Coming up, what could be a major break in the investigation in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway in Aruba. A lot of police activity going on down there. It's heating up. We've got the details coming up.
And her family hopeful with all of these new leads in the case. They have now upped the reward money to $1 million for information on her safe return. Natalee's uncle tells me what's keeping them so optimistic.
DANIELS: And welcome back. We have breaking news right now out of Aruba. Police activity at a pond near where a witness claims to have seen the three suspects in Natalee Holloway's disappearance. Let's go straight to NBC's Michelle Kosinski for the very latest.
Michelle, what's going on there?
MICHELLE KOSINSKI, NBC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Once again today it's all about witness statements. And we are seeing developments in this case based specifically on the words of one man, a gardener. He says that as we speak, confirmed by multiple sources now, that authorities are getting ready to pump the water out of an area where this witness claims on the night that Natalee Holloway disappeared, he spotted the Kalpoe brothers and Joran van der Sloot in the Kalpoes' car parked along a dirt road.
Now this area is a big open field with several dirt roads running through it. There are some bushes there too. Parts of it are hidden. People use it as a cut through to get from one road to another. Also it's very close to the Marriott hotel where the Kalpoe brothers claim they dropped off Joran and Natalee early that morning that she vanished. Also the Kalpoe brothers claim that they were home well before 3:00 in the morning, and that's the time this witness says he came upon these three in the car in this area.
We know that authorities are waiting for a fire truck to arrive to help them pump the water out of this area that was flooded when the last storm rolled through here. This is the same witness, by the way, whose statement sparked a large-scale reenactment yesterday involving the FBI and local authorities. And today we were able to sit down with the private investigators hired by the local newspaper who were able to track this witness down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ART WOOD, INTERVIEWED WITNESS IN HOLLOWAY DISAPPEARANCE: Maybe four weeks ago, I heard that there was—had been a domino game at the prison where one of the Kalpoe brothers had been told that someone saw him behind the Racquet Club the night that Natalee disappeared. And that he became ashen and white and turned the dominoes over and left the game. We spent four weeks trying to track the lead down, and eventually last Friday we located a gardener who was working at a residence not far from the Racquet Club.
He lives in that area, but he has no air conditioning. About 2:30 -- between 2:30 and 3:00 in the morning, on the night that Natalee disappeared, he left his residence and went across a dirt road to go to a residence where there's air conditioning. He—when he went around the one turn on this dirt road, there was a car blocking his way. He had to slow down to almost a stop to go over a little hill to get past them.
When he got to that car, he noticed that Joran van der Sloot was driving, and Joran tried to cover his face. The other passenger in the front seat was one of the Kalpoe brothers, who also put his hands up like this, and the back seat passenger ducked down. This witness is a simple man that was just trying to get to an air-conditioned apartment at the time. He didn't come forward to claim a reward or anything like that. His story doesn't change.
He's steadfast in what he saw, who he saw, the car he saw, and where it happened. We believe that all three, the Kalpoe brothers and Joran Van Der Sloot, are involved in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway. And this witness destroys the timeline of their alibi. There is no way they could have been home and in bed by 3:00 a.m. if they were in that field behind the Racquet Club at quarter to three.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSINSKI: Obviously, investigators are putting some store in what this witness has said. Yesterday during his reenactment, they actually brought the Kalpoe brothers' car out and put it in this location. And also today these private investigators were able to confirm for us that there is a second witness out there who claims he saw something happen at the landfill here on the island, one of the few places that has not been searched, and that this witness claims he knows where Natalee Holloway's body was placed. We know that the volunteer searchers are headed back to this island. They want to look at that area, as well as this one, where as we speak investigators are ready to get the water pumped out so that they too can take a closer look. Back to you.
KOSINSKI: All right. These are huge developments, possibly huge developments we should say. Michelle Kosinski—thanks so much Michelle. We appreciate it.
