RSSGreta Interviews Natalee’s Mom
Greta Van Susteren arrives in Aruba to in hopes of shedding some journalistic integrity for Fox in the wake of Geraldo. Go to the right upper hand corner for Greta’s interview with Natalee’s mom.
I was most impressed with Natalee’s mother, Beth. She is determined and she is strong — she is not going to leave Aruba until she finds her daughter. It is hard to comprehend what this mother is going through.
****** Court Rulings for Van Der Sloot’s father, Paul Van Der Sloot for his motion allowing him to see his son has been delayed.
An Aruban court was to rule on whether to allow the father and lawyers for three suspects in the Natalee Holloway case to see the young men in jail and the evidence compiled against them. There were reports that the decisions could come Thursday, but later in the day there were doubts that the rulings would be issued that soon.
Update – ABC created a great map with the key sites that have been covered in the news. Click here for the Map.
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How does Geraldo still get to be considered a reporter?
Wasn’t the three-hour prime-time live event where they dug into the bottom of a building to find car parts and Coca-Cola bottles enough to get him out of sight of cameras?
Hmmpf. Guess not.
Great coverage! Love the site
Wow that is tough to watch! All I can say is this women is very bright, articlulate and with an unbelieveable amount of poise. It also speaks volumes I think for the way Natalee would of been raised and the kind of girl that Natalee would of been.
Or that Natalee is. That sounded a little to negitive.
Hmmm. A VERY interesting interview. Especially this part:
————————————————————————————
HOLLOWAY: (…) this young man had spent time with these children. He had been with them for a couple of days. They knew this young man. They knew his first name. They had spent hours with him. So it wasn’t a secret. It wasn’t a secret who she left with.
VAN SUSTEREN: Were they sort of having sort of, like, dating each other?
HOLLOWAY: No, absolutely not.
VAN SUSTEREN: It was just part of a group?
HOLLOWAY: Part of a group.
VAN SUSTEREN: Did her friends see anything about this young man, anything distinctive about him or problems with him?
HOLLOWAY: Absolutely not. Absolutely not.
VAN SUSTEREN: Alcohol, drugs?
HOLLOWAY: Absolutely not.
VAN SUSTEREN: Nice kid, as far as they knew?
HOLLOWAY: Absolutely, yes.
————————————————————————————-
And this part….
————————————————————————————–
VAN SUSTEREN: Do you know if he’s now talking to the police, if they’re getting any information from him?
HOLLOWAY: I wouldn’t know that. But I do feel, Greta, I really feel that they are making progress and I expect results.
VAN SUSTEREN: I can tell you have a lot of gratitude, you know, towards them. And maybe they don’t give you details, but is it that you have gratitude but they’re not, like, giving you specific details?
HOLLOWAY: I think that, you know, giving me specific details would jeopardize the investigation, and that is a huge concern of mine.
————————————————————————————–
The mother is smart. She understands that giving the media specific details would jeopardize the investigation. And she says “I really feel that they are making progress”. So the claim that the mother is “frustrated” by the authorities is NOT true. She is frustrated by the fact that the case hasn’t been solved yet, but I don’t think she blames the authorities?
A woman with this much strength and resolve would have no problem saying “hey! This is a joke! We’ve got to do something here! They are botching up the investigaton and my daughter is still missing! This investigation is a complete mess”! But she didn’t say that. No. She sure didn’t.
Maybe she doesn’t believe tey are bothing up the investigation? maybe the investigation is NOT a complete mess? I really don’t understand why some people think the investigation is a complete mess.
The women seems very nice, but I don’t think she had a clue what was going on in her daughters life.
Did authorities confirm what Deepak told the released guard in jail that the Dutch boy had called him after 1 hr after being left at Marriott (with Holloway)? Apparently the Dutch biy said he would send him message on cell phone nad never did. What happened to this thread?
If this is true, then, the Dutch boy knows more than the 2 brothers
Jack,
It was a few days ago she was stateing her frustration with the investigation. I watched the interview with her. It wasn’t a rumor she was very upset with them. It was right after that she came back out and said she was satisfied that things were moving in the right direction. Again she was VERY frustrated and I can only speculate that after that interview they talked to her to calm her down….
