Natalee Holloway - Case Discussion Extended Thread 3

Some case info to go along with this map...
(as far as I know this is all correct)

B-1 = California Lighthouse - where the boys claim they took her first after leaving the Bar.

D-3 = #4 is the location of the 2 Marriott Hotels - where the 2 brothers (and now Joran) claim they dropped Joran and Natalee off after leaving the lighthouse - the 2 brothers claim they went home to Hooiberg after that.

D-3 = #19 is the location of the Holiday Inn where Natalee was staying.

G-5 = Where the red #2 marker is pointing to is the area that the Carlos & Charlie Bar is located

D-4 = Township of Montana is where Joran lives

F-7/8 = Hooiberg (Haystack Mountain) - The 2 Kalpoe brothers live in this area at the foot of the Haystack Mountian.

C-9 = By the Natural Bridge on the map is the location where the sharks hang out as they are fed at this location. This is the Shark Infested Feeding Area.

E-3 = Wetland in the Bird Sanctuary is the location where they found the Condoms/Condom Wrappers - Duct Tape (looked like black electrical tape to me) - Female Flowered Panties - and a String or Strap from a Bikini or Halter Top.

I am asking that everyone either post just a link to the pictures they wish to share or reduce the size of the picture when you use the img src tag.

This will help greatly for us who are on Dial-up.

Examples

Just a link to a picture like this...(this is the simplest method)
http://www.arubavacationhouse.com/images/arubamap.gif

or reduce this image size like this (you need to know HTML to do it this way)

Just a reminder that...
THIS IS A NO LARGE
PICTURE POSTING THREAD
(please do not post large pictures on the thread - small pictures are fine as well a links to the pictures)

This is a discussion thread about the daily occurrences in the Natalee Holloway Case.
It is located in "Chat" on Free Republic
It is not a thread for bashing Natalee - Natalee's Family or Natalee's Friends.
It also is not an ongoing discussion thread for any other cases.

No, I don't.

******

CNN LARRY KING LIVE

Natalee Holloway Still Missing After 31 Days; Inspiring Stories

Aired June 29, 2005 - 21:00 ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

NANCY GRACE, GUEST HOST: Tonight, where is Natalee Holloway? It is day 31. That's right. A solid month of anguish since the Alabama star student disappeared from the island of Aruba. Her fate? Tonight unknown. Her mother and stepfather, Beth Holloway Twitty and Joe Twitty here with us from Aruba. Tonight they hope against hope and are begging for your help. We have the latest on the search for Natalee.
And, she was a model and actress and secretly married to a TV star. But then a tragic crash nearly killed her. Doctors told her she'd never walk again or move from the neck down. But she defied the doctors.

Plus, he was born nearly disabled. But he became an athletic champion. He is a star on the court and off.

Then at 17, she had it all, from cheerleading pom-poms to the president of a high school class. But a drunken car crash put her in a wheelchair. How did Carlina Stone Lawson (ph) save herself? Here's a hint: never give in, never give up.

And she's a talented songwriter and singer. She lost her leg to a horrible and random crash. But Theresa Sareo still stands tall when it comes to living large and making music.

We share inspiring stories of winners, winners against all odds. It's all next on LARRY KING LIVE.

Hello, everybody. I'm Nancy Grace from COURT TV and HEADLINE NEWS in for Larry tonight. And I want to thank you for being with us. Before we go to those inspiring stories of people who won against all odds, let's go down to Aruba and the latest in the case of a missing 18-year-old girl from Alabama, Natalee Holloway. Standing by, CNN correspondent Karl Penhaul.

Karl, today the release of the party boat DJ Steve Croes. Explain.

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, he was released just on Monday. In fact, and today we sat down and talked to him. And basically, what it comes down to is that Steve Croes is telling us that he overheard a conversation in an Internet cafe where one of the other suspects, Deepak Kalpoe, works. And then Steve Croes went along to the police and repeated that overheard conversation as if he knew it to be a fact. That landed him in trouble. It also landed him in jail for 10 days. But finally a judge looking through the evidence said, no, I don't believe Steve Croes has anything to do with this. There's no evidence to back that up, and then decided to release him -- Nancy.