So just going to recap quickly. We're talking about tips from one witness, a gardener, who, first of all, pokes a hole in everyone's timeline here. He says that at 2:45 in the morning, he sees these three guys outside a Racquet Club and now—right now they are clearing—pumping out the water outside of the Racquet Club near a pond. So very interesting developments.
Let's turn to Jossy Mansur, managing editor of Aruba's “El Diario”, the newspaper that hired those two private eyes. Is this it? Is this the break that we're waiting for?
JOSSY MANSUR, “EL DIARIO” MANAGING EDITOR: I think it is a very important break, not only in the sense that these guys' alibis are gone, but it also pinpoints that the story they've been holding onto, that they dropped Joran and Natalee over here at the beach and then went home just doesn't fit. Because in the declaration of Joran on the 13th of June, he said very distinctly that at 2:00 a.m. he was over here with Natalee.
They went to the beach. They laid down. The girl fell asleep and he walked back, and then Deepak—what's Deepak doing there if they claim that he was home. But Deepak walked over to where the girl was sleeping on the beach and that was it.
DANIELS: I mean, there are so many thoughts running through my mind right now, but, first of all, how credible is this guy? Why is the gardener coming forward on Friday? Why wait this long?
MANSUR: Because he was finally found on Friday by the people that we hired. We did bring in a retired ex-special service agent from the U.S. to work with our team of the “Diario” on this case. And they were looking for him for three and a half weeks. Of course, the man was scared because this is a high-profile case. There are so many implications in it for him personally. He has got to be on stand by for the police. He's got to go to the police every time they have to do a reenactment or whatever, so he was a little afraid—very afraid to come forth.
DANIELS: So he's not responding to any type of monetary reward. Let's be clear. You found him?
MANSUR: Of course not. Of course not. We found him. We convinced him to present himself to the police to lay off a sworn statement, and that's what he did. There's no money being claimed here of any sort.
DANIELS: Let's back up here, Jossy. You're managing editor of “El Dario”.
Why are you so involved in this case?
MANSUR: I am involved for many reasons. Number one, I feel a strong affinity to this Alabama family that came here. I studied in Alabama. I went to college in Mobile, Alabama. I also went to high school in Mississippi, so I do feel a strong affinity to them. I know the people of those two states were very nice people to me when I was there at school, always invited on any holiday to one family or another's home for Easter or Christmas or whatever, and I found them to be very fine and very classy people.
DANIELS: OK, but bottom line...
(CROSSTALK)
DANIELS: ... and I'm not trying to be a cynic here, bottom line is you're spending a lot of money on this investigation and you're coming up with a lot of things. Why are you spending the money? Is it to sell the papers?
MANSUR: No, we don't have to sell the paper. This is the largest paper on the island. We don't have to prove ourselves on this market. That's not the reason.
(CROSSTALK)
MANSUR: The reason is she is an American girl, a U.S. citizen that's disappeared from our island, and it's up to us, every single Aruban to contribute and help and do whatever is necessary to find her.
DANIELS: I mean just—congratulations to you that your investigation seems to be leading to so much more than the Holland authorities, the FBI at this point, the Aruban authorities. You're the person unearthing a lot of this.
MANSUR: Yes, we are. We have a good team of people dedicated to this. From the beginning we assigned our reporters to this, and later we assigned these three, the one that we brought in from the U.S., a very experienced man...
DANIELS: Yes.
MANSUR: ... and they are doing what they have to do, and we have our contacts also here locally that we've built over 25 years, so we have access to certain information no one else has.
DANIELS: Well you definitely have that, I'll tell you. Jossy Mansur, we're going to have to see where this one leads us. Thanks so much for joining me. I do appreciate it. We'll be talking to you soon I'm sure.
MANSUR: Quite welcome.
DANIELS: Now we're going to move to former FBI special agent Don Clark.
Don, I need your expertise here. What do you make of all this?
