April 17, 2006

ORANJESTAD, Aruba, - There may be a new lead in the disappearance of an American student in the Caribbean. Natalee Holloway hasn't been seen since last May 30, when she vanished after a night out on the island of Aruba. She had been celebrating her high school graduation. Now, police have a man in custody who seems to have something to do with the case, but they won't say what. Geoffrey von Cromvoirt. According to a paper, this photo was taken when the woman they identify as his sister, standing in front of him, graduated from the police academy last year. Nineteen-year-old Geoffrey von Cromvoirt was taken into custody Saturday, but local police remain tight-lipped about whether he is a suspect, a witness or something else.

Geoffrey worked for a family-owned private security company, which patrols beaches outside Aruba's hotels. The last place the once-prime suspect Joran van der Sloot says he left the Alabama teen was on the beach near her hotel staring a the stars. In February 2006, van der Sloot said, "I think what I did wrong is leaving her there at the beach. I should have brought her back to her hotel or I should have made sure I left her with someone, one of her friends."

A lawyer for Joran van der Sloot told ABC News' Good Morning America his client does not know von Cromvoirt, the new man taken into custody. "I am absolutely convinced he doesn't know him, doesn't hang out with, or socialize with him, did not know his name," Tacopina said. "This somehow brought Joran back into the picture. He knows nothing about him, has never spoken of him, and certainly did not discuss the case with him." This lawyer also heard the von Cromvoirt was picked up because of forensic evidence. The 19-year-old Geoffrey von Cromvoirt can be held for three days before facing a judge.