Re-Arrests Bring Holloway Family "Hope"
The father of Natalee Holloway, the American teenager who disappeared in Aruba in 2005, said the re-arrest of three suspects in the case has renewed some hopes that he might finally find out what happened to his daughter.
Three young men previously detained as suspects - Dutch student Joran van der Sloot and two Surinamese brothers, Satish and Deepak Kalpoe - were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of involvement in voluntary manslaughter and causing serious bodily harm that resulted in the death of Holloway, the Aruban public prosecutor's office said.
"It just gives us hope that they're still involved, and maybe we'll finally get some answers," Dave Holloway told CBS News Correspondent Kelly Cobiella.
Aruban prosecutors issued a rare public statement saying they found new incriminating evidence that van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers caused serious bodily harm that resulted in the death of Natalie Holloway, Cobiellareports.
Joran Van Der Sloot's lawyer, Rosemarie Arnold, played down the arrest during an interview with the CBS Early Show's Maggie Rodriguez.
"We heard that there was new evidence. We don't know what the evidence is. We know that it's not a body, and we don't even know if it has anything to do with Joran." Arnold told Rodriguez. "When they arrest somebody in Aruba they could just doing it to detain them and question them and in this case that's what we expect to happen."
Arnold said that the statute of limiations on the case will expire at the end of this year, adding "they're just making a last ditch effort to get some more information."
Holloway, of Mountain Brook, Ala., was last seen leaving a bar with the three men on May 30, 2005, hours before she was scheduled to board a plane home with high school classmates celebrating their graduation on the Dutch Caribbean island. She was 18 at the time.
Hundreds of volunteers, Aruban soldiers, police and FBI agents spread out across the island for the missing teen. Later efforts would include divers, Dutch F-16 jets equipped with search equipment, and specially trained dogs. No trace was ever found of her.
Van der Sloot admits that he was alone with Holloway that night, and that he kissed her, but he insists that he never hurt her, CBS Newsreports. But Holloway's mother is convinced he's lying.
Van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers were previously detained on suspicion of taking part in her death, but they denied involvement and a judge released them for lack of evidence.
Authorities "ordered their renewed arrest because further investigation into the disappearance has led to new incriminating evidence," the office said in a statement.
Hans Mos, chief prosecutor in Aruba, declined to discuss the new evidence or any other details about the case.
"Our intention is to keep them in detention for a longer period," he said.
Joran van der Sloot's parents told CBS News their son's arrest came as a complete surprise, and that prosecutors are keeping them in the dark. According to his lawyers, Yoran is being brought back to Aruba to reconstruct the day Holloway disappeared yet again, this time with investigators from Holland.
The brothers were expected to make an initial appearance in an Aruban court Friday, at which point prosecutors were expected to present the new evidence to a judge. A court date in the island had not yet been set for van der Sloot.
Wim de Bruin, a spokesman for the Dutch national prosecutor's office, said van der Sloot could be sent to Aruba without an extradition hearing and the transfer would occur "within several days."
In April, investigators from the Netherlands dug around the home of van der Sloot's family for two days without revealing what prompted the search. Then in May, Dutch and Aruban investigators visited the home where Deepak and Satish Kalpoe live with their parents for what authorities termed an "inspection," without revealing details.
Prosecutors are running out of time to make a case. They have until Dec. 31 to bring charges, but CBS News has learned the new evidence is weak, at best.