Boycott Aruba! Prosecutor Mulls Closure in Natalee Holloway Case

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,316210,00.html

Prosecutor Mulls Closure in Natalee Holloway Case

Saturday, December 08, 2007

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Aruba's chief prosecutor said he might finally

close the case of missing American teenager Natalee Holloway after a lengthy

investigation that was labeled as botched in its early stages and has never

led to anyone being formally charged.

Hans Mos told The Associated Press Friday he will drop the case unless

prosecutors agree before the New Year that they have strong enough evidence

to go to court.

"We promised the suspects that after Dec. 31, we will not pursue the case,"

Mos said. "This investigation should end at a certain point."

Mos said he imposed the deadline himself earlier this year because he feels

two years is a reasonable amount of time for bringing charges against

someone.

His comments come after the recent release of three suspects who have been

arrested several times since the investigation began following Holloway's

May 2005 disappearance.

Mos said if prosecutors believed they only had enough evidence to charge

someone with a minor crime related to the case, he and the Holloway family

feel pursuing such a charge "doesn't serve a purpose." A person convicted of

making a body disappear, for example, would serve only six months in prison,

he said.

Holloway's relatives did not return calls for comment.

"We have a strong conviction that something happened that night, and that it

was a very serious thing," Mos said. "The question is whether we are able to

prove it."

The search for the blond, blue-eyed Alabama girl who went missing the night

of May 30, 2005 spanned more than two years and involved hundreds of

volunteers, Aruban soldiers, FBI agents and even Dutch F-16 jets laden with

search equipment.

The investigation has revolved around the same three suspects: Joran van der

Sloot, a 20-year-old Dutch citizen and the Kalpoe brothers, Deepak, 24, and

Satish, 21, from Suriname.

They were the last people known to see Holloway before she vanished, and all

three have denied any role in her disappearance. They have been arrested

several times - the latest arrests coming last month - but released after

different judges ruled there was not enough evidence to keep holding them.

"The Aruban prosecution is going around in circles," said Joseph Tacopina,

one of van der Sloot's attorneys. "They've bumbled this case from the

beginning."

Government officials have agreed.

In 2005, Aruba's prime minister met with Holloway's mother and said

authorities made mistakes at the start of their investigation.

No trace of Holloway has ever been found, although authorities have combed

sand dunes, drained a pond and dove into the island's clear waters. They

have detained people including a disc jockey, a casino croupier, two former

hotel security guards and even van der Sloot's father, a judge in training

at the time.

False leads have included blond hairs attached to a duct tape found along

Aruba's coast, and a bloody mattress later linked to a dead dog.

Holloway arrived in Aruba to celebrate her high school graduation. On the

last night she was seen alive, the Mountain Brook, Ala., native attended a

beach concert featuring Boyz II Men and Lauryn Hill and then ate and danced

at Carlos 'N Charlie's bar and restaurant.

She never showed up for her return flight, and police found her passport in

her hotel room with her packed bags.

Prosecutor Hans Mos said he does not anticipate ever finding Holloway's

remains.

"It's very hard to try a case without a body," he said. "It's not

impossible, but you need substantial evidence that somebody was killed."

On Dec 10, 3:52 pm, "Patriot Games" <Patr...@America.com> wrote:

"Boycott Aruba! Prosecutor Mulls Closure in Natalee Holloway Case"

Better yet. Teach your privileged teen-aged daughters to be

responsible adults and not to get shit-faced in a foreign country and

run off with groups of guys she doesn't know.

Yol Bolsun,

Grendel.

"Have all the opinions you want. They're free. Just don't confuse

them with reality."-Solomon Short.

"Grendel" <wsthomas@bellsouth.net> wrote in message

news:dd1514fd-6665-41db-b16c-76d510b58a18@e67g2000hsc.googlegroups.com...

> On Dec 10, 3:52 pm, "Patriot Games" <Patr...@America.com> wrote:

> "Boycott Aruba! Prosecutor Mulls Closure in Natalee Holloway Case"

> Better yet. Teach your privileged teen-aged daughters to be

> responsible adults and not to get shit-faced in a foreign country and

> run off with groups of guys she doesn't know.

Can't argue with that..............