Vermiste meisje op Aruba

PALM BEACH, Aruba — A week has passed since Natalee Holloway disappeared during a five-day trip to Aruba with more than 100 other classmates from Mountain Brook High School, near Birmingham, Ala., to celebrate her graduation.

NBC News’ Martin Savidge reports on the ongoing investigation and mystery surrounding her disappearance.

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What is the current status of the investigation?
Well, there are two parts of the investigation. One is the search and then trying to determine what happened to Natalee Holloway. The other is the physical effort to try to locate her.

On the first front, it looks more and more like a criminal investigation. We have two people under arrest and three other people that are considered persons of interest.

The two under arrest have only been identified as former security guards at a hotel near where Natalee Holloway had been staying. Other than that, authorities aren’t giving us much information on the connection of those two men to her particular case.

I did talk to the mother of one of the suspects and she denies that her son has any involvement whatsoever with Natalee Holloway.

As to the persons of interest — they are being questioned every day. They are not under arrest. And they are the three people in whose company Natalee was last seen on the night that she disappeared.

They told police that she was dropped off at the hotel. Authorities apparently have reason to doubt that story.

Then there is the search effort. It is a massive effort — on Sunday there were 50 Dutch Marines searching the north shore area. That is a very desolate and very rugged terrain in Aruba. They did not find anything.

Today we are being told that as of 2 o’clock this afternoon, every civil servant on the island of Aruba that has a non-essential job — in other words who isn’t keeping the lights or the water on — will be told to go out and join the search effort. That’s about 2,000-3,000 people.

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Latest on the mystery in Aruba

What does the massive search say about Aruba’s concern for the fate of this young girl?
Well, they are extremely concerned on two levels. One is the heart-felt level. The loss of a young girl who came here on vacation is taken extremely seriously.

There is also a great deal of national pride. Tourism is relatively new to Aruba. Only in the last twenty years or so have things really developed. They take a great deal of pride that they have a beautiful country and a very safe country.

Violent crime is virtually unheard of here. Last year there weretwo murders, I believe, and those were considered to be drug related and that was it. There were maybe six rapes. When you are talking about an island nation with so many visitors, that is considered an extremely low crime rate.

Eighty percent of the tourists who come to Aruba are from the United States. So, they know that the U.S. and American tourists are vital to their economy. They also know that this story is big in the national media, that their vital tourist industry is harmed in the minds of the very people that they want to come visit.

So, it is two-pronged: they are gravely concerned for the welfare of a young girl and they also are concerned for their own livelihood.
CONTINUED: Why has this story touched so many?


Why is it that the story of this one girl has had such international reach?
Well, I guess because it’s trouble in paradise, for one. It is the place that people go to get away from the problems of the world, not believing it is where you are going to find them.

Aruba in the minds of many Americans is considered a very safe place, which it is.

But, now you have this story of a beautiful young girl, who is full of so much promise. She came here to celebrate that she is moving on to the next stage in her life and this tragedy occurred.

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And, it is truly a mystery. We still don’t know what happened. Did she go off on her own accord? Was she abducted by somebody? Has she been harmed in some way? Or is she somehow incapacitated or unable to communicate where she is? I think that all of those factors combine to make a story at the beginning of summer when we all start to think about places to go and things to do.

How is the family handling the situation?
The family remains in seclusion right now, as least as far as access to the media is concerned. They are still on the island and are active in the search for their daughter. The father goes out every single day overseeing search efforts and the mother yesterday was going around handing out fliers.

There are questions about the high school group Natalee was traveling with coming from Aruban authorities. One of the questions they ask is, on the night that Natalee disappeared, during the very early hours of Monday morning — about 1:30 a.m., many of her friends saw her leaving with these three strangers.

Yet, the police wonder, why did no one say anything? Why didn’t anyone intervene and say that this is not the right thing to be doing? They ask where are the chaperones? Unfortunately, those questions remain unanswered.
Martin Savidge is an NBC News' Correspondent on assignment in Aruba.

quote:

Op maandag 6 juni 2005 08:21 schreef G1Ace het volgende:
Trof dit aan op CNN, en tot mijn verbazing was dit op geen nieuwssite op Nederland, terwijl Aruba toch wel onderdeel is van de koninkrijk der Nederlanden, en dus tot staatsgebied hoort.
[..]

Ze hebben zelfs de FBI ingebracht

ik kom net uit Amerika , en daar was het inderdaad groot nieuws , op elke zender werd er veel aandacht aan gegeven , hier trof ik inderdaad ook bar weinig aan , ik vond het ook een beetje vreemd

quote:

Op dinsdag 7 juni 2005 22:24 schreef Ciurlizza het volgende:
Daar klopt dan weinig van van die berichtgeving.

Dit is in ieder geval al het 2de geval. Niet erg vreemd dus.

quote:

Op donderdag 9 juni 2005 09:24 schreef TheMassive het volgende:

[..]

Dit is in ieder geval al het 2de geval. Niet erg vreemd dus.

klopt, hier het verhaal van ontvoering nummer 1 (Curacao):

Dan Abrams talks with family of Amy Bradley, missing since '98
MSNBC
Updated: 11:01 a.m. ET June 8, 2005


Natalee Holloway isn't the first young American woman to disappear in the Caribbean. Seven years ago, then-23-year-old Amy Bradley went missing while on a Caribbean cruise with her family. On March 24, 1998, Bradley was seen by her father at about 5:30 a.m. on her cabin balcony. At 6 a.m., her father awoke and Amy Bradley was gone.

Two women on the cruise reported seeing the woman riding the elevator to the top deck just before it docked at the island of Curacao. At 6 a.m., Amy Bradley was with a musician from the ship's band, they said. A Curacao cab driver told Bradley's father that Amy approached his cab the morning she went missing and said she urgently needed a phone. In addition, two strangers say they saw Amy on Curacao, one in August in 1998, the other in January of 1999.

Click for a related story

* MSNBC Live homepage
* Main story: The latest on Natalee Holloway
* External site: Women's Travel Club safety tips

Bradley remains missing. There's a $260,000 reward for any information leading to her whereabouts. On Tuesday, Dan Abrams talked to her parents, Iva and Ron Bradley, about the search for their daughter.

To read an excerpt of their conversation, continue to the text below.

Iva Bradley, mother of missing girl: We have fought for seven years to get the attention that Amy needs to be found. When we discovered Amy missing, we begged the ship's personnel to not put the gangway down, to not allow anybody to leave the ship. And we told them that, if Amy had left the room for any more than 15 minutes, she would have left us a note.

And they put the gangway down anyway. People left the ship in Curacao. And please keep in mind that Curacao is part of the Netherlands Antilles. It's the next island over from Aruba.

We spent the entire day in Aruba, the day before. We rented a Jeep. We went out all day long. One side of the island is for tourists, obviously. The other side of the island is destitute, as far as desert, and tumbleweeds, goats, dogs.

We get back on the boat. We're there that afternoon. That evening, one of the waiters came up to us as we were in the atrium. He specifically asked for Amy by name. I asked him why he wanted Amy. He said because we want to take her to a bar.

And I said, "She's with her brother in the casino." So when they came out, we told her about the waiter wanting to take her off of the ship. And she screwed her mouth up and said, "No way, that's too creepy." We suggested being in a foreign country that they not leave the ship. We came to find out that the same bar that they wanted to take Amy to was the same bar as Natalee Holloway was in.

Dan Abrams: And that struck me, Mr. Bradley, when I heard about that. I mean, when you heard about this story, obviously, the location, you know, must have made you sort of particularly attuned to this story. But then when you heard the name of the bar, you know...

Ron Bradley, father of the missing girl: Well, that's true. And we've maintained from the beginning that someone saw Amy and took Amy from that ship in some way, that several ways by boat, through cargo, the cargo doors that open and close.

