Aruba Closes Natalee Holloway Investigation

Authorities in Aruba have officially closed the investigation into the disappearance of Alabama teen Natalee Holloway without bringing any charges against anyone. Aruban prosecutors said they had exhausted all of their resources to solve the case, but did not find enough evidence to charge anyone.

"The public prosecutor's office and the police have gone the extra mile and have exhausted all their powers and techniques in order to solve the mystery of the disappearance of the girl," prosecutors said. They said Joran van der Sloot, Deepak and Satish Kalpoe had been notified that no charges would be filed.

The news that the case was closed was called "perplexing" by the family of Natalee Holloway. Sunny Tillman, a spokesperson for Natalee's mother, Beth Holloway, said she was "terribly disappointed."

"She was very hopeful the last couple weeks, and she went down there and met with the prosecutor," Tillman said. "He told her face to face that he had new and incriminating evidence and that made her hopeful. So now, in light of this today, it's just so perplexing."

Renewed Hopes Dashed

"This whole case was botched from the get-go and it's terribly disappointing that it has come to this," Tillman told reporter. "There was so much hope and the rug was pulled out from under the family once again. They pulled the rug out again and again and again and it's just hideous."

Van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers were arrested again in late November in connection with the case, after prosecutors said they had new evidence. The arrests raised hopes that charges would finally be filed in the case, but all suspects were released after eight days in detainment.

"It's quite ironic that the case has been closed on the same day the deep-water search was supposed to start," she said. "It's ironic that first the prosecutor says the case won't be closed until Dec. 31 and then — boom — the day the water search starts, the case is over."

Prosecutors said the case could be reopened again "if new serious evidence were to be found." In Aruba, the statute of limitations is six years for involuntary manslaughter and 12 years for homicide.

See Also:
Aruba Ends Probe Into Holloway Disappearance

Background:
Natalee Holloway: Missing in Aruba

Buy the Book:
Aruba: The Tragic Untold Story of Natalee Holloway and Corruption in Paradise

Forum:
Discuss The Holloway Case
Poll: Will We Ever Know What Happened to Natalee Holloway?

^{Photo: Family Photo}