Karl,
That would be contarry to evey and I mean every report about the two of them. Every report talked about how close they were.
@Hyderabad
“Did authorities confirm what Deepak told the released guard in jail that the Dutch boy had called him after 1 hr after being left at Marriott (with Holloway)?”
Authorities won’t comment on things like that I think. Very soon we will know whether the released guard is a witness in this case or not. But I think the security guard has no reason to lie/to make up a story like that?
Maybe the Dutch boy knows more than the 2 brothers, because the police only seaerch his homee and not the home of the 2 brothers? O wait…we don’t know whether the police searched the 2 brothers’ home or not.
By the way: the police did searched Joran’s home last Thursday. Yesterday they searched his home AGAIN. That’s I think very normal.
@Justin T
A few days again she said she was frustrated by the ‘lack of progress’. But did she blame the authorities? No.
Fox News concluded t hat she was frustrated by the authorities and the conflicting reports, but as far as I know, Fox News was responsible for the conflicting reports (‘Natalee is dead’)?
As far I know, Natalee’s mother has never said she was frustrated by the authorities, she has never said the Aruban police suck, they are corrupt, and if it was the FBI, the case would have already been solved etc. etc.
And the Arubans are cooperating with the FBI and the Dutch Forensic Institute. I think Natalee’s mother trust the authorities and she feels they are doing their best, DESPITe the lack of progress?
Netherlands Forensic Institute:
http://www.forensischinstituut.nl/content/index.asp?strUrl=%2Fcontent%2Fenglish.asp%3Flang%3Den%26dID%3D12
I just read a bullitin that vd Sloot has change his story and now agrees with the brothers that they dropped he and Natalee off at the Marriot.
It is suggested that this is a result of the search of his home yesterday.
It will be interesting to hear his version now of the rest of the evening.
It’s amazing how tough this boy is. On Saturday, one of the security guards still in jail overheard the boy say that he was very worried that his two friends were turning on him and trying to frame him by saying that they dropped he and Natalee off somewhere and that was supposedly why he was crying. The absence of any news is also really perplexing. True that no one wants to mess up the investigation, but nearly 3 weeks gone, and continuing to circle back on the same story. Next, all three will say that the dropped her off at the HI.
jane – where did you see/read/hear that bulletin?
Hello lives
MSNBC.com
Jack,
She never made a single comment about the media. It was 100% about the investigation and the lack of progress from the authorties. I watched the interview Jack. So what your hearing or reading is hearsay. What I am saying is not. That’s all
Out of curiousity, not neccessarily important, who does Natalee live with back home…Mom or Dad? I have heard Mom say more then once…”Natalee’s community back in Moutain Brook…”….if she lived with Mom, wouldn’t it be “our community”. I know this is so unimportant, I was just curious.
lives with her mom and step dad
well that little bastard….I’m a Korean war veteran and have interrogated many a Chinamen. Just give me five minutes with that Dutch punk and I’ll fillet his rear end until it looks like hamburger meat.
God Damn US Media!,
7:53 pm
“Will new clues help investigators in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway? Stay tuned.”
8:00 pm
“Now to Aruba….investigators say new clues could help them in the search for the missing Alabama teen but so far they haven’t found any yet.”
They fucking are always trying to hook you with bullshit tag lines that they KNOW are bullshit so you you’ll stay tuned to find out that they don’t know shit.
I can’t stand the US media….they vomit the same crap over and over and over and over and over and over and over and each time they try to make it sound like they’ve got some NEW BREAKING SHIT.
Fuckin’ assholes!!!!!!!!!
It is really difficult to assess these 3 boys sicne the investigators are not telling what the boys are really telling them.
I have a wild scenario, hoping that NH is still alive
What if Joran Sloot (with or without the 2 brothers) got into deep debt with some gang, related to drugs. The only way they could get out of this debt is to kidnap a “foreign girl” for the Gang.
But, this “Gang” has made no ransom demands yet. Maybe they smuggled her into adjoining island … wait it cools off … then, send ransom note.
Is this feasible or just my hope that NH is tsill alive ……
Any comments ?
