In this picture provided by Beth Holloway Twitty, missing Alabama teen Natalee Holloway, left, is seen posing with friends from left to right Lee Broughton, Madison Whatley, and Ruth McVay, in a photograph taken with Natalee's disposable camera on the beach in Aruba, Sunday, May 29, 2005, hours before she disappeard the next day May 30, the last day of her high school graduation trip to this Dutch Caribbean island. (AP Photo/Beth Holloway Twitty, HO)
"There is a reasonable suspicion that he knows something and is involved in the disappearance," Mariaine Croes, a spokeswoman for the Aruban attorney general's office, told CNN. "He's being interrogated as a suspect."
snip
The new arrest stirred speculation on this resort island of about 100,000 that the baffling case might be nearing a climax. Police have been extraordinarily tight-lipped about their evidence, but CNN cited unidentified sources close to the investigation who said the elder van der Sloot may have been arrested on suspicion that he helped his son concoct a story about what happened on the night Holloway disappeared.
The legal standard for holding suspects in the early stages of an investigation is looser under Aruban law than in the United States. While American police must have probable cause that a suspect was involved in a crime, in Aruba, police can arrest and question suspects based on a mere reasonable suspicion.
Under Aruban law, Paul van der Sloot can be held for 48 hours for questioning, during which he has the right to refuse to speak and can ask for an attorney. At the end of that period, a judge must review the case and determine whether he can be held for an additional eight days.
Suspects can be held for a total of 116 days without formal charges, although their cases are reviewed periodically by a judge who determines whether their continued incarceration is justified.