BY MICHAEL ROTHFELD STAFF CORRESPONDENT, This story was supplemented with wire service reports.
June 16, 2005
NOORD, Aruba -- The moment the woman at the counter heard Natalee Holloway's name yesterday, she could not contain herself.
"I want them to finish it fast, and solve the problem," Rosita Dinzey, 40, said as she rented cars to visitors at the airport. "It has us locals upset, and it's not an Aruban who did it."
For nearly three weeks, locals and foreigners on this small Caribbean island have been obsessed with the disappearance of the 18-year-old Alabama student, spending hours speculating about her fate. Some have tired of it.
Holloway went missing in the early morning of May 30, hours before she was to meet 124 other new high school graduates from Mountain Brook, Ala., to fly home after a five-day trip. No one has been charged with a crime. Yesterday, authorities intensified their focus on one of three young men last seen with Holloway as they left an island disco: Joran van der Sloot, 17, the son of a Dutch justice ministry official living in Aruba.
His companions have told authorities he and Holloway kissed in his car on a beach at the northern end of the island that night, and one of them said the pair later went to another beach, near a Marriott Hotel. Investigators turned up nothing during a search there Tuesday.
Van der Sloot's father, Paul, asked the court yesterday for permission to see his son, who was taken into custody last week with Surinamese brothers Deepak Kalpoe, 21, and Satish Kalpoe. The brothers' lawyers asked to see evidence against their clients. A judicial spokesman said there would be a ruling late this week.
Government spokesman Ruben Trapenberg told CNBC yesterday that investigators were making progress. Workers on this island 20 miles from Venezuela, meanwhile, listen for news on the radio. And tourists continue to arrive. As three teenage girls exited their plane from the United States, a flight attendant smiled at them. "Be safe, girls," she said.
Not everyone is entranced by the case. Newlyweds Derrick and Debby Neville of Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn were more interested in kite-surfing ads as they began a five-day stay. "It's unfortunate that this is going on where you're going, but we're going to enjoy the vacation," said Derrick Neville, 45.
About noon, investigators descended on the van der Sloots' cottage in the Montaña neighborhood 10 minutes inland from the beachfront Holiday Inn where Holloway had stayed.
Local forensics investigators, FBI agents, the Aruban police chief and the prosecutor on the case came and went in the humidity, towing two cars and carrying off several plastic bags.
Magdala Roza, 19, who spent hours watching from her aunt's home across the street, pointed to a school down the street that she attended with the young van der Sloot until they were about 10. He is now an honors student at an international school in Aruba. "Our neighborhood is so still, we didn't think this could happen," said her cousin Juraima Jacobs, 22.
A man next door to the van der Sloots said he had lived there since van der Sloot was a boy but seldom had dealings with the family. "Always, they get in their car and go," said the 57-year-old teacher who did not want to give his name. "Maybe because he's a judge or something, he has a higher status."
The meandering path of the investigation has frustrated both those close to Holloway and the people of Aruba, who fear its reputation as a friendly tourist destination has been dragged down by images of foul play. That frustration was compounded by the authorities' decision to detain two security guards for a week based on a story reportedly put forward by van der Sloot and his companions that when they dropped Holloway at her hotel, she was approached by a guard. A surveillance video did not show her return, and the guards were released Monday.
"Why are you going to take two black guys who have nothing to do with it and keep them incarcerated?" Dinzey said, despite the guards' release. "I think they should pressure these three boys."
This story was supplemented with wire service reports.
From my hometown newspaper. I realize people change, but from what I've read, Natalee seems to be the same type of person. Unchanged with age.
Really sweet and nice. Photos are included in the story.
http://www.clintonnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050616/NEWS/506160357/1001
Texcat, I would love to see all Americans who plan travel to Aruba, just cancel their trips in support of Natalee. When the tourism industry suffers we will start obtaining better results in this case.
I know some will say, why should the Aruban people who did not commit this crime suffer? Well it happened in Aruba, their politicios&authorities have screwed up/dragged their feet in this investigation.
The bottom line, when a foreign country fails to start taking the loss of American tourist in their country with a grain of salt. Then they must pay and peer pressure from the all the islanders+ loss of tourism dollars is an effective means.
The intentional or unintentional mistakes the Aruban authorities made at the onset of this investigation should have resulted in some firings.(Incompetence)(Preferential Social Status Treatment)
As I have said before, if this had occurred in the USA. The politicians&police would have jumped out of their asses having this case solved.NSNR