Aruba doesn’t seem to be helping

Link: Herald Bulletin.

Where is Natalee? Until answered, Aruba should not be visited by anyone worldwide!

This statement has been prominently displayed on The Lemon Drop’s marquee for the past three weeks at 1701 Mounds Road. “Aruba doesn’t seem to be helping,” said owner Bill Pitts in regard to the ongoing investigation of Natalee Holloway’s disappearance.

Comments

[clintcarter]

Mr. Lemon Drop needs to spend more time polishing his mirror.

[jolari]

The everyday citizens of Aruba are the ones that will suffer from any boycott. They are parents with families to feed and house. Of course Mr. Pitts has every right to do this thanks to the country we live in, but I can't agree with his choice.

[Iamcandian]

everybody done like toast?

[Iamcandian]

me too.

[Northerner]

Where is Jimmy Hoffa? Until answered, the USA should not be visited by anyone worldwide!

Where is Audrey May Herron? Until answered, the USA should not be visited by anyone worldwide?

And I could go on and on. Yes, I know Hoffa was (allegedly) a mobster, I was only joking there. Audrey May Herron is a real missing person, been missing for a lot longer than Natalee. All I mean to say is it is stupid to put up a marquee like that. Of course, it does guarantee publicity and thus patronage, so that was probably the real reason to put it up. So what do we think of a man who gains commercially while pretending to be outraged by Natalee's disappearance? Think about that one, folks.

[AkekoaHoAlethia]

I was at a large store the other day making a substantial purchase (yet it was very small compared to their daily receipts). A mistake was made and part of a purchased product was missing when I got home and checked the bag to account for all the expected "occupants." It was there with me at the counter, but in the shuffle of leaving the register, it was inadvertently misdirected into the trash!

I immediately called the store. The first person couldn't help much so I asked for someone with more authority who could. I was transferred to a supervisor who quickly took my information and report and said he would back to me . In less than 15 minutes he called and said the store had made an error, the item was lost, and he had already credited my account for the amount!

Case closed!

....

Oh... for such simple honesty and integrity... one would have dared to dream that it might have existed on Aruba... but to no avail!!!

I will not go there to shop!!!!

[race juda cata]

A brief a side, has anyone heard anything further on the arm/hand that washed ashore in Venezuela last week? Has it been id'ed, as either NH's or some fishermans/another missing person? Just curious b/c I thought it was sent away to a lab for proper testing... We are getting ever closer to Sept 4th, it is going to be interesting to see if any news is broken prior to Jorans hearing and if he is going to be held beyond that date. Based on all that has been reported to date, I believe that Deepak is responsible for NH's ultimate demise. It will be interesting to see if Deepak has been under close survalence since his release and weather that has yielded more clues as to what actually happened the evening NH went missing...

[rick]

I wonder what the outcome of the OJ fiasco would have been if Dutch law prevailed and three judges from Curacao had to make the call? Would you then boycott Aruba? The chaperones and others from the MB group, have to take some blame for this missing girl, since there is an unwritten responsibility that goes along with a trip of this sort. Nobody hears from them???????

[Laura]

I have been reading this blog ever since Natalie disappeared. I check it every morning for updates. Imagine my surprise when I see reference to a restaurant where I have eaten many times in my life. This restaurant is so well known that it is very difficult to get a seat any day of the week during lunch time. I can also tell you that the owner doesn't need to advertise like that for patronage. If it ends up on his sign then it is how he feels. He is known in that city for being supportive and doing a lot of good for the community. While this statement was a little brash; I agree that it would hurt the Aruban families and isn't the best answer to the problem; I believe that he was just trying to show his support in a time of need for a particular family. I know that some of you disagree with his remark, but please don't assume his motives are not pure. I can assure you that he is a man of good standing and doesn't need to, and would not, capitalize on someone else's misfortune.

