Breaking

Van der Sloot Father arrested.

Update: Brief communication from island - at least some in search party feel optimistic they will find Natalee soon - I'm unable to say why, or if just a feeling - hope to have more tonight.

EquuSearch head said to be arriving today, will review previous findings and team will set strategy for search when rest of group arrives.

Comments

[EJsgal]

Well Well Well!!! It is about time

[jules]

beth holloway said she thought more arrests were coming!!! She obvioulsy knows something

[michele]

Dan, could you please use the power of your blog to clarify a few (harmful) Natalee rumors that are flying around?

Yesterday, in a live interview with Dan Adams of MSNBS, a retired police detective from Aruba claimed that Natalee may of been planning to run away because of the following quote in her yearbook.

"If I leave here tomorrow, will you still remember me? I must be travelling on now, 'cause there's too many places I've got to see..."

That quote of from an old
Lynyrd Skynyrd song which has been recently re populized by a singer on American Idol, Bo Bice. (The song has actually never been out of play in the South, even though it was written over 20 years ago.)

Given Natalee's plans to leave Mountain Brook and go to the University of Alabama and then later medical school, the quote is in keeping with the thoughts of MANY high school seniors and is not indicative of some kind of plan on Natalee's part to run away.

The retired Aruban detective also claimed that Natalee's parents should be investigated in the US because of their divorce, and that her disappearance may of had something to do with that.

However, it's well known that Natalee's parents were amicable divorced and that Natalee's dad Dave Holloway was present at Natalee's graduation along with Natalee's mom and stepdad.

There are also many rumors flying around the AOL forums, the Yahoo forums and others that this isn't the first time Natalee has disappeared on an Island trip. The various rumor mongers suggest different island names when using this rumor. (I have heard Jamaica and St. Martens among others.)

This rumor is totally untrue. Natalee is always very prompt and has never been missing on late on any trip she has taken before.
(That information comes from different family members, at the start of this case.)

It's a shame to see people run this girl in the ground by lying about her and her family.
Keep up the good work!!
~Michele

[EJsgal]

Those people are really out there. To me it is obvious they are hiding something . The mother is just plain off the map. How sad.

[jules]

when is the truth going to come out??????

That poor family how much more can they take??

[Kate]

some justice official he have made!

[Kate]

some justice official he have made!

[jojojeep]

The Vander Sloot Father has been arrested. Well here is what I think.

Mrs. Vander Sloot was out of town when all of this happened. Very important point!!!!

I wonder if Dad Vander Sloot may have sexually assulted this girl? Possibly eventually doing harm to her durnig this aasult.

Perhaps Joran brought her back to the house and she was drunk. She passed out and Joran left her to rejoin his friends for a while. In the mean time what if his father sexually assulted her?

Any one wonder about this?

The point that Mom was gone during this event has been passed up byt many news people when covering this event.

I am betting that something like what I pointed out above may have happened.

[A]

Maybe that will get some of the screw jobs who have already been arrested to start talking. Maybe he is who they are afraid of.

[arby]

Obviously the above noted retired Aruban police detective had never listened to Freebird. Even here in Canada I know the lyrics as soon as reading them. IMHO, Dan Abrahms, if that's who it was hosting, and if he heard the words, should have known that.

Interesting that Greta (?) on FOX just reported that the word is that the father has been arrested as a suspect, not a witness. If you ask me, wifey out of town, ???, or he cleaned up his son's mess.

[A]

Incriminating your own father in a case would be tough, but life in prison for a crime I didn't commit would be tough to. I'd let dad take the hit if he is more involved than anyone. Maybe he held the camera for the other video Van der Slut purportedly shot. The guy is obviously not above having affairs to get his needs met.

[arby]

And we have no explanation as to why Mrs. VDS was in the Netherlands at that time yet, do we? Not exactly vacation time. Husband and 3 sons at home? Or did she take younger 2 sons with her, leaving Mr. VDS and Joran alone at home?

[minnesota dad]

I TOLD YOU FOLKS SO!

