Unbound 2005: Angry In Aruba

With the memory of summer fading away and fall in full swing, many have begun to forget one of the most dreadful mysteries of the summer: the disappearance of Alabama teen Natalee Holloway. For many, it was just another random news story on CNN; but for me, following the Holloway case has been an eye-opening experience and one I will never forget.

I have seen, firsthand, the devastation this case has caused Aruba after visiting the island for the past three summers. Aruba, nicknamed "The Happy Island," is no longer the safe place I remember. It has been replaced by caution, fear and a lack of respect, resulting from the inability of Aruban authorities to protect both the island's tourists and its citizens.

On May 30, 2005, Natalee Holloway disappeared after a night of drinking with some friends and locals. She was last seen leaving "Carlos 'n Charlie's" nightclub and bar with Joran Van der Sloot, Satish Kalpoe and Deepak Kalpoe. All three men are local Arubans. Later, all three were arrested in connection with the disappearance of the teen.

I've been in "Carlos 'n Charlie's" nightclub with a group of people like Holloway. I've seen how easy it is to get lost in the crowd and quickly led to go somewhere you do not want to go. Local teens mix freely with tourists and constantly offer them alcoholic beverages, no matter if they are above the legal limit or not. In Aruba, the minimum age to drink alcohol is 18 years. Essentially, "Carlos 'n Charlie's" is a place for mingling and partying the night away. If you do not keep track of the people you came with, it is easy to lose them in the crowd.

As the situation persisted, the allegations soon escalated to sexual assault and murder. Still, the Aruban government never realized the severity of the situation. Countless times the suspects were released and rearrested, only to be indefinitely wiped of all charges on September 5, 2005.

Van der Sloot was allowed to leave for college in the Netherlands two days later, on September 7, 2005, and was freed from ever being called back for questioning. He and his father abruptly picked up and left their home in Aruba.

After growing up on the island, Van der Sloot knew the advantages he had at "Carlos 'n Charlie's." Holloway, whose friends openly admitted was drinking, was easily led away in the crowd and coaxed into leaving with not only Van der Sloot, but the Kalpoe brothers also. According to her friends, she did not know any of the boys for more than a day.

When Van der Sloot was later interrogated about the night, he originally told the authorities that he and the Kalpoe brothers left Holloway outside her hotel, the Holiday Inn. Then, they claimed that two security guards approached Holloway after she was dropped off.

In one of my trips to the island, I stayed at the Holiday Inn. There is a wide open doorway leading into the hotel that is easily visible from the information desk. Therefore, if the boys were telling the truth, Holloway would have likely been seen by the 24-hour employees who work at the desk.

Not surprisingly, the boys later changed their story and said they did not drop Holloway off at the Holiday Inn, but had actually left her on the beach. Why would three young men leave a woman alone by herself on a beach unless they were afraid of something or did her harm? Nevertheless, no trace of Holloway was ever found on that beach.

From June to September, the Aruban authorities did absolutely nothing to keep the Holloway case alive. Local young women came forward claiming that they were assaulted by Van der Sloot and slipped a date rape drug, but their testimonies were dismissed.

Numerous eye witnesses also came forward saying they saw the three young men circling the local racquet club the night of Holloway's disappearance. As a result, the authorities decided to drain the local pond near the racquet club, which I witnessed first hand during my vacation last July. The authorities worked over three days and through the nights and nothing was recovered.

The reason they found nothing was that the pond was drained during the week of July 24th, two months after Holloway disappeared. Why so long after her disappearance? Van der Sloot's family has too much power in Aruba for the evidence to come out sooner. His father, Paul Van der Sloot, is a local Aruban judge. His godfather was the lead detective on the case before he decided to step down.

Knowing that Van der Sloot had two very powerful men on his side on such a small island raises a lot of questions about the investigation. It is very likely they covered up the disappearance of Holloway and got rid of her body before the Aruban authorities even began to seriously investigate. After all, it was over a week before investigators began to search for evidence. Investigators finally searched Van der Sloot's home on June 15, 2005, about two weeks after Holloway went missing.

Since authorities failed to react quickly and get the situation under control, it is obvious and sad that we may never know what really happened to Natalee Holloway. Aruba was very quiet this summer, with a sharp decrease in the amount of parties and entertainment available; but there was definitely not an increase in security around the hotels to protect their tourists or prevent a repeat of Holloway's disappearance.

Aruban authorities are obviously not interested in protecting their reputation, as demonstrated by their lack of effort to do anything at all to find Holloway or prosecute her killer(s). It is very disappointing to see the once "Happy Island" go astray and be nicknamed the "unsafe island," where tourists can be sure that if they disappear they will not be found as long as their kidnapper has strong ties to the Aruban police force and government.

Jacqueline Tutela is a senior English teaching major at The College of New Jersey. She spent this past summer in Aruba, amidst the chaos of the Natalee Holloway case. She is currently completing her student teaching at Lawrence High School in Lawrence Township, New Jersey.