Joran van der Sloot in the blogosphere
Birmingham, Al (WIAT) Joran van der Sloot. Natalee Holloway. Stephany Flores.
One is sitting in a Peruvian prison. One was found murdered in his Lima hotel room. One is missing after being seen with him five years ago on a trip to Aruba.
Van der Sloot is in the middle of the complicated investigation of his alleged murder of 21 year old Stephany Flores. He remains the prime suspect in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway. Both of those circumstances are filled with questions and legal complications.
But there’s little doubt in the blogosphere where the intertwined stories of the three continue to light up the web.
Babble.com says it’s a site for parents. One of their current lead articles is entitled “Why the parents of Joran van der Sloot’s victims may never get closure”
Read past the article to the comments and you’ll possibly be startled by the ferocity of the response and the frustration and impatience with the slowness of the legal systems in both Peru and Aruba.
One sample: “Lying is Joran’s alibi. It worked when he killed Natalee, and he is hoping it will work again. Joran is a psychopath, and his mother believes the part he plays for her is “real” Joran. Oh momma.. the worst lies are the ones we tell ourselves…”
There are dozens of other sites commenting on, or even focusing on van der Sloot and his victims.
An example that precedes his current troubles in Peru is devoted to the five year old disappearance of Natalee Holloway, the Mountain Brook teen who disappeared on a trip to Aruba…after last being seen in van der Sloot’s company.
Blogs For Natalee has been collecting and updating information on the case for most of the five years since Natalee’s disappearance. It claims 435951 Posts in 8070 Topics by 2154 Members. It stresses it has no official connection to the Holloway family.
And then, there’s Facebook. In a world where anything and everything has a Facebook page, why should the van der Sloot case be any different.
Here’s a sampling:
http://http://www.facebook.com/pages/Joran-van-der-sloot/106167646085097
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stephany-Flores-Ramirez-and-Joran-Van-der-Sloot-Case/122041101165784?v=wall
Unfounded State Habeas Corpus Brought by Joran van der Sloot
Declaran infundado hábeas corpus interpuesto por Joran van der Sloot
Lima, jun. 25 (ANDINA). El magistrado del 20º Juzgado Penal de Lima, Wilder Casique Alvizuri, declaró infundado el hábeas corpus que Joran Andreas Petrus Van der Sloot, interpuso en contra del jefe de la División de Homicidios de la PNP, coronel Miguel Ángel Canlla Oré, y la fiscal provincial de Lima, doctora Ninfa Espinoza Sotomayor.
El petitorio presentado por el abogado Máximo Altez Navarro, solicitó se declaren nulos los alcances de la investigación policial a su defendido, como presunto autor material del homicidio de Stephany Flores Ramírez porque, supuestamente, vulneró sus derechos constitucionales.
Al respecto, la resolución del doctor Casique Alvizuri, señala que durante las tres manifestaciones que Joran Van der Sloot ofreció a la policía, así como en las demás diligencias, éste contó con el auxilio del intérprete Maurice Steins.
Del mismo modo, el magistrado señala que, por lo actuado, se descarta que se haya abierto la laptop del procesado sin que éste lo haya consentido, toda vez que, se afirma, el equipo fue entregado lacrado al juzgado penal.
La resolución del juez del 20º Juzgado Penal de Lima también niega que se haya vulnerado el derecho a la defensa del detenido.
Se indica que está acreditado que durante las manifestaciones que el ciudadano holandés rindió ante la policía, contó con la asistencia de un defensor de oficio; además que las mismas han estado bajo la supervisión del representante del Ministerio Público, quien vela por la legalidad de la actuación policial.
También se descartó que la investigación policial haya vulnerado el derecho a la presunción de inocencia de Joran Van der Sloot, por que en el atestado policial se recolectaron indicios de la responsabilidad del encausado, que conllevó a que dos jueces penales dictarán órdenes de detención preventiva por 24 horas y siete días.
La resolución del juez Casique Alvizuri fue notificada esta tarde a las partes del proceso.
