beltman713
06-05-2005, 12:31 PM
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050605/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/aruba_missing_girl;_ylt=AqlamygMrMjBXti82Wlvqt2s0N UE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2MTQ3MTFjBHNlYwN0cw--
2 Detained in Aruba in Missing Teen Case
By PEDRO FAMOUS DIAZ, Associated Press Writer
SAN NICOLAS, Aruba - Authorities in Aruba detained two men Sunday in connection with the disappearance of an Alabama teenager, who went missing nearly a week ago while on a high school graduation trip, the attorney general said.
Caren Janssen called the men "suspects" in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, 18, but declined to provide further details. The men, who were not among the three described Saturday by police as "persons of interest," were being interrogated Sunday morning.
Investigators also seized three cars and were conducting forensic tests on them, Janssen said.
"We are at this moment right in the middle of the investigation," Janssen later told CNN. "There may be others involved. I can't tell you the details why they are suspects. That would be damaging" to the investigation.
She would not say whether the suspects had provided information about Holloway's whereabouts. A reward of about $50,000 is being offered for her safe return.
"We are continuing the search for the missing girl," Janssen said.
The men could be charged later Sunday, she said. Suspects in the Dutch Caribbean island can be detained without charge for 48 hours, and then a judge must determine whether their detention is legal.
Twenty police officers and
FBI agents, who are playing a supportive role in the investigation, took the two men — ages 30 and 28 — into custody at two different houses in the southeastern town of San Nicolas, according to an AP photographer at the scene. More than a dozen FBI agents were on the island assisting in the investigation.
Police knocked on the door of one house, put the suspect on the floor and handcuffed him. Officers later detained a second man. They both were led to an unmarked police car and taken away. Police also left the premises with bags holding unidentified items.
Neighbors described the men as security guards who worked at a hotel closed down for renovation near where the teen was staying at the Holiday Inn. Police and FBI agents searched the hotel Saturday.
Deputy police chief Gerold Dompig confirmed that the suspects were security guards.
Holloway's uncle, Paul Reynolds, who came from Houston to help with the search, said he hoped the detentions would help investigators.
"Of course I'm excited about any developments," he said.
Holloway was on a five-day excursion with 124 seniors and several chaperones from Mountain Brook High School, near Birmingham, Ala. She spent the last night of her vacation eating and dancing at Carlos 'N Charlie's bar and restaurant on this Dutch Caribbean island. Holloway was last seen early May 30.
She did not show up for her return flight, and police found her passport in her hotel room with her packed bags.
Authorities have checked out several reported sightings of the 5-foot-4-inch blonde, all to no avail.
Hundreds of Arubans and American residents have joined the hunt, upset that Holloway's disappearance could mar the image of this tranquil island. About 500,000 Americans visited Aruba last year, lured by turquoise waters and people brimming with smiles and helpful tips for foreigners.
Posters with Holloway's photo, reading "kidnapped," have gone up across the tiny island.
The Aruban government and local tourism organizations have offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to Holloway's rescue. Her family and benefactors in Alabama have offered another $30,000.
The coast guard in Aruba and nearby Dutch territories were searching surrounding waters, but the search did not extend to Venezuela, whose coastline is less than 20 miles from Aruba, or the neighboring Dutch island of Curacao.
Holloway's disappearance has shaken a sense of safety many Arubans took for granted in an island of 72,000 people that saw one murder and six rapes last year. This year, there have been two murders and three rapes, police said.
Holloway, a straight-A student, had earned a full scholarship at the University of Alabama and planned to study premed, Reynolds said. He described his niece as a levelheaded girl who would not have done anything rash, although he also said she had an almost childlike side, too.
On Saturday, police said three men — two Surinamese and a native of the Netherlands — who claimed they dropped off Holloway at her hotel had emerged as "the most important lead" in her disappearance.
An official close to the investigation said on condition of anonymity that the three men — legal Aruban residents between the ages of 18 and 25 — told police they took Holloway to a beach at the northwestern tip of Aruba before dropping her off at the hotel.
