Natalee Holloway - The Investigation

Update November 26, 2007:

In a move surprising many, the Aruban authorities re-arrested Deepak and Satish Kalpoe in Aruba and Dutch authorities re-arrested Joran van der Sloot in the Netherlands, where he is attending college. Joran van der Sloot was flown to Aruba, where a judge deemed there was sufficient evidence to hold the three men for 8 days, in separate locations, while authorities there investigate what is called "new evidence," as yet undisclosed.

Update May 13, 2007:
In a move surprising to many Natalee watchers, the investigation in Aruba took on new life when Dutch and Aruban investigators went first to the home of Joran van der Sloot and later to the home of Surinamese brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe. In each case, the visit was termed an investigation, not a search.

According to Aruba law, an inspection aims to analyze "a specific place or circumstances under which a criminal offense may have been committed" or to establish facts in a criminal case.

At the van der Sloot home, portions of the garden were disrupted and diaries, letters and a personal computer were taken for analysis. Nothing was removed from the Kalpoe home.

The investigation continues...

Update April 06, 2006:
Aruba Police Chief Taken Off Natalee Holloway Case amid speculations that he might have been protecting someone he knows well.

So far, nothing has been found in the search for Natalee's remains.

Update March 30, 2006:
Dutch officials with ground radar and cadaver dogs have arrived in Aruba to re-search the beach near the hotel where Natalee and her friends stayed. They will also search the sand dunes and the area aroung the lighthouse at the northern tip of the island.

Dutch TV will air a show recreating Natalee's time on Aruba, with a special focus on her last day and night, on Aruba and the Netherlands in the hopes that the show will trigger memories or other witnesses, such as the cab driver who recently came forward with information about burial spots.

While some question airing the show only in Dutch in Aruba and the Netherlands, instead of also airing it in English in the US where tourists who were vacationing in Aruba at the time Natalee was there might see it and recall something, others say it is too little and too late. With a sizable reward for information, why wouldn't anyone with information already have come forward, they ask.

In the ten months since her disappearance, Natalee Holloway has been a constant name in the news. (See The Disappearance of Natalee Holloway in Aruba, orignal feature and updates throughout the months following.)

The island of Aruba, where she was enjoying a celebratory post high school graduation trip, has been scrutinized, its legal and judicial system studied and its residents questioned.

Searches for the missing teen-ager came up empty.

A growing reward and a media blitz conducted by her grieving family produced no results.

In a series of interviews with the US press and TV journalists, ( Exclusive: Joran van der Sloot Tells 'Primetime' About Night With Natalee Holloway, Transcript: Joran van der Sloot Goes 'On the Record,' Part 1, Transcript: Joran van der Sloot Goes 'On the Record,' Part 2 and Transcript: Joran van der Sloot Goes 'On the Record,' Part 3 ) Joran Van der Sloot repeatedly denied any wrong doing or knowledge of what happened to Natalee after he left her on the beach.

In fact, he blamed everyone but himself for any involvement.

On behalf of Natalee, legally an adult, her family instituted a civil suit against the Van der Sloots, father and son. See . When they arrived in New York for the scheduled TV appearances, the father and son were served with the documents. In a rather ironic statement given his interviews, Joran commented on the Holloway-Twitty media appearances.

In the latest TV interview, this time with CBS/48 Hours Mystery show, interviewed by Troy Roberts in Aruba, Gerald Dombig, the deputy Chief of Police and lead investigator in Natalee’s disappearance finally spoke. See Natalee Holloway: New Clues.

With photos of the island, beach and Carlos and Charlies, and of Natalee herself with her friends, with Joran at the casino, and a last photo of her looking intoxicated, the show’s producers recapped the disappearance and following investigation.

Gerald Dombig explained that he had been under a gag order since the early days of the investigation and now, with what he called the “closing days” of the investigation, he was cleared to speak. While he did not reveal any details, he did comment on the investigation: