Natalee Holloway And Cable News: A Season Of Fraud

Bumped: For all the talk of Rather-Gate and now the recent inaccurate reporting around Hurricane Katrina, the largest fraud ever perpetuated by the MSM is likely to go un-noticed and unchallenged. The cost may be millions of dollars and possibly even lives, but most elite media watchers and even bloggers won't care because of the topic involved - the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.

For an entire summer all of the major cable news outlets passed off lies, unproven innuendo, false allegations, manufactured "evidence" and misrepresentations too numerous to even recall in the chase for ratings. I have researched the Natalee Holloway disappearance as much, if not more so than any other credible journalist and there is absolutely no excuse for what the Cable News outlets did.

It was unethical, misguided and flat out wrong. Had the subject matter been political or business-related, it is likely the result would have been Congressional hearings due to malfeasance through a betrayal of the public trust by the media. And it persists to this day, as a protege, Dr. Phil, of one of the largest talk shows in America, Oprah, recently called for a boycott of Aruba based upon a manufactured story during his show, Dr. Phil.

Now, A Current Affair and all the Cable Networks are trying to milk the beast right on into the ground regardless of the unethical nature of their reporting. Finally, it is time to clear the air.

There is no other way to write and unravel this complex tale other than to walk through it step by step. That is what I intend to do and it will take some number of entries. To date, I have written approximately 450 stories on the disappearance, as well as having hosted over 500 chat forums. Another half dozen posts to set the record straight while bringing the story up to date isn't too much to ask.

I'll begin with Joran's "Lies" as that has been the subject of recent news. The fact is for all the hyperbole there has never been more than one and possibly two minor contextual lies. It's alleged that Joran lied to Natalee and perhaps others from Mountain Brook as to his identity as a student from Holland. Big deal. The fact is, even I can remember evenings down the shore with male friends when I was from 17 to 18 when we thought it was cool to present some phony name or identity when hitting on young women down the shore.

It's a laughable practice likely engaged in by many teenage boys looking to pick up girls and rises to the significance of a version of some old beach movie like, Where The Boys Are with Connie Francis. It isn't even worth addressing because there is no other pattern of deceit or lying to suggest it was anything sinister. Like it or not, it's 2005, fully 30 years since my days as a teenager and the practice went on then, just as it does today. Young boys somehow think they are accomplishing something by dressing up their personae somehow to pick up a girl, most likely for a short term or one night fling.

Now, I'll explain the one significant lie of Joran Van der Sloot in context and then discuss the actual illegal and unethical behavior with which the MSM was fully complicit as they sought to prop that portion of the story up through actions which can only be termed fraud.

In all probability, Joran Van Der Sloot left Natalee Holloway alone on the beach that night just as he has insisted for the better part of four months. The original lie as regards having dropped her off at the hotel came to be in the following, mostly innocent manner - innocent as regards any serious crime, anyway.

By the way, contrary to what many have been led to believe through bad reporting, after leaving Natalee at the beach Joran managed to get home, get some sleep and catch his school bus the next morning at approximately 6 AM and arrive at school on time and perform reasonably well on his exams. A far cry from what one might expect of some would be murderer.

Having completed his exams he went to the casino that evening with Deepak Kalpoe as there was a poker tournament going on he had been playing in. Also of note, Paulus did not attend casinos with his son regularly, as has been alleged, but basically attended once or possibly twice only to observe his son playing in the tournament. It was a fairly new activity for the boy and Paulus is said to have wanted to see what precisely was going on.

While at the casino Joran received a cell phone call from his Father that the authorities and the Twitty family were at the Van der Sloot home looking for a missing girl, the girl he had left alone on the beach - Natalee. If you recall early on when Steve Croes became involved he, at one point, mentioned over hearing a phone call: that is the phone call which Steve Croes over heard and subsequently became party to a conversation between Joran and Deepak on the matter.

In essence, Joran had left Natalee on the beach and Steven Croes, DJ extraordinaire and likely not too bright from all observations sought to play the wise counselor to the two younger boys. His advice was that whenever you score with an American girl, which Joran had not claimed, by the way, you always walk them all the way back to the hotel and into the lobby to avoid any future hassles or complaints.

Now, whether or not Americans like to believe it, some number of usually college age young American women having been weened on too much MTV, Real Life. The OC and any other number of mostly decadent teenage TV fare, do regularly vacation in Aruba, get to partying too much with someone, local or otherwise, and miss the plane for their trip home. It simply is not an unheard of happening on the island. And the boys all had assumed that is precisely what happened to Natalee at that time.