[R Nelson]

IN defense of those suggesting to boycott Aruba, realize that this would have a zero sum effect. What you take away from Aruba, you give to another. For example, If everyone decided to go to Barbados instead, the wonderful people of Barbados would benefit, offsetting the negative effect to Aruba. Sure the transient population of Aruba would have to migrate to Barbados for the new found jobs, etc., but isn't that the way of the world? Why does the US have such an illegal immigration problem? Latin Americans are seeking amongst other things, jobs that are readily available in the US. It would simply be a redistribution of wealth. Think of the poor people on other Caribbean islands that have been repeatedly slammed by hurricanes, spend some US dollars there. To those who suggest that you're punishing innocent people, you're not. You're spending your vacation dollars how you see fit, Aruba has no right to claim ownership of those dollars. You can't withold something from someone that has no right to it in the first place. The Aruba governement has let them down. The ALE has let them down. Arubans should demand resolution as we Americans do. The answer is blowing in the wind.

[R Nelson]

I can assure you that he is a man of good standing and doesn't need to, and would not, capitalize on someone else's misfortune.

Posted by: Laura | Aug 25, 2005 8:53:49 AM

There are good people in the world, not everyone has ulterior motives. Thanks for the perspective.

[jgirl]

Aruba has done everything it can. What do you think Mexico would do? Jamaica, etc... The whole country stopped their lives to search, and have been obsessed with her search like all the rest of us. Everyone wants Natalee found, and we hope alive.

[yoninadi]

to R NELSON.you said that the aruban gvt.&ale have let down the aruban citizens,fact is they have done so.aruban women have been druged and raped by joran & other men in aruba and no known conviction has resulted from these events.

[clintcarter]

R. Nelson I agree the travel agents would take care of that moving people around with deals.
Drop the price to Aruba for a few months and people will swarm.

[R Nelson]

What do you think Mexico would do? Jamaica, etc... The whole country stopped their lives to search, and have been obsessed with her search like all the rest of us. Everyone wants Natalee found, and we hope alive.

Posted by: jgirl | Aug 25, 2005 9:51:18 AM

Interesting that you mention two places that would be on many people's list of places to avoid. Although that wasn't your intention, you made my point for me. There's trouble in paradise or should I say on one 'happy' island.

[R Nelson]

Drop the price to Aruba for a few months and people will swarm.

Posted by: clintcarter | Aug 25, 2005 10:13:44 AM

Perhaps. Or would that exacerbate the problem- defacto adverse selection. People who can afford Aruba, aren't going there for economic reasons.

[FloridaPatty]

This is from the CNN thread, I'm reposting here because it leads to our topic:

"One thing that is easy to notice in this story is Klein thinks the big story is reporting body counts of soldiers and the tough news in Iraq. I'll admit I don't catch enough CNN to know--but does CNN ever run any of the positive news in Iraq?"

This from the article. I find CNN so absolutely right limping in its coverage of Iraq. YES people are dying, okay, WE GET THAT HELLO!!! Then they launch into the "plummeting" presidential approval ratings.

Do I care if he is approved of? Not just no but hell no. Some poll showing how popular he is reminds me of yearbook superlatives.

Natalee Holloway IS an American story. FOX got that, Greta got that. MSNBC caught on. Had Beth Twitty (there is the real story) not been so tenacious in her quest the story would have died and look at all the stinky sediment that is being dredged up! And our AMERICANS, our neighbors, our coworkers, our families are vacationing there?

One never really likes to dwell on what ifs but this last incident with the reports of the 16 year old having previously outted Van Der Sloots conduct yanked my remaining faith in the LE on that island. Would I feel safe there? Not just no but hell no.

Aruban people you have a voice. Most of you probably know the key players in this story within your community that has created this ugly mess. In September you have elections. VOTE! Got to the polls and VOTE! Vote for change. Get rid of that corruption that lets an abused women get physically assaulted in front of Aruban police and lets him tell her "its your problem".
Vote
Vote
Vote

This is a story, it's not hype, it's a story.

