The Legacy of Natalee Holloway … Safe Travels for Years to Come & Aruba has been Branded

Aruba’s loss is a college students gain. The disappearance of Natalee Holloway in Aruba in 2005 has not been forgotten. The memory and legacy of Natalee Holloway will be that future teens and college age students will be taught the risks of traveling abroad. Safe travels aboard does not necessarily target Aruba as the only unsafe place to travel; however, it has become the poster island for safety abroad and has been branded. However, in the case of Natalee Holloway it is not just a message of traveling safe while on vacation, it’s a message of what could potentially happen with an investigation afterword’s in a foreign land.

As long as safety abroad is taught and Natalee Holloway’s name is referenced so will Aruba. The two have become synonymous and Aruba’s bad PR clock will never stop ticking. In America, a human life is more important than tourism.

Waits said she likes to think Natalee is at Auburn now though, since has spent the last two years looking at safety guidelines for students traveling abroad for the foundation Beth Holloway founded in her daughter’s memory — the International Safe Travels Foundation.

“When I paid attention to Natalee’s case, what I saw was a young girl,” Waits said. “I saw every young person.”

Like Beth Holloway, Waits didn’t want to see anything like what happened to Natalee happen again. And, at the time, she needed a research topic for graduate school.

Waits decided to look into how aware students are of safety guidelines when traveling. Her research has become the curriculum Beth Holloway shares with traveling students across the country. Waits said it was first introduced to Auburn students studying abroad last spring.

“Students are pretty confident before they leave,” she said, but, when she asks them about the process of say, court proceedings, in their destination country, they are at a loss.

“No one can say what happens over there,” Waits said. “It’s not their fault though. They’ve just never been told.”

“Beth experienced this. She went through it,” Waits said. “She wants to make sure it doesn’t happen again.” (OA Now)

Mother of Natalee Holloway Summons Van der Sloots … Van der Sloots Being Sued

If the Aruba Courts do not want to do anything in the criminal matter of the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, then Beth Twitty will as she sues. It has been almost 3 years since Natalee Holloway went missing on Aruba. Since then Aruba has done nothing except make a mockery of the investigation and prosecution of this case. Since Aruba is not willing to prosecute, Beth Holloway will.

As this case goes forward against Joran and the Van der Sloots more public attention will be provided to the case and negative PR for Aruba. If Aruba will not and cares not to find answers for the Holloway/Twitty family and provide “Justice for Natalee”, then the family will. From the very beginning of this case the family has had to take the lead, it appears they will have to again in order to pry answers out of Aruba and the Van der Sloots as to what happened and who is responsible for the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.

The following is a translation from the article, ‘Moeder Natalee dagvaardt gezin Van der Sloot’, from Elsevier.nl. Also see the Dutch Amigoe article, Advocaat Moszkowicz dagvaart Joran en ouders, with an English translation HERE.

Mother Natalee summons family Van der Sloot’ (Thursday, April 3, 2008 08:53)

Beth Twitty, the mother of Natalee Holloway, has summoned the whole family of Joran van der Sloot. Peter R. De Vries and Patrick van der Eem are heard under oath about their role before the court.

That reports the Telegraaf. Joran and his parents have to appear before the court and will be heard under oath about their role in the disappearance of Holloway.

Shock
The summons are part of a series of injunctions, in which the struggle of Twitty now officially has begun. She demands a substantial damage from Joran, a compensation for the “shock damage” that Joran has given her.

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ARUBA … DON’T MESS WITH TEXAS … “Justice for Natalee” Protest and Reminder to Aruba at the Houston Travel Show

ARUBA … DON’T MESS WITH TEXAS!!!

They have been to New York City twice, Boston twice, New Orleans, Valley Forge, PA, Miami,   St Charles, MO, and now Houston, TX. Do we need to remind you Aruba, Don’t mess with Texas. Congratulations to the people who helped reminds potential travelers that Aruba has provided no answers or “Justice for Natalee”. The mission continues by those individuals who demand the truth and justice for missing Alabama teen, Natalee Holloway.

It seems that Aruba truly does not have a comprehension of free speech. No wonder people are afraid to come forward to tell what they know regarding Natalee. However, Aruba … you are not in Kansas anymore. Welcome to America … The home of the free and the land of the brave.

I found out later from the convention coordinator that the Arubans complained incessantly about us and even confiscated one man’s tote (yes, they really had the audacity to do that)! He also told me that the Arubans seemed to have trouble understanding that nobody could turn us away as long as we did what we were told. I guess Arubans really don’t understand free speech as we know it.

The following the the words from one of those individuals, Dan in TX, that took the time to help provide, Justice for Natalee”. Kudos to all … a job well done. Don’t forget to listen tonight to the Dana Pretzer show as more accounts will be provided from the Houston Travel Show protest.

“What?! That girl’s still missing?”

 Of all the countless positive, supportive comments that I heard that whole day, that one genuinely shocked exclamation stands out in my mind. But we found out one thing again and again and again throughout the day: Houston, Texas loves Natalee. Before the protest even started, a retired HPD detective saw my boycott tee-shirt and expressed his support for the boycott as I waited for the others to arrive.

Two wonderfully dedicated, savvy, intelligent people named Vicki and Richard have been organizing or helping to organize small protests at any travel and tourism show that the Aruba Tourism Association has a booth at for the last 18 months. They’ve been in New York City, Boston, Miami, and New Orleans in the past. This weekend, the ATA is at the Houston Travel and Adventure Show. So are we.

 There’s not many of us- only eight- but that was enough. We took up positions outside the convention center in small groups, signs and pamphlets in hand. None of us have ever done this before, but those who had gave us a lot of good advice: do exactly what the police liaison tells you do, be friendly and polite, keep a pamphlet in hand at all times, and don’t be afraid- you’re here for Natalee and her family. Oh, and there may be news crews showing up to interview the event coordinator. That would be me.

 Great. I am not at all photogenic.

 I’ve never met any of them before, but I had a great team of protesters. Laura drove all the way from Dallas to be there. Molly brought her whole family to help, not to mention a picnic lunch, too. Lynn and his wife Ellie are old enough to be my grandparents, but they were there, ready to fight the good fight right along with us.

 It took me all of about ten minutes to realize that this was going to be easier than I thought, because people are incredibly supportive. Between 11 am and 4 pm we handed out each and every one of seven hundred pamphlets and over a hundred totes that we had. At the end of the day, all we had left was one stack of our ‘backup’ flyers and one stack of business cards. The only negative comment we heard all day was from a man who obviously knew nothing about the case. Hundreds to one are odds I’ll take any day.

 The support truly was amazing. It crossed gender lines, generations, and races. For those of you who think that Natalee would not have the attention she did if she were a minority, well, you’re dead wrong. Half the people who stopped to talk to us and offered their support were African-American. We didn’t expect to talk to men the size of pro linebackers about Natalee and hear that depth of genuine concern, but we did. A rickshaw driver (yes, they have those downtown) stopped by and offered his help displaying boycott advertising on the back of his rikshaw. We could not keep pamphlets in our hands. We gave our few precious totes only to those who had the deepest sympathy for Natalee or who were willing to take a tote past the Aruba booth, and we still ran out. Other people were more than willing to drop by and tell the Arubans how they felt. One lady took a bag in to show them, then decided to keep the bag and hang it in the window of her shop in Houston.

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Beth Holloway, International Safe Travels Foundation & GradCity.com Offer College & High School Students Spring Breakers Safe Options … BREAK SMART

Spring Break can be the best of times … it can be the worst of times. Beth Holloway asks students to please be safe …

The International Safe Travels Foundation, the non profit organization Beth Holloway, and GradCity.com are jointly releasing important information to our youths in an effort to keep them safe while on vacation. With Spring Break upon us once again, high school and college students need to be more aware of the troubles they could potentially fins themselves in.

No one knows more the potential risks of their child traveling abroad on vacation than does Beth Holloway. Her daughter, Natalee Holloway, went missing in Aruba in May 2005 and has never been seen or hear from since. Beth Holloway has made it her mission in life to never have another parent have to suffer what she has endured in Natalee going missing and the continual road blocks and barriers put forth by the Aruba investigation and their legal system. Beth Holloway stresses the point to teens and college students across America … STAY SAFE WHEN TRAVELING!

PEABODY, Massachusetts, March 24 /PRNewswire/ - GradCity.com, a division of First Choice Student Travel, and the International Safe Travels Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by Beth Holloway, the mother of missing teen Natalee Holloway, have jointly released a series of steps students can take to make their travel experiences safer. This announcement follows GradCity.com’s 2007 launch of its BreakSmart (http://gradcity.com/breaksmart.php) campaign, which was created to encourage responsible decision-making while on Spring Break.

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Beth Holloway Speaks out to Teens on Safety, Faith and Hope: “I want them to remember Natalee.”

As Spring Break comes upon us again we are reminded of the of the story,  legacy and lessons learned from the disappearance of Natalee Holloway in Aruba. It’s not only about “Justice for Natalee” its also about providing a message of safety for all teens to follow. There is no better person to provide the message of Safety, Faith and Hope than Beth Holloway.

As Aruba continues to provide no answers or justice for the family of Natalee Holloway, Beth Holloway continues her message to teenagers and their parents so that no one ever need to meet the Holloway’s same fate. Aruba continues to wonder why they have been branded as unsafe and corrupt. Is it really that difficult to understand? Nearly three years have gone by and all look on and see that Aruba cares little to provide “Justice for Natalee”.

“I want young adults and parents to open a dialogue about safety and what you need to know about personal safety on these trips,” she said. “I want them to remember Natalee.”

Alabamians, along with the rest of the nation and the world, were riveted by the news of Natalee Holloway’s disappearance in Aruba on a spring break trip to the country in May 2005. Many could only guess at the grief of a mother losing her daughter so suddenly.

In the months after, and as Beth Holloway began to realize that Natalee may never come back to their Birmingham-area home, Holloway was thrust into the spotlight by others who wanted to hear her story and how her faith had grown in the aftermath.

Holloway responded by spending a year traveling from city to city and state to state sharing the message of an organization she founded in the wake of Natalee’s disappearance, the International Safe Travels Foundation, which was designed to inform and educate the public about how to stay safe when traveling internationally.

UPDATE I: Mother of missing student Natalee Holloway speaks to northeast Ohio students today

Missing in Aruba: Patrick van der Eem Says … I Know Who Threw Natalee Holloway into the Sea

According to reports from De Telegraaf, Patrick van der Eem, the man who befriended Joran Van der Sloot and got him to confess on video tape, stated … “I know who has thrown the body in sea” … “Joran had asked me 2000 euro to silence that man.”

This better not just be a teaser for a book deal. If Patrick van der Eem does actually know who dumped Natalee Holloway’s body into the ocean, one can only hope that he shared this information with the Aruban and Dutch investigators and with OM Hans Mos. At least he better have shared the individuals name with Natalee’s parents, Beth and Dave Holloway.

‘Friend’ knows who dumped Natalee

But instead he was recorded saying that he knew who had dumped Natalee’s body at sea and that Van der Sloot had asked him for €2,000 to buy the man’s silence, the Telegraaf reports.

Van der Eem was also heard saying he had known Van der Sloot for several years. On Peter R de Vries’ tv programme, he claimed he befriended the Dutch student in a Nijmegen casino in 2007.

• De Telegraaf (English)
• Transcripts in Dutch

Patrick van der Eem, I know who threw Natalee in sea  (Amigoe: 3/6/08)

ORANJESTAD — Patrick van der Eem, who lured Joran van der Sloot in the trap on hidden cameras, was self also secretly filmed.  After an interview in Aruba with a local TV-station, some risqué statements were elicited from Van der Eem, because he thought that the cameras were stopped, reported De Telegraaf today.   

