Fingers crossed for Natalee Holloway’s family

Who doesn’t hope that there will soon be a “Case Closed” stamp on the missing persons folder of Natalee Holloway?

The Chief Prosecutor in Aruba has now told the court that he believes there is “solid new evidence” to prove murder charges against three young island men who have been re-arrested in the case. One of their defense attorneys has told reporters there is no new evidence. But a judge didn’t agree and Joran van der Sloot who is now 20 years old and two brothers, 24 year old Deepak Kalpoe and 21 year old Satish remain in custody.

But I can’t shake the awful, nagging feeling that it was the actions of those who loved Natalee Holloway the most who may have prolonged this pain - prolonged justice being done.

Let me say right away I WOULD HAVE DONE THE SAME THING. As the mother of a vivacious, beautiful daughter who I let go on her high school trip abroad several years ago I know exactly what motiviated Beth Holloway Twitty. Had my daughter gone missing I would have immediately flown to that foreign country with claws out and fangs bared! I would have hired my own private detectives. I would have called impassioned news conference. I would have taken my closest relatives and friends with me to help keep the media informed of the very latest on my daughter’s case. I would have done everything in my power to keep her name in the headlines and the white hot spotlight on the local police investigating her case.

But hindsight is everything, isn’t it?

Natalee’s devoted, frantic, desperate-but-focused mother and her posse did all those things and more following Natalee’s disappearance in May of 2005(remember when Beth very nearly called for a world wide tourist boycott of tourist-dependent Aruba?) and I’m afraid what Beth got was more than just disappointment.

The Arubian police were mad at Beth for revealing what they felt was private information they’d passed to her about their investigation. The local prosecutor was overwhelmed with the attention and furious with Beth’s white hot light on his office. Community leaders were angry and worried about what the case might do for tourism. The whole island was abuzz with nothing but Natalee news.

What do you suppose all that attention, all that community concern did to any real solid, knowledgeable witness out there? What started as a mother’s quest to bring home her child safely might very well have morphed into a hideous reason for any such witness to go underground.

Can it be that the real truth has been hiding out all this time? There have been unconfirmed reports that there is no new evidence that one might hold in a hand. Rather, that some person has now come forward to tell what he or she knows. If that is true, no doubt defense attorneys are already poised to rip holes in any witness who delayed reporting important information for so long. Who could this person be?

Or did a report in a Dutch newspaper get it right when they quoted unnamed detectives in Aruba who said the new evidence came from phone taps and text messages between the Kalpoe brothers and Van der Sloot?

For some reason Natalee’s father has announced that he plans another search of a deeper part of the sea floor around Aruba. Is that somehow connected to information from this new, unconfirmed witness or from information that might have been gathered from the phones of the suspects?

And a few last questions: I have interviewed Natalee’s mother and her supporters on both CNN Headline News and Court TV and I wonder, this time around will Beth stay in the background? Has she come to the conclusion that alienating those in charge does no good? Or will she come out swinging like the last time?

Beth Holloway has now dropped the last name of her second ex-husband, Jug Twitty, and at last report was dating John Ramsey, the father of murder victim Jon Benet. They met at a conference of survivors of those who’ve been murdered.

Maybe John Ramsey has taught her that patience is the best course in matters like these.

As always in the Natalee Holloway case - so many questions, not enough answers. I pray it comes to a conclusion soon.