******

They haven't added the Steve Croes interview yet.

CNN LIVE TODAY

Four Weeks Into Natalee Holloway Case; 'Daily Dose'

Aired June 29, 2005 - 11:30 ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

To Aruba now, which is getting more help from the Netherlands in the search for missing teenager Natalee Holloway. She disappeared more than four weeks ago. The Netherlands is sending more marines to help in the search, at the request of Aruba's prime minister. Three young men are in custody, but no one has been charged and there has been no sign of Holloway.

CNN's Karl Penhaul retraces what police think they do know about the case.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): According to the attorney for one of the men, all said in recent statements, this is the spot where Joran van der Sloot and Natalee got out of the car and headed off alone. By then it was 1:50 a.m. It would have been a night like tonight. A warm, tropical breeze is blowing out onto the ocean.

It's been 28 days of full lunar cycle since Natalee vanished. The moon above me now would have been exactly the same that night. It's bright enough to cast my shadow on the sand.

(voice-over): It could have been romantic if something had not gone terribly wrong. Even at 3:00 a.m., there are a few couples and late night revelers still around. Exactly what happened, we still don't know.

Investigators say they've checked cell phone and Internet records from that night. Based on those records, Satish Kalpoe's attorney, David Kock, says Joran van der Sloot phoned Deepak Kalpoe between 2:30 and 2:40. DAVID KOCK, SATISH KALPOE'S ATTORNEY: The story of Deepak is that Joran just said I'm walking home. I was on the beach with the girl, but she asleep, didn't want to get up. So I said, forget it, I'm walking home. He said that, we know.

PENHAUL (on camera): I'm walking the same route Joran van der Sloot would have taken that night if this version of his story is true. I set off from the beach about 20 minutes ago. As you can see, there are stores and banks and some of them have closed circuit security cameras.

(voice-over): Prosecutors have said security camera footage has been checked, but they declined to say if the tapes from these businesses were reviewed and if there's any sign of van der Sloot. Based on records, Kock says Joran van der Sloot send a text message to Deepak Kalpoe after the 2:40 a.m. phone call.

KOCK: About 40 minutes later, 45 minutes later, there's an SMS message from Yoran to Deepak again, saying, I got home, you know, thanks for waiting.

PENHAUL (on camera): I'm taking a shortcut on this dirt track. Seemed to have woken up some of the local dogs. It's taken me about 36 minutes to walk from the beach right up to Joran van der Sloot's front gate. It's likely that by the time he arrived most of the neighbors were asleep as they seem to be now. From what we know, there are no eyewitnesses who saw him reach home.

Assuming Joran van der Sloot did walk and text messaged Deepak Kalpoe as soon as he arrived, it would make it about 3:20 a.m.

(voice-over): According to the Kock, Internet records show Deepak Kalpoe was web-surfing when the message came through. Kock says his client Satish was asleep. His mother, Nadira Ramirez, backs that up.

NADIRA RAMIREZ, SATISH KALPOE'S MOTHER: I just opened the door silently. I peak. I saw Deepak's room closed. I peak. I saw the car and I went back to back.

PENHAUL: Van der Sloot's attorney, Antonio Carlo, declined to talk to us for this report, but Kock has seen van der Sloot's statements to investors and says he's changed his story several times since his arrest, claiming first Deepak Kalpoe picked him up from the beach after he left Natalee, then saying it was Satish Kalpoe. In another version of the story, Joran van der Sloot said he walked home.

KOCK: There have been other points, but those important issues, you see that those are four different stories.

PENHAUL: Authorities say they're making headway, but Kock believes they're still a long way from cracking the case.

KOCK: We got a good picture of where the girl was and where she was last dropped. But what happened afterwards, they do not know. PENHAUL: What is certain is that all three young men, at least initially, cooked up a lie to cover their tracks once they realized Natalee was missing. What's still far from clear is whether they played a role in her disappearance.

Karl Penaul, CNN, Palm Beach, Aruba.

