, whichever is required. But there is no way, absolutely no conceivable way in this or any known solar system, that I would let a child of mine go on a trip like this, whether he or she was 18 or not. No way.

[Labyrinthos]

At 17 years old, I had already hitchhiked from Cape Cod to the Outer Banks, had a full-time job in the construction industry (I was building hotels in Aruba), had my own apartment, and had started my freshman year of college. On my 18th birthday, I declared myself independant of my parents and cut all financial ties (there wasn't much to cut). I'm not saying all 17/18 year olds should follow my lead, but they ought to be able to fend for themselves if put in that kind of situation.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

Who is John Couhey?

[Quilla]

I believe he is the Florida sex offender that kidnapped and killed Jessica Lunsford.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

Thanks, I was focusing on the Aruba case and hadn't heard that name before.

[kabar]

Legally, you speak the truth. However, when my children are 18 years old, if they want to exercise their "legal right" to get on a plane and go to a Caribbean island to celebrate their graduation and their "adulthood" at a place where there are no limits, restrictions, etc., on drinking and the like, when they return home they'll find that I've exercised my legal right to tell them, as "adults," to find (a.) other living accomodations and (b.) another source for college money.

That's between you and your children. There is a large percentage of "children" in the US over 25 who still live at home, much of it having to do with economics and lifestyle. Your children have a choice and can do what they want.

I don't intend to keep my kids in a bubble. And I fully expect them to dabble in and experiment with things they ought not to. I'll be there to pick them up and/or kick them in the gluteus maximus afterward, whichever is required. But there is no way, absolutely no conceivable way in this or any known solar system, that I would let a child of mine go on a trip like this, whether he or she was 18 or not. No way.

You have your views, but don't try to impose them on anyone else or criticize those that allow their children to become self-supporting adults. Personally, I believe we coddle our kids too much and don't allow them to become adults. They need to leave the nest and fly on their own. Going on a trip with a large group of friends to an island noted for its very low crime rate is not, IMO, a risky venture.

I graduated high school in 1961. Besides college, it was the norm for kids to leave home, get married, or join the military, or get a job often outside their hometown. We were adults. I might add that it was legal to drink at 18 (NY). I served in Vietnam with plenty of 18 year olds. They were men.

[shhrubbery!]

< < Another pretty blond high school girl who got drunk and went off with strangers. Lauren Crossan

Guess I'll be the contrarian here. I don't think we can jump to conclusions about the three Aruba teens' involvement in anything fatal happening to Natalie Holloway.

Lauren Crossan did pretty much the same thing as Natalie -- she went off on a class trip, got drunk, and went off with male strangers (despite the presence of chaperones).

If Lauren's body hadn't been found immediately, no doubt the media would be jumping all over the two men she was last seen with -- who were determined by investigators to be innocent of causing her death.

[sandydipper]

"Natalee found" -- got me too. I called all my Buds - now I'm trying to get the pie off my face.

[libsl]

FoxNews was reporting yesterday that Natalee is 17, not 18. I'm not sure why, if that is so, initial sources have misreported her age. It certainly covers a lot of people's a$$e$ to say she is 18 rather than 17.

[Quilla]

Yes, that headline took my breath away yesterday. I'm still holding out hope that she'll be found alive. As the mother of an 19 year old daughter, my prayers could only focus on that scenario.

[Aquinasfan]

Kids who go on class trips should stay with their class and not go off with three boys for flirtations.

I don't see what good could have come from this trip. These kinds of things are just accidents waiting to happen.

[GB]

I won't impose, I do reserve the right to criticize because expressing our respective .02 is the reason for this place. Although I never take any of it personally, and no one else should either. :)

You're about 15 years older than me. Things had already started to change somewhat at the time I got out of high school, but some of what you are saying was still going on.

All I can say is, "That was then and this is now." In my heart of hearts, I think it would be better if things were as you say. The reality is, in 2005 they aren't, and it's hard to put genies back into bottles.

There are things I did as a kid ... not as a high-schooler or college student, but as a grade-school age kid ... and never thought twice about and my parents never thought twice about, that I would, again, not in this or any known solar system let my kids (who are young, 10 and 7) do today. Like at 8 or 9 years old, roaming probably a three- or four-block area around my grandmother's house with a sack, picking up pop bottles that people had tossed out and then walking another three or four blocks to the local mom and pop store and selling them for the deposit to buy myself some goodies. I don't like this very much, I think I got a lesson in living that they're not getting, but I simply am not prepared to run that kind of risk with my kids in 2005.