Justice officials on Aruba are investigating new clues in the case of the missing US teenager Natalee Holloway. The fresh evidence was provided by a Dutch crime reporter.

The prosecutor on the Dutch Caribbean island, Mr Hans Mos, has been quoted as describing it as “impressive and convincing” and “an essential part that was lacking in the investigation.”

The Aruban authorities have been trying to establish what happened to the US girl who went missing in May 2005 during a holiday in Aruba with fellow high school students celebrating their graduation. She was last seen in the company of three young men.

One of them, Dutchman Joran van der Sloot, was initially seen as the prime suspect. Two brothers of Surinamese origin, friends of Van der Sloot, were also held in custody for some time.

Investigation halted in 2006

The investigation was closed in December 2006, when the Aruban police let it be known that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute the three.
Now, TV crime reporter Peter R. de Vries says he has handed over “compelling and conclusive” to the authorities on the island. He says that he has solved the Holloway case mostly with the use of concealed cameras, but refuses to state who he believes was responsible for the murder.

More on television

All, Mr De Vries said, would be revealed in a Dutch television programme scheduled for broadcast this coming Sunday. Asked whether he could confirm that the girl had been killed, he answered “she is no longer alive”.

The reporter travelled to Aruba last week to inform the authorities of his findings. He then invited Natalee’s mother, Beth Twitty, to come over to the Netherlands, where he informed of his findings on Thursday morning.

Mr De Vries and Joran van der Sloot both appeared in a television interview earlier this month. During the show, the reporter repeatedly challenged the key suspect’s credibility, which prompted Van der Sloot to throw wine in his face.

1 February 2008 

[Copyright Radio Netherlands 2008]