DON CLARK, FORMER FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Well you know, Lisa, in all due respect to the Holloway family, I hope this lead or the next lead will be the one that helps to solve this crime. But now looking back at this as an investigator, you know you've got to look—I've been down this path before, and I'm not suggesting that I want to really measure the credibility of this witness that's coming about, but I have to look at the circumstances. While at the same time I cannot totally throw out this information until I can do something to check it out, so their hands are sort of tied.
They've got to do something. They, being the law enforcement officials, they've got to do something with the evidence. But at the same time they've got to continue on with their path of trying to make sure that they are taking a logical progression to trying to solve this case.
DANIELS: Let's be cynics for a moment, shall we? Here is a guy in the middle of the night he's in his car, he says he needs the air conditioning; he's driving somewhere. He comes across three guys who are ducking; they're trying to avoid being seen. It's dark outside, he nearly crashes into them, and what amazes me is that he says that he can identify them. Does that sound fishy to you?
CLARK: Well, you know it sounds a little bit unusual to me that someone may be able to pick that out, but I wouldn't just judge my—make my decision based on that. When you get that type of information, unless it's just absolutely so outlandish that you know that you don't have to go any further, but something like that, I think you do have to do some checking out. The law enforcement community cannot afford to just let that piece of information pass, Lisa. They've got to do something with it and you just hope that this person is credible and that they have not fabricated a story. Because certainly that would be something that's in my mind.
DANIELS: I agree. I mean it's hard to assess who is credible, who's not. It's not like people have signs on. You really have to put together pieces of a puzzle. Don Clark, thanks for clearing up a lot of this situation. But again, I think we're going to have to wait on this one and see what happens.
CLARK: Yes, they're going to look and see a bit more.
DANIELS: Yes. All right. Thanks so much Don.
Coming up, Natalee's family is pretty happy that investigators in Aruba seem to be making progress in the investigation. It's been two months. Natalee's uncle gives me the family's reaction to the latest developments.
That's next.
DANIELS: Coming up, new details in Aruba where authorities are reportedly preparing to pump a pond near the Marriott hotel. But first, the headlines.
DANIELS: Aruban authorities are reportedly expected to pump a pond on the island tonight. It's a pond near the area where a witness says he saw Joran van der Sloot and Deepak and Satish Kalpoe right after they say they were home and in bed in the early morning hours of Alabama teen Natalee Holloway's disappearance, so a lot of questions here.
Joining me now, Paul Reynolds, Natalee's uncle. And Paul, we hope you're holding up OK. What is your reaction to the developments about this pond?
PAUL REYNOLDS, NATALEE HOLLOWAY'S UNCLE: We're glad that something is finally happening in the investigation. You know we don't know how important each piece of information will be, but, you know, we're glad it's finally moving. You know there were—my sister delivered the suspects to the police the day that Natalee was missing. Ten days went by with no activity in the investigation, and finally things are happening. More information is coming in. People seem to be moving in the direction that hopefully will bring us that information we need.
DANIELS: Paul, I could never possibly put me in your situation right now, because I don't know what your family is going through, but I imagine I would have two very conflicting emotions at this point. I want to know the answers. At the same time, hearing about a pond or a body, that would just horrify me.
REYNOLDS: It certainly—you know, it's certainly not the outcome we would like to have and you know we don't know yet what's going to happen. But we know we have to follow up every lead. You know we're just determined to get to the bottom of this, to get the truth and find out what happened.
DANIELS: Does it concern that you it seems like the most number of pieces of information, we don't know if they are credible, but a lot of information seems to be coming from private sources, private investigators. You don't really hear about the Aruban authorities coming up with this information. Is this just that we're not hearing from them, or does it worry you?
REYNOLDS: Well, I think some of it is that we're not hearing from them, but you know the 10 days in the beginning, where the suspects weren't picked up, they weren't questioned, evidence wasn't taken, it certainly caused us a great deal of concern. We're glad that private citizens are coming forward and wanting to solve this case. It's—tremendous support we have received from so many different places.