So I was off by about 48 hours.

I knew it was a matter of time before Papa Sloot was arrested.

Thanks to the Aruban authorities who read this blog for doing the right thing.

Now...it should be very interesting getting the various parties to turn on Papa Sloot and Papa Sloot turning on the other parties. I love it when you get parties pointing fingers at each other! He has been a cowardly lion throughout this trip to Oz.

To those out there that flamed me when I said Papa's arrest was imminent.....HAH!

md

[michele]

Hey ARby, yes it was Abrams, sorry, my mistakes, I said Adams. :-)

He did take up for Natalee and her family in the interview and said that when this case was solved he wanted the retired policeman to come back and apologize to Natalee and her family.

[patrick]

the elder VanderSloot in my opinion assisted in the cover up of his son's crime against NH. There's no way JVS could have committed this crime and covered it up as well as has been done without assistance of someone older and more experienced (in this case his father). The son will be charged with rape and murder and the father with conspiracy.

[arby]

Thanks, Michele. I figured Dan would know these lyrics if he saw them, he's of the right age, and would make the connection with Natalee being from the South.

This is worse than the frustration in the Peterson case. Argh!

[mike]

Props to Minnesota Dad for having the courage to approach the local authorities and have them arrest Paul VD Sloot. If it weren't for sweet dudes like you, Minnesota Dad, justice wouldn't be served. 48 hours off? More like 72. Flame on!

[Finaztical]

Minnesota dad,

I noticed you have been calling this for days and everybody thought you were crazy! Keep up the good work Sherlock.....

[Katie]

From the beginning you had to suspect that the father played a bigger role in this whole mess than anyone was letting on. In my opinion, the father is probably guilty of trying to help his son hide things, destroy evidence and lie to the police. He is in such a position of authority in Aruba that he must have felt he knew the law inside and out and could help his son escape any liability.

I don't agree with the blogger who suggested that Mr. Van actually had physical contact with Natalie, I just think this is going to turn out to be an obstruction of justice/destruction of evidence type of charge. You knew something like this was right around the corner when the judge ruled against letting him visit Joran in prison.

[patrick]

The thing for the cops in Aruba to do is take photos of them handcuffing the elder VanderSloot, more pics of him in jail. Then, show those pics to Joran along with pics of NH and the family of NH and just say to the kid "how long are you gonna let this go on"? Are you gonna let all these people suffer because of your lies?. "Why don't you end all this now and tell us what happend. We can let your father go, and bring peace to this family"

[The Dutch built Harlem]

I just saw the interview.
Jorans mother crying all the time, while Daddy-o didnt even give her an arm or caressed her.
During the interview the fone rang and he got up and walked away, he didnt return.
Daddy-O knows mo'fo'sho'!

[A]

Maybe it is time to do the CSI and 48 hours blue light blood test all over the VDS's houses.

[sandy]

No wonder Junior wont admit his quilt - he's protecting Papa not just himself. This was probably what we have suspected an unintentional death that would have still been tragic but likely resulted in a short punishment for Junior. Papa should have told Junior to take responsibility for his actions before this snowball turned into a blizzard. I wish that this story could end with Natalee safe, but it doesn't look like that will happen so at least lets get the truth for her family and punish the father/son Van Der Sloots.

[minnesota dad]

Mike,

I made the prediction of arrest within 24-48 hours Sunday evening at 10:pm central. So, I was off by 40 hours.

The initial cover-up by the Aruban authorities is now starting to crack and they are being compelled to turn up the heat lamps on the "Dutch Elite". I still throw much shame towards the Aruban LE for screwing this case up early on. For those that know the telltale signs of coverup (as I do), this was a classic. Allowing perps to dispose of evidence for 10 days while having a very, very public arrest of two scapegoats. They had hoped this would all end with the scapegoats....Americans would go back to worrying about Brittany's baby and Tom Cruise's phoney wedding. It didn't work.