NANCY GRACE

Nancy Grace for June 29, 2005, CNNHN

Aired June 29, 2005 - 20:00:00 ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

NANCY GRACE, HOST: Tonight, a primetime, live exclusive. The former suspect in the Aruba missing girl case, the party boat deejay Steve Croes, is out and he speaks out. Why did he land behind bars over the disappearance of 18-year-old Natalee Holloway? He is with us tonight.
And Semper Fi, send in the marines. Marines head to Aruba to search for the 18-year-old American girl. She vanished from her high school senior trip.

But first, to Aruba, an Alabama star student, Natalee Holloway, still missing tonight. But now, the Netherlands sends in the marines.

A primetime, live exclusive tonight. Party boat deejay Steve Croes speaks out about his time behind bars as a suspect in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway. Tonight, in Aruba, the deejay who landed in jail over Natalee`s disappearance, Steve Croes is with us.

But first, let`s go down to Aruba and CNN correspondent Karl Penhaul. Karl, what`s the latest?

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Nancy, the Texas Equusearch volunteers have been on the move again today. They say that it was searching rock quarries on the north side of the island. Nothing was found, though.

They say some of the challenges on that side of the island is that the terrain is very rocky. It`s a very rugged piece of land there. That`s one of the challenges. And also, they don`t know the island particularly well because they`re here for a short-term. They`re still finding their way around.

Now, you`ll remember that just over 20 people, I think 24 volunteers, were here from Texas helping out that search. Because they`re volunteers, nine of them have now had to leave the island and return to their jobs. But Equusearch spokespeople do say that they`re hopeful that more volunteers will come from Texas.

And of course, as you mentioned, the Dutch marines, we understand that the prime minister here on the island has done all the paperwork and those Dutch marines can once again join the search to help out looking for clues as to Natalee`s whereabouts or what may have happened to her, Nancy.

GRACE: Before we go to deejay and former jailbird Steve Croes -- he was just released under suspicion of having something to do with Natalee`s disappearance. He is free, and clear, and with us tonight.

Karl Penhaul, very quickly, what is leading them to search in these rock quarries? You told me the other day they were searching in kind of a manmade lake that was kind of a dump. Found nothing so far. Now they`re searching in quarries. Did one of these brothers, or did Joran Van Der Sloot, say something to make them go search in these areas?

PENHAUL: Well, what Joran Van Der Sloot may or may not have said is always subject to his latest statement. In fact, the chief prosecutor on the island, Karin Janssen, told us today that Joran Van Der Sloot has once again changed his story.

You`ll remember that he did say that he`d walked home from the beach after leaving Natalee. Now Karin Janssen tells us he`s changed that story. So we don`t know if there are specific leads leading Equusearch to look at certain parts of the island. More particularly, they`re looking at areas that they`ve flown over in a helicopter and saying, "OK, let`s take a closer look here."

GRACE: OK, well, if this is -- if my math is correct, this is at least his third statement. And I can tell you right now, there is nothing good about that.

Take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARIN JANSSEN, ARUBA CHIEF PROSECUTOR: However, in this stage of the investigation, we cannot exclude the possibility that something happened to Natalee. We are determined to find a truth, to find Natalee, and in case somebody harmed her, to find those who are responsible.

Out of respect for the family Holloway, we did not want to speak about murder and homicides because we did not want to hurt their feelings. It`s human, you know? And because, in that early stage, they were searching for their girl alive. And it was at that time just not suitable to talk about that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: If something happened to Natalee? Here`s a clue to the Aruban prosecutor: Something has happened to Natalee Holloway.

Very quickly, tonight in a primetime exclusive interview, we are very happy to have with us Mr. Steve Croes. Now, Steve Croes is the deejay off that party boat, I think it was called "The Tattoo." And it is parked not too, too far from the Holiday Inn where Natalee Holloway was staying.

Mr. Croes, thank you for being with us.

STEVE CROES, FORMER SUSPECT IN NATALEE HOLLOWAY CASE: Hi. How are you doing?

GRACE: I`m great. Mr. Croes, how did you land behind bars in connection with Natalee?

S. CROES: Well, it was a mistake that I did, by telling the cops something that wasn`t true. And I really like -- how you say, you know, if I could change it, I change it, like, right away. But I`m glad that I prove everybody that I`m innocent. I didn`t have nothing to do in there. So that`s about it.

