A Cold Case Revisited

We live in an imperfect world.

Consequently, there are some mysteries that always will remain unresolved.

It is unlikely, for example, that we will ever know

• what happened to Amelia Earhart, or


• if Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone — or if he even participated — in the assassination of John F. Kennedy, or


• if D.B. Cooper survived his leap from the Boeing 727 he hijacked in November 1971 and lived for awhile — or continues to live — on the $200,000 ransom he received, or


• the identity (or identities) of the person (or persons) buried in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Those topics continue to make for lively discussions that no one ever wins and no one ever loses.

Nevertheless, some people spend their lives trying to solve the cold cases that perplex the rest of us.

Sometimes they succeed in tying up all the loose ends. Most of the time, they don't.

Sometimes, investigators know the answers they seek. They just lack sufficient proof to make their case hold up in a court of law, and they spend years sifting through the evidence they do have, hoping to find something that has been overlooked.

Sometimes that hard work pays off, and the guilty person is finally brought to justice.

Sometimes it doesn't pay off.

Sunday was the fifth anniversary of the still–unsolved disappearance of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway during a high school graduation trip to Aruba.

Holloway hasn't been seen since May 30, 2005, and no one really knows what happened to her. Most people assume she is dead. I've heard some people speculate that she was sold into white slavery. Others have said that she has been held hostage somewhere for the last five years.

There's always a lot of conflicting information in a missing person case. In this case, the missing person's parents believed what most parents probably believe of their own children — she was a good kid, she didn't drink or use drugs, she was a virgin. But the authorities put together a different picture — one of a young girl who drank excessively, at least when she was far away from home. If she was like others in her age group, she may have been sexually experienced and/or may have experimented with drugs.

Holloway's mother and stepfather descended upon Aruba almost immediately after she failed to show up for the flight home, and they apparently ran roughshod over the local authorities in their pursuit of justice. They did uncover some plausible leads (as well as some bogus ones). And the primary suspects — Dutch national Joran van der Sloot and two friends of his — produced some plausible rebuttals (as well as some bogus ones).

There may be some truth in what both sides have said — and there may have been some self–serving aspects as well. A lot really isn't known about the night Natalee disappeared.

What is known is that a lot of drinking was done by Holloway and her fellow graduates on the trip. Holloway may have been one of the worst offenders. The head of the original investigation said they had learned Holloway "drank all day every day" during the trip.

Now, make no mistake. If she had been on a five–day drinking binge, that didn't justify someone else exploiting her inebriation to sexually assault her, to kidnap or to kill her.

And, even if van der Sloot's mildest account of the events of that night (and he apparently has had more than one) — that he and his friends left a beautiful, young (and, presumably, intoxicated) girl alone on the beach at night at her request — turns out to be true, doesn't it seem plausible that he should be held criminally liable? After all, if that particular story can be believed, he was the sober one, as well as a resident of the island. She was intoxicated, a tourist, unfamiliar with the terrain.

Wasn't he, at the very least, negligent to leave her alone like that?

And then there have been the other versions he has told under various circumstances — one of killing her on the beach and another of selling her into slavery.

Well, at the end of the day, we're left with contradictory accounts, no body, no crime scene, no evidence that a crime was committed, although the fact that Natalee hasn't been heard from in more than five years now seems to be pretty compelling evidence that something happened to her. But what happened? Was she killed? Or is she being held somewhere against her will?

Maybe we'll get some answers now.

On the fifth anniversary of Holloway's disappearance, a woman named Stephany Flores was murdered in a hotel room in Lima, Peru. Today, van der Sloot was taken into custody in Santiago, Chile, and is being flown back to Peru, where he apparently will be charged with the slaying.

There appears to be a certain amount of hope in Holloway's family that, with van der Sloot in custody and facing a murder charge in Peru, the missing person case will be reopened in Aruba.

I'm sure it must be hard for Holloway's family, not knowing where she is or what became of her. And I hope they get some answers. But they might not.

Some mysteries never are solved.

Here We Go Again

The reports from Aruba say that there will be a development in the Natalee Holloway case soon.

Apparently, a confession from one of the original suspects in the case (Joran van der Sloot) is on tape, and the chief prosecutor is asking an Aruban judge to rule favorably on his request to reopen the case and arrest the young man for a third time.