DANIELS: If I were to speak to your sister Beth, what do you think she would want if she had a magical wand and could get something from investigators, some answer, some piece of knowledge, what does she want at this point that she's not getting?
REYNOLDS: Well of course what she really wants is her daughter. You know she wants her daughter back. But, you know, right now she is willing to receive information that will help her find her daughter and find out what happened, and that's what we all want.
DANIELS: You know, you're in the United States, your sister is in Aruba. How does this work in terms of giving her comfort, giving her support and the other way around too?
REYNOLDS: You know, we've always been a close family. We talk several times a week, offering support. She knows I'm there for her, and I know she's there for me. And I am going to Aruba this week. I'm looking forward to spending some time with her, and, you know, just being with her.
DANIELS: What does your gut say? Do you think that some of these answers are going to be coming forward in the next couple of weeks?
REYNOLDS: This is the most optimistic I have felt in some time that we're moving forward, that information will come out. I think that things are in place that will take us where we need to go.
DANIELS: Well you know, everyone is constantly thinking of your family, and you seem like a very strong family. We appreciate your coming on the show, Paul.
REYNOLDS: All right. Thank you.
DANIELS: All right. Paul Reynolds, thanks.
JOE SCARBOROUGH, HOST: Breaking news tonight from Aruba.
Right now, investigators are draining a lake in the area where Natalee went missing eight weeks ago. You are looking at a shot right now. This is an area that has been of great interest, great intrigue, not only to investigators down there, but to the FBI and all officials involved in the case tonight.
Of course, night has fallen in Aruba, on that tiny island off the Venezuelan coast, but, tonight, they are draining a lake of interest, and we are going to get you up to date with all the latest and what‘s going on down there and why.
Again, you are looking at authorities in Aruba right now furiously investigating a new lead tonight. Could it be the break in the Holloway case that changes everything? We are going to be having live reports throughout the hour.
Plus, an MSNBC exclusive, the private investigator who has made a cold case turn very hot. What did his witness see that night that Natalee disappeared?
SCARBOROUGH: Good evening. We have got breaking news out of Aruba.
We are there live.
Also, a SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY exclusive, a shocking photo that was taken by a passenger on the same cruise as the missing American newlywed George Smith IV. Look at this picture. Many believe it could break this case wide open. We are going to take you inside the investigation and talk to somebody who is a family member who actually took that shot.
But first, as we say, major news tonight, breaking news tonight out of Aruba, a new witness who says he saw the suspects at 3:00 a.m. on the night Natalee Holloway disappeared also leads private investigators to a flooded marsh near the hotel where she was last seen with Joran van der Sloot. Now, we are going to have an exclusive interview with him.
And for the latest on all the activity unfolding tonight in Aruba as we speak, let‘s go live down to Aruba and NBC‘s Michelle Kosinski.
Michelle, this investigation keeps heating up by the day. Tell us what‘s going on behind you tonight.
MICHELLE KOSINSKI, NBC CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is the most activity we have seen in a long time on this island.
We saw this develop all of a sudden earlier this afternoon. Here it is still going on. Fire crews and investigators are out here draining this field, not far from the Marriott Hotel, where the Kalpoe brothers say they dropped Natalee Holloway and Joran van der Sloot off the morning she disappeared. You saw that drainage area. That‘s where they are pumping the water to.
This is a place where water has collected after the last storm blew through here. Why are they draining this field? Well, it‘s all based on that new witness‘ statement. He claims early the morning that Natalee vanished, he was out here cutting through this desolate field on a dirt road to get to a friend‘s house. He said he spots the Kalpoe brothers and Joran van der Sloot parked in a car on the same dirt road.
This would be after the time the Kalpoe brothers said they had already returned home that night. We saw fire crews installing these enormous pumps. They started early today, and they are expecting this to take them well into tomorrow afternoon, if not evening.
