workers join hunt for missing teen
Aruba's government employees today joined police, Dutch marines and FBI agents in the search for 18-year-old Alabama student Natalee Holloway, who vanished a week ago on the Caribbean island.
Authorities said some searchers were focusing on the eastern tip of the island, the same area searched Sunday by Dutch marines.
The area is also near the oil refining town of San Nicolas, where two hotel security guards were arrested Sunday morning in connection to Holloway's disappearance.
The security guards were charged with crimes related to Holloway's disappearance but details of the charges have not been made public. Authorities will hold the men for at least two days, Aruba chief prosecutor Karen Janssen said Sunday.
Janssen also said she has requested FBI dive teams to help search craggy areas of Aruba's coast.
An FBI spokesman in Miami, Florida, said earlier reports that bureau divers would join the search Monday were in error, as was a report that its agents assisted in Sunday's arrests.
Seven FBI agents from Miami are in Aruba, including two divers and evidence collection and analysis experts, and one agent has come from Barbados, the spokesman said.
Police Chief Jan van Strantan said the two men arrested are security guards at the Hotel Allegro, which is near the Holiday Inn where Holloway was staying.
Police spent much of Saturday at the hotel, which is undergoing renovations.
At a Sunday news conference, van Strantan said police and the FBI determined that bloodstains found on a mattress near the site of the men's arrests were from a dog.
Van Strantan said authorities have not found any of Holloway's possessions among items seized.
A tip led police to the men, who were under "interrogation," and others may be arrested, Janssen said.
The men, ages 28 and 30, were not among the three men in whose company Holloway was last seen.
Carla Caccavale, a spokeswoman for Holloway's family, said police had briefed them earlier Monday but not given out any new information.
"They believe that Natalee is still here, on the island, alive, somewhere on the island," she said. "And that is the family's belief right now. They are not considering any other option."
Authorities said some searchers were focusing on the eastern tip of the island, the same area searched Sunday by Dutch marines.
The area is also near the oil refining town of San Nicolas, where two hotel security guards were arrested Sunday morning in connection to Holloway's disappearance.
The security guards were charged with crimes related to Holloway's disappearance but details of the charges have not been made public. Authorities will hold the men for at least two days, Aruba chief prosecutor Karen Janssen said Sunday.
Janssen also said she has requested FBI dive teams to help search craggy areas of Aruba's coast.
An FBI spokesman in Miami, Florida, said earlier reports that bureau divers would join the search Monday were in error, as was a report that its agents assisted in Sunday's arrests.
Seven FBI agents from Miami are in Aruba, including two divers and evidence collection and analysis experts, and one agent has come from Barbados, the spokesman said.
Police Chief Jan van Strantan said the two men arrested are security guards at the Hotel Allegro, which is near the Holiday Inn where Holloway was staying.
Police spent much of Saturday at the hotel, which is undergoing renovations.
At a Sunday news conference, van Strantan said police and the FBI determined that bloodstains found on a mattress near the site of the men's arrests were from a dog.
Van Strantan said authorities have not found any of Holloway's possessions among items seized.
A tip led police to the men, who were under "interrogation," and others may be arrested, Janssen said.
The men, ages 28 and 30, were not among the three men in whose company Holloway was last seen.
Carla Caccavale, a spokeswoman for Holloway's family, said police had briefed them earlier Monday but not given out any new information.
"They believe that Natalee is still here, on the island, alive, somewhere on the island," she said. "And that is the family's belief right now. They are not considering any other option."
posted by Rich at 6:10 AM
1 Comments:
um, so did you write that?
Post a Comment
<< Home