@ Jack:
” Maybe the Dutch boy knows more than the 2 brothers, because the police only seaerch his homee and not the home of the 2 brothers? O wait…we don’t know whether the police searched the 2 brothers’ home or not ”
I thought the HONDA belongs to the Kalpoes ????
Hyderabad,
Thats been speculated many times.
@Jack
My point was she has never said she was frustrated by the Aruban authorities. She was frustrated by the lack of progress, the fact that the case hasn’t been solved yet, that there are still no answers. But she understands that the Arubans are trying to do their best, I think.
Natalee’s mother explains what her frustration is:
————————————————————————————-
“Well, I don’t know if I can say I’m frustrated with the Aruban government,” said Holloway Twitty. “I think I am frustrated as a mother, as any individual would (be), that I still do not have my daughter, that I still do not feel like I am any further along in finding my daughter than I was on May 30 when my flight landed here. So, I think that is my frustration.”
————————————————————————————-
As for the media: according to a Fox News reporter, she was also frustrated by the authorities because of the conflicting reports. But as far as I know, the MEDIA was responsible for the conflicting reports.
I don’t know who this El Nombre is, but listen up you little communist; I’m a Korean War Veteran and you will not insult the U.S. You never eye ball a junkyard dog or look a Korean war veteran in the eye. Back in my day we used to tool little punks like you.
In my opinion, the retracted statesments made last week were true. There was a confession of sorts. Mrs. Twitty has calmed down because they have found Natalee’s body and she has seen her. They are waiting for autopsy and forensic results that directly tie the three to her death. When this case finally comes to trial those three are fried! Then the statements made on Mon. by Geraldo will be proven true. There is very likely a video tape showing sex with 14 y/o. Joran was involved with a 14 y/o girl from his school earlier this year. The girls parents put a stop to this relationship. At this point this is all conjecture. But notice how FOX and Mrs. Twitty keep insisting that this case is going to break wide open very soon. The Aruban gov’t. probably wanted to keep her out of the loop until all the i’s were dotted and the t’s were crossed. Her understandable anger, frustration and the involvement of that tabloid monster Geraldo made that impossible.
Preach it Loyd Bonafide!
Loyd,
You don’t happen to be a Korean War Veteran do you? Having served in Iraq on two separate tours myself I understand your intense patriotism. I do not believe that the US media represents the US, they represent themselves. Therefore I feel free to trash the liberal scumbags all I want. They are self-serving bastards that care only about the big scoop and keeping people tuned into their networks no matter how much BS they need to use to do it. I also don’t think that you’d be so quick to call me a punk standing face to face with me considering how many opponents I floored in the boxing ring at MCRD Parris Island.
Golden- I read Greta Van Something’s interview with her today, and Mrs. Twitty’s statement was that she believed Natalee was still alive. She was very clear about it. I reread it to see if there was any kind of play on words. But she said, until God tells her otherwise, she still believed her daughter is alive.
New Creature – It’s just a theory.
Well, El Nombre, I am a decorated Korean War Veteran who fought in the battle for the liberation of the Cho-sing valley. You young kids nowandays don’t know what it’s like having to fight hand to hand combat with those seaky Chinamen. You just fly remote control aircraft with cameras to spy on your enemy. we didn’t have that
Show some respect El Nombre. T
hank you for serving in Iraq.
Jack,
The Arugan govt is sole and seperate from the Police dept. And if your getting the entire interview she made that distiction. Purposely….
Okay Loyd! You too. Neither of you know where the other has been.
Thank you for your service too. I honor you.
Golden- Point taken. Didn’t know if you’d read the interview. Also some info on Yahoo, believe it or not. I don’t think anything new though.
Bear in mind that in most other countries the police etc do NOT feel obliged to hold press conferences every day or even ever.
In fact just talking about an investigation to an outsider could get a cop or detective in big trouble.
New Creature, you sound really nice and friendly. Would you like to get together some time and play a card game of Canesta or maybe a game of shuffle board? Most of my friends have passed on and I’m kind of lonely; perhaps we can get together and I can share some of my war stories with you and talk about the good old days.
Sir, I was on the ground with the 1st MEU leading the push into Baghdad…not flying remote control aircraft. I don’t pretend to know what it was like for you without the many benefits of modern technology, but you have to admit…getting shot at is getting shot at no matter where the place or what the decade.