The ride to Joran's house gave Joran and Deepak the time needed to decide to go with the "we dropped her at the Hotel" story as they foolishly thought it was the best thing to say. As Joran hadn't done what Croes had suggested as the best thing, they simply re-created it, assuming Natalee would turn up in a day or so and the entire incident would be forgotten. Obviously, and unfortunately, it didn't turn out that way at all.

That is also why Steve Croes, in all his abject stupidity, walked into the police station in support of the story, interjecting himself into a criminal investigation and perhaps the largest media circus the world has likely ever known.

Eventually, as that lie was torn down through investigation, Joran reverted to the truth, that he had left Natalee at the beach and so far as I can ascertain, he has not changed that story one time. Which leads me to the most egregious conduct of the media, including Greta Van Sustern of Fox, a trained lawyer - and the rest of the ratings chasing media who decided to sacrifice truth for ratings and perpetuate a fraud on America the scope of which we likely have never seen before.

I have personally interviewed credible individuals who have known Joran Van Der Sloot for any number of years, including a stand out American college student originally from Aruba with no bias or axe to grind either way. What you find is an average seventeen year old boy, perhaps with the ego and an eye for girls just like any young accomplished high school athlete in America. If anything, his previous girl friends tend to characterize him as sweet as well as sensitive without an overly-aggressive bone in his body towards women he dates.

Keep in mind it was Geraldo Rivera who broke news of alleged pornographic video tapes featuring young girls made and sold by the boy. That was an out and out falsehood which should have never been reported and began the theme of Joran as evil perpetrator the media required to perpetuate its tremendous fraud on America.

I myself was brought on to Fox News and asked to characterize an image of Joran involved in horseplay with another boy including a leather belt. They inquired as to whether or not it reminded my of Abu Ghraib. Can journalism be anymore ridiculous considering the image was likely taken by Joran's Mother and involved harmless in home horseplay with another boy?

Yet, on and on it went, the media characterizing a young man of seventeen still not proved to have ever committed any crime, as the sinister perp they needed for their ratings driving coverage through out the course of an entire summer. Were it an American boy that was done to I have no doubt there would be law suits flying everywhere - as there should be. The level of irresponsibility to which the media coverage sunk cannot be over stated. It was vile, cruel and destruction, whatever its target, let alone a minor from a small island which couldn't hope to counter the disinformation being gleefully conveyed to the public by the American media.

Enter Jossy Mansur in the next installment and we'll see that even the claims being made right this minute on Fox News with Geraldo have no basis in fact and are only a part of the on going media fraud.

There are no statements from Joran to support any of the allegations being hurled at him from ace reporters like Geraldo, O'Reiily and Van Sustern - and anyone who knows the inside story knows that is completely accurate from a journalist's point of view. Even this week O'Reilly was talking about the Father of the boy Paulus as a Judge, which has never been true and is only intended to foster the notion of some grand cover up which never existed as it has been alleged. Apparently no one in the Cable News business cares a bit for truth and accuracy, their being willing to say anything and perpetuate any falsehood for the sake of a ratings driving story. Frankly, it's pathetic.

And no one cares because it's just another missing pretty white girl story to media watchdogs. But the principles being violated daily by our media in the Natalee Holloway coverage are the same ones they violated when they put forth fraudulent documents to skew a Presidential election and exaggerated stories of looting, rape and murder in New Orleans to smear an administration. If we don't pay attention to every poor performance of the many we have seen lately from a media which is in essence willing to lie to perpetuate ratings, we will never again have a MSM in this country we can trust in the slightest regard.

Ultimately, it is only because more established news outlets like ABC, NBC and CBS would not play ball with what was a rigged story from the start and chose to ignore the story altogether, that the cable news outlets have been allowed to get away with the most unethical farce in journalism we've seen in our lifetimes.

In future installments over the next week or two I will address the so-called statements of Joran Van der Sloot which never were, the witholding of pertinent and telling information by the MSM media to ensure their ratings stayed and continue to stay up as long as possible - in short, the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth so far as it can be ascertained by any one journalist.

Update: Edited Correction. Connie Francis was in Where The Boys Are, not Sandra Dee.

This post is also available at Blogger News Network.

Comments

[cdb]

Sorry Dan,
I am not with you on this one. To me it does not make a difference how or by whom it is being covered, but that is being covered. Just like some celebrities don't care what kind of press they get wether it's good or bad but the point is they stay in the limelight. God Bless the Holloway and Twitty families The truth will be revealed.

