ORANJESTAD, Aruba, July 27, 2005

Pond Search Continues In Aruba

Holloway Family's Lawyer Says New Witness Prompted Hunt

  • Play CBS Video Video Aruba Pond Near Drained

    Authorities looking for missing Alabama teen Natalee Holloway are nearly finished draining a pond near where she disappeared. CBS News' Kelly Cobiella reports from Aruba.

  • Video Natalee's Parents On Search

    CBS News RAW: George Twitty and Beth Holloway Twitty talk about the ongoing search for their daughter Natalee. They remain hopeful that more will come of the investigation.

    • Aruban policemen provide security to the pond across from the Marriot Hotel while it's being drained in Oranjestad, Aruba, Wednesday, July 27, 2005.

      Aruban policemen provide security to the pond across from the Marriot Hotel while it's being drained in Oranjestad, Aruba, Wednesday, July 27, 2005.  (AP)

    • The family of Natalee Holloway has posted a $1 million reward for information leading to her safe return. She disappeared on May 30th after a night of partying at a nightclub.

      The family of Natalee Holloway has posted a $1 million reward for information leading to her safe return. She disappeared on May 30th after a night of partying at a nightclub.  (AP)

    • Natalee Holloway's stepfather says a new witness identifies Joran van der Sloot (above) as having been seen near the place where she was last spotted, on the same day she disappeared.

      Natalee Holloway's stepfather says a new witness identifies Joran van der Sloot (above) as having been seen near the place where she was last spotted, on the same day she disappeared.  (AP)

    Previous slide Next slide
  • Interactive Paradise Lost

    Star student Natalee Holloway disappears during a senior trip to Aruba.

  • Fast Facts Aruba

    Learn about the people, economy and history.

  • Interactive Out Of Sight: Missing Kids

    Get the facts on kidnappings, learn predator profiles and check out resources for locating missing children.

(CBS/AP)  No one has been charged in the case and van der Sloot is the only person detained as a suspect. The Surinamese brothers, Satish and Deepak Kalpoe, were previously held and released.

The Kalpoe brothers first told police that they and van der Sloot dropped Holloway at her hotel around 2 a.m. the morning of May 30. Later, they said they had lied to protect their friend and that they had dropped the Dutch youth and Holloway at a beach near the hotel.

The new witness, a gardener who spoke to investigators Friday, said he saw van der Sloot try to hide his face with his hands as the three young men drove into a tennis club the night Holloway disappeared, said George Twitty, the missing teenager's stepfather.

The pond, which about 150 meters across, is between the Marriott and the tennis club.

It was unknown why the witness waited so long to speak to authorities. "He had his reasons," de Sousa said.

An attorney for van der Sloot, Richie Kock, said authorities had not told him about the new witnesses. Lawyers for the Kalpoe brothers were not immediately available for comment.

Aruban authorities said this week that they have dispatched a prosecutor to consult with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and brought in experts from the Netherlands as they investigate the disappearance.

Aruban investigators sent hair found attached to duct tape discovered along the shore of the island to the FBI crime lab in Quantico, Va., and to the Netherlands for DNA analysis.

The family on Monday increased the reward for information leading to the young woman's safe return to $1 million, from $200,000.

CBS News Correspondent Trish Reagan reports Equusearch, the private volunteer search team from Texas that has been helping the Holloway family, is heading back to Aruba Wednesday night.

Tim Miller of Equusearch says this time, the group will be armed with additional equipment which might help. "We actually roll it over the ground and it actually measures the density of the ground," Miller explains. "So if there's an area that's been dug up, or an area that a body has been buried in, it will actually show a hollow spot where a body is."

Holloway, 18, from Mountain Brook, Ala., vanished after an evening of eating, drinking and dancing at a nightclub which she left with the three young men, hours before she was to catch a flight home at the end of a graduation trip with 124 classmates.

©MMV, The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Exclusive Webshow

Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie." Watch Now

Latest News
News in Pictures
Scroll Left Scroll Right
Connect with CBS News

Stay connected with the CBS News using your favorite social networks and online news applications: