RSSTexas Equusearch on Thursday, July 28th
Today, the ground impaction sonar and the methane system were used today by Texas Equusearch in the area where the shallow grave and the ductape and hair samples were found. Results will be reported later.
This evening In the morning the Texas Equusearch team will be doing methane testing at the pond that they drained near the Marriot.
For more information about the methane detection equipment, please see this post.
Phone call From Tim Miller of EquuSearch; Laura’s Song Will Never End
I just got off the phone early this afternoon with Tim Miller of EquuSearch and had a tremendous conversation with him. I would just like to say Tim, thank you for returning my call it was an honor.
Let me just say that Tim Miller told me that he will not be going to Hawaii as planned to search for 41-year-old Gilbert Dewey Gaedcke. The mere pressure and media attention that was given to Tim Miller and EquuSearch in going to Hawaii at the request of Gaedcke’s family caused an amazing thing to occur. Island search teams were pretty much forced back into action because of the media attention and Tim Miller received a phone call from the chief of the Fire Department in Hawaii heading the search that Gilbert Dewey Gaedcke WAS FOUND ALIVE YESTERDAY. Left pretty much for dead as searches were going to be suspended Gaedcke was found approximately 12 miles from the spot he went missing.
When the family asked for our help, we couldn’t turn them down,” said Texas Equu Search director Tim Miller.
Texas Equu Search has been involved in more than 400 cases in the past five years including the search for Natalee Holloway in Aruba.
Tim Miller also went on to tell me that he will be heading back to Aruba on Tuesday. He will be bringing down 2 dive teams and 2 side sonar scanners with him and the Texas Equusearch team. As Tim told me, “we are waiting on the edge of or chairs for the DNA results.” Much of the re-found spirit in the search for Natalee depends on the duct tape and hair evidence that was attained last week. However, the DNA matching Natalee’s may not be the optimistic conclusion that many hope for. Tim further went on to say, “If she is out there, I promise you we will find her”.
Tim and I discussed Natalee and other cases he and EquuSearch have and will be working on. I will discuss those later as I really wanted to get this post up as soon as possible. Tim Miller stressed that in one form or another, the most important thing is for any family to have closure no matter what the outcome is.
I would also like to take this opportunity to present the lyrics to the song that was dedicated to Laura and Tim Miller. As many are aware Tim’s daughter Laura was the murdered in 1984. Ever since bringing closure to families has been Tim’s labor of love. The amazing work that Tim Miller has done since then is beyond words. Tim Miller said it best in a 2004 interview with ABC13 Eyewitness News(HOUSTON):
“I myself, out of twenty plus Amber Alerts in the Houston area, I myself have handed three children back to their parents,” he said. “If Laura was alive, I wouldn’t have done that.”
And with that we are honored to bring you the following emotional song:
Laura’s Song Will Never End
Dedicated to Laura and Tim Miller
Words by Jonna Lee Garrett, Barbara Gibson & Ramona Gerene
Music by Jonna Lee Garrett
(Verse 1)
Sweet sixteen – Daddy’s beauty queen
In his eyes she was everything
A little wild, but still a child
Peering through a womanly smile
Her dreams to sing had just begun
When she vanished and her poster hung
Now her family’s left without a trace
Tell me, have you seen this face?
(Verse 2)
There’ll be no candles on a cake
No more birthdays to celebrate
No dress to buy for her senior prom
Her graduation has come and gone
There’ll be no bride to give away
No dance to dance on her wedding day
Just sleepless nights till the break of dawn
And wondering what went wrong?
(Chorus) (Tim-the father singing)
Is it over? Is this how it ends?
My heart’s so heavy – will it ever mend?
Is it over? No, it’s just begun
I won’t let her be another missing one
It’s not over –
I’ll always be her strong shoulder
It’s not over – I’ll search for closure
And Laura’s song will never end
(Verse 3)
What could his baby have ever done
To deserve a fate such as this one?
