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Aruba Arrests 3 in Missing Student Case
Santa Maria Times ^ | 6/09/05 | Michael Norton

Posted on 06/09/2005 5:39:25 AM PDT by jimboster

ORANJESTAD, Aruba - Aruban police arrested three more suspects in the case of the missing American honors student Thursday, the attorney general said.

Attorney General Caren Janssen said police arrested the three men that police had previously questioned and released in the disappearance of 18-year-old Natalee Holloway, an Alabama high school honors student.

She refused to identify the three, but authorities previously have described them as students _ two Surinamese and a native of the Netherlands _ who told police they dropped off Holloway at her hotel around 2 a.m. on May 30. Hotel employees, however, say that security cameras did not record her return.

Janssen said the three were arrested at 6 a.m. She refused to say whether they were connected to the two men already being detained in the disappearance, saying more information would be released later Thursday.

A judge on Wednesday ruled that there was sufficient cause to keep holding two former hotel security guards.

The decision means authorities may hold Nick John, 30, and Abraham Jones, 28, for nearly four months while prosecutors investigate possible murder and kidnapping charges, defense attorneys said. Neither man has been formally charged.

Holloway, of Mountain Brook, Ala., vanished May 30 while on a five-day trip with 124 classmates celebrating their high school graduation on this Dutch Caribbean island.

Police and the FBI kept up their search for Holloway but said a lack of any solid leads was hindering progress. Local officials have asked the FBI to bring in dogs trained to search.

Police and volunteer land searches continued Wednesday with no results, while water searches, also unsuccessful, had been suspended "at this time," police spokesman Edwin Comenencia said.

A service of the Associated Press(AP)


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: aruba; nataleeholloway
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I always believed the original three were the guilty ones- the two security guards are probably just a couple of dupes who were blamed because they hang around the area all the time.
1 posted on 06/09/2005 5:39:25 AM PDT by jimboster
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To: jimboster

I can't imagine the pain the family must be feeling. To have someone just vanish like that. I share your thoughts on the original three as well.


2 posted on 06/09/2005 5:41:09 AM PDT by WV Mountain Mama (Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.)
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To: jimboster

It's about time they put the habeas grab-ass on those three. The vic left with them and they dropped her off at the motel after consensual sex with all three? Sure they did, and klintoon is going to heaven. In regards to the two others perps, I think we might see the unfolding of this case shortly. My question is why would you have sex with someone and just drop them off at a motel? I would have ensured the young lady made it to her room safely. The threes' numbers are up now and I hope we see a break in this case. They are all perps to me till proven otherwise. POI person of interest, what a beautiful P.C. for a suspect. NSNR


3 posted on 06/09/2005 5:53:05 AM PDT by No Surrender No Retreat
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To: No Surrender No Retreat

Something tells me they'll never find her body.

Aruba is a small island, from what I have seen from a map.

Her body war probably dumped in the ocean or tied down with weights.


4 posted on 06/09/2005 5:55:11 AM PDT by Sundown2005
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To: No Surrender No Retreat
My question is why would you have sex with someone and just drop them off at a motel? I would have ensured the young lady made it to her room safely.

You sound like a gentleman. If that's the case, I'm not sure you would be in a pack of 3 having sex with 1. Would you?

Big question. Was she loose while in her high school? If not, there is no way on the planet that she'd go willingly and have sex with three people. Celebration or not.

One? Maybe. Not three.

5 posted on 06/09/2005 6:00:55 AM PDT by FrogMom
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To: jimboster

Can someone explain how the chaperones allowed this young woman to be taken back to hotel at 1:30 in the morning by strangers?


6 posted on 06/09/2005 6:01:00 AM PDT by sarasota
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To: sarasota
Can someone explain how the chaperones allowed this young woman to be taken back to hotel at 1:30 in the morning by strangers?

These were high-school graduates. Legally, adults. Probably weren't any chaperones.

7 posted on 06/09/2005 6:03:34 AM PDT by FrogMom
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To: No Surrender No Retreat
Is there any evidence, besides the story told by these three, that the two security guards ever encountered the girl at all?
8 posted on 06/09/2005 6:04:09 AM PDT by MrNatural (..".You want the truth?!"...)
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To: sarasota
That was my first question also. Even in the US as a pretty 18 year old, you don't get in a taxi with 3 strange men. Why in the world would you do in a foreign country? Did her mother never teach her the buddy system?

Unfortunately these poor people in Aruba will have a black mark because of a stupid decision and friends that weren't thinking straight.

Unless we find out that she was forced in the car, but I don't think the friends that stayed at the bar said anything was unusual.
9 posted on 06/09/2005 6:09:58 AM PDT by PaulaB (Proud Member Of the White Christian Party)
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To: No Surrender No Retreat
My question is why would you have sex with someone and just drop them off at a motel? I would have ensured the young lady made it to her room safely.

You're kidding, right?
I knew that too many Americans can only view foreign cultures simply as a clone of our own non-criminal population, but I utterly failed to realize that it also applies to private individual behavior.
You need to get out more.

