Boaters pass by the tourist party boat 'Tattoo' off Palm Beach in Aruba, Friday, June 17, 2005. Steve Gregory Croes, 26, who works as a disc jockey on the boat became the fourth person arrested in the case of missing Alabama teen Natalee Holloway, nearly three weeks after her disappearance on this Dutch Caribbean island. (AP Photo/Leslie Mazoch)
Disc jockey detained in Alabama teen case
6/17/2005, 5:21 p.m. CT
By PETER PRENGAMAN The Associated Press
ORANJESTAD, Aruba (AP) — A disc jockey on an Aruban tourist party boat was detained Friday in the disappearance of Alabama teen Natalee Holloway, making him the fourth person held by police since the honors student vanished last month.
Meanwhile, Holloway's mother said she believed there might be more arrests before the case was resolved, although she expressed increasing frustration with the pace of the investigation. Beth Holloway Twitty also held onto hope that her 18-year-old daughter, last seen May 30, was still alive.
Steve Gregory Croes, 26, whom authorities earlier identified only by the initials S.G.C., said he was contacted by police Thursday night and voluntarily gave a statement, said his employer, Marcus Wiggins.
Croes also said he knew one of two Surinamese brothers being detained in the case because they went to the same Internet cafe, Wiggins told The Associated Press.
Croes was a DJ on the Tattoo, which offers nightly dining, dancing and swimming, Wiggins said.
"I've never had problems with him," Wiggins told the AP. "He keeps to himself and shows up to work every day and does his job."
In Alabama, a woman who helped organize the graduation trip, Jody Bearman, said students did not go on the Tattoo as a group, although some could have taken a boat ride without the seven adult chaperones knowing.
"The chaperones were not supposed to keep up with their every move," Jody Bearman said.
Authorities previously detained 17-year-old Joran van der Sloot, the son of a Dutch justice official on Aruba, and his two friends, Surinamese brothers Deepak Kalpoe, 21, and Satish Kalpoe, 18. No one has been charged in the case.
Police Superintendent Jan van der Straaten refused to identify the fourth detainee but told the AP he was detained based on information from one of the other three.
Holloway disappeared in the early morning hours of May 30 on this Dutch protectorate in the Caribbean. The three men detained earlier said they took Holloway to a northern beach but dropped her off at her hotel, where she was approached by a security guard.
In an interview with Associated Press Television News, Holloway Twitty said she believed there might be more arrests before the case was resolved. She did not elaborate.
"This is just the beginning," she said.
Looking tired and angry, Holloway Twitty, 44, said she was unhappy with the progress of the investigation.
"This case is not that hard to figure out," she said. "Those boys have the answers."
Holloway Twitty has said that if investigators do not make progress soon, she might start believe they are trying to protect the detainees.
"We are in day 18 with no answers," she said Friday. "I want my daughter and I want her now."
Holloway Twitty said she would "believe my daughter is alive until I find out otherwise."
Holloway disappeared the day she was to return from a five-day trip with 124 other students celebrating their graduation from high school in Mountain Brook, Ala.
Searches by authorities, volunteer islanders and tourists have come up empty. Authorities have refused to say whether they believe Holloway is dead.
On Thursday, van der Straaten said authorities used a helicopter equipped with infrared equipment "to search for possible remains — but found nothing." He declined to say where the helicopter searched Wednesday night.
On Friday, prosecutors asked a judge to rule there was sufficient cause to continue holding van der Sloot and the Kalpoes. The three were detained June 9, and island law says a judge must review their case after 10 days, meaning a decision is due by Sunday.
The court also was considering a petition by van der Sloot's father, Paul, to visit his son in jail and a request by the son's attorneys to see any evidence against him. Paul van der Sloot is a judge-in-training, serving a three-year term on the bench that allows him to hear a limited number of cases.
On Wednesday, investigators searched the van der Sloots' home. Agents were seen carrying away two white garbage bags filled with items, while authorities towed two vehicles from the property in Noord, outside the capital, Oranjestad.
After the search, Janssen said Paul van der Sloot was not under investigation.
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Associated Press reporter Jay Reeves in Birmingham, Ala., contributed to this report.