[sherrie]

I remember Beth's comments in one interview where she stated something to the effect that Aruba is a small tight knit community and that she is sure there is someone who truly knows what corruption is going on with the government and the cover-ups. If Aruba wants it's tourism trade back then someone needs to get a backbone and tell the truth about this mess and let the Holloway's and Twitty's take their child home.(if possible). This whole situation could be resolved if someone would JUST TELL THE REAL TRUTH. The aruban citizens should demand that the indecent government fess up and give them back their economy. Is covering up for a few really worth all that will be lost?

[joetwopoles]

Sherrie and FloridaPatty,

Great comments! Aruba and its citizens control their future-- not BT, not the media. Demand truth and competency from your government. Demand a solution to this case.

[trench]

"aruban women have been druged and raped by joran & other men in aruba and no known conviction has resulted from these events."

No convictions, huh? Gosh, it's almost as if those allegations are completely unsubstantiated or something.

And of course everybody who has ever raped anyone in America has been convicted for it. Nobody ever gets away with a crime because of poor police work here. Nope. Never happens. Just in Aruba.

"Natalee Holloway IS an American story."

So are 14 dead Marines. She's 1 American. They're 14. It's not an unfair criticism.

"The aruban citizens should demand that the indecent government fess up and give them back their economy."

Either that or they should demand some evidence of a government cover-up from all of the Americans who keep claiming one based almost entirely on internet rumors. Believe it or not, Beth Twitty isn't an authority on the inner workings of the Aruban government. Sometimes a botched murder investigation is just a botched murder investigation. It doesn't require a government-wide conspiracy. A conspiracy to do what exactly? Protect the son of a little-known justice official and failed judicial candidate? Why bother?

Look, nobody's going to deny the police screwed up the first week of this case. They trusted these kids' initial story and they clearly shouldn't have. Even the prime minister concedes that. After that, though, the investigation has been handled pretty typically. They've got no body, no physical evidence, and a prime suspect who isn't talking. It doesn't take goverment corruption for that to become a difficult case to prove. When these things happen without a body in the US, it sometimes takes years to find enough evidence to even arrest a suspect. Do I think the kid did it? Probably. But I see tons of reasonable doubt and I don't think anyone--Aruban or American--can prove it right now. Yeah, it's frustrating and it's awful for the family, and yes, the Dutch legal system has some odd quirks to it. So does ours. Once you're charged here, you can demand a speedy trial and prosecutors will have to go to trial within a few months whether they're ready or not. If they're not ready, you might just go free. This has already happened twice in Florida this year. You wanna boycott them too?

[Disappointed Arubian]

Great comments! Aruba and its citizens control their future-- not BT, not the media. Demand truth and competency from your government. Demand a solution to this case.

Posted by: joetwopoles | Aug 25, 2005 11:29:59 AM

Been there, done that. Not working simply because there is no grand conspiracy. There really are no concrete leads to what happened to Natalee.
Why is it that everyone suspects this huge conspiracy? It's like you want a sensational story to satisfy you. What if the answers really are simple?

[ss]

well disappointed the media in the US has made this a big, sensational case, and therefor most people expect big,sensational answer... I do agree that the answers are probably really simple, but it has been crammed into every media interview this is a huge conspiracy so thats what people expect and if you give them any other answer they won't ever accept it..

[Disappointed Arubian]

The media tends to bend the truth and make sensational speculations in order to get some ratings. The worse part is, most people follow what they say, be it true or not.

[Suzanne]

Its a little frustrating, when you see how slow the Aruban LE has been, especially at the beginning, but when Beth visits the internet cafe, or when CNN violates Joran's rights, then we see them scrambling!!!

[Suzanne]

Excuse me, I think I got the name of the media wrong

[Disappointed Arubian]

They're always scrambling. CNN just didn't think it was interesting to follow Aruban LE, they get more news if they put Beth's or Joran's face on the screen.

[Disappointed Arubian]

My bad, it's not CNN it was NBC.