This type of suicidal personal behavior has been quite common for as far back as I can remember (at least 40 years). Particularly so when vacationing thousands of mile from home. It's like the laws of the universe did not apply any longer.

10 posted on 06/09/2005 6:10:12 AM PDT by Publius6961 (The most abundant things in the universe are ignorance, stupidity and hydrogen)
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To: FrogMom

I heard there were two chaperones and to think that they didn't make sure that everyone was present and accounted for before leaving the bar is beyond the pale. And what are 18 year olds doing in a bar? Is there no legal age limit on drinking?


11 posted on 06/09/2005 6:14:04 AM PDT by sarasota
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To: Sundown2005

I agree, but the Peterson body did finally show up after how many months. I am confused how these two hotel security guards play into the scenario, if she left with three totally different guys. How sad.


12 posted on 06/09/2005 6:17:17 AM PDT by mel
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To: sarasota

It's possible that the age-limit is 18. The islands LOVE these high school kids (or rather, their money). Dunno. Could probably find the info on-line if you seriously want to know.


13 posted on 06/09/2005 6:18:34 AM PDT by FrogMom
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To: jimboster
"... the two security guards are probably just a couple of dupes who were blamed because they hang around the area all the time."

They could have been arrested just to show that the police were doing something.

14 posted on 06/09/2005 6:19:06 AM PDT by OldEagle (We might be in the end times, but it looks like we are finally moving in the RIGHT direction.)
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To: FrogMom

"Was she loose while in her high school? If not, there is no way on the planet that she'd go willingly and have sex with three people"

If she was drunk or doped, she very well could have gone with them 'willingly'. I've been suspicious of these three all along. Three privileged boys (son of a judge, no less) take off with a pretty blonde who mysteriously disappears, and somehow two black security guards take the blame. Sounds like a typical John Grisham novel.


15 posted on 06/09/2005 6:22:32 AM PDT by rampage8
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To: mel

The three probably drugged Natalee's drink with some date-rape drug, took her out of the club and somewhere where they raped her, turned her over to the two other security guards, who did the same, then she was murdered.

The ocean currents off Aruba could differ than in No. California.


16 posted on 06/09/2005 6:22:47 AM PDT by Sundown2005
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To: PaulaB

This is an unfortunate occurance to say the least. The 18 year old girl somehow found a way to sneak behind the chaperones' backs and go nighclubbing into the wee hours. She had probably been drinking and the alcohol likely affected her thinking and behavior. Initially, her friends probably didn't want to implicate themselves in the nighclubbing and drinking that likely took place. When the seriousness of the situation became evident, they probably came forward with more information that is helping the law enforcemment find these other guys.


17 posted on 06/09/2005 6:24:32 AM PDT by TennTuxedo
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To: sarasota

>I heard there were two chaperones and to think that they didn't make sure that everyone was present and accounted for before leaving the bar is beyond the pale.<

The term chaperone as used in conjunction with this trip is very generic.They had no authority or responsibility greater than a tour guide would have.The term "beard" would probably be better applied.Their purpose was to give parents a false sense of security when they sent their kids off on this drinking party.


18 posted on 06/09/2005 6:25:28 AM PDT by Blessed
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To: Blessed

I would like to know what really happened that night if the truth ever be known


19 posted on 06/09/2005 6:28:45 AM PDT by MudSlide
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To: All

A couple of things really bother me about this story.
First, what kind of parent sends their EIGHTEEN(18)YEAR OLD on a trip to ARUBA, OUT OF THE UNITED STATES, for a SENIOR TRIP? What ever happened to Six Flags or a local resort to have everyone get together as a senior class? I could understand if it was a sporting event or music competition, etc. BUt a senior trip? I don't want to assume anything here, but IMO, i can just see the big-bow wrapped Beemer waiting in the driveway. When you are eighteen and thrown into situations, like GOING TO ARUBA, WITHOUT your PARENTS, at the tender and hormonally charged age of 18 (i know its the age of "legality" for many things, but if you're in high school, living at home, you are NOT an experienced adult. Honor student, or not.Which brings me to my next point...

As I passed the mass-media event on the 4 or so news channels I traipsed through on my way to South Park, I couldn't help but notice the headline most were carrying...."Honor student missing in Aruba" What if the person was a C-student? What if they were the class wallflower? It seemed to imply that being an "honor" student means she wouldn't/couldn't-goodness-gracious-NO -WAY have been involved in some kind of activity that is not usually endorsed by the FBLA, like, looking for a little island herb or even, dare I suggest it, drinking alcohol with people she didn't know very well?

That being said, I hope (I do have a soul, deep down below the hardened crust of my heart) she is found safe, or at least found, for the sake of closure for her parents. But maybe this and a 20/20 interview and expose (you know it's coming) on these extravagant kiddie trips to exotic ports, will open people's eyes. Or at least have their eyes watch what their children are doing.


20 posted on 06/09/2005 6:29:04 AM PDT by Woman on Caroline Street (I'm sick and tired of pressing 1 for english)
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