[frank]

I'm guessing but I would think Dan is as troubled by the sycophants on this site that believe him without questioning or reasoning as much as he is encouraging others to question what they hear.

I have respect for Dan and am assuming he doesn't want anyone to blindly believe any once source in the media including him without using the same standard of proof.

Hopefully in the coming weeks he can prove this. I was under the assumption that everyone is cynical of the media.

[soupy sales]

Dan you booking your trip for the "free" scuba lessons?

Posted by: mona | Oct 2, 2005 9:22:59 PM

no nead moana froenk is takin' us all down there remember?

[gagal_05]

gagal,

You posted something you want to stand behind, it came from CBS news right?

Posted by: frank | Oct 2, 2005 9:21:31 PM

And your source is??? Have you spoken to someone personally involved to be able to keep spouting off about rapists and murderers???

[frank]

Posted by: Markd | Oct 2, 2005 9:25:02 PM

Maybe that's why he's mad. I think Fox showed cowerdice when they reported Natalee's death directly confirmed by the minister of justice and had to retract. You would think they would have been pissed and followed up.

Maybe Dan was lied to.

[DrTar&ProFeather]

Mona, you are an idiot, and it really feels good to say that.

Dan, thank you. I personally emailed FOX this evening and told them why I no longer watch them after being a faithful viewer for over 5 years. One of the reasons I gave was that I refuse to watch any show that features Beth Holloway Twitty spewing forth whatever she believes without one question of integrity offered by any FOX person.

Another problem people like JW have, is that they have picked one or more of the MSM/Beth lies, and simply run with it as if it were the truth. Like the statement, 'something bad happened.' We do not have proof that anyone actually said that other than the MSM.

[frank]

Posted by: gagal_05 | Oct 2, 2005 9:30:00 PM

You're avoiding, what single piece of information about this case have you gotten that did not get relayed to you via the media?

I haven't gotten a single piece of information that didn't come from some media source. You cannot blame the media when you don't like the message and then source them when they say something you agree with.

The point is to get more media, more sources and let's hear more directly from the Aruban government.

[robin]

Good post, Dan. I totally agree about our media. But still have questions about Deepak's comments on tape about them all "having sex" with her, and Joran's obvious contradictions on tape about not having sex/consentual behavior, etc..so much cocering of the story, dishonest to poice.. if there is nothing to hide then why so much effore to be secretive?

[frank]

Posted by: DrTar&ProFeather | Oct 2, 2005 9:31:46 PM

Hey man, why attack Mona personally and call her an idiot. It denegrates anything you say after that.

[blink]

Hopefully in the coming weeks he can prove this. I was under the assumption that everyone is cynical of the media.

Posted by: frank | Oct 2, 2005 9:28:16 PM

Speaking of proof, other than the he said he said
Beth keeps repeating on the talk shows, where is it.

[DrTar&ProFeather]

Frank, Mona is a mean. And although entitled to an opinion, she has denigrated everyone, especially Dan, repeatedly.

No one pays that much attention to anything I say, so it really doesn't matter if anyone believes anything I say or not. I am just sick of reading Mona. Mona is mean.

[gagal_05]

Posted by: gagal_05 | Oct 2, 2005 9:30:00 PM

You're avoiding, what single piece of information about this case have you gotten that did not get relayed to you via the media?

I haven't gotten a single piece of information that didn't come from some media source. You cannot blame the media when you don't like the message and then source them when they say something you agree with.

The point is to get more media, more sources and let's hear more directly from the Aruban government.

Posted by: frank | Oct 2, 2005 9:33:56 PM

OMG - of course I got it from the media. I wasn't there in Aruba, were you? It is just that I have more sense than to believe all the lies that they keep feeding us. You have to discern what you believe and what you don't. If someone keeps changing their story to suit their cause you begin to sit back and see the big picture or at least I have.

[frank]

Posted by: blink | Oct 2, 2005 9:35:56 PM

That's what she's pushing for. To expect her to shut up and just go home and wait is not an option. She more than Dan has been exposed to the details of this case and it's my opinion that she just wants her daughter and I blame the Aruban authorities not beth for letting this get out of control.