GRACE: Well, Mr. Croes, what did you tell the cops to make them arrest you?

S. CROES: You know, what exactly I told the cops is -- you know, I didn`t really like to go into those details. Why? Because, you know, it`s like something that...

GRACE: Mr. Croes, Mr. Croes, Mr. Croes, isn`t it true that you were at the Internet cafe and heard a Kalpoe brother on the phone cooking up a story?

S. CROES: Yes.

GRACE: Now what was the story he was cooking up?

S. CROES: The story that everybody knows here on the island, which they dropped the girl at the hotel and left her there. And that`s it.

GRACE: So you heard a Kalpoe brother on the phone at an Internet cafe cooking up this story. And you told the cops, right?

S. CROES: Yes.

GRACE: Now, when you were behind bars, how did you convince the cops that you didn`t have anything to do with it, that you overheard it?

S. CROES: Well, I just start talking everything the truth, like where I was that day, the day I had, like, a night shift on the boat, like as a watchman. So I was sleeping on the boat. And, yes, that I wasn`t even there.

GRACE: Is it true that you have been fired from your job over this whole thing?

S. CROES: Yes. Yesterday during the afternoon I had, like, this meeting with my ex-boss and his lawyer, and they told me that I was fired.

GRACE: Steve, while you were behind bars, did you speak to or overhear Van Der Sloot or the Kalpoe brothers talking?

S. CROES: No, I didn`t -- I don`t even know these guys. The only thing that I know is what I heard, that this guy talking on the phone. But I don`t know these guys. They don`t know me.

During my confrontations with the cops with these guys, they also admitted that they don`t know me. So I just put myself in trouble without knowing anything. So it was like a stupid mistake that I did.

GRACE: Steve, when you overheard the Kalpoe brother talking on, I guess, the cell phone at the Internet cafe, was it Deepak or Satish Kalpoe?

S. CROES: Deepak, Deepak, yes.

GRACE: OK. What was it exactly that he was saying, that you overheard?

S. CROES: Just the story that they dropped the girl at the hotel. The girl fell from the car, and they tried to help her to go back into the lobby, and that was the story.

GRACE: And let me go back to Karl Penhaul, CNN correspondent, standing by there with Steve Croes. Karl, that was the Kalpoe brothers` and Joran Van Der Sloot`s original story to police, exactly what Steve Croes told them.

PENHAUL: It was exactly that, Nancy. In fact, talking to David Kock, the defense attorney for Satish Kalpoe, he backs up what Steve is, in fact, saying, in that Deepak and Joran Van Der Sloot, first of all, cooked up a lie to cover their tracks that night in two or three days subsequent to Natalee`s disappearance.

They then contacted Satish and explained the cover story to him. What David Kock says at that stage is that they invented this cover story because they realized that Natalee had disappeared. And although David Kock still insists on the innocence of Satish Kalpoe, he does say that all three boys were very worried that they were the last three to have seen a girl who had then disappeared.

GRACE: You know, my question to you, though, regarding this whole story, Karl Penhaul -- you`re telling me that Joran Van Der Sloot`s story has changed yet again. What`s his new story?

PENHAUL: Well, David Kock, again, the defense attorney for Satish Kalpoe, has a right to see a number of statements from the other suspects which are presented to him as evidence against his client. He told us that in the file that he had, as of Sunday, bearing in mind that he gets witness statements and suspect statements approximately four days after they`re made, he said, until that point, he had eight different statements by Joran Van Der Sloot, four of them were substantial changes in the story.

He said he expected to get more paperwork through, bearing in mind, as I say, that he`s getting the statement four days late.

GRACE: Steve Croes, when the police came to you, where were you when you were arrested?

S. CROES: I was at home.

GRACE: Did they try to get you to talk?

S. CROES: No, they just came. They tell me that I was arrested for the reason, like, for the confession, for confession stuff. And then that they give me my rights. And then I was, like, in a boxer short.

So I tell them, "Please, let me just get a t-shirt and a short." And they went with me to my room. And I put on my shirt, and then I went with him.

