ABC40 Exclusive Coverage – Search for Natalee
Hat Tip: Bastibro
Dave Holloway Goes Down Fighting
By Patrick Hurley
In 2005, a young lady from Mountain Brook, Alabama, disappeared in Aruba after getting into a car with three local boys outside a bar called Carlos and Charlie’s. Her name was Natalee Holloway. Since then, there have been massive searches for her and endless speculation on her fate. To no avail. The main suspect in the case, Joran van der Sloot, is a pathological liar who has changed his story of the night of Natalee’s disappearance at least seven times. He was the final person to see Natalee on that fateful night. The final conclusion is that she will never be found alive again. The story now is the valiant effort of a father’s love still hoping to find his little girl. Against all odds, Dave Holloway is mounting a last ditch effort to recover the body of his beloved daughter by hiring a man and his dogs to scour a pond where a witness claims he saw Joran van der Sloot that night with a missing shoe in the vicinity of the pond. It is a long shot. It is likely nothing new will be found. That is not the point.
How do you measure a father’s love for his child? You don’t. It is infinite and eternal. It lasts forever. From the moment you hold your baby in your arms you are hooked beyond emotional reason. The only thing that will stop Dave Holloway from searching for his lovely Natalee is for him to stop breathing. Until that final moment comes, he will not give up. Never. This is not an obsession, this is what parental commitment should be. In a society that has difficulty keeping families together, Dave Holloway is an inspiration to all of us. He is the shining star of why God instituted the family unit in the first place.
The sadness he feels goes all the way back to Natalee’s request to go on her senior trip to Aruba. Dave Holloway was against it. He did not feel comfortable with his girl in a foreign country. Even one called Paradise. Finally, after much cajoling from her mother and Natalee begging him to assent to her dream vacation, he relented. He gave his reluctant blessing. As it turns out, his instincts were right all along. Now, he has to use them in an effort to recover her body. Had she listened to him, she would be at the University of Alabama studying to become a doctor. Of such small decisions, tragedies find their way into a family’s life.
If you are religious, I ask you to pray especially hard this week for him and his search. As a dad, I cannot imagine the pain he has gone through and the depth of determination he possesses to make things right for his Natalee. From the moment he said yes to her it has been an ongoing nightmare that has not ended.
Ask God for it to be resolved.
So a father can finally find peace.
He has suffered enough.
New Search for Natalee Holloway is Underway
Fred Golba wading into Aruban retention pond
By Jen Hale
Reporter and weekend anchor
Published: March 24, 2009
This is Fred Golba on Tuesday, searching a retention pond near the hotel where Natalee Holloway was staying on her senior trip to Aruba in May of 2005.
A new witness says – the night Natalee disappeared – he saw main suspect Joran van der Sloot emerge from the pond – wet, missing one shoe.
Sources on the island also say Texas EquuSearch’s Tim Miller is now en route to Aruba to help.
Natalee’s father Dave Holloway paid to send Golba and his cadaver dog to Aruba after the witness passed a polygraph test while explaining what he witnessed the night Natalee vanished.
Aruban prosecutors believe the witness saw someone near the pond the night Natalee disappeared, but they don’t believe it was van der Sloot or anyone related to Natalee’s disappearance.
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Holloway Trying To Cover All The Possibilities
By Brian Livingston
blivingston@themeridianstar.com
Dave Holloway, the father of missing teenager Natalee Holloway who disappeared four years ago while on a senior trip to Aruba, said this morning he really doesn’t think his daughter’s body will be found during this latest search.
But he didn’t want to spend the rest of his life wondering, “What if”, either.
“The guy whose claims prompted this latest search at the pond has been bugging me for some time,” said Holloway of Meridian. “He is convinced he saw something and he passed not one but two polygraph tests conducted by reputable technicians. Now, I’m not really sure just how accurate polygraph tests are but I kept thinking what if he is right. I just couldn’t see any reason why he would lie about what he believed he saw.”
The latest search is centered around a water run-off retaining pond on the island. Aruban police say previous searches of the marshy area have turned up nothing. Holloway admitted all indications have pointed to the ocean as to where his daughter’s body is likely located. But the little bit of doubt placed in his head by this “witness” gave Holloway pause.
Holloway contracted a tracker dog specialist to begin his latest search for evidence into Natalee Holloway’s May 2005 disappearance early Monday. Nothing was found during Monday’s search.
Natalee Holloway, from Mountain Brook, Ala., was 18 when she was last seen in May 2005 in the Aruban capital Oranjestad on the final night of a high school graduation trip. She reportedly left a bar with Dutch man Joran van der Sloot. No trace of her has been found despite extensive searches involving hundreds of volunteers, Aruban soldiers, FBI agents and even Dutch F-16 jets with special equipment.
On The Record – Fox News – 03/30/09
Chicopee man leaves for Aruba to help with search for missing teen Natalee Holloway
by The Republican Newsroom
Friday March 20, 2009, 6:48 PM
From staff reports
CHICOPEE – A Chicopee man left for Aruba Friday morning to help with the search for Natalee Holloway, of Alabama, who has been missing for nearly four years, television station abc40 of Springfield is reporting.
The station, also known as WGGB-TV, Channel 40, is reporting that Fred A. Golba, who runs a canine rescue unit he calls Coast to Coast Canine, left for Aruba at 6 Friday morning.
The television station says that Golba was sent by Natalee’s Holloway’s father. He and a cadaver dog will be searching the bottom of an Aruban pond, according to the station.
Natalee Holloway was reported missing in Aruba in May 2005 when she was 15 years old.
In an exclusive interview with abc40, Goldba said that a witness has just come forward, claiming he saw lead suspect Joran van der Sloot leaving a pond the night the girl disappeared. The witness said van der Sloot was wet up to his chest and was missing a sneaker. Golba will be looking for either Natalee’s body or that sneaker.
“I have more confidence in this pond than any other of the eight trips I’ve made to the island,” he told abc40’s Kathy Reynolds.
Golba brought his search dog Rhino to Aruba with him.
Golba has been involved with the case since 2005, according to abc40.
Natalee Holloway’s Dad Sends Search Dog to Aruba
The Associated Press
Published: 03/20/09 2:29 pm
ORANJESTAD, Aruba —
Aruba prosecutors say Natalee Holloway’s father has flown a search dog and a handler to the island to look for the missing teenager’s body.
A spokeswoman for the Prosecutors’ Office says the dog is searching a reservoir that witnesses have previously identified as a possible location where Holloway’s remains might be found.
But Ann Angela says neither police nor prosecutors have received any new leads in the case.
She said Friday in a statement that Dave Holloway took the initiative because he will not rest until he finds his daughter.
Natalee Holloway, from Mountain Brook, Ala., was last seen in May 2005 leaving a bar in the Aruban capital Oranjestad. She was 18 at the time.
