Natalee Holloway Center to Open in D.C.: Crime Prevention, Help Families of Missing, Among the Goals

By: Stephen A. McCain
Topics: Daily Blotter

Natalee Holloway (AP)

Washington DC (CBS) Five years ago, in May 2005, Alabama high school student Natalee Holloway disappeared during a senior class trip to Aruba. Next week the Natalee Holloway Resource Center (NHRC) will open in Wash., D.C., in a joint effort between Holloway's mother and the National Museum of Crime & Punishment.

PICTURES: Natalee Holloway: Paradise Lost

The center, according to The Washington Post, will be a nonprofit operation designed primarily to assist families searching for missing relatives.

The center's web site says the Holloway Center will be a crisis clearinghouse for families of missing persons in the U.S.and abroad, but also focus on education and crime prevention. The facility will offer guidelines for children and adults to travel safely, including creating a national network of college volunteers who will promote the group's safe travel program to high school and college students.

The opening on June 8 is a continuation of the relationship formed between the Museum of Crime & Punishment and the Holloway family. Last year Holloway's case was added to the museum's "Cold Cases" exhibit.

Holloway, of Mountain Brook, Ala., was 18 when she was last seen leaving a bar with Dutch national Joran Van der Sloot, then 17. He has been detained in the case several times but Aruban authorities have said they don't have enough evidence to charge him.

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PICTURES: Natalee Holloway: Paradise Lost

MORE ON CRIMESIDER

March 25, 2010 - Natalee Holloway's Father Thinks Aruba Photo Shows Rocks, Not Daughter's Remains; Police Seem to Agree

March 25, 2010 - Natalee Holloway Disappointment, Police Call Off Search Spurred by Photograph of "Remains"

March 22, 2010 - Natalee Holloway's Body Found? Picture Leads Divers to Renew Search

March 18, 2010 Natalee Holloway's Skeleton: Did Vacationer Snap Photo of Missing Girl's Remains?
February 23, 2010 - Joran van der Sloot Confession: I Killed Natalee Holloway, But Prosecutors Don't Believe Me
March 19, 2010 - Natalee Holloway's Remains Found? Aruban Police Look into Underwater Photo

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by Alyssa1982 June 1, 2010 4:10 PM EDT

Not a terrible idea;
Kids on prom trips and such need to know that drinking and partying with strangers in a foreign country warrants a lot more caution than they're used to at home. The USA is pretty safe (in most cities at least) and most vacation spots as well - it's just the few bad apples pushing drugs/drinks to be wary of

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by FoolsGold June 3, 2010 12:10 PM EDT: Natalee Holloway was an experienced traveler, having been to Canada, Aruba and Europe on prior occasions. She did not drink enough to become intoxicated but may well have been unalert to the possibility of a spiked drink. She was not unwise or reckless, merely unlucky.