TRANSLATION:
Lima, jun. 25 (ANDINA). A judge of the 20th Criminal Court of Lima, Wilder Casique Alvizuri, declared unfounded the habeas corpus Joran Andreas Petrus van der Sloot, brought against the head of the Homicide Division of the PNP, Colonel Miguel Angel Canlla prayed, and the provincial prosecutor Lima, Dr. Ninfa Espinoza Sotomayor.
The petition filed by lawyer Highness Max Navarro, asked to be declared null the scope of police investigation for his client, as the alleged perpetrator of the murder of Flores Stephany Ramirez because, allegedly, violated their constitutional rights.
In this regard, the resolution of Dr. Casique Alvizuri, indicates that the three statements that Joran Van der Sloot gave to the police as well as other measures, he had the help of Maurice Steins interpreter.
Similarly, the judge stated that for any action, is possible that the laptop is opened the accused without his consent,, since it is argued that the equipment was delivered sealed to criminal court.
The decision of the judge of the 20th Criminal Court of Lima also denies that it violated the right to defend the detainee.
It indicates that it is undisputed that during the demonstrations that citizens Dutchman surrendered to the police, attended a public defender, also that they have been under the supervision of the Public Prosecutor, who oversees the legality of the policing.
Also ruled that the police investigation has infringed the right to the presumption of innocence of Joran Van der Sloot, because in the police report were collected evidence of liability of the defendant, which led to two criminal court judges to issue arrest warrants for preventive 24 hours to seven days.
The Judge’s decision Alvizuri Casique was notified this afternoon to parts of the process.
Remembering Stephany Tatiana Flores Ramirez
Natalee Holloway, Part Six by Susan Kelly
May 30 marked the fifth anniversary of the disappearance of Natalee Holloway. It was, I’m sure, an occasion of great sadness for her family and friends. And a source of frustration for those who would like to see some resolution.
The case is at a standstill. Last March, a husband and wife from Pennsylvania went (more…)
To read parts 1-5 Click HERE
To read Susan’s Blog Click HERE
Today Show – Sad Anniversary for Natalee Holloway’s Mom
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Natalee Holloway – Missing in Aruba 5 Years
Sporadic Ramblings, Natalee Holloway by Susan Kelly
Natalee Holloway, Part One
February 26, 2010
This case fascinates me. Superficially, it doesn’t appear complex. A young woman, vacationing in Aruba to celebrate her high school graduation, goes to a bar on the last night of her stay. There she meets up with a young man whom, according to some accounts, she’d encountered earlier that evening in a casino. Around closing time, the young woman leaves (More…)
Natalee Holloway, Part Two (Calling All Spirits)
February 27, 2010
All big cases attract people who claim to be in touch with the supernatural, and this one was no exception. One of my favorites was the self-proclaimed psychic who traveled to Aruba in the wake of Natalee’s vanishing, and, one night, had a dream, or vision, in which Natalee appeared to her with the (More…)
Natalee Holloway, Part Three
March 2, 2010
Well, Joran van der Sloot’s latest “confession” went as expected, although this time he managed to work up a few facial contortions intended, I suppose, to simulate grief and remorse, although he was apparently unable to squeeze out an authenticating tear.
Why is he doing this? If his conscience is bothering him–I sincerely doubt (More…)
Natalee Holloway, Part Four (The Internet Phenomenon)
March 11, 2010
If the cable stations went wild with the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, the Internet went insane. In the summer of 2005, dozens of online forums devoted to “discussion” of the case sprang up like mushrooms (and toadstools) after a summer rain. Many of them are still in existence.
By the end of the summer of 2005, (More…)
Natalee Holloway, Part Five (Natalee Herself)
March 13, 2010
Too often the victims of crime–and I believe Natalee Holloway was a crime victim–are forgotten, or at least pushed to the background, particularly when the crime is an unsolved one. The actual mystery itself assumes the forefront: people are, naturally enough I suppose, obsessed with the whodunit/howdunit/whydunit aspect of the case. Everybody loves a (More…)
Natalee Holloway’s Mom Teams Up with Security Team
By PHILIP MESSING
Last Updated: 3:27 PM, April 5, 2010
Posted: 3:24 PM, April 5, 2010
The mysterious disappearance and death of high-school senior Natalee Holloway in Aruba is an enduring symbol of a parent’s worst nightmare.