[joetwopoles]

Why is it that everyone suspects this huge conspiracy? It's like you want a sensational story to satisfy you. What if the answers really are simple?
Posted by: Disappointed Arubian

DA,

I don't know how you drug "huge conspiracy" out of my short comments, but I'll take simple. Solve this simple case, give Natalee back to her parents, and everybody goes home. Simple enough for you?

[Disappointed Arubian]

joetwopoles:

I was stating only the impression I get from bloggers here.

I want her found too, we all want her found. Our lives stopped they day she disappeared. We had Arubians crawling all over the island in a massive search for her, the choppers where all over the island and those loud F-16's didn't exactly make it easy for us either.

I must disagree with anyone who says Aruba hasn't been doing anything. I live here, I see it with my own eyes. Most foreigners depend on what they're told or not told.
Honestly, a similar case wouldn't get this much attention in the U.S. You'd be lucky if a few people volunteer to give out flyers for you while in Aruba the majority of the community sacrificed work and time to look for her.

[bryan]

In Birminham Alabama where the Holloway Twitty circus comes from (I live there so I can observe somewhat accurately) the following :

1) A high school principal has been missing for more than a month - no clues
2) A nurse has no been missing for 48 days - no clues
3) A 12 year old girl has been missing more than a year .

The shoddy police work and incompetent investigative methods are rampant in Alabama obviously. Did they learn it from Aruba.
Strangely enough, no one has fingered a single person because they felt they were guilty. Oh if we could only convict on feelings how good the police and FBA would look.

A Birmingham police chief named Deutch was forced to resign because he removed evidence that Mayor Richard Arrington's daughter had comitted assault. Did they learn this from a corrupt Aruban visitor.

he game is played the same in the whole world. When it becomes your turn to be the victim of the crime that is US juris prudence then you have perspective.

[Disappointed Arubian]

bryan :

You can't link cases from Alabama with Aruba. That's ridiculous.

[Suzanne]

I must disagree with anyone who says Aruba hasn't been doing anything. I live here, I see it with my own eyes. Most foreigners depend on what they're told or not told.
Honestly, a similar case wouldn't get this much attention in the U.S. You'd be lucky if a few people volunteer to give out flyers for you while in Aruba the majority of the community sacrificed work and time to look for her.

Posted by: Disappointed Arubian | Aug 25, 2005 12:03:39 PM

The Aruban LE started doing something after the magnifying glass was on them. Before that, they ignored their prime suspect until all (or most) evidence had been disposed of.

[Justice4All]

"Don't bite the hand that feeds"

[Suzanne]

"Don't bite the hand that feeds"

Posted by: Justice4All | Aug 25, 2005 12:11:36 PM

True, that's why Beth bites her lip most of the time.

[ss]

i don't think bryan was linking the cases i think he is saying it happens everywhere... don't be so naive

[Justice4All]

Honestly, a similar case wouldn't get this much attention in the U.S. You'd be lucky if a few people volunteer to give out flyers for you while in Aruba the majority of the community sacrificed work and time to look for her.

Posted by: Disappointed Arubian | Aug 25, 2005 12:03:39 PM

The case would not have gotten as much attention, if the case was not botched in the first ten days? The sentiment now is that this is a deliberate cover up. Kinda like what you will see next on the missing groom. I feel for the citizens of Aruba as their "government" has put them out to dry.
Your wrong about a couple of flyers or volunteers, most are found......how does that happen?

[trench]

"Its a little frustrating, when you see how slow the Aruban LE has been, especially at the beginning, but when Beth visits the internet cafe, or when CNN violates Joran's rights, then we see them scrambling!!!"

Yes. If by "Aruban LE", you mean Joran and the Deepak's defense attorneys. The investigators had nothing to do with either of those incidents. Both were orchestrated by the media and the suspects' attorneys rightly scrambled to file complaints.

Law enforcement hasn't necessarily been slow. This is an extremely difficult case to prove. When your suspect isn't telling you anything and you have no fresh, credible leads on where the body is, there isn't much investigating to do. Also, most of what is being done may not be being discussed with the media because Aruban law restricts the release of information in ongoing investigations.

