Natalee Holloway's stepfather seeks divorce

Associated Press ^ | January 5, 2007

[Cecily]

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The stepfather of Natalee Holloway, the Alabama teen who disappeared in Aruba in 2005, has filed for divorce from Holloway's mother, Beth Twitty.

George "Jug" Twitty filed divorce papers in Jefferson County Circuit Court on Dec. 29. The court filing said the couple separated Dec. 15 and have "such a complete incompatibility of temperament that the parties can no longer live together."

The Birmingham News reported the court filing Friday.

Jug Twitty declined comment on the divorce proceedings, and a phone message left for Beth Twitty on Friday was not immediately returned.

The couple attracted international attention after Holloway, then 18, disappeared in Aruba on May 30, 2005, while on a graduation trip with fellow students from Mountain Brook High School.

The Twittys appeared together during the early stages of the search. As it dragged on, Jug Twitty returned to Birmingham, and Beth Twitty remained in Aruba for almost three months.

[dmz]

Yea, I'm sure that Beth much prefers her life today in the spotlight over the total anonymity she enjoyed while her daughter was alive.

[xarmydog]

No marriage can survive a daily dose of grief.At some point in time,some type of a medium is necessary.I believe he could not stand the everyday self induced pain and grief,and at some point wanted his wife and life back.In my opinion,he did not see that ever happening.I feel bad for them all,and Aruba is not the place for partying kids,as evidenced by their justice system.

[spectre]

Good for you!

But as a daughter and then wife of military men, I can tell you I've seen more than my share of marriages split up because of the separation.

So it takes a strong commitment and a lot of love to endure the hardships of a military career.

That said, the "for better or for worse", IS a two way street.

Why do you judge Jug for not doing his part in the "for better or worse" vow? We don't have all the details, and maybe it's something as simple as the poor man doesn't have the "money" to keep on hiring lawyers and suing people?

sw

[Not A Snowbird]

If you are 18 most can't afford it.

Perhaps. In my daughter's case, we've insisted that she put half her paycheck in savings since she started working. In a couple of months she'll be 18. Nothing could stop her from cleaning out her savings account and going to Aruba or Lord knows where else.

There'd be hell to pay when she returned, but there it is. We just hope she has enough sense not to do that, or something equally as foolish.

[HarmlessLovableFuzzball]

OK we feel bad for the mother, now what ? Did you read the whole article ? I bet you didn't. So here it is again:

---

If you follow the news media in the United States, particular the 24-hour cable stations, it certainly ought to. On the other hand, if you've been living in a cave for the past month or so, here are the highlights: Natalee Holloway is an 18 year-old girl from Alabama who vanished on May 30th from the island of Aruba, where she was vacationing with some of her classmates to celebrate their high school graduation. Based on the amount of coverage that this story has received from the national media (Fox News in particular), one must draw the conclusion that this is a Very Important Issue, and that all Americans should care very deeply and personally about it.

I must confess that I do not.



Now, before I get called a heartless bastard, let me hasten to point out that I agree that this story is tragic. Natalee's family and friends have doubtless been going through hell during this past month. I do hope that she can be recovered safe and sound, though that possibility seems very remote at this point. If I were the King of the World, I would snap my fingers and instantly transport every missing person back to the safety of their families.

But what makes Natalee Holloway more important than, say, Reyna Alvarado-Carerra?

In the United States alone, more than a million people are reported missing each year. The majority of these cases involve minors. The majority of those cases are runaways, but there are also significant numbers of abductions at the hands of both relatives and strangers. This brings us to the case of Reyna Gabriella Alvarado-Carerra.

Have you ever heard of her?

I certainly hadn't until I started doing research for this story. Reyna is a 13 year-old Hispanic girl who is believed to have been abducted by a stranger in Norcross, Georgia. She was abducted just a few weeks before Holloway. A Google search on her name yields a grand total of 6 results.

The same search for "Natalee Holloway" turns up 276,000 results.

But Natalee doesn't just get more Google search results. She's getting airtime, baby. As I mentioned in the intro, American news outlets are awash with a veritable cornucopia of Natalee fever. She also gets assistance from the Dutch Marines and special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who apparently already have enough resources at work battling mundane things like terrorism.

Here's the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back, and the reason I am writing this treatise: CNN is now reporting that Holland is sending three F-16 warplanes to assist in the search for Natalee. I was given pause by thinking about the sheer cost of this endeavor. My brother-in-law is a recruiter for the Air National Guard, and I have a rough idea of how much money it costs to even get one of those things off of the ground. How much do you suppose is being spent to equip these planes with the special search equipment and then actually get them to Aruba?

The disproportionate response of Aruban, Dutch, and American authorities to the disappearance of this girl can only be attributed to the disproportionate amount of media coverage. CNN, MSNBC, and (especially) Fox News feature hourly updates on the status of the investigation. They interview family members, law enforcement personnel, and representatives of the Aruban government. The case even features prominently on right-wing talk radio shows, such as the Sean Hannity Show and Bill O'Reilly's Radio Factor. This is perhaps the most interesting aspect of the coverage: What could possibly be political about this case? Why would Hannity and O'Reilly be interested in taking away airtime from discussions about the immorality of Democrats and spend it on Natalee Holloway instead?

I can guess, and will spend the next couple of paragraphs doing so. This is mere speculation on my part; you have been warned.

The initial Fox News coverage of the story was pretty transparent, particularly on O'Reilly's show. The incident was portrayed as a lesson: "See, this is what happens when you vacation outside of America in nations with swarthy peoples." Initially, two former security guards were arrested in connection with the disappearance. O'Reilly called these two men "slugs" and lamented the fact that Aruba does not have a death penalty that they could be threatened with. Of course, it later turned out that the two had nothing to do with the abduction, and they were released. (As far as I've seen, there was no retraction or apology from O'Reilly, a man who constantly reminds us that he does not "engage in speculation" on his show.)

