Aruban Police Free Suspect's Dad in Missing Teen Case

aolnews.com ^ | 6 27 o5 | PETER PRENGAMAN,

[freepatriot32]

ORANJESTAD, Aruba (June 26) - Aruban police freed the father of a Dutch suspect arrested in the disappearance of an Alabama teenager, the man's wife said, hours after a party boat disc jockey held in the case was ordered released.

Anita van der Sloot said the most important thing for her now ''is that my son comes (out) free.''

No immediate comment was available from officials about the release of Paul van der Sloot, 52, a high-ranking justice official who is studying to be a judge on the Dutch Caribbean island.

Earlier Sunday, a judge also ordered police to release Steven Gregory Croes, the party boat disc jockey held in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, saying authorities did not have enough evidence against him, the man's lawyer said.

Croes, 26, was one of five people held in the case of the 18-year-old young woman last seen in the early hours of May 30. No one has been charged in the case, including the last person reportedly seen with her, 17-year-old Joran van der Sloot.

''A little bit of the nightmare clouds are now disappearing,'' Anita van der Sloot told The Associated Press. ''The truth will always come forward. From the beginning, I trusted everything would be fine.''

Searches for Holloway have been fruitless.

Croes, who was detained June 17, will be released Monday, said his lawyer, Eleni Lotter-Homan. He is a disc jockey on the party boat Tattoo, which offers nightly dining, dancing and swimming and docks near the Holiday Inn hotel where Holloway had been staying on Aruba, a Dutch protectorate.

''The judge agreed there is not enough proof he was involved to keep holding him,''

Paul van der Sloot was arrested Thursday as a suspect for collaborating in a crime with his son, according to his lawyer A.J. Swan.

Still jailed are the young van der Sloot and his friends, Surinamese brothers Deepak Kalpoe, 21, and Satish Kalpoe, 18. Under Dutch law, a suspect can be held for up to 116 days without charge if a judge decides police have good reason.

The three young men initially told police that after a night of eating, drinking and dancing, they took Holloway to a northern beach before dropping her off at her hotel around 2 a.m.

On Saturday, Satish Kalpoe's lawyer said his client admitted that his story was a lie.

Satish now claims that he and brother dropped Holloway and Joran van der Sloot off together at a beach near the Marriott hotel, then went home, said the lawyer, David Kock.

On Sunday, Kock said the brothers were becoming increasingly angry with Joran van der Sloot and accusing him of changing his story to put the blame for Holloway's disappearance on them. Kock would not elaborate.

Anita van der Sloot said her son told her that he was alone on a beach with Holloway and left her there unharmed in the early hours of the day she vanished.

Joran van der Sloot's lawyer, Antonio Carlo, said Sunday, ''My client maintains his innocence.''

06-26-05 18:25 EDT

[freepatriot32]

this case gets more bizarre every day

[Buckeye Battle Cry]

This is a very sad story. I suspect that the poor girl was chopped up and used for fish food.

I just don't know if I'd allow my kid to go on a Senior class trip. Too much opportunity for things to go wrong.

[freepatriot32]

Anita and Paul van der Sloot defended their son Joran, a suspect in Holloway's disappearance, before Paul himself was taken into custody Thursday.

[sodpoodle]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1429067/posts


Live thread #3 2500+ responses 50K views

FYI

[A CA Guy]

The answer to this will be given, because if not, there will be little vacationers going to Aruba for a part of a decade, and the Dutch know this IMO.

[YOUGOTIT]

Several things could have happened: One, she was killed by the three. Two, she was abducted by people who want young blonds in their harems. Three, she was abducted by squads who appropriate young women for the legal brothels in South America or other Caribbean Islands. Four, some others killed her and the three the police are focused on, because of the American press, are the wrong people.

[jimboster]

The answer will be the Aruban government dragging this thing out until nobody cares anymore. It's beginning to look more and more like a charade- just going through the motions so it looks like the police are actually doing something. The authorities are either total incompetents or it was decided at the very beginning the case would never be "solved". A government "spokesman" appears to be nothing more than some minor bureaucrat they grabbed and said, "Ok, you're the spokesman today."

[Fog Nozzle]

Here's what I think happened to Natalee. Joran was pimping for the Kalpoe brothers who like young blond girls but don't have the looks or personality to pick them up on their own. Joran targets a girl and with charm, alcohol and/or drugs, invites her to go with him to see the lighthouse, walk the beach or whatever. She thinks, "how romantic", and goes with him. He and the girl get it on and suddenly Satish and Deepak jump out of the back seat and join in the festivities. They do this on the night before she's scheduled to leave the island so she won't complain and risk missing her boat or plane.

In Natalee's case, something went wrong. She resists and struggles, one of them hits her too hard and kills her. Jeron says "Don't worry, guys, my dad will know what to do". Someone is hired to take the body to sea for dumping and an alibi is concocted .

Why would a guy like Joran, who apparently was charming and impressive to the young ladies, hang around with a couple of losers like these two and take them along on a "date"? That's the fishiest part of the whole story.

[Uncle Hal]

She could of died from too much booze or the effects of a pill slipped in her drink. Their are a lot of "natural causes" that could of caused her death and the boys simply panicked and dumbed her body some where. Hopefully we will know exactly how she died. A fisherman was on TV a while back and said if you dump bodies in certain areas of the ocean off Aruba, the current will take it out to sea and you will never see it again.

[OldEagle]

Anything is possible and your explanation is just as possible as any other.

[yarddog]

I don't know if the two brothers are actually "losers", but that is a plausible explanation.

I personally still think she was transported off the island.

[Burlem]

I too think she iss off the Island, and most likely all will go free.

[Fog Nozzle]

Does anyone know exactly how many hours transpired between her leaving the bar - reportedly 1 am - and her being reported missing?

[PFKEY]

The authorities are either total incompetents or it was decided at the very beginning the case would never be "solved".

I think at this point the authorities don't have too much to work with. i.e. no body and no confession.

Would you advocate they hang these three without any evidence.

The only they know or claim to know at this point is that these three are the last to be seen with NH and that their stories have changed as to the events of that night.

[stopem]

And until there is proof a crime was commited these people shouldnt be held in jail. If the Texas group doesnt find her than she may never be found because supposedly they have the right equipment to locate missing people live or dead.
Meanwhile aren't people assumed innocent until PROVEN guilty?

[jimboster]

Would you advocate they hang these three without any evidence.
Actually, what I advocate- Arresting these three scumbags the next day and doing a forensic search on the car, computers and homes of all three- would require a time machine. Unfortunately, the Aruban authorities are either incompetent or corrupt, which means the giant Dutch boy and his pals will walk. Although, a year from now, Mark Fuhrman will write a book detailing "what actually happened to Natalee"

[Conservative Infidel]

The whole way this case has been "investigated" reminds me of the line from Casablanca: "Round up the usual suspects."

[texasbluebell]

And until there is proof a crime was commited these people shouldnt be held in jail.

Doesn't work that way in Aruba. Different legal system.

Meanwhile aren't people assumed innocent until PROVEN guilty?

We're used to that in the US, but in many other countries people are considered guilty until proven innocent.

[YOUGOTIT]

The law is much different in the Netherlands. I lived there for about 3 years and they can hold you on the word of the state attorney without any proof of any crime. But you also have certain rights like no one can enter your home after 10 at night etc. And you must have a hearing every 8 days so the judge can make a determination if you should be held for another 8 days.

[hershey]

Maybe the Aruban LE will leave those bugs in place in the VDS home. Then they can listen in to family fights about J's behavior. They might even mention what happened to N.