Aruba police charge two suspects in disappearance of missing Alabama teen
MICHAEL NORTON
Associated Press
ORANJESTAD, Aruba - Two men were charged Sunday in connection with the disappearance last week of an Alabama teenager who was visiting the island with classmates to celebrate their high school graduation, Aruba's attorney general said.
Authorities on the Dutch Caribbean island also requested a special diving team from the FBI, said Attorney General Caren Janssen.
The arrests came nearly a week after 18-year-old Natalee Holloway disappeared during a five-day trip to Aruba with more than 100 other classmates from Mountain Brook High School, near Birmingham, Ala. Her father, David Holloway, lives in Meridian, Miss.
The men - ages 28 and 30 - were arrested Sunday morning at two separate homes in the southeastern community of San Nicolas, Janssen said at a news conference in the capital.
Janssen declined to provide specific charges, saying the case will go before a judge within 48 hours to determine whether they can be legally held. She said authorities had not found any of Holloway's belongings at the suspects' homes.
"The charges have a relationship with the disappearance," Janssen said, without providing details. "There is a reasonable suspicion they may be involved."
Janssen said authorities wanted the FBI diving team because of rough currents in some areas.
Authorities impounded three vehicles found at the two homes, and a team of more than a dozen FBI agents will help perform forensic testing on them, police said.
"We hope she's alive," police commissioner Jan van der Straaten said. "Everyday I see the light at the end of the tunnel."
Police have received about 180 tips since last week and van der Straaten called on the public to be patient because the investigation will "take time."
Neighbors described the two detained men as security guards who worked at a hotel closed for renovation near where the teen was staying at the Holiday Inn. 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 before the charges were announced.
Holloway, who was last seen early May 30, spent the last night of her vacation eating and dancing at Carlos 'N Charlie's bar and restaurant. She did not show up for her return flight, and police found her passport in her hotel room with her packed bags.
Holloway spent her last night at a beach concert featuring Boyz II Men and Lauryn Hill at Surfside beach in southern Aruba, Tourism Minister Edison Briesen said. About 8,000 people attended the concert, which was part of the third annual Soul Beach Music Festival.
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.
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.
Authorities said a blood-soaked mattress found at a beach in eastern Aruba turned out to be blood from a dead dog found nearby.
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poor girl.