Yes, the lack of progress is frustrating. But it isn't clearly indicative of incompetence or slow work by investigators.

Shannon Melendi disappeared in Georgia over 11 years ago. Her suspected killer's trial started this week. And even now prosecutors barely have a case against the guy. These investigations aren't easy. No matter how hard prosecutors work, they can only progress as much as the available evidence allows. Right now, there doesn't seem to be much to work with in Aruba.

Mistakes have been made, big mistakes at first. And investigators have run into significant roadblocks. But the level of baseless criticism and conspiracy theorizing here is just absurd. 90 days isn't a long time for a murder investigation without a body to take. Unfortunately, they arrested this kid quickly enough that the clock is running down on charging him. Remember, though, that they don't have to charge him with murder. They could charge sexual assault or another lesser offense and keep holding him with that. This isn't over yet.

[ss]

a few days ago in a small down south of houston we had a 1 yr. anniversary of an 18yr old girl who disappeared w/o a trace, she is still missing... the volunteer searches lasted about 3 days... don't think it was ever mentioned on national news..

[Suzanne]

Remember, though, that they don't have to charge him with murder. They could charge sexual assault or another lesser offense and keep holding him with that. This isn't over yet.

Posted by: trench | Aug 25, 2005 12:22:35 PM

What I don't get is why they let the other guys go when they lied to the police and obstructed justice and the investigation? Is that not a crime in Aruba?

[ss]

how do you know he sexually assaulted her ?

[Justice4All]

There was the possibilty that valuable forensic evidence was not obtained at the get go.
You can't go back, but you can come clean.

[Suzanne]

how do you know he sexually assaulted her ?

Posted by: ss | Aug 25, 2005 12:27:47 PM

JVDS admitted it. I don't know if he admitted it to the police or not, but he admitted it to Beth.

[Justice4All]

There was the possibilty that valuable forensic evidence was not obtained at the get go.
You can't go back, but you can come clean.

[ChinbeardXIV]

JVDS admitted it. I don't know if he admitted it to the police or not, but he admitted it to Beth.

Posted by: Suzanne | Aug 25, 2005 12:29:28 PM

Word has it that he admitted to having sexual relations with her...not that he sexually assaulted her. Huge difference, Suzanne...

[ss]

what joran said was that they had sex.. do you really think he said "ohh and i raped her" to Beth and Jug come on...

[Justice4All]

how do you know he sexually assaulted her ?

Posted by: ss | Aug 25, 2005 12:27:47 PM

JVDS admitted it. I don't know if he admitted it to the police or not, but he admitted it to Beth.

Posted by: Suzanne | Aug 25, 2005 12:29:28 PM

The prosecuteors claim the charges will start at sexual assault while the victim was unconcious

[Disappointed Arubian]

a few days ago in a small down south of houston we had a 1 yr. anniversary of an 18yr old girl who disappeared w/o a trace, she is still missing... the volunteer searches lasted about 3 days... don't think it was ever mentioned on national news..

Posted by: ss | Aug 25, 2005 12:23:26 PM
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
See my point? Why didn't that person get all the attention? Seach lasted 3 days, here, I've lost track of how long the search has been busy.

Recorded (this excludes any off the records missing cases) missing over a 10 year period and still missing:

Alabama: 14
California: 181
Florida: 119
Hawaii: 9
New York: 81
Texas: 130
Aruba: 1

Suzanne:

You're right, they should still be kept because they lied to the police. Arubians are not happy to see them on the streets. The Kalpoes should stay home or atleast watch their backs, there are Arubians who'd love to have a 'chat' with them.

[bryan]

Don't read between the lines.

Alabama has as much to say in Aruban law as Aruba does in US law. Not much.

The game is played the same everywhere. Money buys lawyers, judges, witnesses, newspaper people all over the world. So does political position.

I have not heard anyone still hunting Ted Kennedy for negligent homocide.

[ss]

there is a big difference...

[ss]

good point bryan.. good ole ted....