What Answers Does Aruba Have for Natalee Holloway's Disappearance?

When Natalee Holloway disappeared May 30, 2005 in Aruba, she joined the short list of tourists that have disappeared in the Caribbean.

What is the landscape, both physical and legal and economic, that might provide some answers to the Holloway mystery?

Despite an extensive search over Aruba's rocky and desert like surface no trace of Holloway, 18, of Mountain Brook, Alabama, has been found.

Three men were taken into custody in 2005, Joran van der Sloot, 20, and brothers Deepak, 24, and Satish, 21, but were released due to lack of evidence.

Recently, all three were arrested again do to "new incriminating evidence", according to the official statement released by Hans Mos, chief prosecutor in Aruba.

Holloway disappeared just hours before she was scheduled to return to Alabama from a class trip.

In previous testimony van der Sloot has admitted to first dropping Holloway off in the "high rise" section of the island, at the Holiday Inn, then later saying he was alone with her further up the strip at the Marriott.

Aruba is a small and rocky island. It measures 20 miles by 5 miles. A road encircles the southern and western parts of the island, and several roads cross the island west to east and north to south. The main, basically coastal highway and the streets in town are paved and multi-lane, while inland the roads degrade to narrower and rougher routes. Finally, in the "outback" in Aruba's northern and eastern half the roads breakdown to rocky trails suitable for four wheel drive vehicles or foot travel.

Virtually every part of Aruba, however, is accessible -- and rocky-- leaving very few places on island to hide anything, much less a body. Digging is impossible down to a depth to hide a body, and covering the remains with rocks would be too chancy a thing to do, knowing that determined animals, including search dogs, could eventually get access to it, or seek it out by smell.

The coast, though, is mostly unguarded at night, making disposal of the body in the sea, the mostly likely scenerio.

If Holloway did die in or around the Marriott Hotel, she could have been taken a little further up the coast to a more deserted beach, Palm Beach or Hadicuraari, and her body taken away there. It's doubtful that she was removed anywhere close to the Marriott or any other hotel, as there is constant hotel security up and down the "board walk" that connects all the hotels in the "high rise" section. To transport her the other way, south and towards the capital, Oranjestad, would be very difficult too, as they would have to pass the "low rise" hotels and then drive a full mile or so back into Oranjestad, where boats are docked. Even if hidden in a car, the body would have to be transported in a public area to a docked boat in the harbor.

What role, if any, could the Dutch legal system have contributed to the mystery of the Holloway disappearance?

Aruba is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is run by parliamentary democracy, and has a legal system based on Dutch law. There is an executive, legislative and judicial branch to the government. The Kingdom's representative in Aruba is the Governor General, appointed for a six year term by the monarch of the Netherlands. There is a Council of Ministers, elected by Arubian people, and the head of government is the Prime Minister, also elected by the Arubian people.

There are many political parties in Aruba, and the 21 seats of the legislative branch representatives are held by the various parties.

Judges making up the judicial branch are appointed in the Netherlands by the monarch.

It is well known that Paulus van der Sloot, Joran van der Sloot's father, was a judge in training, and was studying for a full time position in the judiciary of Aruba. He was arrested for suspicion of conspiring in relation to his son's alleged crime. He took legal action against the Arubian government and is no longer considered a suspect. Though he has not become a judge, he is still an employee of the Aurbian government.

Though there may seem to be some conflicts and some questions as to how hard the Arubian government might be trying to solve the Holloway disappearance, it is not likely that the country would risk its law and order reputation (and the potential for millions in losses in tourist dollars) by not trying to fully investigate the Holloway situation. The government even involved the FBI in its investigation, a highly unusual move for a country dealing with an alleged local crime.

The recent new evidence that has surfaced, which is not known in detail at this time, has caused a new search to begin for evidence in very deep waters off of Aruba. Previously the searches were carried out to depths of over 300 feet, with out results. Experts are questioning whether anything viable may be found after this time, due to underwater currents and the effect of any bodily tissue exposure to salt water.

Aruba is a country that is highly dependent on tourism for foreign exchange and for its relatively high standard of living for its populace. Other industry and services are evident in Aruba, but the island has been constructing itself as a mass market tourist destination for the last 35 years. Aruba has been extremely successful in this regard, and has suffered only a minor set back due to the Holloway case.

Many thousands of visitors arrive in Aruba each year, and percentages of those coming from the United States continues to grow over 2006, despite some efforts at boycotting the destination.

It is clear that Natalee Holloway did disappear on the night of May 30, 2005, and that that foul play may have been involved, as opposed to an accident of drowning or other mishap. The actual landscape of the island, along with its political and economic contours, seem to promise a truthful investigation and an eventual result. To achieve less seems to go against previous actions and would be considered an act of national suicide, where image --especially safety-- means all to the vacation visitor.

Yet Natalee Holloway vanished without a trace over two years ago in a place that most describe as paradise.