“I know who has thrown the body in sea”, says Van der Eem in Papiamento to interviewer Poentje Castro.  “Joran had asked me 2000 euro to silence that man.”

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Beth Holloway’s Book “Loving Natalee” Now Available in Dutch … Lieve Natalee

For those in the Netherlands that have been following the case of Natalee Holloway’s disappearance in Aruba, they now have the opportunity to read Beth’s Holloway’s accounts and story of her missing daughter, “Loving Natalee”. Hopefully even more people will read Beth’s story following what they saw in Joran Van der Sloot’s actions on the DeVries video tapes.

Lieve Natalee

Loving Natalee is now available in Dutch, or should we say … Lieve Natalee. For those people from the Netherlands who have just recently started following the case again, its a very good read.  Maybe some one can send a copy to Joran Van der Sloot to have him read what he actually did that fateful night and the lives that he affected forever.Joran Van der Sloot, you are not a victim, you are a suspect. Natalee Holloway and her family are the victims.

AUM sleuths Take a look at Natalee Holloway Missing in Aruba Case … Hint, Go to Scared Monkeys … Premeditated

More sleuths try to uncover the mystery and answers of the Natalee Holloway case. They may want to start with internet investigative work that has gone on since day one following Natalee Holloway’s disappearance.

Students from three area universities and the The Auburn Montgomery Continuing Education Office and the Alabama Crime Prevention Clearinghouse met to investigate the disappearance of Natalee Holloway in Aruba. These aspiring sleuths may want to first started with the following information as to the nature of the crime.

“Students from all three universities will be working together to solve cold cases,” said Sheryl McCollum, CCIRI director.

“They will be conducting investigative research where students will formulate a theory based on every piece of research they come across.”

Research will consist of going back to the scene of the crime and interviewing detectives in to get a true sense of what they think may have happened.

A hint to these soon to be sleuths … start here at Scared Monkey’s and then here at the Scared Monkeys forum, the achieves too. You may also want to read the actual witness and suspect statements as well.

PREMEDITATED

1. Lee Ashford Broughten’s statement where Joran said nobody ever goes to CnC on Sundays

2. Jaime statement where he talks about Joran calling him the night of 5/29 to see if he wanted to go to CnC to meet the American girls.

3. Chapter from Joran’s book titled “de pimps” where Joran talks about picking up tourist girls.

4. Joran interview with Greta where he says he’s probably done it 20 times before. I’ll try to get you a fox link but for now I have this:

Thirty Students from three area universities will try to do what countless law enforcement officials in this country and on Aruba have been unable to do — solve the disappearances of Natalee Holloway and Chandra Levy.

Although Natalee Holloway will be one of the program’s two initial cases, Beth Holloway Twitty told students at the event that the program is not just about her daughter — the Mountain Brook student disappeared more than two years ago during a high school graduation trip to Aruba.

“I think we all know that,” she said. “I think that it’s about each and every individual.”

“I think the things you can uncover … will help millions and millions,” Twitty told the students.(Montgomery Advisor)

Boston Travel Show Part II: Aruba’s Travel Marketing Campaign vs Freedom of Speech

For those that missed it over the weekend, check out Scared Monkeys at the Boston Travel Show reminding Aruba, No Justice For Natalee Holloway … No Tourism For Aruba. A tremendous job by all who attended in support of Natalee and her family. I believe Aruba heard you loud and clear. The power of freedom of speech on display in Boston, MA.

Aruba, you have all the information and evidence that you need to prosecute Joran Van der Sloot. Its time you act or risk further tourism woes.

Listen to the wrap up summary HERE from the Boston Travel show.

Check out the initial posts from Day 1 of the Boston Travel show (Justice for Natalee), pics, videos, audio comments and much more. Also go HERE for more pics and comments from the road at the Boston Travel Show.

