No Sign Of Teen Missing In Aruba

A judge in Aruba was expected to rule Tuesday whether two men charged in the disappearance of an Alabama teen can be legally held.

The two suspects, aged 28 and 30, were arrested in a raid before dawn Sunday. Police said the men work as security guards. Neighbors said the pair served as guards at a hotel under renovation near the one where Holloway stayed.

Aruba officials declined to provide specific charges. Authorities have not found any of Holloway's belongings at the suspects' homes.

About 700 volunteers joined police, soldiers and FBI agents on Monday, combing scrubland and beaches on Aruba's southeastern tip in an unprecedented search for an Alabama teenager who vanished a week ago on a trip to the Dutch Caribbean island.

Aruba's 4,000 government workers were let go early Monday to help scour every inch of this 20-mile island paradise for any sign of Natalee Holloway, 18, of Mountain Brook, Ala., reports CBS News Correspondent Kelly Cobiella.

The honors student vanished May 30 while on a five-day trip with more than 100 classmates celebrating their high school graduation. Seven chaperones accompanied them.

"I can tell you that 100 percent of the private and public sector attention is on this matter," said Rob Smith of the Aruba Hospitality and Security Foundation. "There's no way there could be more attention focused on finding this young lady."
Natalee's mother and stepfather are staying in her hotel room, where her suitcases still sit by the bed.

"It's tough when you walk in there at night and you see her clothes and her mother grabs her clothes and starts hugging 'em and crying," said stepfather Jug Twitty. "I mean, I'm there to support her and it's very, very tough."

On an island known as much for its safety as its pristine beaches, the disappearance of Natalee Holloway has brought everyday life to a halt.

"We are a safe island, a happy island, and for us, this is the first time that something like this has happened," said search volunteer Erica Odor.

Only one murder and six rapes were recorded in Aruba last year. So far this year, there have been two murders and three rapes on the island, where the average annual income is a comfortable $22,000.

Alabama native Patrick Murphy flew to Aruba from his home in Grand Cayman.

"It all came down to a person from my hometown and a mother pleading for help," Murphy told Cobiella. "I mean, who wouldn't come?"

The initial idea for the search called for an island-wide effort, but later changed focus to the southeastern area of Seroe Colorado and part of San Nicolas, police commander Judy Hassell said. San Nicolas is where authorities arrested the two men who were charged in the case.
Hassell said Aruba's 74 square miles, slightly larger than Washington, D.C., made a full search of the island impractical. "We're going to do as much as we can," he said.

Some of the volunteers were tourists, including Bill and Sarah Wise, both 22, of Cleveland. "We couldn't leave without trying to help a fellow American," Bill Wise said.

Sarah Wise said the case touched her because she and Holloway are about the same age. "It could be me," she said.

Hassell said she asked the Justice Ministry for permission to conduct another big search Tuesday but had not yet received permission.

The coast guard said Aruba's shoreline already had been searched on foot, by boat and helicopter, but the new search was more thorough.

Authorities impounded three vehicles and took bags of items from the homes of the two suspects. An eight-member team of FBI agents supporting the investigation will help perform forensic testing, police said.

Police spokesman Edwin Comemencia said authorities had not ruled out the possibility that other people were involved. The two men in custody were not among three others described Saturday by police as "persons of interest."
Authorities declined to comment whether there was a relationship between the suspects and the other three, earlier described as students — two Surinamese and a native of the Netherlands — who told police they dropped off Holloway at her hotel around 2 a.m. on May 30. Hotel employees, however, say that security cameras did not record her return.

The night she disappeared, Holloway went to a beach concert and then ate and danced at Carlos' n Charlie's bar and restaurant. She did not show up for her return flight hours later, and police found her passport in her hotel room with her packed bags.

Police are investigating three main theories: Holloway was kidnapped; she went off on her own — a possibility her relatives discount; or that she had come to harm.

It was not clear if Holloway had been drinking the night of her disappearance, though her relatives say she does not party much, is achievement-oriented and a straight-A student who had earned a full scholarship to study a premedical course at the University of Alabama. Her hotel, the Holiday Inn, is right on the water.

The Aruba government and local tourism organizations have offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to Holloway's rescue. Her family and benefactors in Alabama have offered $30,000 in addition.