Posted on 06/13/2005 2:01:55 AM PDT by bd476
If you Google "Joran van der Sloot," the 17 year-old, a lot of interesting stuff comes up, including a Dutch site that says "The Americans want Joran dead." He aparently ran an internet site, now taken down, on which he posted pictures of young tourists he had seduced.
I can't understand how 124 pairs of parents, or more if you consider step-parents, grandparents, etc., could have all collectively lost their judgment and condoned, even tacitly, such a foolhardy trip. I suppose as the story continues we will see more details of how the trip was "sold" to the parents by the students, who if anybody was in charge, what if any were the rules or guidelines and penalties, etc.
Millions of kids go on senior trips and nothing bad happens. That doesn't make the news, however. And most of these "kids" were 17 or 18. They are really young adults.
"this guy could well have slipped some ecstasy into that poor girl's drink..... it appears he was standing by to take her away when she was incapacitated. This may have been an experiment in date rape that could have gone terribly awry, necessitating that he dispose of the evidence."
Very interesting theory. I was wondering what sort of situation would lead to her murder since the boys had way too much to lose by killing her. A date-rape drug with too much effect could explain it. I think you've got the most likely theory.
I agree that it is most likely an accident of some sort. My first thought was that the boys had dropped her off and she decided to go for a moonlight swim and drowned. Now it seems they never dropped her off, so obviously something happened to her while she was with them. How long does it take for alcohol poisoing to kick in?
Maybe the boy had been working on her for several days and realized on the last night he was not going to seduce her, so he slipped her some kind of drug.
Starting when my children were quite young, I took them to the beach every year for spring break. We always went to the same quiet beach that didn't attract boisterous teenagers. The practice was family tradition we all enjoyed.
The year they turned 16 and 17, they asked if we could go to Panama City Beach where all their friends would be. Several mothers and I booked rooms at the same hotel and watched these kids like hawks. This past spring, at 18 and 19, they asked to go with their friends, and more importantly, without me. I struggled with it for a while, thought about the quality of their raising, and finally agreed. Believe it or not, those youngins called me every couple of hours. I probably spoke to them more during those five days than in a normal week.
Granted Panama City Beach, FL is not Aruba, but at some point we have to trust our children to act responsibly and allow them to go places on their own.
I know that as a teen I would have begged to go on a trip like this. But now, 25 years later, I know nothing good could come from it.
It seems to me that it's a very bad practice to "reward" kids for graduating high school with cars or trips, when they've only done what they're supposed to do, and they have yet to contribute anything to society.
Don't feel bad. FOX was reporting this for HOURS. FOX needs to apologize.
I'm sure there are plenty of resulting abortions, among other things.
The killer of the little girl in Fl.
You know your children better than I do. My daughter, now 30, was in boarding school at 14 and flying half way around the world by herself several times a year. I have trusted her judgement and maturity since she was 10. We have lived abroad for 25 years so I assess the risks somewhat different than you do. Downtown DC after dark is a far more dangerous place than Aruba.
Natalee was 17.
Natalee's age is 18.
Born November 7, 1986.
People ridicule me when I say that. Really.
It should be an expectation.
Look, I am all for the right to carry weapons, that is not the point. I was simply pointing out the arrogance of this family and friends in blaming the Arubian government. I am sorry, but for you to make a blanket statement that "it doesn't happen to armed women," is naive and frankly, silly.
LOL! My kids attend a private Christian school, and the seniors in our school take a trip every year ... and it is an officially school-sponsored and authorized and strictly chapheroned trip ... to D.C.
You know what I got for h.s. graduation ... of course this was 29 years ago ... about $100 in cash from various family members, and my parents sprung for me and my two best friends to go eat a post-graduation dinner at Pizza Hut. I thought I'd won the lottery at the time and I have fond memories of that, especially the dinner ... I still remember what I had, Cavatini Supreme, which I don't think Pizza Hut serves anymore ... with my friends who I've kind of lost touch with over the years. Try doing that with a graduating senior today, they'll try to find some way to take you to court, LOL!
Nov. 7, 1986 is the birthdate of Jaye Elizabeth Herrod, Alabama's current Junior Miss. Information about her appeared on the front page of last Monday's Mobile Register, alongside an article about Natalee Holloway. You may have gotten the two articles confused.
I too have been shocked that none of her friends have commented on Natalee's comings and goings during the last day of their trip. Here's a report from the Birmingham Post Herald that's a bit disturbing:
One of the three young men arrested Thursday in the disappearance of Mountain Brook teen Natalee Holloway got into a pushing match with some of her friends in an Aruban bar, one of Holloway's friends said Thursday.
Bryan Reynolds, 18, one of 124 recent high school graduates whowent to Aruba in late May, said some of his friends almost got into a fight with Joran Andreas Petrus Van Der Sloot and his friends.
The scuffle started after Van Der Sloot, a Dutch suspect arrested at his upper-class home in Oranjestad, Aruba, Thursday morning, had been talking to 18-year-old Holloway at a bar where she and classmates hung out during the five-day trip, Reynolds said.
"There was almost a fight between my friend and him," said Reynolds, who was sitting in his car in the parking lot of Mountain Brook Community Church on Thursday after attending a noon prayer service with his classmates and others. "I had to break them up. That's when I got a good look at them."
Van Der Sloot, the son of a Dutch justice official studying at the Aruba International School, and two Surinamese brothers identified by police as Satish and Deepak Kaploe, were arrested Thursday morning, more than a week after Holloway disappeared. The last known people to have seen Holloway, the suspects told police they gave her a ride to her hotel in the early morning hours of May 30, the night she vanished, and never saw her again.
Reynolds said he saw the suspects hanging out at the Holiday Inn where the Mountain Brook High School graduates stayed in Oranjestad. When Holloway went missing, Reynolds said they were the first people he considered as potential suspects.
"That was the first people who came to mind," said Reynolds, who said Holloway is one of his best friends.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.