Natalee Holloway, Searches & Suspects - 2

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Chapter: two

First Impressions/Initial Actions

Searching the Island

Natalee Holloway Missing

Aruba has had a serious interest from day one in finding out exactly what happened to Natalee Holloway. They were focused immediately on conducting as professional and extensive as possible of an investigation, based on their ability to do so. They sought and utilized all the help they could from other experts beyond their own country to find this missing person, including the FBI. Searches were conducted all over the island. Was Natalee kidnapped or just missing? Initially there were three persons of interest, Joran van der Sloot and Deepak and Satish Kalpoe. They said they left Natalee at the Holiday Inn but would later change their story to the Fisherman Hut area of the beach. Two security guards would be arrested then released. With the absence of any DNA evidence and no body, there seemed to be little to go on. From the very beginning this investigation seemed to offer nothing in the way of solid clues. Or as some will say, did the leads just disappear, or were not properly investigated?

The people in Aruba began with a true spirit of wanting to cooperate with this family in helping to find the missing girl. There are numerous examples of how the many people in Aruba, and the many different interest groups in Aruba showed extensive ways of cooperation with Natalee's family during the summer of 2005 while they were still on the island. The history between the country of Aruba and the United States has always been one of mutual respect and it was always the hope and desire of Aruba to maintain that relationship no matter the effects of this case.

Within hours after Natalee Holloway's missed flight home, her mother Beth Twitty and stepfather Jug Twitty were on their way to Aruba on a friend's private jet. They arrived in Aruba around 11 P.M. and were met by Alberto Groeneveld and Claudio Eldridge. Immediately they began to investigate by going to the Holiday Inn where they are met by chaperon Paul Lilly and Eric Williams, an ex-DEA agent and friend of the family.