And then, when I just recently heard you say about the possible kidnapping, it just brings everything home as to what we expected the whole time. And I certainly hope that that's not the case. And I certainly hope that Natalee will be found.

Abrams: What do you make, Ms. Bradley, of the reported sightings of her? How reliable do you think that they have been?

Iva Bradley: Well, I believe the reported sightings are from people that have come forward that have seen Amy. The two Canadians that saw Amy on the beach in 1998, they described her tattoos, her demeanor, and did not know she was missing.

The Naval person who went to a brothel on Curacao said that Amy asked him for help, told him her name. She said, "My name is Amy Bradley. Please help me." He didn't know anybody was missing. He told her there was a naval ship five minutes down the dock that she could leave.

And she said, "No, you don't understand. Please help me. My name is Amy Bradley." At that time, two men in the bar removed her, told her to move and go upstairs.

He did not report anything. He had been on the ship. And being a petty officer, there were certain unauthorized areas that he could not go into, and that's where he was. When he saw Amy on the front cover of a major magazine, he had since retired and he contacted us.

And he said, "I have seen your daughter. I have seen her. I have talked to her. And she was in trouble." And he said, "I apologize for not doing anything about that."

There's one thing I want to make clear here to parents and to people that are traveling. Venezuela, on a good day from Curacao or Aruba, is in sight. We have been told by locals and been told by investigators, there are boats incoming. They come and go freely.

We also know there's a tremendous amount of drug trade. That's not a secret from Venezuela through those islands, up through the United States, or wherever they're going with the drugs.

So we're putting our families and our children in danger, and because of the situation with the United States being in a position where they say they have no jurisdiction, it hurt us terribly, and it hurt Amy. And we've not gotten the help that we need.

Abrams: Well, I'm hoping that -- you know, it's hard to say this, but that this other story, which is a horrible, horrible tragedy that, you know, hopefully that both can somehow end in a positive way and that one may be able to help the other.

Iva Bradley: I certainly hope so.

If you have any information in the case of missing American Amy Bradley, please call (804) 276 8503.

dit is best wel vreemd. De aanloop naar die ontvoering uit 1998 had betrekking op dezelfde bar als van het meisje uit Alabama: Carlos 'n Charlies Aruba, coole bar overigens, idd veel Amerikanen daar

And I said, "She's with her brother in the casino." So when they came out, we told her about the waiter wanting to take her off of the ship. And she screwed her mouth up and said, "No way, that's too creepy." We suggested being in a foreign country that they not leave the ship. We came to find out that the same bar that they wanted to take Amy to was the same bar as Natalee Holloway was in.

quote:

Op maandag 6 juni 2005 21:31 schreef thabit het volgende:

[..]

Aruba is bij mijn weten al een aantal jaar onafhankelijk.

Prrt....nog een Nederlander zeker die heel goed weet hoe de dingen op de Antillen en Aruba in elkaar zitten.
lachwekkend

quote:

Op donderdag 9 juni 2005 12:59 schreef Diepvriez het volgende:

[..]

Prrt....nog een Nederlander zeker die heel goed weet hoe de dingen op de Antillen en Aruba in elkaar zitten.
lachwekkend

hij zegt toch 'bij mijn weten'?
als het niet zo is vebeter hem dan, maar ga geen loze teksten posten die de discussie ontkrachten.

Update..

bron: Telegraaf.nl

Nederlander vast om vermist meisje Aruba
WILLEMSTAD - Een 17-jarige Nederlander is donderdag aangehouden in Willemstad op Aruba. De politie verdenkt de man, die al enkele jaren op Aruba woont, van betrokkenheid bij de vermissing van een 18-jarige Amerikaanse scholiere.