But her father’s cries of despair
Made him stronger for all those who share
In a grief so hard to have to face
When someone takes what isn’t theirs to take
His strength to lead and continue on
Is why Laura’s song is sung
(Chorus Counter-Melody..1st 2 lines are Tim (father) last 2 lines of each are Laura speaking from beyond…his daughter)
Is it over – is this how it ends?
My heart’s so heavy – will it ever mend?
Don’t give up Daddy, don’t give up
No one can part the two of us
Is it over? No, it’s just begun
I won’t let her be another missing one
Listen, Daddy – I’m nearer than your breath
Listen very closely – the voice on your left
It’s not over –
I’ll always be her strong shoulder
I’ve wrapped my arms around you, oh, so tight
And wiped your tears through many sleepless nights
It’s not over – I’ll search for closure
And Laura’s song will never end
Don’t give up Daddy, don’t give up
And my song will never end
Alabama Lawmakers Ask residents not to travel to Aruba
This may be a bit premature and actually probably a bad idea in general. Today the Alabama House passed a resolution to boycott travel to Aruba. Just as it was wrong when Dee Fine asked for boycotts on her radio show; this may be even worse. I am failing to see the productive value in such a measure except to further strain the relationship that of recent had been going in a more positive direction.
The Alabama House passed a resolution Friday asking Alabama residents to boycott travel to Aruba, where an Alabama teenager has been missing for more than seven weeks.
The resolution expresses concern that no one has been charged in the disappearance of 18-year-old Natalee Holloway of Mountain Brook. She disappeared May 30, hours before she was to catch a return flight to Alabama, at the end of a high school graduation trip to the Dutch Caribbean island.
The resolution was sponsored by Rep. Leslie Vance, D-Phenix City, who said he hopes the threat of losing tourist dollars will encourage officials in Aruba to speed up the investigation.
“This is a way to say to the authorities down there that you have to get serious about this,” Vance said.
Rep. Jim Carns, R-Mountain Brook, whose district includes Holloway’s residence, said he supports the resolution.
“I think we need to do something to get their attention,” Carns said. “One of our citizens went their as a tourist and apparently something terrible happened.”
On the very day that the “Aruban Aruban Prime Minister Nel Oduber and Minister of Justice Rudy Croes ordered all materials pertaining to the Natalee Holloway investigation to be given to the FBI“. Talk about bad timing. One would think that even the family might be troubled by such a statement at this point. The Holloway’s and Twitty’s have made it abundantly known that their problem is not with the Aruban people. Their issues have been with the investigation and those it it, some who are no longer on the case.
I hardly think that this is the time to politicize this unfortunate event and more one to help provide resources to the investigation. Maybe a better idea would have been to give a donation to Texas EquuSearch.
Maybe if the Alabama Representatives wanted to do something productive, they should question why the FBI does not have Natalee Holloway on FBI Missing Person’s List? Maybe the good people of Alabama may want to call their Representatives and ask them this question as to why an American Intelligence organization would not have Natalee listed before they decide to boycott a country? As a fellow Monkey was emailed back by the FBI Birmingham Field Office after asking that very question:
“FBI Headquarters makes the designation as to who goes on the missing
persons list, not the individual field offices. The investigation is still
ongoing and FBI HQ will decide when/if she will go on the list.Thank you.”
Hat Tip: From fellow anonymous Monkey for forwarding the article.
Duct Tape and Blond Hair; Solid Lead or another dead end? The Day After …
As reported yesterday, park rangers were doing a routine clean up of the area today and found duct tape with long shoulder length blond hairs in it in a cave.
In addition to the information at hand comes this update to the story of the discovered hair and duct tape from information received today from Julia Renfro of Aruba Today.
The area is called Boca Tortuga translated to ‘Turtle Cove’ located in the Arikok National Park. The exact location would be Quadirikiri and it is just south east of Boca Prins where EquuSearch was searching last week.