Thanks to FOX news for keeping the heat on. Where a lot of media has probably already pulled out of Aruba...FOX has kept the pressure on on this story. In the states, local media is too intimidated by the courts to expose cover-ups like this. We need someone like FOX to go into every state and expose the same kind of corruption and cover-ups here in the states!

My next prediction...by Sunday night this case will be resolved. Sadly, it won't be a happy ending.

md

[A]

Also, the rug fiber thing. They took out the entire carpet of this woman's house on A&E's Crime show and found fibers that were linked to the crime.

[Kevin]

An innocent person would have showed compassion from the begining and not been arrogant towards Beth Twitty and Stepfather, not to mention running from cameras etc. He only had compassion when his wife got back into the country. How convient that she was gone out of the country when all this took place.

I truely believe JVDS and Father have kept this from the mother. She came accross as very sweet and caring. While Daddio had sweat beading up on his forhead and looked completely guilty during the Greta interview last night.

[linda]

From tha AP
Dutch Teen's Father Detained in Disappearance of Natalee HollowayFrom Associated Press
ORANJESTAD, Aruba -- Aruban police today detained the father of a Dutch teen already in custody in connection with the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, the teen's mother said.

"My husband was just picked up by police," Anita van der Sloot, referring to Paul van der Sloot, said in a telephone call to The Associated Press. "I don't know what to think."

Paul van der Sloot is a judicial official on the Dutch Caribbean island.

Anita van der Sloot was about to leave the house for an interview with the AP when she said police came for her husband. She did not have any additional information about the detention.

Mariaine Croes, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Caren Janssen, told CNN: "There is a reasonable suspicion that he knows something and is involved in the disappearance."

Four other people have been detained in connection with Holloway's disappearance May 30. The 18-year-old Mountain Brook, Ala., woman was celebrating her high school graduation.

The others in custody are Joran van der Sloot, 17; his friends Deepak Kalpoe, 21, and brother Satish Kalpoe, 18; and Steve Gregory Croes, 26. No one has been charged in the case.

While Anita van der Sloot had been allowed to visit her son occasionally in jail, authorities denied similar access to Paul van der Sloot, saying they believed contact between the two could damage the investigation.

Joran van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers were with Holloway the night she disappeared. They said they drove her to a northern beach and then dropped her off at her hotel, where she was approached by a security guard.

[Stacey]

FINNALLY !! ----It's not rocket science
------------------------------------------------
What if someone else is involved ?

Suppose that...
Joran & Natalie were dropped off near the Marriott... Natalie thinking that a walk down the beach to the Holiday Inn would be a romantic way to end the trip and would help her sober-up...and Joran thinking the "real make-out" area is right here...

Suppose that...
Either Natalie said "No" or things got rough or there was an alcholic drug OD...or Joran intentionally killed her... whatever happened N. died.

Suppose that....
Joran is now panicked; she ruined everything... he had to get out of this; he needed to get rid of the body; but, he couldn't do it himself;

Suppose that...
Afraid to tell his friends, he called the one person who had always gotten him out of trouble... He needed help.

His Father.

Posted by: Stacey at June 16, 2005 12:01 PM

[michele]

http://www.i66.com/

Great archive and news feeds of the Natalee Holloway case.

[hmmm]

Do you think Beth used her visit to plant a bug in the van der Sloot's home and her detectives heard some incriminating discussions?

[tideroller]

I made no predictions as to arrests, but did voice my opinion out loud to witnesses, the first time that I heard the daddy was a "judge", that he was involved. It just seemed like a no-brainer! Now what we have to hope for is that somehow, by some miracle, not ALL of the evidence was destroyed. BTW, we also need for them to crack down on the LE officials who were covering-up for the dad and Joran. Who was it that said " I couldn't do that to the son of my best friend." Minnesota Dad, you got any predictions on that? Hope so!

[texmom]

I didn't get to watch the whole Greta interview w/the Sloot's but I did see parts of it. Pop's had a huge bead of sweat drip down the side of his face. I thought that to be odd. I wondered if they had A/C in Aruba in the homes. Surely the do and he was knowing his arrest was coming!

