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.
It's too bad the parents put their trust in a) The judgement of their kids and b) The judgement of the chaperones.
Amen, you hit the nail on the head...a good chaperone would have sent any kid going into bars or casinos on the first flight back to Birmingham.