Natalee Holloway - Case Discussion Extended Thread 6

Various News Outlets | 07/08/05

[TexKat]

Mountain Brook High School graduate Natalee Holloway went missing May 30 during a senior trip to Aruba. AP photo

[cajungirl]

The very first comments from the authorities, saying they couldn't "go in like cowboys" alerted me. I knew, just knew, that it would come to this.

I think the islanders, the ordinary people, are terrified. I think the govt is owned by mobsters. Beneath that happy island, there is a lot to hide. I feel bad for the decent ones, those who helped search. But something is very very wrong.

I hope if this doesn't get better, that tourism dies. And I love the Netherland Antilles. We have taken at least 20trips to Bonaire over the years. I went to Aruba once and it felt creepy to me. But casinos creep me anyway. We stayed at the HI and I hated it. Bonaire is different.

[GarySpFc]

That is an impressive article, and expresses our frustration with the likes of John Merryweather. The man has shown Aruba's lack of compassion and concern for the Holloway-Twitty families and Americans in general.

[monkeywrench]

What rights does he have here? He doesn't have the right to be in this country. Whether he's been convicted or not, he's an undesirable. The State Dept. isn't going to give him a visa with all the baggage he's carrying. I'm sure BT will see to it, and we'll help.

[Rippersnapper]

I wonder if Beth or any of those in the group that went to the VDS's home the first night noticed his face.

I was wondering the very same thing. I don't recall Jug, Beth, Charlie Croes, the police, or any others from that group ever mentioning that Sloot's face was bruised.

With Beth repeating the story of Sloot, thumping his chest, it just seems that IF his face was bruised that she would have mentionind it. She would surely be looking for any signs of a confrontation that he might have had. Too many people had close enough contact to see his face that night with the headlights of vehicles.

I would also think that IF Beth had seen Sloot with a bruised face that Beth would have mentioned it to Greta and Greta would have tracked down some of those students. jmo

[Andy'smom]

I just can't stand to read any more posts on SM that claim she's partying in Venezuela. They want everybody to believe that she ran away so they don't have to be bothered by the whole thing and it won't effect their tourism.

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

Words fail me......
Sounds like the real deal to me. IOW, this poster knows what he is talking about first hand.

[Rippersnapper]

Meant to ping you. See 224

[Former]

Weren't they there at night? Talking outside? I don't remember exactly, but I know it was late. She had been missing 24 hours, when they talked to him, and it was 2 weeks later before he was arrested. Did anyone look at him without his shirt on, in that length of time? I doubt it.

[justche]

Yesterday she posted a story that came from a classmate of Joran. He, the day after Nat disappeared, came to school with a bruised face and fell asleep in cllass and was hard to wake up. And he killed his dog in the recent past and tried to blame another kid for it. The nature of the killing was not described but arubagirl swears it is so.

I haven't had time to go to that site lately, and I'd never heard this before....interesting.

[b9]

Thank you kindly.

[Rippersnapper]

I would imagine they left the car lights on so that they wouldn't all be standing around in the dark. Plu they had the SPOTLIGHT that they were shining into the Sloot home. So, I think they could see pretty darn well.

[b9]

So true. How many times have we heard, "My little Johnny wouldn't hurt a fly"?

I know...denial of guile is vile.

[seekthetruth]

"and fell asleep in cllass and was hard to wake up."

"I was wondering about that. If I was up all night, doing who knows what, I'd be dozing off in class the next day, for sure."

And supposedly he "aced his exams"! Wonder what the truth really is?

[Dolphy]

Did Greta ever track down any of Joran's classmates for the purpose of discussing his behavior in school the following day? I missed it if she did. Bruises or not his classmates accounts would have been interesting information.

As for the night at the VDS's home, of those in Natalee's camp, I'm not sure who got a good view of Joran besides maybe Charles Croes. And I don't remember Greta asking him if there were any visible signs of a struggle on Joran, though she did ask about his demeanor.

[Former]

Shadows can be really tricky.. that is why you have handles on the lights in surgery, to position them right over where you are looking... a general spotlight would have many shadows.

[GarySpFc]

From Riehl World View:

The Real News From Aruba Is no news. Some sources related to the ongoing search efforts indicate continued frustration and perhaps even stone walling by authorities who don't permit access for the dogs to certain areas, or do not show up at some locations to facilitate certain seach efforts.

Heard but unconfirmed is that EquuSearch efforts may be nearing an end sometime soon and one source suggested Fox is also beginning to thin out its presence on the ground in Aruba.

Discussions with two other news networks also point to news gathering resources being a bit "thin" on the island these days.

One individual familiar with how things are done on many Caribbean islands believes there is no way to penetrate any potential obstacles to securing answers for the family of Natalee Holloway and, barring discovery of a body, it is likely that Aruba and Aruban authorities are content to wait this out and re-invigorate their reputation as "One Happy Island" without the dark side this story has revealed to the world.

Earlier reports from some students on the trip stated that they were irritated by the numbers of drug dealers and "low-life" types that often approached them during the trip, sometimes thrusting bags of cocaine and other illicit drugs into their faces in an attempt to make a quick sale.

Another source, not trying to paint an overly rose-colored picture of a group of partying American high school graduates, confirmed the above while acknowledging that drinking was certainly a significant aspect of the trip for a majority of the Mountain Brook teens along on the journey.

[Rippersnapper]

You can have shadows in the daytime too. Even schools have them I hear.

[pollyannaish]

first comments from the authorities, saying they couldn't "go in like cowboys" alerted me

I haven't been following this closely, but one thing that caught my attention early on was a government spokesman who was explaining the legal system on Aruba.

IIRC, his comment was that unlike the US, Arubans were very concerned about human rights and that is why they had the system they did. I knew at that moment we were in trouble because they were intent on just "making it go away."

[Andy'smom]

Regarding EquuSearch, they will surely have to leave very soon. They have pretty much covered every inch of where they were allowed to look. I heard this morning that the "container" that was spotted 1/2 mile out turned out to be only a granite shelf.

[cajungirl]

I tend to disbelieve the bruise report,,it came from Aruba girl and I haven't seen it since.

But the dog story seems more believable. I just drug myself over to SM, I hate that place, and some were saying "Oh it was an accident" but Aruba girl the source of the story never said the nature of it.

You would think, with all the spotlight, that some of the classmates would have talked. Joran had a short fuse, surely there is some evidence of that.