Massive Search For Teen In Aruba

Government Asks Thousands To Join Hunt For Missing Alabama Teen

(CBS/AP)  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.

"We are a safe island, and we are a happy island,'' volunteer Erica Odor told CBS News Correspondent Kelly Cobiella.

Aruba's government let 4,000 civil servants off work early at 2 p.m. to hunt for Natalee Holloway, 18, of Mountain Brook, Alabama. The expanded search came a day after police charged two men in her disappearance.

The blonde 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.

The initial search idea called for an islandwide effort, but later changed to focus on the southeastern area of Seroe Colorado and part of San Nicolas, police commander Judy Hassell said. San Nicolas is where the two charged men were arrested.

"The change happened when we realized how big Aruba was," Hassell said. "We're going to do as much as we can."

Aruba's land area is about 74 sq. miles, slightly larger than Washington D.C.

One of several search parties scoured barren terrain spotted with sequoia cactus, prickly pear and sea grass in view of Valero oil refinery. A helicopter hovered overhead. Other groups searched abandoned houses, remote roads and bushes as lizards crossed their path.

Some volunteers were tourists, including young couple Bill and Sarah Wise, both 22, of Cleveland, Ohio. "We couldn't leave without trying to help a fellow American," Bill Wise said. His wife said the case hit home with her because she's about the same age as Holloway. "It could be me," she said.