Things changed when the focus of the investigation shifted to 17 year-old Dutch boy Joran van der Sloot. Since the new culprit was now Whitey, the initial political spin was invalidated. Fox briefly attempted to make the story into an argument for the juvenile death penalty (even going so far as referring to van der Sloot as a "17 year-old Dutch man.") This fizzled, however, and the current focus of the coverage, at least on Fox, is the supposed ineptitude of Aruban law enforcement. O'Reilly's new favorite pastime is lambasting the Aruban authorities for not giving the media enough information about the case and for not having recovered her body yet. This despite the fact that it took over a year to find the body of Chandra Levy (and Washington, D.C. is smaller than Aruba.)

But I digress; I would be doing a grave disservice to suggest that the other news networks have been handling this story responsibly. The coverage at places like CNN and MSNBC has been less political but certainly no less pervasive. Stories of actual importance to the daily lives of Americans are routinely ignored in favor of the latest non-updates in the Holloway case. (To be fair, however, the Holloway case is far from the only non-news that is being reported; my life is not particularly affected by shark bites to Austrians who are vacationing in Florida.)

Here are some things that you may have missed over the past couple of weeks if you rely on American television news for your daily dose of information:

* The Chinese government is looking to buy Unocal, an American oil company
* NASA has fired a "robotic bullet" at a comet to help study cometary makeup and origins
* Kurdish guerillas bombed two trains in Turkey, increasing tensions between that nation and northern Iraq
* Spain has legalized gay marriage

These are just a few examples. But hey, we're getting our Natalee fix, right?

It would probably be impossible to figure out how many millions of dollars are being spent on the effort to find Natalee Holloway. But I'll wager it would be relatively trivial to determine how much money and effort is expended on a typical abducted person case. So if you've reserved a few moments out of your day to send your thoughts or prayers to the family of Natalee Holloway, you might want to do the same to the family of Reyna Alvarado-Carerra.

Does it make me a bad American if I just don't care about Natalee Holloway (above and beyond the general concern expressed at the beginning of this story?) Is the life and death of one teenager worth more than another on the basis of her socioeconomic status? Is America, as a nation, well-served by a news media that is more concerned with infotainment than it is with information? And if you think that the Natalee Holloway case is something that in any shape or form deserves my hourly attention, could you explain why?

I wish I could say that I care, but I just can't.

[trisham]

Atlantis.

*********

LOL!

[happygrl]

Let me add my voice to your sympathies.

This is no place for smirky comments. A mother has been left with no body to bury, no grave to at which to mourn, a scenario deplored since the Greeks in Antigone.

[gawatchman]

As I see it, there seems to be a little too much selfishness going around that people see divorce as an answer to marital problems instead of maybe seeking counseling in an effort to honor one's vows, and help your spouse. I don't know what happened exactly here, but I get the feeling this could have been avoided.

[streetpreacher]

It is quite common for parents of murdered children to divorce. Very sad.

[TruthSetsUFree]

"Their marriage probably didn't stand a chance from the day this all started, sad, but true."

Not as long as one of the two doesn't stand true to their vow to the other "for better or for worse." This didn't HAVE to happen, no matter her obssession. It was a choice he has made, sadly, rather than standing by her in her loss no matter how badly she responded to it.

[streetpreacher]

I've never understood the proclivity of some people to beat up on parents who lose children. Just pray to God you have better friends and family should something as dreadful happen to you. The above are simply scum IMO.

[streetpreacher]

You might do everything right and the kids still do everything wrong. Better pray for the grace of God for your own kids rather than judge others.

[streetpreacher]

I agree. If he left her, he is simply selfish and abandoned her. I guess he never really looked at Natalee as his daughter if this is true.

[TET1968]

Natalee Holloway:

Respectfully,....It could be that the purpose of one's life is only to serve as a warning to others.

[daybreakcoming]

Funny, I had a feeling this was coming on. But I figured she would be the one to file. Jug seemed to be less and less of a rock as time went on as if he wanted his own life back.

[varina davis]

I agree and for the same reasons. I'm not at all surprised.

[MinuteGal]

"I'm sure Beth much prefers her life today in the spotlight over the total anonimity she enjoyed.........."

This couple will have my everlasting sympathy and prayers.

The marriage appears to be over. I hope its friendly and no acrimony mars the divorce.

There are undoubtedly many reasons for the split. One may be that a subdivision in Birmingham may not be so interesting any more for those accustomed to the spotlight and travel.

Another may be they have nothing more to talk to each other about without effort and pain.

Both of them may want to put the past behind as much as they can. I wish them luck.

I bet at least one of them has a potential marriage partner he/she is thinking about.

Leni

[justshutupandtakeit]

No opinion on her politics but she is clearly certifiable.
The media's actions in that case were disgraceful.

[justshutupandtakeit]

There some insanity for you. And some wonder why Americans are hated.

[Primetimedonna]

"If Natalie had been raised properly she may have never been in the situation that caused her to lose her life. Its sad."

It's shocking, stunning, and yes, amazing that a well raised 18 year old made a poor judgement....good grief, get a grip! I don't know many people, myself included, who haven't done extremely stupid things when we were young! That Natlee's very brief lapse of judgement came to this is a Tragedy, but not one that better "raising" could change. Plenty on well raised young women are attacked and killed in our own country, in case you haven't noticed. Quit blaming the victim and her family, and put the blame where it belongs....on the perpetrators!