GRACE: Once you got to the police station, did they try to get a statement out of you?

S. CROES: Yes. The first thing they wanted to do is, like, for me to, like, talk. And they wanted to see if I knew anything, like, for real or something like that.

GRACE: Did they ever hit you, touch you, threaten you, harm you in any way?

S. CROES: Not at all, not at all. They treat me good. They treat me good.

GRACE: When you realized -- you had to know about Natalee`s disappearance when police came to arrest you. When you realized they had zeroed in on you in Natalee`s disappearance, what did you think?

S. CROES: Excuse me, I didn`t understand the question so good.

GRACE: When you realized police thought you had something to do with Natalee disappearing, what did you think?

S. CROES: Well, I was relaxed the whole time, because I know that I didn`t have nothing to do. But I was, like, a little scared.

GRACE: OK. Let me take you back one last time to this Internet cafe where you overheard Deepak Kalpoe talking on the phone. Could you tell that he was trying to make up a story?

S. CROES: No. I couldn`t tell that, because I believed him, you know what I mean? So I couldn`t tell if it was true or a lie. But he was just talking like so serious that, you know, anyone could believe what he was saying there.

GRACE: Do you know who he was talking to?

S. CROES: No. I don`t even know the guy. I`m just a client of the Internet cafe where I was there. So I didn`t even know the guy.

GRACE: OK.

Back to Karl Penhaul. Karl, do we have any reason to believe or hope that the Aruban police have gotten the cell phone records from Deepak Kalpoe to prove what Steve Croes is saying is correct and to tell us who Deepak Kalpoe was talking to?

PENHAUL: We do know that the Aruban police and investigators have seized cell phone and internet records. In my conversations with David Kock, the defense attorney for one of the three suspects, he was referring specifically to cell phone records from earlier, the night and early morning of Natalee`s disappearance.

That when supposedly Joran Van Der Sloot, according to cell phone records, called Deepak Kalpoe. And according to Deepak Kalpoe`s statements in that conversation, which was about 2:40 a.m., Joran said, "I`ve left Natalee at the beach. I`m walking home."

And then, about 40 minutes later, what the cell phone records show is that Joran Van Der Sloot sent a text message to Deepak Kalpoe saying, "I`ve arrived home." And then, of course, the Internet records which show, at the time that the text message was sent at about 3:20 a.m., at that time, Deepak Kalpoe was at his house and on the Internet in a chatroom at the time, Nancy.

GRACE: You know, the telephone records, the Internet cafe records, are going to come back and hit these guys in the head like a boomerang.

I want to thank Steve Croes. He is with us tonight in an exclusive interview. As you recall, Croes is the deejay from the party boat that has been behind bars on Natalee`s disappearance. He is out tonight, and has explained his involvement, or lack thereof.

Thank you, Mr. Croes, for being with us.

Also, thank you to Karl Penhaul.

Tonight, Aruba's government is asking the Netherlands to free up more Marines to help in the search for her. She is the American teenager missing on that island. That may be a sign of the intense pressure Aruba's government is feeling at this hour, one month since the Alabama honor student vanished on the tiny resort island in the Caribbean.

Joining me now with the very latest from Aruba, Rick Sanchez.

Rick, I know that you spoke with Natalee Holloway's mother today. She has been increasingly critical of the Aruban government's efforts here. What did she tell you?

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: She's frustrated, Paula.

She's frustrated because she just wants to make sure -- and this is the point that she was most strong about, is that these three young men, including Joran, the man who says that he went with her daughter to the beach, remain behind bars. She thinks that they -- if they continue to press them, eventually, they will get to the truth.

And they just want to make sure that these three young men tell their stories. She's also frustrated because she believes -- and she told me this today -- that the police took too long to actually arrest him and that they took too long to search his house. Respectively, that would be 10 days for the arrest, 16 days to actually go inside the home.

Now, to be fair, we have spoken today with the prosecutor here in Aruba, who says that she has done everything possible and that we just have to understand the process by which Aruban law works. Nonetheless, though, it's extremely frustrating for a lot of people here on the island, but, most of all, of course, for Beth.

