Confusion Reigns in Natalee Holloway Case

A barrage of conflicting reports from Aruban officials over the weekend concerning the fate of Alabama honor student Natalee Holloway sent news reporters scrambling to determine whether or not the teenager's death has been confirmed and her body located. Her family denies that the body has been found.

Saturday afternoon Fox News quoted Aruban Minister of Justice Edward Croes confirming Holloway's death and saying authorities know the location of her body. Reportedly, Natalee's father was with investigators looking for her body. However, a few hours later Fox News reported that same official denied making that statement.

Croes said that he was the victim of a "misinformation campaign."

It was Croes who called late Friday reports 'lies" that one of the three men who took Alabama teen Natalee Holloway to the beach the night she disappeared confessed that "something bad" happened to the teen and would lead authorities to her body.

The Associated Press reported late Friday night that Deputy Police Commissioner Gerold Dompig said that the man was leading police to the scene of the crime. The report did not say which of the three students confessed. CNN "confirmed" this report and continued to report the confession throughout the day.

Dompig said one of the three admitted that "something bad" had happened to the honor student who was in Aruba with her senior class. She disappeared May 30 when she failed to show up for a return flight home.

Conflicting Reports

Then Justice Minister Rudy Croes told reporters early Saturday morning that the rumor that one of the students had confessed was a lie, throwing the media on the island into confusion and prompting conflicting news alerts from the Caribbean. Croes emphatically denied that any confession had been made.

Three men who admitted they were with Holloway on the night she disappeared in Aruba were arrested Thursday in connection with the case. The three are Satish Kalpoe, 18, and his brother, Deepak, 21, and Joran Andreas Petrus Van Der Sloot, 17.

The three men appeared in court Saturday and a judge determined that there was enough evidence to continue to hold them in custody.

Meanwhile, another report said a sixth man had been arrested in connection with the case, but later reports said that arrest had nothing to do with the Holloway disappearance.

See Also:
Arubans Pray With Family of Missing Teen
Three Arubans to Remain in Custody
Reports Conflict in Case of Missing Ala. Teen
Aruba Police: Suspect Leading Us to Scene
Local Source - Joran Not In Cell

Background:
Three More Arrested in Natalee Holloway Case
Security Guards Detained in Natalee Holloway Case
Alabama Teen Disappears on Senior Aruba Trip

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