6/22/2005, 11:44 a.m. CT
By PETER PRENGAMAN The Associated Press
ORANJESTAD, Aruba (AP) — The mother of a missing Alabama teenager said Wednesday she has "no doubt" that three young men detained by police have answers to the mystery of what happened to her daughter.
Beth Holloway Twitty, speaking on NBC's "Today" program, also repeated that she believes authorities will make more arrests in the case, though she said she was going on just her intuition. Aruban authorities have refused to comment on that possibility.
Natalee Holloway, an 18-year-old from Mountain Brook, Ala., disappeared in Aruba in the early hours of May 30, the last day of a five-day vacation with 124 students celebrating their high school graduation. Her passport and packed bags were found in her room.
In all, four men have been detained in the case, but no one has been charged.
Speaking of the three detained friends, Holloway Twitty said: "We still don't have any answers — and I have no doubt that they know what and who and where and when and why and how."
On Tuesday, Holloway Twitty told The Associated Press she had a "positive" exchange that day with the parents of one of the three detained men, 17-year-old Dutch honors student Joran van der Sloot.
Holloway Twitty went to the youth's home, knocked on the door, was invited in and spent 90 minutes talking to the parents. She called the conversation "positive" but declined to describe it in detail.
"There was an interaction and there is nothing else I want to disclose right now," she said.
Holloway Twitty last met with Paul and Joran van der Sloot on the night of May 30, about 12 hours after Natalee missed her plane back home. She has described that meeting as tense and uncomfortable.
Meanwhile, a volunteer Texas rescue group has postponed until Friday a trip to Aruba to help search for the teenager because of delays in getting permits for their search dogs.
Investigators refuse to say whether they believe Holloway is dead. Her mother has said she will continue to believe the teen is alive until she has proof to the contrary.
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On the Net:
http://www.texasequusearch.org
Texas group in search for missing Ala. teen claims 70 percent success rate in 450 searches
6/22/2005, 5:24 p.m. CT
By PAM EASTON The Associated Press
DICKINSON, Texas (AP) — The search-and-rescue group Texas EquuSearch has an admirable history of success: In 450 searches for missing people, it has found its target 70 percent of the time.
Now the group is turning its attention to a missing person — Alabama teen Natalee Holloway — whose disappearance has stumped hundreds of police and volunteers for more than three weeks.
EquuSearch is sending volunteers to Aruba this week to begin a hunt for Holloway at her family's request. The organization plans a full-scale, round-the-clock ground and water search with trained divers, night vision goggles and sonar equipment, EquuSearch volunteer Joe Huston said.
"We expect to be able to look at Aruba and see something that other people haven't seen," Huston said. "We have a very good record of finding people."
EquuSearch was created five years ago by Tim Miller after his 16-year-old daughter, Laura, disappeared in Texas and was found dead 17 months later. Funded through donations, the group performs background checks on its 250 members, offers search-and-rescue training and uses a bevy of specialized search equipment.
Group volunteers helped recover remains after last year's deadly tsunami and have assisted in numerous searches for missing children. Harris County Sheriff's homicide Detective Ben Beall said EquuSearch can be especially helpful in large counties like his, where wooded areas and vast stretches of land can hinder search efforts.
"They have always been just very cooperative and they definitely are a help," Beall said.
Paul Reynolds, an uncle of the missing girl, said he asked EquuSearch to help because of its expertise. He said Holloway's family is frustrated by sporadic search efforts and lack of information from officials on the island.
"Most of the searches have been done by volunteers, either persons who live on the island or tourists," Reynolds said. "We are just hoping that their capabilities are more extensive."
Of the missing persons the group has found, 85 percent were found alive, group officials say. But Huston acknowledged that the odds lessen with time — and there could be added difficulty if Holloway ended up in the Caribbean Sea.
"If she is in the water, there may not be a whole lot left of her," he said.
Holloway, 18, disappeared while on vacation with classmates in Aruba, a tourist hotspot off the coast of Venezuela. Aruban authorities, FBI observers, tourists and local volunteers have scoured the island since her May 30 disappearance without success.
There was an interaction and there is nothing else I want to disclose right now," she said.
Beth must have put a gag on Greta, or she would be spilling the proverbial tabloid beans by now.