Natalee Holloway Updates June 7, 2005

11:00am EDT - The Judge in Aruba is supposed to later today rule whether the two suspects that were arrested over the weekend in suspicion with the missing teen, Natalee Holloway can be held legally.

Investigators in Aruba say a judge is expected to rule today whether two men charged in the disappearance of an Alabama teen can be legally held.

ORANJESTAD, Aruba (AP) — Police say the men were security guards. Neighbors say they worked at a hotel under renovation near the one where Natalee Holloway stayed. She vanished a week ago while on a high school graduation trip to the Dutch Caribbean island.

Officers say they’ve asked the Justice Ministry for permission to conduct another big search Tuesday for Holloway. But so far they haven’t received an answer.

11:25 am - The searches continue today for Natalee as per CNN.

ORANJESTAD, Aruba (CNN) — The search for Natalee Holloway will resume Tuesday in Aruba, a day after government employees joined police, Dutch marines and FBI agents in the search for the 18-year-old Alabama student.

Holloway vanished more than a week ago on the Caribbean island.

Authorities said some searchers focused Monday on the eastern tip of the island, the same area searched Sunday by Dutch marines.

Aruba chief prosecutor Karen Janssen has declined to specify the charges the two men could face, and authorities have not called the case a kidnapping. The men could appear in court on Wednesday.

Janssen also said she has requested FBI dive teams to help search craggy areas of Aruba’s coast.

An FBI spokesman in Miami, Florida, said earlier reports that bureau divers would join the search Monday were in error, as was a report that its agents assisted in Sunday’s arrests.

Seven FBI agents from Miami are in Aruba, including two divers and evidence collection and analysis experts, and one agent has come from Barbados, the spokesman said.

11:30 am - The two suspects that were arrested over the weekend and charged in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway have lost their jobs as security officers as reported by the AP.

ORANJESTAD, Aruba – Two men charged in Natalee Holloway’s disappearance lost their jobs as security guards at a hotel near the one in which the Alabama teenager was staying the day before she vanished, a police officer said Tuesday.

The suspects lost their jobs when their company’s contract expired with the hotel, which was closed for renovation, on May 29, the day before the 18-year-old honors student disappeared during a senior class trip to the Dutch Caribbean island, the police officer told The Associated Press.

The men — ages 28 and 30 — will appear before a judge Wednesday to determine whether their detention is legitimate, Attorney General Caren Janssen said. The hearing will be closed to the public, she said.

What has always puzzled me was the fact that the two suspects were hired as security guards in the first place. The Birmingham News had previously reported The following, “allegedly”, “The two men, known drug dealers, may have connections with three others targeted earlier as “persons of interest,” according to police.” If this were the case and this is a fact, how were they employed to be security guards? Why would anyone with this “alleged” type of background be employed to be anywhere near a hotel whether it was under renovations or not?

12:00 noon - According to a Fox News story an Atlanta, GA resident had been offered marijuana by the same guards on a previous vacation trip to Aruba. (Video avaliable)

One Atlanta resident told FOX News that she was vacationing in Aruba and confirmed that she was approached by the same guards currently in custody and was offered marijuana by them.

Friends and family remain hopeful and thankful to Aruba’s help.

As the search continued, Holloway’s friends, family and residents of her hometown remained hopeful.

“I have no reason to be pessimistic about anything,” friend Brooke Gardner told FOX News. “There’s been nothing that’s shown she’s not OK. She is OK and I’m not going to believe anything otherwise.”

More than 100 Meridian, Miss., residents gathered at a church Monday night to pray for the safe return of Holloway, who is a Mississippi native. Her father is a resident of Meridian.

And the outpouring of support from the Aruban community and at home is holding the family together, he said.

“It renews our faith and our hope that she’ll be home soon,” Reynolds told FOX News. “It’s overwhelming how they [the people of Aruba] have responded — it’s almost like a large family here. They’ve been very supportive … it’s a wonderful thing to see how everyone pulls together.”