ZAHN: So, are the locals as critical of this effort as she is at this hour? SANCHEZ: I think they're critical because they would like to see this come to an end.

They -- they -- they seem to be taking a toll here on the island, they say, with all the media coverage and exposure. They're also frustrated about the way the investigation went. They refer to Joran as, oh, the Dutch guy. And they've told me that on several occasions. And I've talked to a lot of people here on the island who say that they thought that police may have been a little bit lenient with him.

Of course, police deny that. They say they were working the investigation all along. But they say that they were lenient with him because his father is a judge, who, as you know, was arrested as well.

Police, by the way, and prosecutors have said now that they do believe, as Natalee's own mother had suggested today, when I talked to her, Paula, that there was some corroboration, some story sharing on the part of the three young men, including Joran's father, Paul, as well -- Paula.

ZAHN: Which is why she told me yesterday she was so frustrated that he had finally been released from jail, as his son remains in jail tonight.

Rick Sanchez, thank you so much for the update.

Late last week, a team of 27 specialists from Texas joined the search for Natalee Holloway. One member of that team is driven by his own intensely personal loss.

Our Alex Quade has his story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEX QUADE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Each day, the search for Natalee Holloway begins with prayers.

PHILLIPS: Father, we are going to -- out there to search Natalee. God, we pray, Father, that you will be with us.

QUADE: Darryl Phillips provides inspiration to the Texas volunteers looking for the missing teen.

TIM MILLER, FOUNDER, TEXAS EQUUSEARCH: He knows what it's likes to have somebody missing, too. And he wishes, at that time, there would have been somebody to help him out. But instead of holding on to that bitterness and that, he's out here helping other people.

QUADE: Darryl Phillips has not shared his story with anyone, except his fellow searchers. Now he shares it with us, while searching for Natalee Holloway.

PHILLIPS: Her name is Angela Phillips. She went missing on September 16, 1986. And I don't know where she is.

QUADE: He's been searching for his sister Angela for 19 years. This worn-out photo is the only one his family has of her, the rest destroyed in a house fire.

PHILLIPS: I think about her every time I'm out in the field. I think about her. I can't get her out of my mind. It's like you took a flower away from the rose garden.

QUADE (on camera): Why would you be doing this if you've got a missing loved one that you still need to find?

PHILLIPS: Well, one of the reasons is, there's always hope. Her disappearance has not been as long as my sister's. Natalee needs to be with her family. She needs to be with her family.

QUADE (voice-over): As he searches for Natalee Holloway, he comes across a lone grave by the sea.

PHILLIPS: It reminds me of my sister, that -- some day that hopefully someone or myself will run across her, so she can have a proper burial, which she deserves.

QUADE: Phillips and the other volunteers focus on finding Natalee, ignoring the minor injuries, the danger of combing through a smoldering garbage dump, and the heat.

LINDA ALLISON, AUNT OF NATALEE HOLLOWAY: In 90-something degree weather, it is difficult.

QUADE: Natalee's aunt, Linda Allison, knows the hardships Darryl Phillips and the others are facing on their behalf.

ALLISON: Cacti, thorns, a lot of rocks, a lot of large boulders, hard to -- hard to maneuver around in some of the areas.

QUADE: She searched in vain for Natalee before the Texas team arrived.

ALLISON: The island is huge when you're looking for a person. It's a needle in a haystack.

QUADE: Just one of the reasons the family asked for the volunteers' help and one of the reasons why Darryl Phillips agreed.

PHILLIPS: They deserve to have some closure. And she deserves -- Natalee deserves to be with her family.

QUADE (on camera): Because you don't want the Holloways to have to experience the not knowing.

PHILLIPS: The not knowing, and go through 19, 20 years of not know where their daughter is. It's not fair to them. It's not fair to any family.

QUADE: And this is something that your family is still dealing with.

PHILLIPS: For almost 19 years this coming September. And it's not easy. But me being out here, it's not about my family. It's about Natalee's family, and that they can at least have some kind of peace of mind.

Father, we pray for strength for Natalee's family, God, that...

QUADE (voice-over): The search day ends with another prayer.

PHILLIPS: We pray, God, that you would be with us tonight, God. Give us all strength.

