Special Report: A Father’s Determination
Meridian, Miss.
Wade Phillips
Eighteen months have not dulled the passion Dave Holloway has for finding out what happened to his daughter, Natalee. The Meridian businessman remains as committed as ever to solving the mystery.
After the fundraisers ended, after many of the yard signs have been pulled up, after the cable networks have stopped calling for interviews, there remains a father looking for his daughter.
“Some days you think you’re going to finally break the case, and some days you wonder, are we ever going to find out?” said Holloway.
That is still Dave Holloway’s story, a year and a half after his 18-year- old daughter went missing during her senior class trip to Aruba.
Newscenter 11 sat down with Holloway in his Meridian insurance office to talk about the case. He remains hopeful of a resolution.
Holloway says there have been developments in the case. They happened very quietly over the last few months.
The Dutch police have now taken over the investigation from Aruban authorities, a move Holloway believes should have been done months ago.
“I just hope they’re going to be able to find some answers,” Holloway said.
And the searches continue. Two months ago, Natalee’s family sent a cadaver dog to search an Aruban golf course. Just last week, a team searched some government property on the island.
“You get tips or leads or someone says you need to search here, and you cannot just let it pass by,” he said.
So far, nothing has come of any of those searches, but Holloway is not a man planning to give up any time soon.
“I don’t think, as a parent, you’ll ever give up and say I’ve done all I can do,” Holloway said.
Holloway admits the searching has taken a financial toll on him. After an initial surge of fundraising in the weeks after Natalee’s disappearance, there were several fundraisers. But now, he and the rest of Natalee’s family are personally funding the searches.