Yes, you are correct and I apologize for trivializing your services. El Nombre, have you ever had any experience with any of those Middle eastern woman? Were they friendly? We had a lot Japanese gals hanging around our neck of the woods.
No, it took too long to unwrap them and it just wasn’t worth it. Plus, they weren’t willing to shave.
WTF kind of question is that?
Pretender.
Yes, I figured that it must be hard taking of those bee-keeper outfits. Well, I met a nice Japanese gal but turns out that she wasn’t really clean, if you know what I’m talking about, and oh boy..it felt as if I was urinating fire for about a week. You or any of you Marine buddies ever experience that?
You know this bolg is about Natalee Holloway not your conquests of women. Take it somewhere else and have some respect
Excuse me young man? Who? Oh I’m sorry, yes the young missing lady. That’s right. Well, being a decorated Korean War Veteran who fought in the battle for Cho-Sing it’s always nice to talk to a fellow soldier like El Hombre. But we need to find this fine young American lady. Those people in that island of Jamaica better watch out because the U.S. is not going to put up with this.
I believe the reason they can’t pry anything out of these guys is that they have no leverage. I’m against the death penalty, but it gives you a hell of a lot of leverage. An example is the Polly Klaas case and the other recent San Diego kidnapping. The LE can say “tell us where the body is, and you won’t die. Otherwise, it’s curtains if we find it on our own.”
Dutch law is very clear. It’s 15 years for murder, off for good behavior. So, for these 3 boys, it’s 10 years or nothing if LE/the prosecution can’t prove their case. That’s why they aren’t talking. There’s really no incentive to do so.
Natalee’s mother is what I call a “Steel Magnolia”. I say that in a good way because my mother is the same way. She would give you her home and all of her hospitallity, but don’t piss her off, especially when it comes to her family..
Look what is happening now: Tree boys in custody, at least one of them (Joran) knows what really happened to the victim, based on very strong suspicion. Because of the different stories the boys are producing, the whole community gets messed up with dead ends and a lot of precious time and money and energy are just wasted for nothing. Day in and day out, and that all for two weeks now. And all this could take a fruitfull course if just one of those suspects would confess the truth. I find that this is very unfair system, the boys knows something, but they just refuse to confess. And everybody are just running like a bunch of cows from east/west/north/south/up/down for the sake of the truth at every single new word, said by the suspects, with a negetive result at the end. So much energy is pushed in this case. My suggestion is that every country should make a new law, where, when there is a strong need to force an confession from a high profile suspect for the sake of the welfare of a country, the law should create a possibility for the police to forcefully/physical, beat a confession out of the suspect, all that for the sake for the good of the community and the human welfare. Of course the beating must be done by experts, under the supervision of the Attorney General. When such a system existed on Aruba, the whole case would have been solved in less then…24 hours!
If the three boys know what happened to her and are deliberately holding back information or sending authorities on wild goose chases, they should be made to pay for the investigation like the runaway bride.
It’ s called obstruction of justice and there are laws against it
What is going on? Why havent they solved this case? I ‘m scared shitless for the Holloway-Twitty family!
If you’re scared shitless try a benzodiazepine or cognitive behavior therapy.
Did anything new happen today? I don’t see anything on fox website and I missed the news – I don’t watch anything but fox.
Why do you waste your time watching FOX…come on, get with it!
Because I’m not a communist socialist give me some hand outs liberal – that’s why
I read from someone on the Riehlworldview.com that a report on Aruban radio said the authorities had located that the 6:30 a.m. call on the cell phone was from the east side of the island. And there was a report that a house was searched (a house on the eastside). This poster said they heard the report.
The people at FOX don’t really believe what they’re saying. It’s a show to get an audience, don’t you get it? Ann coulter hangs out with liberals all the time, so does Sean Hannity. It’s a show ….they got you good
Mecha – I know it’s very very hard for you to focus on the topic at hand. I also know that liberals have a very hard time answering a direct question with a cognitive anwer- they tend to get into name calling and put downs rather than stare the truth in the face and deal with it. So, Once again – and I will type REAL SLOW SO YOU GUYS CAN FOCUS ON THE QUESTION – Did anything new happen today? I really don’t recall asking for you to spill your ignorance. Try a little more fact telling and little less jaw flapping. This board is for Natalee – remember? Or is that too much for your tiny little brains to handle?