SCARBOROUGH: Michelle, this is remarkable information, developing information. I know everybody tonight that‘s watching your report down there in Aruba have to be asking the same question. If this gardener saw these—these three young men in this area near where Natalee disappeared, why is it that it‘s taken eight weeks to come forward to authorities and tell them this side of the story?
KOSINSKI: That‘s a good question. But it‘s interesting. This new witness did not come forward on his own. There are two private investigators now on this island who have been hired by the local newspaper. They have been working the streets on this island for the past five to six weeks.
They located this witness, a gardener. They say he was afraid to come forward. He was afraid to talk to anyone. He wasn‘t looking for any kind of reward. They convinced him to tell them his story and to go to police and then tell police his story. And, obviously out here, police have been taking this very seriously.
Remember, this is the same witness statement that sparked that reenactment we saw yesterday involving the FBI and Aruban police. They actually brought the Kalpoe brothers‘ car back out here to this same field yesterday. And, tonight, obviously, they want to get this water out of here. The investigators also told us it took them a month to track down this witness.
SCARBOROUGH: And, of course, tonight, Michelle, also, obviously, this investigation, the draining of this area comes soon after, again, the three new witnesses come forward. You have the DNA evidence last week, where the—the three suspects are forced to go surrender their DNA evidence. You have got the Aruban prime minister coming out, saying that he wants the FBI to be more involved. It seems like there‘s a quickening of this investigation, plus the $1 million reward.
Why do you sense that things have picked up so quickly over the past week? What are people saying on the island? How are authorities reacting? How are—how are the family members reacting, reacting, again, to the quickening of the pace of this investigation?
KOSINSKI: I was able to talk to Natalee‘s mother tonight. She was very excited about these developments. They seemed all to come at the same time, having nothing, we are told, to do with the reward. These witnesses came forward or didn‘t come forward, the case may be, just because of timing, and the way the investigators were able to identify them.
Also, that—that DNA evidence that is being examined, that was hair found on a piece of duct tape that was found apparently by chance, washed up along a cove. So, a number of these things have come together quickly. Also, there‘s a new top investigator on this case. So, some speculate that he is also quickening the pace of things, as far as how extensively we are able to search.
We should also mention that this area has been searched before by dogs and people on foot. But, obviously, they have found reason in this witness‘ statement to search it all over again.
SCARBOROUGH: All right, Michelle, thanks a lot. Stay with us. We are going to be back with you tonight, obviously, keeping everybody up to date with what‘s going on, also having your exclusive interview with that investigator.
But right now, let‘s bring in former FBI agent Danny Coulson.
Danny, I want to show you photos, again, of what‘s going on right now in Aruba. Obviously, they are draining this area. They are draining this lake. I guess what a lot of Americans are saying tonight, as they see these photos, as they hear these latest developments, why did it take eight weeks for them to investigate this area? And is this already a cold case? Is there any way for them to find what they are looking for eight weeks into the investigation?
DANNY COULSON, FORMER FBI AGENT: Sure, there is, Joe.
As a matter of fact, a lot of people don‘t come forward when you think they would or when you hope they would.
SCARBOROUGH: So, this is nothing—I mean, so, you are not shocked tonight, Danny.
COULSON: No.
SCARBOROUGH: You are not shocked tonight that this guy saw these three boys parked in this remote part of the island, and this gardener comes by eight weeks later and says, by the way, I have got information that could break this case wide open?
COULSON: Not really.
SCARBOROUGH: Not surprising to you?
COULSON: Joe, there—there—there is a—there is a tendency among some people want not to want to get involved. And that may be the case here.
He may be a very simple man that doesn‘t want notoriety. He may be frightened. There could be a lot of reasons. But a couple of things come to mind, if I might just point them out to you. The FBI and the local police just did a reenactment. And I am wondering why they didn‘t do the reenactment at night.
The witness saw these subjects in the nighttime. They do a daytime reenactment. It seemed like, if they are going to test his credibility, they would have reenacted in the evening time to see if he‘s that credible. Could he have seen what he said he saw? And his credibility is the most important thing we are dealing with here.
