Clint Van Zandt Interviews an Emotional Beth Holloway Twitty

Following Clint Van Zandt’s interview on last nights Scarborough Country, Joe Scarborough asked some very interesting questions regarding Van Zandt’s dealings with Beth. More interesting than the questions, were the answers from Mr. Van Zandt. The fact that he admitted that one “cannot remove yourself” from the difficulty that Beth goes through while investigation, searching or interviewing her with regards to dealing with the missing Natalee Holloway was so on target and what makes this story so captivating. The emotional involvement by so many that have never met this family is amazing. I found when meeting Beth Holloway Twitty in Aruba how difficult it was to maintain any form of objectivity and feel nothing but empathy for her and her family for what they are going through. Beth would try to carry on a normal conversation and all you find yourself doing is being compelled to hold her hand or give her a hug of support. Last night former FBI criminal profiler, Clint Van Zandt, found himself in the same position.

Video from MSNBC of the very emotional interview.
Full transcript

SCARBOROUGH: Clint, obviously Beth was very emotional in that interview with you, crying at one point. I got to ask you, how tough is it for you as an investigator, not only in this capacity, but as an investigator, for the FBI, to not get emotionally involved in cases like this?

VAN ZANDT: You cannot remove yourself, Joe. I mean, I got to tell you, I got sucked into this as soon as I hit the ground. I mean, as soon as you talk to Beth Holloway, as soon as you talk to other family members, I mean, you know, you and I have talked. You‘re a parent, I‘m a parent, we have children. You know that, you know, there but for the grace of God that‘s one of our kids, and when you see how hard this family is trying, doing everything they can. You know, you look, Joe, we don‘t have a victim, she‘s gone. We don‘t have a crime scene. We don‘t have linking physical evidence. It‘s like, you know, something from outer space came down and grabbed this girl off the surface of the planet and took her away, and yet Investigations 101 says, stay with the people she was last with. Their stories have changed multiple times. Do we have any other suspects? That‘s where you have to stay, but, Joe, we are 80, 81 days into this, and the family do not have any more answers to what happened to their daughter than almost the day they hit this island.

SCARBOROUGH: Clint, the tough question, is this case ever going to get solved?

VAN ZANDT: You know, sitting there with Beth today, holding her hands, probably crying with her, I have cried with other parents who‘ve lost children, and, you know, it‘s an easy thing to do. And I will not turn off that emotional porch light on her front door that says, Natalee, come home. You know, I would never take that away from a parent. I mean, we could have another Elizabeth Smart, we could have a runaway bride. I mean, we can hope, we can pray for all of those. You know, and sometimes statistics be darned, it‘s our kids, let‘s bring them home. The reality, from an investigative standpoint is where‘s the hard evidence that says what happened to this girl? I mean, I have a working theory. Law enforcement has. But, you know, theories are just that. Theories don‘t convict anyone. Hard evidence does, and unless they come forward with some hard evidence to show what happened to this girl, they may walk, the suspects.

SCARBOROUGH: Ok. Such a tragedy. Thanks so much, Clint. We greatly appreciate it. We‘ll be talking to you, obviously, tomorrow night also. Now, we have gotten a lot of questions about how Beth is able to spend so much time away from home, searching for Natalee. Today she told us, it‘s thanks to the generosity of her fellow teachers in Alabama. They have donated their sick days so Beth can stay in Aruba longer, fighting to bring her daughter home. Beth expressed how overwhelmed she is by all of her fellow teachers‘ acts of kindness, and I know she greatly appreciates it, as do we. Such a tough time for you her. Again, friends, you have to remember, right now, all of Natalee‘s friends are going off to the University of Alabama, the University of auburn, such an exciting time in a young girl‘s life, such an exciting time in the life of parents. It‘s a time they can say, “You know what, mission accomplished. We got them through high school. And now they begin an exciting voyage,” and yet tonight, Beth Holloway Twitty, far away from Alabama, down in Aruba, still trying to get answers to the questions that she just doesn‘t have.