Five years after her daughter’s death, Beth Holloway has teamed with a Manhattan corporate security firm to ensure parents can sleep easier when their kids go abroad.
The 48-year-old mother and Investigative Management Group (IMG) have started Mayday 360, which promises to have the resources to intervene immediately at the first sign of trouble overseas.
Holloway said the most important lesson she learned from her awful ordeal was that when a loved one is in trouble far from home, it’s vital to get bureaucrats to start an emergency response if circumstances demand it — a key component of what Mayday 360 plans to offer.
“In our case,” Holloway told The Post, “it took five days for the American consulate to respond.
“You need a response that is both urgent and timely. Some of the challenges we faced were in utilizing the resources of the governments involved,” she said, referring to the inaction displayed after her daughter’s disappearance.
An estimated 275,000 American students study abroad each year and some 100,000 American teens head to Mexico each spring break, seemingly oblivious to recent State Department warnings about drug-fueled violence in that country.
Many gallivanting youths wind up in life-threatening predicaments — lost and confused, badly injured or under arrest on alcohol or drug charges.
Holloway, who will serve as a partner and director of business development for the company, says the venture is an outgrowth of the lectures she’s given since 19-year-old Natalee was kidnapped and killed in May 2005. She had become separated from her Alabama high-school classmates during their senior class trip.
In her chats, Holloway has made it a point to warn high-school and college students about the many hidden pitfalls awaiting them in foreign lands, she said.
“I always remind students to understand that when you leave the United States, there are challenges and consequences to face if something tragic happens,” she said.
That ugly lesson was in the news last week with the disclosure that John “Zeke” Rucker, a 21-year-old from Sewell, N.J., was fighting for his life after being severely beaten while vacationing with friends in Cancun, Mexico.
Rucker, who was celebrating his recent graduation from Rutgers University and was planning to enter law school, suffered multiple skull fractures after he was apparently attacked upon falling asleep near his hotel pool.
In extreme cases, Mayday 360 will dispatch ex-federal agents with specialized knowledge about a particular country’s laws, customs and language.
“The biggest thing about being overseas and outside of the United States is that people don’t think about it until it’s too late,” explained Robert Strang, a former special agent for the DEA in New York City, who heads IMG.
Natalee Holloway’s Remains? Aruba Divers to Examine Area
Snorkeling Couple Believe They Might Have Photographed Missing Teen’s Skeleton off Aruba
By CHRISTINE BROUWER and RUSSELL GOLDMAN
March 20, 2010—
Aruban authorities are dispatching a dive team to investigate a Pennsylvania couple’s underwater photograph that may show skeletal remains of Natalee Holloway, an Alabama high school student who went missing on the Caribbean island five years ago.
Ann Angela, a spokeswoman for the public prosecutor’s office in Aruba, said she was not authorized to say when or where the dive would take place, except that it will happen “in the very near future.” Officials likely will have the results of the preliminary investigation by Sunday or Monday.
The underwater photograph of the sea floor depicts a rough outline that the couple believes resembles a human skeleton, according to the Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era, which first published the photo on Thursday.
Patti Muldowney, 62, of Rapho Township, Pa., took the photo while snorkeling off the Caribbean island but “only discovered it after we got the film developed,” she told the paper of the body-shaped image in the picture.
“We have received the photo,” Angela said. “The problem is that the couple cannot say exactly where they took the picture. They cannot point to the exact location. But someone has now come forward who believes that they know the spot. So we are going to do a preliminary investigation, which means a dive team will be dispatched to that location.”
Angela couldn’t reveal the identity of the person who recognized the underwater location of the photo — but said it’s likely a local who dives often and knows the waters around the island well.
Angela previously said evidence found during any dive to investigate the photo would be sent to the Dutch Forensic Institute in The Hague.