SCARBOROUGH: Now, this new witness comes forward. Obviously, if he is to be believed—and if you look at all the activity going on in Aruba tonight, obviously, authorities are taking him fairly seriously. I guess the question is, if they—if they trust him, if they believe that these brothers may have been out at 3:00 a.m. in the morning, that obviously proves once again they are lying to police.
Is that enough to haul the Kalpoe brothers back into jail?
COULSON: It could be. You have to understand that we may be dealing with charges other than murder or kidnapping. You also have charges that involve obstruction of justice.
If they gave false statements to local authorities that now we know to be false, that they could very well be charged with a variety of violations. One could be lying to a police officer or giving false information, obstructing justice. So, there‘s—there could be grounds to bring them back, sure, put them back in custody now, and let‘s do some more interviews.
SCARBOROUGH: Danny, let‘s get personal. What—what is going on in this case? I mean, it seems to me like we hit a dead end, two, three, four weeks ago. Now there‘s a flurry of activity. You know, the cynic in me says, of course, this is the Aruban authorities that are trying to cover up for past mistakes. You had the Alabama legislature come out last week, and they passed a resolution saying nobody should travel to Aruba.
Are they trying to cover their tracks? Or, again, sometimes, in investigations, all of a sudden, a light switch comes on and you have frantic activity that eventually leads to a case being solved?
COULSON: Well, I think that the government in Aruba now is very embarrassed. Whether or not the police agencies are embarrassed or not remains to be seen.
But all the pressure really has come from the higher-ups in the government that are now forcing the Aruban authorities to now cooperate with the FBI, give the FBI all the transcripts of all the interviews, which they should have given them contemporaneously. They shouldn‘t be doing it now, two months later.
There‘s been no sense of urgency, Joe, in this case. I have worked kidnapping cases a good part of my life, and you get on those things, and you go 100 miles an hour initially, because that‘s the most important part of the case. We even know that the family were the first people to identify and interview the subjects. How did that happen? What—what were the police doing? How did—how did it work out that the family gets way out in front of the police?
So, either they didn‘t take it seriously.
SCARBOROUGH: Yes.
COULSON: And then they got bogged down, and then they refused to help
· I‘m sorry—to take help that the FBI could have provided to them very early—very early on.
SCARBOROUGH: Very early on in the case. And, like you said, that‘s a critical time. You got the mother the first night going down there, says to authorities, I have talked to these people. Their stories don‘t add up. You need to go talk to them. You need to investigate.
COULSON: Absolutely.
SCARBOROUGH: Instead, 10, 11 days later...
COULSON: Absolutely.
SCARBOROUGH: ... that‘s when they haul them in. So much evidence probably destroyed.
Danny, thanks a lot for being with us.
Stay with us, because, obviously...
COULSON: Thank you, Joe. It‘s good to see you.
SCARBOROUGH: Yes. Well, we want you to stick around and talk about another shocking photo. We will be back with you in a little bit.
But, first, let‘s go back to Aruba and NBC‘s Michelle Kosinski, who had an exclusive interview with the man who found this new witness that is causing such a ruckus tonight.
Michelle, tell us all about it.
KOSINSKI: Well, he‘s a former Secret Service agent. And he said that this witness is extremely credible. His story does not change. He seems very certain about details. Here‘s some of what he told us earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ART WOOD, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR: Maybe four weeks ago, I heard that there was—had been a domino game at the prison, where one of the Kalpoe brothers had been told that someone saw him behind the racket club the night that Natalee disappeared, and that he became ashen and white and turned the dominoes over and left the game.
We spent four weeks trying to track the lead down. Eventually, last Friday, we located a gardener, who was working at a residence not far from the racket club. He lives in that area, but he has no air conditioning. About 2:30, between 2:30 and 3:00 in the morning on the night that Natalee disappeared, he left his residence and went across a dirt road to go to a residence where there‘s air conditioning.