Een Nederlandse marinier zoekt maandag op Aruba naar de vermiste Amerikaanse scholiere Natalee Holloway.
Foto: EPA

De Nederlander is rond 6 uur 's ochtends (lokale tijd) gearresteerd. Ook twee Surinaamse broers van 18 en 20 jaar zijn aangehouden. De drie zijn eerder gehoord als getuige in de zaak omdat zij de vermiste Natalee Holloway als laatsten hadden gezien. Inmiddels zijn de drie verdachten, bevestigt een woordvoerder van de politie.

De 18-jarige Holloway verdween tien dagen geleden aan het eind van een reisje met ruim 120 schoolgenoten

Novum) - Eén Nederlander en twee Surinamers zijn het belangrijkste aanknopingspunt in het onderzoek naar de verdwijning van een 18-jarige Amerikaanse op Aruba. De drie zeggen Natalee Holloway, die sinds maandag wordt vermist, na een bezoek aan het strand bij haar hotel te hebben achtergelaten. De drie, tussen de 18 en 25 jaar oud en studenten op het eiland, worden niet verdacht, zei ondercommissaris van de politie Gerold Dompig.

Volgens de autoriteiten is er geen bewijs voor de veronderstelling dat Natalee is ontvoerd. Commissaris van politie Jan van der Straaten zei echter dat het vermoeden dat een misdaad is gepleegd na vier à vijf dagen toch wel sterker is geworden.

Het verdwenen meisje, Natalee Holloway, behoort tot een groep van 124 leerlingen van een middelbare school in Alabama, die na hun eindexamen onder de hoede van veertig begeleiders een reisje maakten naar Aruba. Ze bracht haar laatste avond op het eiland door in een nachtclub, waar zij de drie studenten ontmoette. Toen zij later op de dag niet op de luchthaven kwam opdagen werd er alarm geslagen.

Bewoners en toeristen hebben pamfletten opgehangen om te helpen met de opsporing en de hele bevolking weet dat het meisje vermist wordt, zei een politiewoordvoerder. Familieleden van Holloway die daags na haar verdwijning naar Aruba kwamen zitten ook niet stil. "We weten zeker dat we haar zullen vinden", zegt de moeder van Natalee. Inmiddels is een beloning van 50 duizend dollar uitgeloofd voor informatie die ertoe leidt dat het meisje wordt gevonden.

De Arubaanse premier Nelson Oduber zei dat het hele eiland verdrietig is over de vermissing. ,,Het nieuws dat Natalee wordt vermist op ons eiland heeft ons geshockeerd en vervult ons met ongeloof. Wij tolereren geen activiteiten die onze Amerikaanse vrienden schaden of die Aruba's goede naam aantasten", aldus Oduber.

Aruba staat bekend als een vriendelijk en veilig eiland. Dit jaar werden twee drugsverslaafden gedood bij messentrekkerijen en drie vrouwen verkracht. Zowel daders als slachtoffers waren ingezetenen.

quote:

Op donderdag 9 juni 2005 21:07 schreef Remidepemi het volgende:
Update..

bron: Telegraaf.nl

Nederlander vast om vermist meisje Aruba
WILLEMSTAD - Een 17-jarige Nederlander is donderdag aangehouden in Willemstad op Aruba. De politie verdenkt de man, die al enkele jaren op Aruba woont, van betrokkenheid bij de vermissing van een 18-jarige Amerikaanse scholiere.



Een Nederlandse marinier zoekt maandag op Aruba naar de vermiste Amerikaanse scholiere Natalee Holloway.
Foto: EPA

De Nederlander is rond 6 uur 's ochtends (lokale tijd) gearresteerd. Ook twee Surinaamse broers van 18 en 20 jaar zijn aangehouden. De drie zijn eerder gehoord als getuige in de zaak omdat zij de vermiste Natalee Holloway als laatsten hadden gezien. Inmiddels zijn de drie verdachten, bevestigt een woordvoerder van de politie.

De 18-jarige Holloway verdween tien dagen geleden aan het eind van een reisje met ruim 120 schoolgenoten

Willemstad ligt op Curaçao. Waar haal je deze troep vandaan?