She added that it was not uncommon for human remains to be found off the coast and cautioned that even if a body was discovered it might not be Holloway.
Muldowney and her husband John initially showed the photograph to local police and forwarded it to FBI, which told them it would investigate.
“It just seems so strange that that girl never showed up, and here we are right off the shoreline, right where she disappeared, and there’s a body lying there,” John Muldowney said.
“I hate to say I wish it was her, but it would give that family some closure,” he said.
Calls to the couple by ABC News were not immediately returned. Holloway went missing in May 2005 during a high school graduation trip to Aruba. Her disappearance became an international cause celebre.
Much of the speculation about Holloway’s disappearance has focused on Dutch national Joran van Der Sloot, who seemingly admitted to reporters twice in recent years that he knew how and where Holloway died but who has never faced charges in her murder.
Dutch National Jordan Van Der Sloot’s Name Still Comes Up
In February, van Der Sloot told a Dutch television station that Holloway fell to her death from a balcony following a night of drinking and drug use.
“We looked down and saw her lying there. Yes, there was blood. I think she fell on the ground with her head first,” van Der Sloot told Dutch television station RTL 5.
“It’s a story that in and of itself does fit in terms of timing,” Peter Blanken, Aruba’s chief prosecutor told ABC News in February. “But all the other things that could be investigated, and that means the story about the witnesses … the house, the height of the balcony, all those types of things don’t add up in Joran van der Sloot’s statement.”
The alleged confession came almost two years after undercover tapes were released by Dutch crime reporter Peter R. de Vries, in which van der Sloot appeared to admit he was present when Holloway died and that he helped dump her body in the ocean.
Couple Snaps Skeleton Pic in Aruba: Natalee Holloway?
A Pennsylvania couple thinks they may have found Natalee Holloway’s skeleton on a vacation to Aruba.
Patti and John Muldowney want investigators to take a good look at a picture they took while snorkeling.
It shows what they think is a skeleton on the bottom of the ocean.
Patti didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary when she snapped the photo last November. No one noticed until mid January when they met up with a couple that was on the same cruise, to compare vacation photos.
“They came over and discovered it when they were looking through our photos,” John Muldowney told NBC Philadelphia .
“You can see a fish. You can see some rocks. And then you can see this body lying on its back, facing up,” John, 78, said in an interview with the Intelligencer Journal.
They showed the photo to friends, police, even a doctor and everyone agreed it looked like a human skeleton. John wondered if it could be the remains of Natalee Holloway, 18, who disappeared in 2005 during a high school graduation trip.
The Natalee Holloway case has yet to be solved. Joran van der Sloot, the son of a Dutch diplomat, was allegedly the last person to see Holloway, and he told authorities that Holloway died and he dumped her body in the ocean. He later said he sold Holloway as a sex slave. Van der Sloot’s stories could not be confirmed by police and he was never charged in the case because Aruban prosecutors said they didn’t have enough evidence.
John thought it couldn’t hurt to send the photo to Holloway’s family and investigators. He mailed a copy to her biological father and says he hasn’t heard back.
John’s efforts to get the picture to the right people connected to the case have been frustrating.
“I’ve called Quantico so much the receptionist said, ‘We’ve got to stop meeting like this,’ ” he told the Intelligencer.
John sent the photo to the FBI in Philadelphia.
“We did receive that photo, and it was sent to the lead agent down in Miami who handles that area in the Caribbean,” Special Agent Frank Burton Jr. told the Intelligencer.
“I didn’t hear nothing for a month,” said John.
John called the FBI again after hearing that van der Sloot’s dad had died of a heart attack and that the case was being reopened after van der Sloot told a TV reporter another story, in which he disposed of her body in a swamp after she accidentally fell from a balcony.
“This time they told me, ‘John, we’re not allowed to tell you what we’re doing with it,’” he said.
“The thing is, they haven’t found her yet,” Patti told the Intelligencer. “So, for the parents’ sake, I would hope that this picture does help.”