He—when he went around the one turn on this dirt road, there was a car blocking his way. He had to slow down to almost a stop to go over a little hill to get past them. When he got to that car, he noticed that Joran van der Sloot was driving, and Joran tried to cover his face. The other passenger in the front seat was one of the Kalpoe brothers, who also put his hands up like this. And the back seat passenger ducked down.
This witness is a simple man that was just trying to get to an air-conditioned apartment at the time. He didn‘t come forward to claim a reward or anything like that. His story doesn‘t change. He is steadfast in what he saw, who he saw, the car he saw and where it happened. We believe that all three, the Kalpoe brothers and Joran van der Sloot, are involved in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.
And this witness destroys the timeline of their alibi. There‘s no way they could have been home at—and in bed by 3:00 a.m. if they were in that field behind the racket club at quarter to 3:00.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOSINSKI: These private investigators also confirm to us that there is a second witness out there who claims that he saw something happen at the landfill here in Aruba, and that he knows where Natalee Holloway‘s body is placed.
We don‘t know the extent of his credibility, as it‘s perceived by authorities at this point. But we do know EquuSearch volunteers are coming back to the island as soon as possible. They want to use ground-penetrating radar, not only on this area, but they also want to gain access to that landfill.
So, we are going to see extensive searching here in various locations within the next few days—Joe.
SCARBOROUGH: And, obviously, going on now, obviously going to be going on through the night.
Michelle Kosinski, thanks a lot. We greatly appreciate it.
Michelle is going to be standing by for any more developments tonight throughout the hour, as we monitor the search in Aruba.
And, also, we are going to be getting reaction from Natalee‘s aunt live from Aruba.
And also, coming up, we‘ve been on top of this new story since it broke. Tonight, a bombshell, a stunning photo sent to us from a family member whose cabin was close to the missing honeymooner. What does it mean to this case? We are going to have the very latest on that.
And, also, a shark story, an amazing story you are going to have to see to believe. The men who reeled this one in are here to talk about it tonight with new photos.
Stay with us, a big night in SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY. And we‘re just getting started.
SCARBOROUGH: More developments in Aruba coming up next, plus, frightening moments in Florida tonight. Take a look at what happened to a Red Sox pitcher. We are going to have the latest on his condition. It‘s not good. It certainly wasn‘t good there. Hopefully, he is recovering.
And we will get you the very latest in a minute.
SCARBOROUGH: Authorities in Aruba tonight pumping water from a flooded area near a hotel, where Natalee was last seen with Joran, all based on the story of a witness who was there.
You are looking at photos of that video, shots of that right now, a search that‘s been going on this evening. It‘s going to continue through tomorrow. They are going to drain the entire area, again, based on reports of a witness who was there that night, who claims he saw the three young men in this secluded area at 3:00 a.m., which, of course, is much later than when the young men said they dropped her off and went to bed.
Let‘s get the family‘s reaction to tonight‘s latest developments and also more from Natalee‘s aunt, Linda Allison.
Linda, thank you so much for being with us tonight.
Here, we—we are seeing this investigation going on. And, of course, also, we hear now another witness comes forward and says, these boys are lying again. They can‘t get their stories straight. What‘s your reaction? What‘s the family‘s reaction?
LINDA ALLISON, AUNT OF NATALEE HOLLOWAY: Well, obviously after I had spoken with two of my media contacts, actually, an NBC cameraperson that I spoke with this evening, just to verify the credibility of this witness.
And he assured me that this is a very credible witness that has come forward, that this person is very sincere in what he has to say. And so, I am taking this very serious, that this witness did actually see these three boys in this area that we are talking about. They were very—he was very specific, the witness was, about explaining about being on this dirt road and how he had to veer off to the left away from their car to try to get around the car.
