WHAT WE KNOW AND WHAT WE DON'T

What we know and what we have heard about Natalee Holloway's last night

By Meri, Aruban Boycott Contributor


We know that prior to going to Carlos & Charlie's, Natalee sat at a gaming table with Joran van der Sloot. We know that she saw him again at the nightclub and that he took a jelly shot off of her. We know that Natalee had been drinking on and off throughout that day and that she drank 150 proof alcohol that night. Alcohol is a DEPRESSANT and NOT a stimulant and that would have made Natalee sleepy and woozy at the very least.


It is a fact that if she had consumed enough alcohol, she would have had impaired judgment which could explain why she left with strangers rather than staying with her friends. It would also explain why she failed to listen to those friends when they asked her to get out of Deepak's car and go back to the hotel with them. We know that Natalee, Joran, Satish and Deepak (who was driving the car), left Carlos & Charlie's around the time that it was closing and that a white car was behind them that night.


From that point on ALL we know for sure is that Natalee never came back and no one has seen her since. Here's what has become rumor and myth and may or may not be truthful and accurate:

• Joran claims that Natalee asked to be taken to see sharks at the beach.

• He states that they went to the beach and that Deepak and his brother dropped him and Natalee off.

• Joran also states that before going to the beach they stopped in front of his house. They may or may not have gone into his private apartment at some point.

• Joran claims that he and Natalee made out both in the back of Deepak's car and on the beach but that they did not have sexual relations because he had no condom.

• He claims that he wanted to go home because he had school the next day but that Natalee didn't want to leave the beach and wanted Joran to stay with her.

• We know that Joran claims to have called Deepak to come and pick him up and at first, he claimed that Deepak did.

• When the computer and phone records showed that Deepak was home at the time he would have been picking up Joran the story was changed to indicate that Satish picked Joran up and took him home leaving Natalee alone on the beach. Both Deepak and Satish deny having picked Joran up that night.

• We DO NOT know for sure how Joran got home or if Deepak and Satish were present on the beach when Natalee was there either with Joran or by herself.

• We do not know if one of the Kalpoe's returned to that beach that night.

• We know that stains were lifted from Deepak's car which contained a bleach substance and something that at first appeared to be blood. Later this was revised to be a bleach substance and chocolate.

I have a problem with this reading of the forensic evidence because if Deepak cleaned his car with bleach there would be no chocolate stains but there could be blood evidence left which luminal could detect when used by a qualified CSI.


What was that evidence? Where is it and who made the determination that it was not blood? Why did Deepak clean his car with bleach? Wouldn't there have been at least trace evidence containing Natalee's hair as it was long and blonde and everyone sheds hair all of the time. Why was there NO evidence of Natalee being in that car when even the three suspects admit that she was?



We have seen a picture from a video camera at the Casino that shows that possibly Paulus may have also been at that gaming table with Natalee and Joran. Was it Paulus and if it was, why did he lie about being there and seeing Natalee?


We know about the big lie that all three boys told and was Deepak's idea according to Joran and that Steve Croes (a supposed stranger to all three boys) substantiated, regarding two security guards and a drunk Natalee being dropped off at her hotel. Once that lie was exposed the story changed.


We know that the police searched for a pair of white shoes that Joran supposedly left behind on the beach. He admitted to having removed his shoes and leaving them there. Where are they? Joran claims that they were "old shoes" and that he didn't care about getting them back. Deepak states that they were only a month old and not old shoes.


We know that Joran spoke to Deepak via cell phone and that he messaged Deepak on his computer to say "Goodnight" after he supposedly left Natalee alone on the beach. Does a teenaged boy usually say "Goodnight" to his guy friend late at night after he's been with a girl?

Maybe only when he is trying to establish an alibi.

Deepak did not respond to Joran's message...where was he at that time? Was he asleep or back on the beach? There have been witnesses who saw the following:

• A body being removed from the trunk of a car and buried in the landfill.

• A witness spotted the boys standing beside their car and one of them ducked out of sight when he passed them by. That was near the pond area which was also drained and searched.

There have been other witnesses as well and none of them proved to be credible and as a matter of fact, one of them was Chief Dompig's brother-in-law who was a druggie and a beach bum who claimed that he sold Natalee drugs.


Dompig states that Natalee was not murdered and that she died of an OD or alcohol poisoning. He claimed that she was buried and than re-buried. Also, a faulty and unprovable account and outright ridiculous when you consider Dompig's history in this case and the fact that he went on a nationally broadcast television show and smirked his way through his story. Several other "Suspects" have been detained by the Aruban police and let go.


One was a boy called GVC and obviously his arrest was as a result of the fact that Dompig's son Michael was mad at him and ratted him out. The boy had a big mouth and bragged about his conquests but probably knew nothing about Natalee.


Guido Wever is a different case for me because he DID know Joran and they did play tennis together the day after Natalee went missing. He may have been told something about what happened and was in bad shape when he was arrested.


He also left Aruba for Holland soon after Natalee disappeared leaving his newly purchased car and his family behind.The rumor is that he actually wet himself when they picked him up for questioning. Guido is gay and they dismissed him as someone who would not have sexually assaulted Natalee or any other girl. Does that also mean that he could not have helped harm her or get rid of her? I guess that if you are gay you are not capable of participating in a crime where a female is concerned? More rumor and more speculation.


Steve Croes is the most interesting "suspect" of all after the three boys. He seems to appear almost everywhere and claims to have no knowledge of anything or anyone. He makes up lies and owns a boat and shows up all over the Island of Aruba at the oddest times. He poses for pictures with anyone who wants one and obviously considers himself some kind of celebrity.


What does Steve know and how involved is he with the disappearance of Natalee Holloway? I suspect (and it is ONLY a suspicion and NOT a fact), that Steve Croes knows a LOT. There is more..so much more that we have all heard, seen or read but none of it leads us to the answers we seek.


We are back to the beginning...Natalee met Joran, danced with Joran, drank alcohol and left a bar with Joran, Deepak and Satish. She was never seen alive again. The rumors could fill a book but the facts couldn't even fill a chapter because they are so sparse.



The family of Natalee Holloway obviously has more information than most of us do and Dave has written about what he knows. It still doesn't tell us exactly what happened to Natalee and where she is. Beth and Dave are still trying to get the truth out of a whole bunch of liars and that's the saddest part of this whole thing. They don't know what happened to their daughter and that not knowing is making this horrible situation even worse for them. They have pictures in their minds of Natalee being attacked, hurt, alone and frightened.


They have memories of a beautiful young girl in her prime that can no longer hug them or speak to them or run to them with exciting news of college days. They will not attend her wedding or hold her children...how much worse must this be for them not even knowing where she is or if she suffered? It's unimaginable and too painful to even contemplate. What we know is not enough to ease their pain and what we hear is not necessarily true or helpful to them.