Jossy Mansur: Joran is a member of the racket club and Joran confessed that he went to that part of the beach at 2a.m.. Jossy stated that Joran told police that he thought that Deepak raped and murdered Natalee.
MARGARET WEVER Associated Press
ORANJESTAD, Aruba - Aruban firefighters were draining a lake Tuesday in the search for an Alabama teenager who vanished nearly two months ago while vacationing in the island.
Edwin Comemencia, a police spokesman, confirmed that the draining of the lake across from the Marriott Hotel was part of the investigation into Natalee Holloway's disappearance but would not comment further. A jailed Dutch youth has said he was with Holloway in the area the night she disappeared.
The draining was expected to take up to 24 hours.
Earlier Tuesday, Holloway's stepfather, George Twitty, said two new witnesses had come forward with information about the night she disappeared.
One witness told investigators that he saw Joran van der Sloot, the 17-year-old who has been detained as the main suspect, driving to a nightclub across the road from the Marriott Hotel around 2:30 a.m. the night Holloway disappeared, Twitty said.
The witness said van der Sloot tried to hide his face with his hands as he drove to the Racquet Club with two Surinamese brothers, Satish and Deepak Kalpoe, Twitty said. The Kalpoe brothers were detained as suspects and later released.
The stepfather said the account places the three individuals near the hotel beach where van der Sloot says he left 18-year-old Holloway alone the last night she was seen in public.
"What's interesting is the time - 2:30 a.m. - when the three were supposedly on their way home," said Twitty, referring to their previous accounts to investigators.
The witness, a gardener whose name was not disclosed, gave his account to investigators on Friday, Twitty said.
The Kalpoe brothers first told police that they and van der Sloot dropped Holloway at her hotel around 2 a.m. the morning of May 30. Later, they said they had lied to protect their friend and that they had dropped the Dutch youth and American teen at a beach near the hotel.
A second new witness told a private investigator hired by Holloway's family that she saw van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers drive into the Racquet Club three times that same night. The woman, who lives near the nightclub, has not yet spoken with investigators, he said.
Aruban authorities did not comment on the stepfather's statements.
An attorney for van der Sloot, Richie Kock, said authorities had not told him about the new witnesses. Lawyers for the Kalpoe brothers were not immediately available for comment.
No one has been charged in the case, and van der Sloot is the only suspect still detained.
Holloway vanished after an evening of eating, drinking and dancing at a nightclub which she left with the three young men, hours before she was to catch a flight home to Mountain Brook, Ala., at the end of a graduation trip with 124 classmates.
Everything is falling into place now - this why they are hot on this lead because it fits into something he told LE and he knows that area well.
Not to down play the Kalpoes guilt once again. But maybe Joran still did this by himself. The brothers may have came and picked him up and that is why they were seen there in the car together at the Racquet Ball Club, this was the pick-up point. They could have been planning the story up at this point in the car and Joran may have reminded them that Natalee was last seen getting into the Kalpoe car. I think Joran was smart enough to fool these 2 brothers into thinking that the brothers would never be believed since Joran's father is a judge (everyone on the island thought he was going to be a judge and word was not out yet that he failed his finals)
So Joran is muddy (explains the loss of the shoes) and he gets this mud in Deepaks car and that is why the late night car washing (the mud). Not sure why he let Joran drive but maybe Joran was cool headed and Deepak was not. Deepak seems to be easily spooked and Joran does not. Another thing is wash the car at a car wash and spray Joran legs off also.