And, actually, the car almost got stuck on the sand dune. And so, he actually, it sounds like, almost had to stop to try to get his car off the sand dune to get around their vehicle. So, it wasn‘t like he was passing by so quickly that he would not be able to identify these three, but apparently drove very close to the car and very slowly to see these three. So, I am hoping that this is, again, going to be another piece of information that we have that‘s going to put more of a timetable together, and, again, show that these three suspects are lying again.
SCARBOROUGH: Lying once again. They have been caught in so many lies, despite the fact Aruban authorities, of course, as we all know, gave them 10 days to be out of jail after Natalee disappeared to get their stories straight, been caught in three, four, five, six different lies. Now a new witness comes forward.
And the amount of detail that you are telling me right now that this witness gave to authorities really is remarkable. And it sounds like it could break the case wide open.
But you are doing something to try to help break the case wide open, too. You have set up a Web site, and you are focusing on Joran van der Sloot‘s past behavior, the possibility of being very aggressive with young women in Aruba. Tell us about that. Tell us what you are doing. And where did you get the idea?
ALLISON: Well, for the five or six weeks that I was there in Aruba, I actually heard on several different occasions that this Joran van der Sloot has been very aggressive with women. Especially, he likes to prey on—on American teens, young women that come to the island.
He seems to be approaching them when he finds out it‘s their last evening that they are there on the island. And what I want to do with this Web site, which is Hope For Natalee, Hope_For_Natalee@Yahoo.com, is to ask any young lady that is out here that hears this tonight that is either from Aruba or from any other country that has visited Aruba and has some type of encounter, whether Joran van der Sloot threatened them in some way or possibly drugged their drink, or even if it was possible rape.
SCARBOROUGH: Well, you just hit on something, Linda, that, of course, we have all been hearing about for some time. You have been down in Aruba, obviously, about as close to this investigation as you can be, as a family member.
Have you heard of reports, that Joran van der Sloot, as we have been hearing, has a possible history of approaching American women, putting drugs in their drink, and then taking them away from the bar?
ALLISON: I have heard that. And I heard several different instances where that‘s happened. And, of course, someone out there may have information that they have been too embarrassed to even discuss in the past, that maybe they would step forward and respond to that e-mail address or possibly even, if they wanted to call one of those numbers that‘s on that reward poster, just to give their story, anything that would help us to kind of give a pattern.
If Joran van der Sloot is capable of doing this with other girls, maybe this is something that he did the night that Natalee disappeared.
SCARBOROUGH: And again, we just have to say this. We are just saying maybe, again. There‘s been talk of this from almost the very beginning, but no hard evidence yet. That‘s why you are setting up the Web site, to see if there is evidence out there of young women going down to Aruba, being drugged, as you said, on the very last night.
Can you tell us, Linda, very quickly about Natalee‘s last night? Because we have heard conflicting evidence about what went on that night in the bar. We have heard from one source that, actually, Natalee was approached several times by Joran van der Sloot, and actually pushed him away twice earlier in the evening, before she disappeared. Can you either confirm or deny that tonight?
ALLISON: Actually, I haven‘t spoken to any of the other Birmingham teens. I did speak with Beth and Jug and also with one of my contacts in Birmingham.
And Natalee was introduced to Joran at a casino at the Holiday Inn that evening just in passing and did not have any type of long conversation with him. And then he showed up at Carlos ‘n Charlie‘s later that night.
And one of the concerns that I have is that he possibly could have put a drug in her drink. We also speculate that, as they were leaving this area, that she may have been under the impression that she was sharing a taxicab with him.
SCARBOROUGH: Yes.
ALLISON: That there was some speculation that he was just a visiting a visitor there on the island also and may have posed as someone that was also staying at the Holiday Inn. So, how innocent would it be to think that she is sharing a taxicab with someone and not really know that she is getting in a car where Deepak possibly was the driver?
SCARBOROUGH: Yes, obviously a lot of questions still up in the air.
Linda, thanks for being with us.
ALLISON: Thank you.