Posted on 07/18/2005 9:55:55 AM PDT by Sub-Driver
Blond Hair Found on Aruba Shore to Be Tested in Case of Missing U.S. Teen By Margaret Wever Associated Press Writer
ORANJESTAD, Aruba (AP) - Investigators will conduct DNA tests on blond hair attached to duct tape that was found along the northeast coast of Aruba to see if it came from missing U.S. teenager Natalee Holloway, authorities said Monday.
A park ranger found the duct tape while collecting trash Sunday on rocks at Boca Tortuga, an inlet in front of a series of caves, said National Park Ranger Service spokeswoman Dilma Arends.
Boca Tortuga is on the opposite side of Aruba from where Holloway, was last seen in public.
The hair will be sent to the Netherlands for DNA analysis, said police spokesman Edwin Comemencia. Aruba, a Dutch protectorate, doesn't have a lab to conduct the genetic testing.
Extensive searches by Dutch marines, Aruban police, and some 2,000 volunteers have found no trace of the 18-year-old Holloway, of Mountain Brook, Ala., who was last seen in public in the early hours of May 30 - at the end of a high school graduation trip to the Dutch Caribbean island.
A volunteer group from Dickinson, Texas, that had searched for three weeks left the island on Sunday.
(Excerpt) Read more at ap.tbo.com ...
Where was the hole they found (the one that it appeared perhaps she had been buried and then dug up) in relation to where this tape was found, and where she was last seen? I'm not very Aruba geography saavy..
susie
Just a P.S. Sounds like VDS had followed the Laci Peterson case doesn't it?!
Wouldn't this mean that the body was disposed during the time they let the 3 go and arrested the 2 security guards? He wouldn't have had time that evening to wrap a body and dispose of it and return home.
Aruba official screwed this up badly.
FoxNews just had a forensic pathologist on who said from a hair strand (without the root) they can obtain the mother's DNA, while with the root, they can detect both the mother's and father's DNA.
Upon recovery of the remains, the four would be turned over to the proper authorities, bound, gagged and unconscious - or turned over to Holloway's family, offshore, of course.
"I have wondered if the hurricans have passed near there and if this might reveal her location."
I was wondering the same thing and also if the hurricanes would sweep her futher away. ???
Just what did the perps do to the body?
It could still be accidental death, and the perps panicked and took deliberate steps to get rid of the body.
Isn't her hair dyed?
Doesn't that make a difference?
It sounds like dye may affect a standard, but they have tests to get around that:
When it is sent for examination to the Forensic Science Laboratory hair is normally dry mounted on a glass slide for viewing under a comparison microscope.
To examine it in cross section, the specimen is mounted in a wax block from which wafer-thin slices are cut and mounted on glass slides. The cross-sectioned shape and appearance of the medulla is then viewed microscopically. Impressions of the cuticular scales are sometimes made on cellulose acetate for detailed study. The forensic scientist also has a variety of tests available for dealing with DYED hair and examining for age.
Unless it is burnt, hair is extremely durable. It remains identifiable on bodies in an advanced state of decomposition or attached to a murder weapon long after the crime is committed. Hair is composed of protein substances, chiefly keratin, and head hair grows at an average weekly rate of about 2.5mm, the beard growing faster and body hair more slowly. Growth ceases at death, but as the skin shrinks the hair, especially the beard, becomes more prominent, giving rise to the murder myth that hair grows after death. The absorbent property of hair makes its examination important in cases of arsenic poisoning. Hair picks up the poisons from the bloodstream, and it is possible to work out the approximate strength and frequency of the dosage by analysis.
Hair can be used in helping to reconstruct events. Collection of hair and fibres can indicating contact with surfaces or individuals and so where individuals have been. Examination of the root structure can indicate whether hair has fallen out or been forcefully removed, indicating a struggle.
These days hair can also be used to assist identification through DNA analysis. If some root structure is present standard DNA profiling can be used. Even if you only have the shaft, mitochondrial DNA testing can be tried.
how corrupt is aruba anyway?
Will someone on FR please post when this case is solved or disappears so I can start watching Fox News again.
AP: ... A park ranger found the duct tape while collecting trash Sunday on rocks at Boca Tortuga, an inlet in front of a series of caves, said National Park Ranger Service spokeswoman Dilma Arends.
Here is a snippet from an article on the same topic by Fox News:
... The foot-long locks were attached to a piece of duct tape in a remote part of the island territory known as Boca Tortuga. Police received an anonymous tip that led them to search the area. Sources on the scene said that the hair washed ashore and was found in a cave. Divers were reportedly dispatched the area to retrieve any other possible evidence. ...
Are you going back to that point a week ago that negligent actions of one party that causes another's death is some how an accident?
That OD'ing someone with a drug that you gave or forced to take is an accident?
Is the coverage ridiculous or what?
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