QUADE: Until this moment, Linda Allison and the rest of Natalee's family had not met Darryl Phillips, knew nothing about his own tragedy.

(on camera): He said to us he's out here because he doesn't want you to all go through the not knowing.

ALLISON: Oh, I think it's awesome. I can't believe that he's here with us looking for Natalee. I know that 19 years, I hope that's not what we have to look forward to.

PHILLIPS: It's very important to me to see other families have a peace of mind and not having to wait so long.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: That was Alex Quade reporting for us tonight.

Three men remain in jail, but none has been charged in her disappearance. Earlier this week, two others were released, a judge whose son is one of the three still being held, and Steve Croes, a disk jockey on a party boat that was docked near the hotel where Holloway was staying. Croes was held for 10 days. He joins me now from Aruba.

Thank you so much for joining us.

How did you wind up in jail?

STEVE CROES, FORMER SUSPECT: Well, the first of all, good night, everybody over there.

Yes. I end up in jail just for a stupid mistake that I did. And, yes, that's -- that's about it.

ZAHN: What was the mistake you made?

CROES: Lied to the cops.

ZAHN: And what did you tell them?

CROES: I just told them that I witnessed when they dropped the girl at the hotel. But that wasn't true, because I didn't even know these guys.

ZAHN: Why would you make that up, Steve?

CROES: You know, I -- I don't know. Normally, I'm not, like, that stupid, stupid person. I'm always, like -- in the group of the guys that we go out with and stuff like that, I'm the only one that gives them the good advice, like, please don't do this or don't do that. But this time, I did a stupid mistake. And I got into jail for 10 -- 10 days.

ZAHN: You certainly had to be aware of Natalee Holloway's disappearance, right. So you knew enough that she had been missing.

CROES: I knew until the Thursday after the missing, because I was -- I was working on the boat where I was working. And, yes, I didn't like really follow the news and everything about this case. That's why I make also that mistake, because I didn't follow the news.

ZAHN: But didn't it occur to you if you told police that you could very well wind up in some way being implicated in her disappearance?

CROES: Sorry. I didn't understand the question.

ZAHN: Didn't you think about when you told this so-called lie to police, that you could end up being in a whole lot of trouble and perhaps held responsible for her disappearance?

CROES: You know, I didn't realize it until I was in there. And the cops, they were explaining that I did. You know what you did? And I'm like, no, I didn't know. I was -- I did it unconsciously.

Yes, I'm glad that I proved that I wasn't true, that I wasn't even there. Yes, that's it.

ZAHN: But Steve, the story gets a little more confusing because apparently you were at this Internet cafe where you -- I am told -- overheard a conversation of one of the men who's now currently in jail being held for Natalee Holloway's disappearance. What did you overhear?

CROES: Well, what I heard that night that night or afternoon, sorry, the Internet cafe was like the story that everybody knows here on the island, which is the one that they dropped the girl at the Holiday Inn, in the lobby, that she fell on the floor. And then one of them tried to help her and she refused. And then they still help her and drop her in the lobby and they left. That's the story that I know.

ZAHN: But then you still made up your own story when you talked to police?

CROES: No, it was that story that I told them first.

ZAHN: That was the story you told them first.

CROES: Yes.

ZAHN: But then you told them at the top of this interview that you had actually made a mistake because you told police that you had seen her yourself.

CROES: I'm sorry?

ZAHN: The two stories are very different.

CROES: Yes.

ZAHN: One more time, you claim you overheard this conversation at the Internet cafe, but you also said you made a mistake because you told police that you had seen Natalee Holloway.

CROES: Yes. That was the first time that's why they came arrest me because the story that I told them was matching almost exactly the one from the guy that was still arrested. And they thought that maybe I was inside that problem right now. And I wasn't even there. That was one of the problems why they arrested me.

ZAHN: I know you are a relieved man, but you certainly paid a price. You lost your job as a result of what you did. And we know you got a tough road ahead.

Thank you, Steve, for sharing your story with us tonight. We appreciate it.

CROES: No problem. Have a good night. Thank you.

ZAHN: Thank you. You as well.

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