Bham. Referencing your above posts, I posted my entry at 11:57.
New Creature – I see it. Am reading now – thanks for the info.
Signing off now –
New Creature…What is this cell phone call you are talking about?
By the way, regarding the other post about Mom ‘knowing’ that Natalee is no longer with us…absolutely not. There is noway a mother’s love could hide that fact. I know she is a strong woman, but, having a beautiful little girl myself, I know there is noway I could put on a show and pretend that I believed my daughter was still alive.
I’ve been following the blogs on this site, as well as on http://www.riehlworldview.com, and one of the local arubian posters on the latter site stated he/or she heard a report on arubian radio stating the location of the cell phone calls had been pinpointed. There was a 6:30 a.m. cell call from the eastside of the island the following morning of Natalees disapearance. Possibly, in my mind, showing the last known location of natalee??? Maybe Joron getting rid of a body or something and making a call from that location. I tried to get someone who knows more than me to comment on the post and its implications, but no one did. I know nothing regarding the integrity of the poster. So….still rumor, or unconfirmed, or whatever you call it.
Oh, sorry….the cell phone I’m referring to is implied to be Joran’s.
ah…ok…thanks…it will be interesting when we finally get all the facts…if we do…very sad….
Hasn’t anyone bothered asking the question of why the security camera footage from the Mariott wasn’t looked at? They did this for the Holiday Inn footage. If that little Dutch prick was with her in that area, there should be some video proof.
Loyd Bonafide -
I think you are BSing everyone about your service in Korea? What unit were you with anyway?
You all have been fooled by this Loyd Bonafide guy. I googled him and he is a “voice” of this radio show host guy. http://www.philhendrieshow.com/ As a current active duty soldier and having served in OIF, I thought this guy was full of BS from his first couple of posts. It is a disgrace that people think it is funny to pose as vets and talk like he was. For future reference, most people that talk about all the “shit” that they saw, probably didn’t see any at all. And he only talked about one battle over and over. Sorry you all had to fall prey to this asshole. The moderators should block his IP address.
Fyi
Dutch newspaper The Telegraaf says that the Court of the Neth. Antilles has ruled that the father of Joran may visit him.
link:
http://www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/21865141/Vader_mag_van_moord_verdachte_zoon_Aruba_bezoeken.html
I am sorry, I put my remark in the wrong discussion-thread
Grtz.
BOYCOTT ARUBA
Hater dont be so stupid
I am afraid Hater just can’t help it to be stupid. He just is….
(veel blabla weinig wol)
This is cadet RC Collins at the Bradley Miltitary Academy; I understand that Loyd Bonafide is on this message board. What an honor.
I’m a Hater- If you’re still there….you must be a complete idiot for believing this guy was real and then having to Google him. Anybody who refers to people as”Chinamen” and ivites people to play “canesta” card games with them has to be a fraud. You’re in active duty and you actually had to do research to find this out????? I think the military needs to boycott you!
Savaneta is on the east side of Aruba. This morning’s local newpaper reports a person being detained at Saveta. I have seen pics of this person’s house in savaneta on the net, on the day they arrested the three.
Mecha – Don’t be picking on I’m a hater – G will get mad!
I am from Meridian, MS. Natalee’s dad lives here and I know him personally. Outside his office and down every street there are yellow ribbons and “Pray for Natalee” signs. Most of us cannot even begin to imagine the pain her family is going through right now. The family needs your prayers, faith, and hope. It doesn’t really matter if Natalee was wild as hell or a saint, or does it matter if she messed around the guy. What matters is why she is missing? Please try to remember that.
I did not know that – I thought they all lived in Alabama.
Is everyone seeing this news about the 4th arrest and the possibility NH is alive? Thoughts?
The G-ster must have been on the case; brilliant six figure income brain at work
amazing woman!!! never quit mom!!!
G-ster is the man no question.
CRS — Where are you getting this news about the 4th person detained?
CRS….. from my experience, people who call themselves the G-ster are usually characters who drive 1978 Trans-Ams or Camaros, and they always have mullet haircut with that peach-fuzz molester mustache.
