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Natalee Holloway: TX Searchers Give Up

By Jeralyn, Section Crime in the News
Posted on Wed Jul 06, 2005 at 09:00:04 AM EST
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Update July 13, 4:45 pm: Texas searchers are giving up and going home. And the judge will issue a ruling Thursday on whether either or both the Kalpoe brothers must return to jail and whether Joran van der Sloot's father can continue visiting him in jail.

Update 8 pm: The news continues to dwell on growing resentment of Arubans to the Holloway criticism of their legal system. On Greta: The prosecution is appealing the decision to release the brothers. The appeal will be decided by three judges from Curacao after a hearing.

As a sign of how little real news there is, Greta will be "re-walking Natalee's mother through her first 24 hours" after she learned of Natalee's disappearance.

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7/6/05 10:00 am

Natalee Holloway's parents finally may have overstayed their welcome and overplayed the sympathy card with Arubans. Resentment is building.

A latent but growing resentment here became evident for the first time when more than 200 people, some wrapped in Aruban flags, said they were incensed by statements made by the mother of a missing American teen. Those assembled outside the colonial courthouse in this Caribbean capital Tuesday night said they fear their tiny island nation is falsely being portrayed as not doing enough to find Natalee Holloway, the Alabama girl who vanished May 30 on a graduation trip with her high school class.

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Natalee's mother may have gone too far with these comments about the release of the Kalpoe brothers:

Two suspects were released yesterday who were involved in a violent crime against my daughter," she said. "These criminals are not only being allowed to walk around among the tourists and citizens of Aruba," she said, but there were no limits on where they could go.

Enough, say some Arubans.

"Respect our Dutch laws or go home," read one sign. "Innocent until proven guilty," read another.

...Orlando Flanigan said his country had given "all out hearts, all out cooperation, everything," to help find Natalee. "It's time we got some respect back," he said. "They are making us look like a banana republic, he said. "We are an educated and cultured people, many of us speak four or five languages."

My prediction: This story is going to fade off into 24/7 newscycle sunset fast. It's about time.

Prior Natalee Coverage is here.

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    Natalee Holloway: TX Searchers Give Up | 4 comments (4 topical)
    Re: Natalee Holloway: TX Searchers Give Up (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:53 PM EST
    I love how the mother calls the Kalpoe brothers "suspects" and then in the next sentence calls them "criminals". Granted I haven't really been keeping up with this non-story, mainly only what J has been posting here at TL, but it was my understanding that if you were a suspect to a crime the prosecution had to prove you had something to do with a crime. Apparently now you are a criminal if the police want to question you about a possible criminal activity. But I suppose that is how most Americans view a person who is questioned by the police. Why would they care about you if you hadn't done anything wrong seems to be the prevailing attitude among my fellow citizens and this feeling travels to other countries. I watched a video clip of Natalee's mother and I thought "The tone of this comment is not going to go over too well with a bunch of people" and it looks like I may have been correct.

    Re: Natalee Holloway: TX Searchers Give Up (none / 0) (#2)
    by Jlvngstn on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:54 PM EST
    It is hard to feel sorry for these parents over such a terrible loss when they are behaving like arrogant a*sses.

    Re: Natalee Holloway: TX Searchers Give Up (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:54 PM EST
    This doesn't surprise me, really, though I was pretty disgusted with the mother's comments-- even taking her grief into account, she still doesn't have the right to call these men criminals and say that they definitely had something to do with her daughter's disappearance. And Arubans have bent over backwards and sideways to help this family, and all the Twitty's and Holloway's can do is complain about them? I'd be pissed off too. But you know, this is just a symbol of a larger problem within American society. We (as a society) expect everyone to bow down to us, to drop everything they're doing to help us, to go out of their way and spend every available penny to do what we want, etc. For example, on Fox "News" (or as I now like to call it, the "Missing Person Network") hosts like Geraldo and Greta van Sustern regularly demand that the FBI be allowed to take over in this case. Excuse me? This is not happening in America! And Aruba has let the FBI help out, which they did not HAVE to do at all. But let's say a Dutch teen went missing in America, do you really think the U.S. would let Dutch investigators even take part in the investigation, much less take over? Not on your life, but here again, people are expecting special treatment. Beth Holloway Twitty should be on her knees thanking the people of Aruba for all they've done, because she wouldn't have even gotten this much help in her own country. And I say this as someone who truly feels for her and her loss.

    Re: Natalee Holloway: TX Searchers Give Up (none / 0) (#4)
    by jen on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:55 PM EST
    Whats new? A huge percentage of the public ASSUMES a suspect is guilty. They certainly are quick to call them sick or criminal before a trial. I know plenty of people like that even in my family :(

    Natalee Holloway: TX Searchers Give Up | 4 comments (4 topical)