Posted on 06/02/2005 8:02:49 AM PDT by SamFromLivingston
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — FBI and Aruban officials said Wednesday that they had flew clues to the whereabouts of a Mountain Brook High School graduate who disappeared during a senior trip to the island.
FBI officials in the Caribbean were coordinating with Aruban police and Dutch authorities, who oversee Aruba, to search for Natalee Holloway, 18, The Birmingham News reported.
Holloway joined about 125 graduating seniors and adults on the five-day trip, which is an annual tradition not sponsored by the school. Other students said she never showed up for the group's return flight Monday.
"We went to check in for our airplane, and she wasn't there, and she's been missing since then," said Jay Weinacker, a member of Holloway's graduating class.
Holloway's parents, David Holloway, of Meridian, Miss., and Beth Holloway Twitty of Mountain Brook, and several family members traveled to Aruba to aid the search, said Robin Holloway, the girl's stepmother.
"It is torture," Robin Holloway said. "It is just agony."
Aruban police said Wednesday that they had questioned and released three local men who said they dropped the teenager off at her hotel late Sunday night. Officials said the girl's parents were unable to spot her on a hotel surveillance tape.
Officials said there were few leads on Natalee's whereabouts.
After hearing of her disappearance, Robin Holloway said her husband felt compelled to search for his daughter.
"We can't just sit here and do nothing," she said. "We don't know if she is still in Aruba ... or she's been kidnapped. We just don't know anything."
Officials at Mountain Brook Community Church said more than 150 people participated Tuesday in a prayer service for Holloway.
"Word just kind of got out, and parents and students just really wanted to get together and have a little prayer service for the whole situation," said Troy Gambrell, an associate in the youth ministry.
A newspaper from area reports that she was near Carlos & Charlie's after an evening out and got into the car with three other persons. No mention of drinking.
You and I have disagreed in this forum on the expansion of liberty issues, but I cannot agree with you more on the subject stated above.
The greatest gift a parent can give to their children is individualism and self-sufficiency.
Life is full of situations were the risk of injury or death is imminent.
Teach your children to discern and analyze "risk" as correctly as possible.
My deepest and heartfelt empathy for the parents of this missing girl.
Yes. Many American youth are sheltered. My sister loved Japan as it was really safe. The only people you ever worried about were foreigners taking advantage of the lax atmosphere. Also, she went to Vietnam and Thailand and you didn't worry about the locals. You worried about the Europerverts on the beach. The one piece of advice I consistently follow is not to drink from strangers. Don't drink from an unattended open container,etc.etc.
Exactly. It's the big question of the universe. Why is Charles Manson still alive (no cancer, no MS, etc. no hideous pustules on his face) Why do children die EVER? It rains on the just and the unjust. It is an imperfect world and stuff happens. I hate it too.
Long story. But do a Google search on "Mike Posner" and Aruba. Then go to this site: http://www.ipsn.org/OutfitChart.htm and see where Michael Posner falls on the table of organization as part of the Northside crew. He did time on a tax beef back in the 1980s, at which time he was identified in the Sun-Times as the "Vice Kingpin of the Northwest Suburbs", although he also had interests downtown. He did his time and kept his mouth shut, and the mob rewarded him by putting him in charge of their Aruba operations.
Bwahahahahaha. . . .stop it. . .you are killing me. . .
I didn't say they have no connection to her or what may have happened to her. I don't know what happened to her and I don't think you know, either. She may have been raped/murdered/torutured/sold into slavery/run off on her own/kidnapped/whatever. You didn't say you fear she was raped and murdered, you said she was raped and murdered. If you know that to be the case, I suggest you contact authorities because you obviously have more information than they do.
Neither did I write that I know she was raped and murdered.
I wrote what I think is likely to have happened. I pray she will be found safely. I doubt this will be so.
I try to avoid redundant and trite language so I tend not to use phrases like IMHO, I think, etc. unless the reader might be confused. Obviously that happened in this case.
I'm not ready to throw the towel in yet. I lived in Aruba back in the 70's before the tourist boom. Contrary to the belief expressed in many of the posts here, Aruba does have a police force and many governement postions are staffed by Dutch nationals. And the Dutch Antillies is not by any means a third world country at least by Carribean/African/Central American standards. I realize that a lot can change in the 30 years since I lived there, but back then, the Island was relatively crime-free, which says a lot considering it housed one of the largest oil refineries in the Western Hemisphere, which produced a lot of drunken merchant sailors and oil workers.
True story: When I lived there, my 19 year old sister came to visit for a few days. On day five she "disappeared" for two days. Turns out she hooked up with a 20 year old guy from Chicago she met in one of the casinos. She was all smiles when she finally showed up for breakfast one morning and didn't think her disappearance was a big deal.
My class paid for our senior trip with money we had made from bake sales, car washes, bingo games, etc...from grades 7-12.
War zone in the interior? More data please.
There would probably be a difference in drinking laws. Also, when people are in a different country, they are far less able to read clues about another person's character. I think it is more likely for a drunk young girl on vacation to get fooled by men from a Carribean shantytown who have deliberately spiffed up and gone trolling near the tourist areas, than for the same girl to be fooled while sober by some thugs from a housing project near her parent's wealthy suburban home.
The Carribean ain't Europe.
Why?
No plane on Sunday
Maybe be one come Monday...
I disagree but thanks for your opinion anyway.
wasnt there a similiar story last year in the Caribean?
You asked why get them out into the world. We can teach and guide them out with love and care to allow them to appreciate many things. First, how dog-gone lucky they are to have this great country. More importantly, they are our future leaders who must understand how the world works and how to exploit this knowledge.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.