Houdini – back out of the boards and look at the updates – also see cnn, msnbc or foxnews on the web.
Mech – I agree, I picture G being 5’4, 300 pounds, has an ice cream truck, a major Napoleon complex and a small apendage to top it off.
He probably has a skullet, ratail mullet, or a fro-let
Apparently you guys have lost focus here…this forum is for Natalee…not for Bonafide and the other ridiculous posts…take it somewhere else and discuss it. You have totally lost sight on the purpose here…I come here to read about the important issues on this investigation…not about your war time past and whether someone believes it or not.
It will be interesting to see what part this fourth person has played in this whole tragic mess. Could this arrest stem from the cell phone call info?
It is possible that Joran has been set up. He’s seventeen and the youngest of the bunch. The guy they just arrested is 26. When you’re seventeen you’re not the sharpest blade in the drawer. i don’t think he could have concocted this whole scheme.
Mech – Mora might be the new G. Mora – what cell phone call?
Human Bondage has always been a lucrative business in the islands. From sailors being “shanghaied” to white slavery. Blond haired white girls would bring a premium. The scary part is that this is the “good” scenario.
Natalee’s mother is amazing. She needs to keep going strong. She believes that they will find her daughter. You have to believe in something. I just want to add the Joran Van Der Slut is a little spoiled asshole. I hope that they charge him with murder and he is on the receiving end in the jail showers!
Mech – Agree 100% – I think that cocky sob might not be guilty after all.
Wooooo – Heather I could have done without that visual – thanks.
vrs…..Houdidni might have a point with this Shang Hai theory. I’ve heard rumors of tourists walking around on the islands and being randomly “felt up” by locals. Speaking of Shang Hai, any opium dens down there?
Mech – Did you appreciate Heathers visual as well?
crs…..man that’s brural. Joran on the receiving end of a jail bukkake party!!!
Mecha – The shower thing would never happen, his father would make sure he had a “soap-on-a-rope”. Anyway, the way things are going, if he’s guilty he’ll be old enough to retire by the time they get him to prison.
Mech – Looks like you ran off hater, you hurt his feelings I guess.
You all are unrelenting! This is starting to sound like the HBO series OZ, depicting life behind bars with male bitches and all that.
Mecha – all light hearted banter while we hope for good news from Aruba.
Hater and the G-ster are are shopping for vintage 1982 Motley Crue concert T-shirts at this moment.
Mech – Take it easy, got to run, have an excellent weekend!!
crs– I heard Joran’s prison name is Tulip (dutch staple spring flower) and he’s been hooking up with a brother nicknamed Lysol. Brutal!!!!
Tulip – classic- I will have withdrawl this weekend from not hearing the one-liners you come up with.
I read in another board the woman who organized the trip saying that the “chaperones” were not to blame. They were only available if one of the students had a problem, they could ask the chaperones for help. They were not there to watch the students. —– Clearly, her definition of “chaperones” is different from mine. How much you wanna bet that Natalee’s mom’s definition of Chaperones is closer to mine?
So who’s reporting about a 4th person being arrested?
Vanessa – MSNBC but I imagine they’re all reporting it by now.
Thanks Houdini
Mecha-Godzilla your totally wright about (i’am a hater)
he only talk crap on this site i do think he is really stupid
and can’t help his self
I THINK the MILITARY NEEDS to BOYCOTT YOU HATER
i agee 100% with
Mecha-Godzilla
houdini–i thought this same thing when they were saying there were chaperones. sounded to me like they saw a vacation and treated it as such. i don’t think any of them were ‘on duty’ that night.
Couldn’t agree with you more pktbk. btw, what does pktbk stand for anyway? Just curious………
my cat, alice, would get on our bed and lay on her back. she would spread everything out and my husband would tell her to close her pocketbook.
LMAO……..(wiping brow) whew! I was think along the lines of the BTK serial killer……
vanessa-LOL not hardly.
it is terribly slow in here today. no drama, and no one with big time scoop!
so true pktbk; guess as the old saying goes, no news is good news does not apply in this case, huh?!?
i can’t help but think…if she is held up somewhere alive, she is going to starve if someone doesn’t say something soon.