[Splat]

>> haven't gotten a single piece of information
>> that didn't come from some media source.
>> You cannot blame the media when you don't
>> like the message and then source them when
>> they say something you agree with

very very interesting, we have information from Maria on the ground, Scubajap on the ground, Arubagirl on the ground, Dan making phone calls to people and eyewitnesses on the ground probably a roster of others. But we love to dismiss them because we don't like what it is they have to say. That's your point right?

[punkingale]

Sorry, y'all, but Sandra Dee was not in Where the Boys Are. Connie Francis and Paula Prentiss were. If the abandoned well on the van der Sloot property is searched and absolutely NOTHING is found, I might believe Joran's atatements. All 22 of them. He can't tell Current Affair one thing and the police another. Y'all needto grow up and accept the fact that he had something to do with Natalee's disappearance.

[frank]

Posted by: gagal_05 | Oct 2, 2005 9:37:47 PM

We're in agreement. Changing their stories to suit their cause is exactly what the main suspect and STILL the last known person to be seen with Natalee has been doing.

What upsets people is when you make an equivalency with Beth and Joran. Why can't you be more demanding of the truth from the main suspects?

Why is it okay for Aruba to have a strategic committe and not beth? We all want the truth in this case and we're not getting it.

[DrTar&ProFeather]

I am simply astounded. The host of this site, who has paid for the space we are using, has also been reporting on this case from the beginning, said host has done some good detective work and reporting, and because it goes against the psychobabble the MSM and BHT have been feeding the world, some of you have the nerve to throw it right back in his face. If it was me, which thankfully for most of you, it is not, I would pull the plug on you.

[frank]

Posted by: Splat | Oct 2, 2005 9:40:10 PM

Absolutely true. We're all doing it. But Scuba should not be treated any differently, in terms of her information, as any other member of the media. She is part of the media.

[LALady]

ok....I am dumb....what is MSM?

[frank]

Posted by: DrTar&ProFeather | Oct 2, 2005 9:43:01 PM

Disagreeing can go along with appreciation. It would be suspicious if Dan threw people all only becaused they disagreed with him.

But you calling Mona an idiot is worthy of getting tossed. I disagree with gagal most of the time but I have respect for her and would expect to get tossed for attacking her.

[michele]

OMG...I have heard it all now...I am through with scared monkeys

[katy]

the difference between scuba being part of the media and the MSM is pretty dramatic - Scuba is not a ratings whore

[blink]

What upsets people is when you make an equivalency with Beth and Joran. Why can't you be more demanding of the truth from the main suspects?

Why is it okay for Aruba to have a strategic committe and not beth? We all want the truth in this case and we're not getting it.

Posted by: frank | Oct 2, 2005 9:42:07 PM

If you really want the truth then ask Beth to tell
when she first found out that Natalee had missed her flight, why did she think she was had stayed behind at her own will.

[michele]

retract last statement I am through with this site and sticking with scared monkeys...

[TH]

Unfortunately Mrs. Twitty has muddied the waters with her unchallenged statements that Joran has confessed to raping Natalee at his house and The Kalpose did too she is now saying on every live appearance not mentioning that there are two different venues involved. None of the Cable guys and gals have challenged the procedence or credibility of the "documents" she claims she has but will not release for objective analysis. She no doubt does this to "keep the story alive". Unfortunately, these inflammatory and unsubstantiated claims will kill the story sooner than she thinks. Not even Greta challenges her. Ratings trump truth?

[frank]

Posted by: blink | Oct 2, 2005 9:51:40 PM

Wouldn't it make more sense to ask Joran to tell what he is referring to that he has more to tell?

Focusing on Beth is bizarre when it comes to solving this crime. Let's say she was convinced Natalee wanted to run away, you still have to find the last known place she was and who she was with and it needs to be corroborated. The motive is not as important as the logistics.

[MikefrMd]

How can anyone consider the Holiday Inn lie innocent....they misdirected LE for over 10 days...had 2 innocent men locked up...and for what reason at all if all he did was leave her on the beach...wheres the common sense here.

He lied for a reason other then to protect his so called chivalry.

[frank]

Man, now that wasn't a lie, video of a bomb going off inside a Bali club.

[blink]

Posted by: frank | Oct 2, 2005

Just because Natalee was last known to be with Jordan and the Kalpoes does not mean they were the last ones she was with.

