CNN LIVE TODAY
Four Weeks Into Natalee Holloway Case; 'Daily Dose'
Aired June 29, 2005 - 11:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
To Aruba now, which is getting more help from the Netherlands in the search for missing teenager Natalee Holloway. She disappeared more than four weeks ago. The Netherlands is sending more marines to help in the search, at the request of Aruba's prime minister. Three young men are in custody, but no one has been charged and there has been no sign of Holloway.
CNN's Karl Penhaul retraces what police think they do know about the case.
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KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): According to the attorney for one of the men, all said in recent statements, this is the spot where Joran van der Sloot and Natalee got out of the car and headed off alone. By then it was 1:50 a.m. It would have been a night like tonight. A warm, tropical breeze is blowing out onto the ocean.
It's been 28 days of full lunar cycle since Natalee vanished. The moon above me now would have been exactly the same that night. It's bright enough to cast my shadow on the sand.
(voice-over): It could have been romantic if something had not gone terribly wrong. Even at 3:00 a.m., there are a few couples and late night revelers still around. Exactly what happened, we still don't know.
Investigators say they've checked cell phone and Internet records from that night. Based on those records, Satish Kalpoe's attorney, David Kock, says Joran van der Sloot phoned Deepak Kalpoe between 2:30 and 2:40. DAVID KOCK, SATISH KALPOE'S ATTORNEY: The story of Deepak is that Joran just said I'm walking home. I was on the beach with the girl, but she asleep, didn't want to get up. So I said, forget it, I'm walking home. He said that, we know.
PENHAUL (on camera): I'm walking the same route Joran van der Sloot would have taken that night if this version of his story is true. I set off from the beach about 20 minutes ago. As you can see, there are stores and banks and some of them have closed circuit security cameras.
(voice-over): Prosecutors have said security camera footage has been checked, but they declined to say if the tapes from these businesses were reviewed and if there's any sign of van der Sloot. Based on records, Kock says Joran van der Sloot send a text message to Deepak Kalpoe after the 2:40 a.m. phone call.
KOCK: About 40 minutes later, 45 minutes later, there's an SMS message from Yoran to Deepak again, saying, I got home, you know, thanks for waiting.
PENHAUL (on camera): I'm taking a shortcut on this dirt track. Seemed to have woken up some of the local dogs. It's taken me about 36 minutes to walk from the beach right up to Joran van der Sloot's front gate. It's likely that by the time he arrived most of the neighbors were asleep as they seem to be now. From what we know, there are no eyewitnesses who saw him reach home.
Assuming Joran van der Sloot did walk and text messaged Deepak Kalpoe as soon as he arrived, it would make it about 3:20 a.m.
(voice-over): According to the Kock, Internet records show Deepak Kalpoe was web-surfing when the message came through. Kock says his client Satish was asleep. His mother, Nadira Ramirez, backs that up.
NADIRA RAMIREZ, SATISH KALPOE'S MOTHER: I just opened the door silently. I peak. I saw Deepak's room closed. I peak. I saw the car and I went back to back.
PENHAUL: Van der Sloot's attorney, Antonio Carlo, declined to talk to us for this report, but Kock has seen van der Sloot's statements to investors and says he's changed his story several times since his arrest, claiming first Deepak Kalpoe picked him up from the beach after he left Natalee, then saying it was Satish Kalpoe. In another version of the story, Joran van der Sloot said he walked home.
KOCK: There have been other points, but those important issues, you see that those are four different stories.
PENHAUL: Authorities say they're making headway, but Kock believes they're still a long way from cracking the case.
KOCK: We got a good picture of where the girl was and where she was last dropped. But what happened afterwards, they do not know. PENHAUL: What is certain is that all three young men, at least initially, cooked up a lie to cover their tracks once they realized Natalee was missing. What's still far from clear is whether they played a role in her disappearance.
Karl Penaul, CNN, Palm Beach, Aruba.