Looks as though we’re the only ones here pktbk………
okay…the person they arrested is 26 with the initials s.g.c., they didn’t say if it was male or female. they were involved.
that’s it.
appears so vanessa…let’s speculate! lol just kidding.
msnbc was where i got the above news. cnn said it was a man and they got the name from the three boys.
And don’t forget the individual is “a friend” of Joran’s. Strange how they will just give the initials.
those wacky dutch people! lol
Prior to the trip, volunteers were rounded up to chaperone this trip. Parents and students signed waivers (contracts) that explained exactly what the ‘chaperone’s responsibilities would be. They knew ahead of time, that the adults would be there for guidance and help out if there was a problem. They were not there to “stand guard” at the front door. The parents knew this. They sent their children on this trip knowing this ahead of time. From what I understand, there were a few incidents that occured where chaperones had to intervene for the children…one was a situation where someone was trying to sell drugs to a few of the classmates…bottom line, they did what they were suppose to do. One of the chaperones stayed behind at the hotel when it was realized, after a headcount had been taken at the hotel PRIOR to leaving for the airport, that Natalee was not there. It had been decided to get the rest of the kids to the airport so they could get home. One adult stayed back, hoping Natalee would show up, in the meantime, they did get the ball rolling by notifying the hotel and parents of the situation. Once again, everyone knew, prior to the trip, exactly what the chaperone’s roll in this trip would be. We really love to point the finger and speculate…don’t we.
Well Mora, I guess each to their own interpretation of a “chaperone”. No one is pointing fingers. I have been a chaperone on a class trip many times with my child (High School). I have to say there never was a “job description” of what my responsibilities were. I knew however, that at the end of the evening, each student was accounted for before I went to sleep. Guess that’s going overboard in your opinion. But I felt responsible for each and everyone of those children!!
they can intervene when they are approached to buy drugs, but it’s okay to go to a bar where alcohol is served?
speaking of head counts…i do remember on our senior trip that they did those before we went to bed and again the next morning.
There is not reason to point fingers at the chaperones. Personally I would not let my 18 year old go on a vacation out of the country with only 7 adults. In this situation there is no one to blame especially Natalee, her parents, or the chaperones. Natalee was just being young and having fun. She was a victim of “wrong place, wrong time.” The only people that should be blamed are the lazy ass Aruban’s who are lying and procrastinating so that Van Der Slut’s reputation isn’t hurt. Aruba has claimed ignorance due to the low crime rate and lack of forenistics in that area. Why couldn’t they ask the American’s who are trained to help investigate further? If they were really concerned about Natalee then why didn’t they do more sooner than they did. Also if Van Der Slut and his friends didn’t do it, then why aren’t their parents joining the search party for Natalee? It seems to me that Aruba is covering up for this boy because of who his daddy is. That is not fair… If there is anyone who needs a finger pointed at them it is Aruba.
I do agree however that there should have been more done on the chaperones part to make sure that each student was in the hotel that night prior to bedtime. That would have helped them realize that Natalee was missing a lot sooner. Then the search for her could have began sooner.
Ok, this is part of an email that I received from one of the mothers, whose daughter was on the trip. I agree, that I would NOT have let me daughter go on this trip, but, I am just a protective mother who won’t let my daughter go next door without watching her until she gets there (she is 8)…of course, this is not to imply that these parents are bad parents…we all do things differently. Note that in this email, she talks about C&C…the bar where it all began…by the way, she is responding to my email which questioned the chaperones and why they went to the airport without the headcount first, which I explained what really happened in my above post…
There were many teens in the bar with Natalee, but we
still haven’t pieced together exactly what happened.
My daughter spoke with Nat right after the bar closed,
while Nat was in Koran’s company. My daughter invited
Nat to return to the hotel with her and her two
friends, but Nat indicated that she planned to return
with a group of kids a few yards ahead. So these
first kids said goodnight and stopped at another bar
to make sure none of the classmates had been left
behind. The irony of this is breaking her heart.
We understand Natalee got in the car some 20 minutes
later. What happened in between is not clear. Up to
40 students were nearby. I am told that some urged
her not to leave in the car; I am also told that some
believed she was sharing a taxi. (The taxis there are
not uniform but look like private cars.) Natalee
clearly believed that she was safe, and apparently so
did some of the kids who witnessed this. Unfortunate,
all the way around.
