June 16, 2005

 
Aruban helicopter search fails to find body of missing American girl
 
By Peter Prengaman

ORANJESTAD, Aruba – A helicopter searched for the body of an Alabama teenager as investigators sifted through items seized from the island home of a justice official whose son was with the young woman the same night she disappeared, officials said Thursday.

A Thursdsay, judge considered a petition from the justice official, Paul van der Sloot, to see his jailed 17-year-old son, Joran. The judge was also expected to rule on a request from lawyers defending the youth and his two Surinamese friends to see any evidence authorities have gathered. Van der Sloot, from Holland, is training to be a judge in Aruba, which is a Dutch protectorate in the Caribbean.

More than two weeks after the 18-year-old Natalee Holloway went missing, searches by authorities, volunteer islanders and tourists have led nowhere, and no one has been charged in the case. Authorities were refusing to say if they thought Holloway was dead.

On Thursday, however, Police Superintendent Jan van der Straaten told The Associated Press that used a helicopter "to search for possible remains – but found nothing." He declined to say where the helicopter searched.

On Wednesday, investigators brought in from Holland and police using a German Shepherd searched the van der Sloots' one-story, yellow-beige home, where Joran lived in an attached apartment. Agents were seen carrying two white garbage bags filled with items from the house, while authorities towed away a blue sport utility vehicle and a red Jeep from the property in Noord, outside the capital, Oranjestad.

Van der Straaten declined to give details on what they found. "We are still busy with the investigation and interrogations of suspects," he said Thursday.

Following the approximately four-hour search, Attorney General Caren Janssen clarified that Paul van der Sloot was not under investigation.

Asked why it took investigators more than two weeks after Holloway's disappearance to search the van der Sloot home, Janssen said Thursday, "You have to build up an investigation. You can't just go in there like a cowboy, you have to give certain direction to investigators."

Joran remains in police custody along with Deepak Kalpoe, 21, and Satish Kalpoe, 18, of Suriname. The three were questioned and released shortly after Holloway's May 30 disappearance. They were formally arrested last Thursday.

The two brothers have told police that they and Joran were with Holloway and that she and the Dutch youth were petting in the back seat of their car. The detainees initially said they took Holloway to a beach on the northern part of the island then dropped her off at her Holiday Inn hotel, where they claimed she was approached by a security guard.

But Antonius "Mickey" John, a former hotel security guard released from custody on Sunday, told reporters that Deepak Kalpoe told him during a chat in jail that he and his brother actually dropped the young van der Sloot and Holloway off together near the Marriott, about 10 blocks north of the Holiday Inn. John said he passed the information on to police.

Kalpoe's lawyer would not comment on John's statement Wednesday, but said his client maintained his innocence.

Van der Straaten declined to give a timeline Thursday on when the investigation could conclude, or when Joran and the Kalpoe brothers might either be released or formally charged.

He dismissed rumors that police may investigate coastal waters on the north side of the island known to have sharks. "Sure, we have shark places on the northern side, but they have nothing to do with the investigation," he said.

Holloway was celebrating her graduation from Mountain Brook High School, near Birmingham, Alabama, with 124 other students and seven chaperones when she vanished during the early hours of May 30. Her U.S. passport and packed bags were found in her room.

The law says authorities can hold detainees for up to 116 days without filing formal charges. The three young men have been in custody since June 9.

 


June 17, 2005 Friday
THE O'REILLY FACTOR
GUESTS: Dilma Arends

O'REILLY: In the "Back of the Book" segment tonight, we wanted to wrap this week up with a comprehensive look at the Natalee Holloway disappearance, since it has captured the attention of the entire world.
 
Joining us now from Aruba is Dilma Arends, an investigative reporter for "Bondia Aruba (ph)," a daily newspaper.
 
Now, all I want you to do, Ms. Arends, is you're an investigative reporter. Just give me the overarch of what you've learned about this case. Go ahead.

DILMA ARENDS, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Well, Bill, I guess the only thing we can say is we know as much as you do. Just -- the only difference is that we understand the system here. As investigative reporters we know how far we can go with the police and investigative authorities. They just don't give out information. And we -- we usually rely on tips, especially when arrests are to be made.
 
However, because of the interest in this case and because of the presence of a number of U.S. media on this island, the police and those who are close to police have become extremely cautious. They don't say anything in order not to harm their investigation.
 
So in fact, we are as much in the dark or in the light as you are.

O'REILLY: But you know the players. You know this Van Der Sloot guy. You know that he was a playboy hanging in the casinos, 17 years old, driving when he shouldn't have drove. You know all that.
So how are you putting this case together? Have you, in your own mind, put together the case?
 
ARENDS: No, because it's very difficult. I mean, Van Der Sloot is a 17-year-old boy. He doesn't have a car. He wasn't the one driving. So these are all assumptions that everybody makes, perhaps even us here.
 
But then another thing happens and the whole theory falls apart. So it's very difficult in this case to make a theory and make an assumption and make a judgment.

O'REILLY: Now, were you able to talk to the two men, the security guards who were released, who say they did talk to the suspects who are still in custody? Were you able to talk to those men?

ARENDS: Yes. As a matter of fact, we only spoke to one. We spoke to Mickey John. And the first thing we asked was how was the demeanor of one of the young men who was with him in jail? In this case it was Deepak, the 21-year-old.
 
And he said the guy was very calm. And that is contrary to reports we heard from Abraham Jones, saying that Joran Van Der Sloot was crying and very upset. So these are two different personalities. It all depends how they handle stress. Don't forget, Joran Van Der Sloot is still a 17-year- old boy.

O'REILLY: Yes. Well, it's been 19 days since this young lady disappeared. He has been in the news for every single day of that. And it seems to us that you would be able to get whatever this young boy knows by this time.
 
Do you know what the FBI's role is down there, madam?

ARENDS: The FBI is assisting the Aruba police with technical information, with technical backup. However, we also have two forensic excerpts from Holland assisting the investigative team. As a matter of fact, they were on hand, both here at the Marriott when they searched the whole area, at the house -- at the house of Van Der Sloot, and in other investigations.
 
So Aruba is welcoming experts from both the FBI and from Holland.
 
O'REILLY: Now we have heard that the FBI is being kept away from the investigation; they're not actively interrogating. Have you heard that?

ARENDS: Well, because they're not giving out any information, we don't know that. We don't know who is doing the interrogation.

O'REILLY: Yes, but you know how leaks -- you know how leaks are. You know how leaks are. People leak.
 
ARENDS: Well, that -- and that is the strange thing about this case. Last week there had been a leak that turned out to be completely wrong. That leak said that the two boys -- the three confessed. It created enormous uproar on this island.

O'REILLY: Yes. I understand.

ARENDS: It was -- it was aired. Everybody was on the street looking around. I mean, the public came out because everybody is living through this whole ordeal.

O'REILLY: I got it. I got it. Listen, you've got to be very careful. You've got to be very careful.

ARENDS: Yes. And the police somehow kept -- I mean, they closed the lid. They're not giving us anything.

O'REILLY: All right. Well, the longer this goes on, the worse it is for Aruba and, of course, the worse it is for the Holloway family.

ARENDS: Yes.

O'REILLY: Thanks very much. We appreciate it.