Overigens is het inderdaad raar dat er zo weinig aandacht aan dit verhaal wordt besteed. Al moet ik zeggen dat ik er vanuit Aruba nog niets over heb gehoord, terwijl ik vanavond m'n moeder nog heb gesproken en die woont en werkt in Palm Beach.

Buiten dat dit erg is voor het meisje (ervan uitgaande dat ze niet vrijwillig 'verdwenen' is), is het niet goed voor het toerisme daar natuurlijk. Een van de goede kanten van het eiland is juist dat het zo veilig is. En dan gebeurt dit; volop gedoe in de media natuurlijk...

Een mogelijke verklaring is natuurlijk dat ze naar Carlos en Charlies is gegaan, wat op zich een goed idee is, en op de een of andere manier in een situatie terecht is gekomen waarbij ze is verongelijkt of vermoord. Of ontvoerd. Maar op een eiland met de omvang van Texel heeft dat weinig succes, denk ik. En dan was er ook wel contact opgenomen met de ongetwijfeld behoorlijk rijke ouders, ervan uitgaande dat dat een motief zou zijn.

Er zijn zoveel mogelijkheden.

quote:

Three more suspects were arrested Thursday in the investigation into the disappearance of Alabama 18-year-old Natalee Holloway in Aruba, bringing those in custody to five.

Juron Van Der Sloot -- the 17-year-old son of an Aruban judge -- was among those taken into custody early Thursday. Authorities also arrested two brothers of Surinamese origin, Satish and Depak Kalpoe, ages 18 and 19.
Authorities said the three were the last people seen with Holloway, who was in Aruba on a high school graduation trip. She was seen leaving an Oranjestad nightclub, Carlos 'N Charlie's, with them about 1:30 a.m. on May 30, they said.

In previous questioning, the three told police they visited a beach with Holloway before taking her back to her hotel, the Holiday Inn, about 2 a.m.

Holloway, from the Birmingham suburb of Mountain Brook, has not been seen since then. She was visiting the Caribbean island off Venezuela with about 100 classmates and parent chaperones to celebrate graduation.

Van Der Sloot met Holloway in the casino of her hotel the day before her disappearance, authorities said.

Under the Dutch judicial system, which Aruba follows as a protectorate of The Netherlands, people are arrested on suspicion of a crime but formally charged later. Authorities did not say what charges the three may face.

Authorities arrested 28-year-old Abraham Jones and 30-year-old Mickey John on Sunday.

Authorities said their witness statements did not lead to the three arrests, but that police had been watching the youths ever since they were questioned shortly after Holloway's disappearance.

Towels covered the faces of the three as authorities led them from their homes. Police searched the homes afterward. At a news conference later, police said they seized a vehicle and other items but declined to elaborate.

Reporters asked authorities why they previously questioned the trio before releasing them and why they didn't seize the vehicle at that time.

Calling the arrests a "tactical" move, police denied suggestions that class, wealth or race played a role in the investigation. The three arrested Thursday are from comparatively well-to-do families, while the two detained earlier live on the island's poorer, more industrial eastern side.

"The suspicion of a suspect has nothing to do with the color of his skin, but the grounds of suspicion," said chief prosecutor Karin Janssen.

Aruba Prime Minister Nelson Oduber vowed, "On this island, nobody stands above the law."

Authorities have not said whether they believe Holloway is dead, and her relatives, waiting for news in Aruba, have said they are clinging to hope that she is alive.

An FBI dive team has left the island, saying the government gave them no specific areas to search. And a second dive team said Thursday they had searched all the public coastlines and were awaiting further direction from officials.

Police were investigating any possible tie between the three arrested Thursday and the two arrested Sunday.

According to police statements, at least one of the three arrested Thursday told authorities that as Holloway was getting out of their car at her hotel, she stumbled and one of them helped her up. Walking to the hotel, she stumbled a second time, and a "dark-colored" man wearing a black T-shirt and carrying a radio helped her, the statement said.

