Insurance probed in Aruba missing tourist case

ORANJESTAD, Aruba - An Aruban prosecutor says a Maryland tourist had a travel insurance policy that covered a companion who has been missing on the island for more than two weeks.

Solicitor General Taco Stein tells The Associated Press that prosecutors are still studying the policy and do not yet know if it has any relevance to their investigation into the presumed death of 35-year-old Robyn Gardner, of Frederick, Maryland.

Stein says that 50-year-old Gary Giordano confirmed to investigators that he had travel insurance. Stein says the policy covered both travelers, but that it wasn't clear whether it covered Gardner's accidental death. Nor was it clear who was the beneficiary.

Giordano remained jailed Wednesday as a suspect in Gardner's presumed death.

Meanwhile, Aruban authorities announced plans Tuesday for an extensive search involving police, firefighters and possibly the military as investigators try to determine what happened to Gardner.

The search was expected to start later this week and would be centered around the southern part of the Dutch Caribbean island near where Gardner was reported missing by Giordano, Stein said.

"We are trying to put a substantial team together" to conduct the search, Stein told The Associated Press.

Police and firefighters searched an abandoned phosphate mine in the area but did not find any trace of Gardner.

The new search will involve many more people and will cover a larger area in the hunt for the woman's body or any evidence linked to her, Stein said.

Giordano has claimed Gardner was apparently pulled away by ocean currents while they were snorkeling. The pair had come to Aruba on July 31 for a short vacation.