[chip]

dan:
as always thanks for your research.i was concerned regarding the news coverage of this case back in the middle of august.it did not seem to me that they were being true to even basic standards of journalism.

if they have dropped the ball as badly as it seems thye have provided a terrible disservice both to the public & all the individuals involved including the suspects & the holloway family.

so now we are back to the question we all have .what happened to natalee?i hope you will continue to research that story..........thanks

[juninho]

If jvds told only "one and possibly two minor contextual lies," why was he held over the first 60 days and had another 30 days added on when the Kalpoes
were released before the first 60 day period? Didn't the Aruban lawyers say that it was because of conflicting stories? If the media has a duty to treat them by American standards, isn't a lot of the media conduct that you complain about at least partially justified because the main suspects were allowed to skate on any obstruction of justice liability, i.e., why does the cultural relativist approach (which I have never understood to begin with) always cut the Arubans way? Martha Stewart has a criminal record for lying to the feds about the facts relating to a possible insider trading violation for which she was never charged. In the Natalee case, the lying is much more serious and relates to a missing and presumed dead American that they took into their car under perhaps false pretenses, but none of this matters because "boys will be boys" trumps any generally accepted U.S. legal standards related to obstruction of justice?

[INDIANAREDNECK]

Dan gets a free trip to Aruba

[nelson]

Finally some sense is coming true, this is what I was trying to bring through to some people for a long time. One day the truth will come out. Keep up the good work Dan. Other sites have been so biased they allmost take sides, which can be very unethical especially when peoples lives are at stake.

[frank]

Posted by: blink | Oct 2, 2005 10:08:14 PM

I agree. But if your a police officer you need evidence and I'm sure they wish they could have gone right to that spot on the beach. But they didn't as they were lied to. I don't think it was an innocent lie.

[Mike]

Dan YOU yourslef have used the Holloway case for your own benifit ( hits ) to your website.

You are just as guilty as the cable news media.

Now all of a sudden you want to come clean?

Whatever

I'm dissapointed.

[Splat]

Posted by: Splat | Oct 2, 2005 9:40:10 PM

Absolutely true. We're all doing it. But Scuba should not be treated any differently, in terms of her information, as any other member of the media. She is part of the media.

Posted by: frank | Oct 2, 2005 9:44:23 PM

I see. In order for you to agree with me you have to acknowldege receiving information from outside "some media source". Very clever.

[c]

Posted by: Mike | Oct 2, 2005 10:25:56 PM

but did he make any $$$ out of it, as fox news did.....

[Sam]

Wow Dan, you have the new group now the Holloway Twitty bashers. I can certainly appreciate all of those bashers having an opinion since it is not there child who is missing.

Yes, Joran my be innocent. I actually hope that he is. But Natalee is still missing and like most parents Beth wants this solved. So if that means being in the media constant and trying to keep some things back in order to keep the media interest then so be it.

As to Steve Croes. From my memory he stated on an interview that he had heard Deepac Kalpoe talking on the phone to a friend while he was at the internet cafe where Deepac worked. He also said he did not know Deepac personally but while listening to the phone conversation he thought it sounded logical so he told Deepac he had saw them dropping Natalee off and he (Steve) would be willing to be a witness to that.If I remember correctly he also said he did not personally know any of the boys.So Dan, are you saying now he says he did know them?

We do all still want to know what happened to Natalee. JMHO
Sam

[DeeDee]

Well if this don't beat all. Dan I do agree with you that MSM is all about the ratings. What do you expect, competition is real, you know that. You have competition with this blog. To say that a lie that puts the lives of two innocent people in jeopardy (security guards) is not an "oops, I meant to say". I do wonder is someone in Aruba with the Commerce dept or if the VDSloot family has requested your help in smoothing over the worst of this. I heard Joran with his own words say that there was not sex and then a little later say that the sex was consentual on A Current Affair. Was that a staged interview? I can over look Beth, she must be half out of her right mind with this loss and if she is blaming herself it would stand to reason she is grasping at straws. I do not condone her behavior but choose to overlook it. It is not right for the MSM to use her either. Regardless, had Joran left Natalee on the beach in innocense, I think he would have been concerned for her diappearance rather than paranoid. Just my opinion. I think the truth will come out sooner or later.

[frank]

Posted by: Splat | Oct 2, 2005 10:26:45 PM

No not at all. I was just speaking about we all get our news from the media and to criticize them is something I don't understand. They are a distributor of news. I don't assume you get your news from only one source and form opinions only by what someone says. Even with sources you may respect we should never blindly believe any once source. That's dangerous. I was saying there was a time when most people got their news from only one source. Walter Cronkite. That's dangerous.

[c]

We do all still want to know what happened to Natalee. JMHO
Sam

Posted by: Sam | Oct 2, 2005 10:30:40 PM

Yes, I would like to know it too. But Beth H. is not interested in it any more.

All she wants is to hang Vandersloots and Kalpoes, so she can get her REVENGE. does not care what the real truth is.

[patrick]

i think someone has to be in denial not to be able to understand that JVDS and his pals did something to natalie and are involved in her disappearance. Of course in a perfect world, Dan would have all the evidence he is demanding and a taped confession from all three suspects leading to an open and shut case, but this is the real world so use your brain and see what happened here. The detectives blew the case and these punks got away with murder. C'mon

[frank]

Posted by: c | Oct 2, 2005 10:36:28 PM

I disagee and think you don't understand her state of mind. I have no doubt the first thing she wants to know is where Natalee is. It's torture to have people say they know more but can't say and the prosecutor to stop communicating for whatever reason.

It's just cruel. And now the blame Natalee and blame Beth. It's just so sadistic.

[GrannyToad]

Sounds real good.

Anita blew it on fox though telling the world that Joran had sex with Natalee.

That's one.

[frank]

Posted by: patrick | Oct 2, 2005 10:36:43 PM

I don't know, but I think if they had separated the 4 including Paulus immediately, this would have been over a long time ago.

[al]

Thank God somebody with an audience is looking at this thing with some sense. There have been so many lies told, mostly by the Twitty clan, and they have been spread nationwide by a few yellow journalists like Greta, Geraldo, Nancy G., etc. The arrogance of some people in the US that we should just go in and take over is the exact same attitude that got us into the mess we are in in Iraq. If Beth had lived in the nineteenth century, she would have made a first-rate leader of a lynch mob. As a retired school teacher, I recognize her type. I'll bet Natalee got her grades because teachers were intimidated into giving her good grades. Can you imagine the campaign Beth would have gone on if Natalee had received a poor grade in a class. It certainly would not have been Natalee's fault. It is a shame that the four male coaches and three of their wives who were the chaperones on the trip are not answering questions. (By the way, as a retired teacher, I can tell you that I would not let my daughter go on a trip where there were four male coaches as chaperones/adults. I know from experience who they are looking out for. The jocks and themselves.) And talk about changing stories. The few students who were on the trip who made statements, have changed them to suit somebody. I have been waiting for somebody with guts to take this on and point out the truth to all these rumors about statements and confessions. We have journalists in this country who have the balls of a mouse. They know these things are fabrications, and they ignore them.

[gagal_05]

Sounds real good.

Anita blew it on fox though telling the world that Joran had sex with Natalee.

That's one.

Posted by: GrannyToad | Oct 2, 2005 10:42:06 PM

I ask you again for a link or do you expect us to just take your word for it. I think not!!!

[HenriLaFleur]

Frank early on Dan was on the BHT bandwagon, as most all were. However, as the story has played out and facts have been separated from fiction and propaganda, Dan's opinion has swung the other way. Those who will blindly go where the media and BHT lead them will never see the forest for the trees. I have followed this story very closely and have contacts in LE, and can tell you that Dan's version is the most widely accepted in circles that matter.

[danie]

Dan - Brilliant! You succeeded in flaming the fires of this dying newstory...a little excitement to your website; one additional point...be it the mainstream media or cable, every news report of any significance is always exploited, beaten into the ground, and the majority of the time, the viewer is very aware of the network's or cable station's opinion; IMHO most media today present news as editorials, not just the facts....those days are long gone(if they ever existed); and i agree it is about ratings, obvious to everyone. Why so little fact available in this case? Simply the law of Aruba, forbidding release of facts...therefore exacerbating rampant speculation. However, once again IMHO, the sad fact remains to this family, they have mysterously lost their daughter; no facts available, further outside the boundaries of the U.S., subject to their laws. Let's not forget their frustration and grief...to them it's not a story, it's a tragedy. I say forgive everything in grief...they are justified in anything they do and say; and who wouldn't use every means available to find their loved one? The "suspects" have been through hell, but very well protected by the gov't. as is their law (fact) and they have gone on with their lives (fact). Will we ever know what happened? Sadly, I doubt it; but please don't minimalize this tragedy to the family based on our media...do you remember the O.J. case? the Lindberg Kidnapping...it's history; fascination with the law and mysteries. just my ten cents worth...danie

[Robert]

Those of us who have stood by Joran during this entire mess appreciate your work Dan. Joran is a normal teen with a confused head as to what happened. He killed no person.

I look to your next post.