Aruba Search Scaled Back
Accidental death has not been ruled out in the case of a missing Alabama honors student whose fate remains a mystery despite the arrest of two suspects known to police for trying to pick up women in hotels in this Dutch Caribbean territory, authorities said Tuesday.
Police and FBI agents kept up a 9-day-old search for 18-year-old Natalee Holloway, but a lack of any solid leads is hindering progress, said several officers involved in the investigation.
A massive search involving more than 700 volunteers on the southeastern tip of Aruba — where the two suspects were arrested in their home Sunday — yielded no leads Monday. More than 4,000 civil servants who had been given the day off and encouraged to volunteer returned to work Tuesday. Police officers have complained that Aruba has several drug-sniffing dogs but few trained to search for people.
Alabama native Patrick Murphy flew to Aruba from his home in Grand Cayman.
"It all came down to a person from my hometown and a mother pleading for help," Murphy told CBS News Correspondent Kelly Cobiella. "I mean, who wouldn't come?"
Authorities had not ruled out any possibilities, including that Holloway may have drowned, Aruba Attorney General Caren Janssen said. Two divers were among the eight FBI agents helping in the hunt, but it was not immediately clear if they had begun an underwater search.
The two men in custody were former security guards for a hotel two blocks from the Holiday Inn where Holloway had been staying. Their work contracts had expired the day before she disappeared, a police officer told The Associated Press. A judge was to decide on Wednesday if authorities had sufficient grounds to continue holding them, Janssen said. Police have refused to reveal the charges against them.
The guards were known to police because they had a habit of going around to hotels trying to pick up women or bum cigarettes, said the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Police policy prohibits authorities from discussing details of an investigation before they are presented in court.
The officer said several islanders told police that the men were seen hanging out frequently at different hotels talking to female tourists trying to pick them up in a friendly manner. No complaints had been filed against the men.
One of the suspects had a brush with the law, but it was not a violent or sexual offense, the officer said.
Police last week questioned and released three other men — described as "persons of interest" — who told police they took Holloway to a beach and then dropped her off at her hotel the night she vanished.
Holloway's parents and other relatives who rushed to the island last week refused to give up hope of bringing her home alive.
"We're not stopping," said Paul Reynolds, her maternal uncle.
That feeling was shared in Holloway's hometown of Mountain Brook, Ala., a tree-lined community of 22,000 that is home to many of the Birmingham area's most affluent families. Residents had attached yellow ribbons to everything from mail boxes to automatic bank machines.
Holloway has been missing since May 30. She vanished while on a five-day trip with more than 100 classmates celebrating their high school graduation. Seven chaperones accompanied them.
She had spend her last night dancing and eating at a Carlos' n Charlie's bar and restaurant, which has contributed US$5,000 (euro4,070) of a US$55,000 (euro44,770) reward offered for information on Holloway's whereabouts.
Her disappearance has upset Arubans, who take pride in their island's reputation for friendliness and safety.
The Aruba Tourist Authority usually gets about 25 e-mails a day from prospective visitors. In the past week, it has been bombarded with messages from more than 100 asking if they should go ahead with vacation plans, said Myrna Jansen-Feliciano, the agency's managing director. The visitors were reassured and few have changed their plans, she said.
"I can tell you that 100 percent of the private and public sector attention is on this matter," Rob Smith of the Aruba Hospitality and Security Foundation told CBS News. "There's no way there could be more attention focused on finding this young lady."
Tourism accounts for 70 percent of the economy in the territory of 97,000 people, with 73 percent of visitors coming from the United States. Many American tourists have volunteered in the search.
"I'm impressed by the people, their warmth and concern for Natalee," said Jim Robinson, a Pennsylvanian insurance executive who came to the island for a convention and offered to help search. "I would come back. Time will heal."