[Booyakasha]

****Breaking News****
An arrest warrant has been issued for Geraldo Rivera from FOX news for incurring an unpaid $1200 bar tab at the Aruba Holiday Inn Tiki pool bar, and for larceny for items taken out of his hotel room... three towels, a desk lamp , and wall art; a painting depicting an Aruban cactus.

[fran]

texmom:
actually I saw the sweat too in the interview last night but the mom's face was moist too...they were in an open sunroom sort of area of their house so I'm sure it was just the Aruba humidity.

BUT, he's obviously involved in some way....maybe just as little as knowing what his son did but not wanting to turn him in.

[ABH]

What I found to be interesting was when Paul Van der Sloot was unable to even look Beth Twitty Holloway (handing out prayer cards) in the face when opening the gate to his own home....

[Jamini]

Finally, some movement on this case. Daddy is certainly involved. PVS' behavior is one of a very nervous individual. PVS's demeanor is very similar to an arrest that was made several years ago of an guy that worked for the same company I was employed at the time. The day prior to his arrest, this normally quiet, mild-mannered guy, couldn't sit still, paced the office inside and out, was sweating profusely in the middle of winter etc....it wasn't until I saw his mugshot on the evening news that his behavior the previous day made sense. Observing PVS on Greta last night and in her description of PVS the prior night off-camera, seems to be indicative of a man who has something to hide. Whether he's the guilty party; or, if PVS is covering for JVS remains to be seen.

[anne]

I still say where does the Tattoo boat DJ guy fit into the equation? Also, does anyone know what some of these "tactics" are during interrogations to get people to talk? Ok, a cold room and calling a person a murderer, but what else? Can they use physical force? Should they? I call the fact that Paul VDS is a judge and familiar with the interrogation process IRONIC!

[ATLjoie]

Stating what I heard in other interviews. Arubans do not have central Ac usually in their homes. They usually have open doors for the tradewinds and only use what I would think is window units in their bedrooms at night. I believe the mother and the father were both sweating. If you are not getting that tradewind its hot as HECK there.

[AkekoaHoAlethia]

Katie

I agree
I don't believe the story about macdonalds until 11 pm Sunday night before either - then dad bringing him home at 11 pm - then he snuck out after. My reason is because the next night - school night - at 3 am his dad says Jis at casino playing poker -- a regular occurance. That's why mom "cannot get him out of bed for school!"
I think this was made up to keep the truth from mom that dad lets him go out at nights to the casino. That's one reason Dad sweats.
Since J had been out the previous night (SUN), supossedly without dad's knowledge and against house rules, his dad should have reprimanded him and grounded him (according to mom's rules). But J doesn't follow mom's rules. Dad knows it, but mom does not. So when she is gone to Holland, J does what he wants and dad ignores it. Dad's not into this dicipline thing. J is just too wild. No discpline. No boundaries upheld.
That's why dad has to make up story for mom that J "snuck out" on Sunday night. That's to keep peace with mom.
So dad hides from mom and polis.

I too question what else he has tried to hide???

[ATLjoie]

Stating what I heard in other interviews. Arubans do not have central Ac usually in their homes. They usually have open doors for the tradewinds and only use what I would think is window units in their bedrooms at night. I believe the mother and the father were both sweating. If you are not getting that tradewind its hot as HECK there.

[observer]

This is to all of the Aruban locals and other sympathizers of the VDS family and advocates of the kidnapping or runaway theory. What do you have to say now! Have the authorities arrested dad Sloot just to throw off the kidnappers even more?

[Momof2teens]

MinnesotaDad, I hope your prediction is right that this is over soon, but wrong that "it won't be a happy ending".
If anything could be considered positive for Natalee's family right now, it is the ability to be in Aruba for this period of time. Many families would not have the means to do this. Mrs. Twitty is a very strong and brave woman to have endured what she has, and so are her ex and current husbands for remaining by her side! I commend all of them for what they have done and are doing for their daughter! I'm afraid to think that if they had not vowed to stay in Aruba until Natalee is found, the case would have subsided long before now. God Bless the Holloway Family!

[TS]

minnesota dad says:I TOLD YOU FOLKS SO!

So I was off by about 48 hours.I knew it was a matter of time before Papa Sloot was arrested.
Thanks to the Aruban authorities who read this blog for doing the right thing. Now...it should be very interesting getting the various parties to turn on Papa Sloot and Papa Sloot turning on the other parties. I love it when you get parties pointing fingers at each other! He has been a cowardly lion throughout this trip to Oz.To those out there that flamed me when I said Papa's arrest was imminent.....HAH!

TS says: I believed you, minnesota dad. Great call!

If anyone had any doubt to PVS's involvement in this case, all they had to do was watch his body language during the interview with Greta last night.

I'm sure Anita Van Der Sloot is beside herself right now. I feel sorry for her.

[anne]

Did I hear mom VDS say last night that J. did not drink OR gamble? Then what was J. doing gambling with his father at the hotel prior to the alleged McD.'s pick-up. Also, was the dad there with the boy when he met Natalee?

[ATLjoie]

She said he did not do drugs or smoke. She did not say he did not drink or gamble.

[anne]

Ah.

[Allen]

Originally 1 of 3 scenarios posted on 6/21....does this make any sense?

Early Mon Morning: 1:30am approx. ......Natalee departs with Joran into his friend's waiting car, as similar cars (actually taxis) line the front to ferry the remaining travelers. Natalee's friends have not reported her condition as "staggering" or crazy drunk. The men at this point continue on, with Natalee in back with Joran, the two Kalpoe men in front.
Assumption: Natalee and Joran are romantically involved, heavy petting, etc. There is a general consensus to either continue the party, or go somewhere quiet, ie, romantic.
Question: Does this crew make any pitstops during before reaching their intended destination? Cigarettes, snacks, bathroom, gas, alcohol, drugs, etc. Anything caught on video, witnesses, etc ?

Which scenario do they then follow:

Scenario B: They proceed to Joran's apartment, as Joran would like some time to show Natalee his "pad" and continue his encounter. The party continues quietly, drinks are served, perhaps Natalee is slipped something. The Kalpoe men are in another room, perhaps on the computer or video game, or watching tv.
Theory B1: Joran's Dad "hears" his arrival at home, as the car reaches the Sloot residence. He "hears" a few voices, is not concerned, as this is a regular occurrence. He continues with his sleep.
Theory B2: Kalpoe men wait for Joran to complete his encounter, as something terribly goes wrong. Under this scenario, a forcible attack on Natalee can be ruled out, as it would have been too risky for Joran's Dad to possibly hear. As Joran completes his encounter, he notices Natalee is passed out. The Kalpoe men inform Joran that she is dead and the wheels start spinning.
Theory B3: The 3 men gather a few of daddy Sloots shovels, go to the nearest opening on the road, pull off of it, and proceed to bury Natalee.
Theory B4: Or the 3 men wake Daddy Sloot, who advises and assists in the disposal of the body, in a very remote location.
Theory B5: Steve Croes is just a drug provider in this scenario. Or perhaps the key to an ocean dump.
Theory B6: The men concoct the Holiday Inn security guard theory in case it is needed, and later twist it to "near the Marriott" as video evidence shoots down their Holiday Inn story. And if all else fails, keep your mouth shut....no body....no proof...no crime.

(note in my Original post I had thought Mom Sloot was also home...and now it appears she was in Holland, and all the more reason to party at the Sloot's. )

[AkekoaHoAlethia]

Minn Dad

My wife and I were both expecting that also after seeing the greta interviews last night. I agree with Jug Twitty

This Mr VDS guy is sweating! for a reason other than climatic.

[Jutebug]

I read somewhere that Steve Croes was arrested on suspicion of breaking into a fisherman's hut where ropes, anchors and tape were reported stolen.

[TN MOM]

I have heard in the news that both son and father liked to gamble. Maybe Natilee was "sold" to satisfy a gambling debt!