The cove has a sandy beach with small caverns created by erosion from the rough seas. The tape was stuck to the coral. The Park Ranger was on a routine cleanup when he picked up the tape and noticed the hair and called the police.
One of the Aruba Today reporters was giving a tour of the caves to some international magazine journalists and just happened to be in the area and jumped into the police parade on the way to Turtle Cove.
From the AP via Birmingham News; Blond hair found on Aruba shore to be tested in Holloway case
ORANJESTAD, Aruba (AP) — Investigators said Monday they will conduct DNA tests on blond hair attached to duct tape that was found along Aruba’s coast to see if it came from Natalee Holloway in a possible break to the 6-week-old mystery.
A park ranger found the duct tape while collecting trash Sunday on rocks at Boca Tortuga, an inlet near a series of caves on Aruba’s northeast coast, said National Park Ranger Service spokeswoman Dilma Arends.
Boca Tortuga is on the opposite side of Aruba from where the 18-year-old from Alabama was last seen in public, and her father expressed little hope that the find would yield an important clue.
“We’ve had a lot of information that turned out false,” David Holloway said as he prepared to leave Aruba and return home to Meridian, Miss.
From CNN, here is a piece of information that has not been widely reported. FBI, Aruban authorities to test hair in search for missing girl. The FBI has been given part of the evidence to do testing on? There is a switch.
ORANJESTAD, Aruba (CNN) — The FBI and Aruban authorities plan to test strands of blond hair found on a piece of duct tape to see if it belongs to Natalee Holloway, a missing Alabama teenager, a law enforcement source told CNN.
Aruban investigators were sending a sample to a lab in the Netherlands and shared it with the FBI. It was not known when the hair would be sent to the FBI’s crime lab in Quantico, Virginia.
One of the goals of the tests will be to determine if the hair is that of Natalee Holloway, the blond 18-year-old who has been missing since May 30.
Then there is the Fox News account that for some reason is claiming that “Police received an anonymous tip that led them to search the area”. An anonomous tip? Really?
The foot-long locks were attached to a piece of duct tape in a remote part of the island territory known as Boca Tortuga. Police received an anonymous tip that led them to search the area. Sources on the scene said that the hair washed ashore and was found in a cave. Divers were reportedly dispatched the area to retrieve any other possible evidence.
MSNBC Video
July 18: Police are testing a piece of duct tape found on the beach. NBC Michelle Kosinski reports.
Click here to discuss the Natalee Holloway Disappearance
Click here to view all of our previous Natalee Holloway Posts.
Today We are All Londoners
As was the situation following September 11, the sympathies poured in from countries across the globe to London, England. Especially those from one’s that have had their own personal terrorist attacks like in the United States and Spain.
But it was Jenny Dervin, from another Olympic city hit by a terror blast, Atlanta, who summed up the feeling of many around the world. “We are all Londoners today,” she wrote.
The tide of sympathy from readers in America and Spain – two countries that have already borne the brunt of al-Qaeda attacks – was overwhelming. Hundreds clicked on a Times Online e-mail link today to send their support to London after today’s deadly commuter blasts.
What people learned today is that we are not necessarily all Londoners today, but all of the civilized world are in this together. We should not have to experience a terrorist attack to understand what it means or what must be done. There is wickedness and evil out there and we all are in this together against it.
Here is a great article from The Wall Street Journal, Bloggers and Photographers Chronicle Chaos in London
From The Times On Line, Bloggers call for protests and solidarity.
Bloggers have called for a mass protest against today’s bombings and have insisted that Londoners will not be intimidated by the string of attacks on their city.
“The outrages in London are the work of enemies of humanity. There should be massive demonstrations throughout Britain this weekend to show our solidarity against them,” said Paul Anderson on the libsoc blog.
Bloggers had no doubt the attacks were the work of terrorists.
Take part in discussing the news of the day here.