But Reynolds said he was told security cameras did not show Holloway returning to the hotel that night.
Dompig said those three men were "the most important lead," but he did not elaborate
2 Detained in Aruba in Missing Teen Case
By PEDRO FAMOUS DIAZ, Associated Press Writer
SAN NICOLAS, Aruba - Authorities in Aruba detained two men Sunday in connection with the disappearance of an Alabama teenager, who went missing nearly a week ago while on a high school graduation trip, the attorney general said.
Caren Janssen called the men "suspects" in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, 18, but declined to provide further details. The men, who were not among the three described Saturday by police as "persons of interest," were being interrogated Sunday morning.
Investigators also seized three cars and were conducting forensic tests on them, Janssen said.
"We are at this moment right in the middle of the investigation," Janssen later told CNN. "There may be others involved. I can't tell you the details why they are suspects. That would be damaging" to the investigation.
She would not say whether the suspects had provided information about Holloway's whereabouts. A reward of about $50,000 is being offered for her safe return.
"We are continuing the search for the missing girl," Janssen said.
The men could be charged later Sunday, she said. Suspects in the Dutch Caribbean island can be detained without charge for 48 hours, and then a judge must determine whether their detention is legal.
Twenty police officers and
FBI agents, who are playing a supportive role in the investigation, took the two men — ages 30 and 28 — into custody at two different houses in the southeastern town of San Nicolas, according to an AP photographer at the scene. More than a dozen FBI agents were on the island assisting in the investigation.
Police knocked on the door of one house, put the suspect on the floor and handcuffed him. Officers later detained a second man. They both were led to an unmarked police car and taken away. Police also left the premises with bags holding unidentified items.
Neighbors described the men as security guards who worked at a hotel closed down for renovation near where the teen was staying at the Holiday Inn. Police and FBI agents searched the hotel Saturday.
Deputy police chief Gerold Dompig confirmed that the suspects were security guards.
Holloway's uncle, Paul Reynolds, who came from Houston to help with the search, said he hoped the detentions would help investigators.
"Of course I'm excited about any developments," he said.
Holloway was on a five-day excursion with 124 seniors and several chaperones from Mountain Brook High School, near Birmingham, Ala. She spent the last night of her vacation eating and dancing at Carlos 'N Charlie's bar and restaurant on this Dutch Caribbean island. Holloway was last seen early May 30.
She did not show up for her return flight, and police found her passport in her hotel room with her packed bags.
Authorities have checked out several reported sightings of the 5-foot-4-inch blonde, all to no avail.
Hundreds of Arubans and American residents have joined the hunt, upset that Holloway's disappearance could mar the image of this tranquil island. About 500,000 Americans visited Aruba last year, lured by turquoise waters and people brimming with smiles and helpful tips for foreigners.
Posters with Holloway's photo, reading "kidnapped," have gone up across the tiny island.
The Aruban government and local tourism organizations have offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to Holloway's rescue. Her family and benefactors in Alabama have offered another $30,000.
The coast guard in Aruba and nearby Dutch territories were searching surrounding waters, but the search did not extend to Venezuela, whose coastline is less than 20 miles from Aruba, or the neighboring Dutch island of Curacao.
Holloway's disappearance has shaken a sense of safety many Arubans took for granted in an island of 72,000 people that saw one murder and six rapes last year. This year, there have been two murders and three rapes, police said.
Holloway, a straight-A student, had earned a full scholarship at the University of Alabama and planned to study premed, Reynolds said. He described his niece as a levelheaded girl who would not have done anything rash, although he also said she had an almost childlike side, too.
On Saturday, police said three men — two Surinamese and a native of the Netherlands — who claimed they dropped off Holloway at her hotel had emerged as "the most important lead" in her disappearance.
An official close to the investigation said on condition of anonymity that the three men — legal Aruban residents between the ages of 18 and 25 — told police they took Holloway to a beach at the northwestern tip of Aruba before dropping her off at the hotel.
But Reynolds said he was told security cameras did not show Holloway returning to the hotel that night.
Dompig said those three men were "the most important lead," but he did not elaborate