A hotel employee who has reviewed surveillance tapes from the morning of Holloway's disappearance said they don't show any sign of the teenager.

Jones' attorney, Chris Lejuez, said his client is accused of first-degree murder, second-degree murder and capital kidnapping, or kidnapping resulting in death.

Jones' and John's relatives maintain their innocence. John's mother, Ann, said, "My son knows nothing, nothing, concerning this girl."

Lejuez said he knew of no connection between Jones and John and the three others arrested. Of the latter, he said, "The public has been screaming for their arrest for quite some time now."

Jones and John were security guards working at the Hotel Allegro, which is near the Holiday Inn where Holloway was staying. Lejuez said neither was working the night she disappeared.

The two went before the judge Wednesday, but prosecutors did not provide much of the evidence against them, Lejuez said.

The two can remain jailed for up to four months, but such detainment requires more appearances before a judge, and the amount of evidence prosecutors must cite to hold them grows larger, the lawyer said.

"I don't see any reason to keep them," Lejuez said. "I have no reason to believe they have enough evidence to charge them

CNN.

de zoon van een rechter

http://www.riehlworldview.com/carnivorous_conservative/

Hmm, dat zouden ze dus moeten zijn

quote:

Op vrijdag 10 juni 2005 05:10 schreef milagro het volgende:

[..]

CNN.

de zoon van een rechter

Het is wel een bekende naam; die jongens hebben ongetwijfeld op dezelfde school als ik gezeten. En zoveel rechters zijn er ook niet. Ik hoop maar dat ze de goede mensen hebben gearresteerd, want anders is dat wel heel sneu.

heb je die link bekeken?

quote:

Op maandag 6 juni 2005 08:23 schreef Megumi het volgende:
Zie niet waarom de verdwijning van een studente uit de VS belangrijk Nederlands nieuws is.

Zo zie je maar weer...

Het is groot nieuws omdat een Nederlander de dader is

"Juron Van Der Sloot". Zou dat niet Jeroen moeten zijn?

quote:

Op vrijdag 10 juni 2005 09:15 schreef Mjam het volgende:
"Juron Van Der Sloot". Zou dat niet Jeroen moeten zijn?

Nee, Joran. Zie de link van milagro hierboven.

http://spaces.msn.com/members/joransloot/PersonalSpace.aspx?_c=

website van de Nederlandse dader

De gangbang is zeker fout afgelopen.

heb je de reacties van die domme amerikanen gelezen
maar het blijft bagger

[ Bericht 32% gewijzigd door Oscar. op 10-06-2005 12:36:33 ]

quote:

Op vrijdag 10 juni 2005 11:12 schreef Meki het volgende:
http://spaces.msn.com/members/joransloot/PersonalSpace.aspx?_c=

website van de Nederlandse dader

[afbeelding]

het is wel echt een playertje hoor...moet je die foto's zien

quote:

Op vrijdag 10 juni 2005 09:06 schreef Meki het volgende:
Het is groot nieuws omdat een Nederlander de dader is

Ja in Nederland dus. Voor de VS en Aruba is het groot nieuws voor andere redenen.

quote:

Op dinsdag 7 juni 2005 20:46 schreef Taurus het volgende:
Ik snap nog steeds niet waarom dit nou zo belangrijk is. Nederlands grondgebied? Nou en? Het is niet Nederland. Ik heb er net zo min associaties mee als wanneer ik 'n topic lees 'meisje vermist in Mexico'.. Tis erg, maar toch heeft 't bij mij 'n hoog 'nou en?' gehalte..

Tja dan lees je het toch niet. Simpel...

Dit is wat Natalee Holloway in het jaarboek van haar school schreef als quote:

In what could be a tragic irony, in the Mountain Brook yearbook, Holloway's senior quote came from the old Lynyrd Skynyrd song "Freebird." It says:
-----------------------------
"If I leave here tomorrow, would you still remember me? For I must be traveling on now, there's too many places I haven't seen."
------------------------------


vrij ironisch idd. ...