Such a ruling may come as soon as today.

The chief prosecutor apparently has not requested that van der Sloot's alleged accomplices, Satish and Deepak Kalpoe, be arrested as well.

The three young men were taken into custody originally after Holloway disappeared in 2005, but they were later released when evidence was insufficient to press charges. They were taken into custody again in November and held for a few weeks before being released for, essentially, the same reason.

The alleged confession was recorded during an interview van der Sloot gave to a Dutch TV reporter recently. The reporter calls it "the most revealing report I've ever made." The report is scheduled to be televised in the Netherlands tomorrow.

One way or the other, let's hope this is the first page of the last chapter in this story.

Families on both sides have been riding an emotional roller coaster for nearly 3 years. Van der Sloot's attorney made an observation that would be appropriate for either side when he said, "We have been down this road before, where they say they have new evidence ... but claim they won't go into details [and] then it turns out they have nothing."

If there's evidence to take one or all of the suspects into custody and press charges, then arrest them and hold a trial. If the evidence doesn't exist, then stop arresting the suspects on the same flimsy case that won't hold up in court.

To keep doing this is nothing less than harassment of all parties involved.

The Latest -- and Perhaps Last -- From Aruba

CNN reports that authorities in Aruba have dropped the case against the three young men who are suspected of being involved in the disappearance and presumed murder of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway in May 2005. Aruban authorities cite a lack of evidence.

We were hearing a different tune from prosecutor Hans Mos about a month ago. Back around the time of the American Thanksgiving, Mos was saying that it wasn't necessary, under Aruban law, to have a body to prove that a murder had occurred.

But today the public prosecutor's office announced there was not sufficient evidence to convince a court "that a crime of violence against Natalee Holloway had been committed nor that her death has been caused by involuntary actions by ... the suspects."

Seems to me the prosecutor doesn't know as much about Aruban law as he should to do his job.

Another Dead End in a Cold Case

Less than a month ago, news reports included developments in Aruba, where the three young men who were the original focus of the investigation into the disappearance of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway had been taken into custody.

Today, those three young men are once again free, once again because a judge ruled there was insufficient evidence to hold them any longer under Aruba law.

The chief prosecutor, Hans Mos, sounded optimistic last month that charges would be brought in the case and asserted confidently that there was no need, under Aruba law, to have a body in order to prove that someone was dead.

Today, however, Mos sounds anything but confident.

Mos says he does not expect to find Holloway's remains and he believes that it would be "very hard" to prosecute a suspect without them.

"We promised the suspects that after December 31, we will not pursue the case," Mos said Friday. "This investigation should end at a certain point."

What needs to end is the seemingly endless harassment of Holloway's family.

Aruba is not very big. Searches of that tiny island have failed to produce any evidence of a corpse since the teenager disappeared in May 2005.

It's time for Aruba to acknowledge that its officials haven't been smart enough or resourceful enough to bring closure to this case -- and allow Holloway's family members to grieve and move on with their lives.

Enough is enough for all concerned.

A Cold Murder Case Heats Up

Usually, at this time of the year, the annual "Iron Bowl" football game between Alabama and Auburn dominates conversation in Alabama. This year, there is also the race for mayor in Birmingham to keep locals occupied.

In recent days, another topic has been introduced, one that most area residents probably thought had tumbled into the dustbin of history -- the case of missing teenager Natalee Holloway, who disappeared while on a post-high school graduation trip to Aruba in May 2005.

Three men whose names were mentioned in connection with the case in the early days -- Joran van der Sloot, Deepak Kalpoe and his brother Satish Kalpoe -- have been arrested and are in custody in Aruba, charged with "involvement in the voluntary manslaughter of Natalee Holloway or causing serious bodily harm to Natalee Holloway, resulting in her death."

The Birmingham News has devoted a section of its website to the case.

Aruba's chief public prosecutor, Hans Mos, said Friday that it is not necessary, under Aruba law, to have a body in order to prove that someone is deceased. "And any day that passes now is just more evidence that she is not alive anymore," he said.

Mos told CNN that investigators who were taking a fresh look at the case found some new evidence and have uncovered some discrepancies in earlier investigations.

The three young men have consistently maintained their innocence.

The wheels of justice turn notoriously slowly. We shall see what happens.