But as she had indicated that she did plan to return
with a group she was walking toward (with Jo ran), I’m
thinking the plans changed in an instant. My daughter
did not see the brothers anywhere. Koran’s latest
story is that the brothers drove up and Jo ran asked
them for a ride. Natalee probably thought she was
catching a short ride back to the Holiday Inn in the
trusted company of a boy she’d spent time with for 2-3
days. It’s so awful, all of it.
I’ve heard conflicting reports as to whether any
adults were on that excursion. I’ve learned the
reason the kids went there in the first place was
because the shuttle driver from airport to hotel
suggested it, enthusiastically. No one was familiar
with c&C, but he told them it was THE tourist spot,
that they MUST go, that no one should leave the island
without visiting C&C; they simply MUST GO. So all had
the impression that this was a safe place, not a bar
or a dive. It does serve food — I’ve since heard the
food’s pretty good even, & that the reputation kind of
depends on what kind of clientele is there on any
given night. I’ve heard it’s a dive, I’ve heard it’s
a delightful family restaurant. But at the time, even
the adults were given the impression that it was a
perfectly safe and even *expected* tourist attraction.
Even if adults were there that night (& they may well
have been; I don’t know), Natalee could have been gone
in the blink of an eye. I think that despite the best
efforts all week, a tragedy simply happened. Nothing
of the sort had EVER happened before — not in the
experience of these adults nor in fact, in the
experience of anyone in this country! It’s just
*never happened before.* The parents, volunteers, and
agents tried to prepare for all eventualities, but
none could foresee this tragedy.
When I first heard of this, I immediately jumped to
the conclusion that the adults could have/ should have
prevented this. After reviewing our legal
expectations of the adults’ role, and learning from
the kids how often and how far the adults went beyond
our expectations, I have come to a different
conclusion. It is hard to see them so vilified. They
– even more than the rest of us — are SUFFERING.
not that this matters, but I mistakenly interjected a smiley face in my post when stating that my daughter is 8 yrs old…
Mora68 – It’s my understanding that it has happened at least once before, and the girl in question was with her parents. The Abramson report interviewed the parents of the girl (whose name escapes me) who said she left the hotel at night and has been seen in a brothel by an airline pilot who told the parents. She approached him, told him her name and asked him to get her help.
Who knows how many people go missing and don’t get reported. I don’t mean to vilify anyone, but “tragedies” like this don’t happen on their own.
Mora68 – It took me a while but I found the report on the other girl missing from Aruba. Her name was Amy Bradley
Here is the website:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8143921/
i’m sure this kind of thing happens. there’s no doubt. and really, who can predict it to know how to protect the kids.
i am just so frustrated when these cases are brought public and little information is there to do a quick rescue.
It just amazes me. The Islands in the Carribean have long been a wild and lawless place. That’s why Pirates and Privateers and lately, drug runners and arms dealers hang out there. You would think that some law enforcement people from Aruba would think of the Amy Bradley case from 7 years ago and check out that theory. Maybe the new suspect, 26 year old “Steve” is involved in this kind of stuff. My only hope is they can find her alive and rescue her. Nobody deserves to get in this kind of trouble.
There are laws over theer in the Carribean, but they are different then US’s laws.Bisides this theer is a lot of coruption and media is not like here in the US, they don’t say much.I am not saying that US media is not censored, but at least we hear some news in the US.
If NATALEE where my daughter I would be running that ISLAND. Even tho I am not her mother I have the urge to go there and find her AMERICAN style. Aruba better wake up and spill the beans they know something they know what goes on there all the time. They just better come to realize this girl will not be forgotten AMERICA will not go away till she comes home. We need to trace the steps completely of the bar she was in and the habits of these men. the answer would be clearer. to many people have stated that things have happened when they visit that bar.
Greta,
Do you know if anyone is searching wells or cisterns. Since Dr. Bieden says a body would have surfaced by the heat by now, that being if it was in a visable place, but what about local deep wells or old cisterns that are not being used. Just Wondering.
Thanks, Judy