The Disappearance and Water Search for Natalee Holloway in Aruba Discussed on Dateline NBC, Part 1

The disappearance and search for Natalee Holloway in Aruba

It was the beginning of a quest that would transform two parents from small town America into international investigators, who even today are trying to answer the question: what happened to Natalee?

Part 1 – FULL TRANSCRIPT

Beth Holloway: I was excited the Mountain Brook students had been there the previous two years. Even my step-son — the year 2003. And there were going to be over 150 plus classmates. So, we felt like, you know, there’s safety in numbers.

She felt good about it except for one troubling piece of information about a nightspot down there, a bar called Carlos ‘n Charlie’s.

Beth Holloway: My step-son had had an encounter at Carlos ‘n Charlie’s during 2003.

Chris Hansen: During his senior class trip?

Beth Holloway: Yes– yeah. Tere were some locals there. And they had coaxed some young females into leaving the establishment with them… and he stepped in at the last minute because just didn’t feel good about the situation, you know, with them–

….

Beth Holloway: I knew instantly when I received that call that just from Natalee’s history and character and just her record, I– I knew instantly that she’d either been kidnapped or murdered. There was no hesitation. Absolutely none– absolutely none.

She raced towards home and frantically called 911.

Beth Holloway: I’m saying, “My daughter’s been kidnapped or murdered in Aruba. Help me. I need some help, you know?” And then the calls turned into I’m calling 911 and I’m telling them I’m driving a 120 miles an hour down the interstate and don’t anybody stop me.

She finally did get pulled over — and a state trooper got her in touch with the FBI.

Back at his home in Mississippi, Dave Holloway also got the frightening news:

 PART II

And the lead detective, he told me that he would have to have a shave. And he rubbed his cheeks, and his stretched his arms down to his large stomach and said he would have to have his Frosted Flakes first before he could deal with me.

And then, after two hours, he came out and said that he’d changed his mind. That he didn’t need to meet with us after all. (Beth Holloway)

 

Beth Holloway: So, all I did was give this little bit of information to the nighttime manager and she knew instantly who he was.

 

Chris Hansen: And who was he?

 

Beth Holloway: She said, “Oh, that’s Joran Van der Sloot and he’s — 17. No, he’s a local here. No, he hangs out here.

 

Now that they knew his full name Beth wanted to put a face on it.

She asked to see the casino security videotape.

And as she watched it play, she was on the phone with her step-nephew, who had been on the trip, and had sat next to Joran in the casino the night before.

 

…

 

“We’ve got the car. And we’ve got the address.”

Joran Van der Sloot’s address.

Minutes later the group from Alabama was arriving at his family’s home.

While Beth sat in the car her friends from home grilled Joran, pressing him for details about what happened after he and Natalee left the bar.

 

Beth Holloway: The words that he uses are sexually explicit and graphically detailed of what he is engaging in. The conduct he’s engaging in with Natalee in the backseat of the car.

 

…

Dave Holloway: On June 1.

 

Chris Hansen: From the get go.

 

Dave Holloway: He said “A lot of these girls come to the island, they miss their flights. She’ll show up in a few days.”

 

Chris Hansen: In a few days.

 

Dave Holloway: Yeah. Says, “She’s probably out just partying. A lot of them will come here and get hooked up with a drug dealer. They’ll be under drugs for awhile.”

 

Chris Hansen: How did you respond to that?

 

Dave Holloway: I said, “that’s not my daughter.”

Both parents felt nearly paralyzed with fear, but they did keep moving.

The next day Beth was back at the police station and this time the detective had questions for her.

  

Beth Holloway: He asked me if Natalee ever had a history of seizures or epilepsy? And I said, “No.”

 

Chris Hansen: Did you think that was odd? At the time?

 

Beth Holloway: No, I just thought, “Why are you asking that?”

 

Beth Holloway Twitty says she didn’t understand the significance of that question at the time and wouldn’t for more than two years. But soon after that question was posed to her, there were arrests in the case. Just not who she thought.

 

A week after Natalee’s disappearance, two Holiday Inn security guards were taken into custody. (Security guards arrested)