Question about missing Aruba girl

[sweet angel]

This may be stupid, ignorant or what have you, but what is it about this girl that makes her garner more search results than others? I just saw that the Navy is involved in looking for her now.

Who are her parents and who do they know to get this kind of help?

 

[ktink]

I'm not sure about this either. I wonder if it's because of Aruba's supposed to be so safe. While I do feel sorry for this family and pray for the mother's sake that they can find a body, it makes me wonder why this case is so explosive. To me the Idaho family is just as tragic and there's not nearly as much coverage. And what about all of those families that don't recieve any coverage. I'm glad that they are able to get so much coverage but I wish other less fortunate families would be provided with the same.

 

[inaminute]

I was wondering the same thing.

I can't help but think that had the national press been all over the story of Shasta and Dylan Groene, that they might have been found more quickly and little Dylan might still be alive.

Natalie Holloway has been missing for a little over a month. These kids were gone for what? Six weeks? That's only two weeks difference, but we heard virtually nothing about those poor babies (And, yes. I consider them babies at 8 and 9 years old). We haven't had a day without Natalie in the news since she went missing.

What is up with that?

 

[Ariel Wanna-be]

There was another thread awhile back about this. I believe the consensus was that it was several factors:

1) female
2) young
3) white
4) attractive
5) affluent

 

[SillyMe]

Maybe it's possible that the Navy is getting involved now because it seems Aruba has virtually given up. I read an article that alot of the Arubans are blasting Natalee's mom now because she said she feels as though they aren't trying hard enough. They're coming down on her now because they're afraid she has tarnished the island's reputation by the statements she has made. They have released everyone except the Vandersloot kid. I imagine he'll be set free soon, too.

It's a possibility that Natalee's mother is pushing for the media attention. Maybe she's trying to get the story out there as much as possible.

 

[Pugdog007]

It's a possibility that Natalee's mother is pushing for the media attention. Maybe she's trying to get the story out there as much as possible.

This and Southerners take care of their own. There have been numerous campaigns here locally for us to call, email or fax our local and state govt, as well as the Dutch Consulate to ask for resources to help in the search.

Remember that Birmingham voted 2 locals into the top 2 of American Idol. When we care about something, we're persistent and we're loud.

God Bless Natalee and her family.

 

[TDC Nala]

The child abduction was probably a major story locally, especially since it was accompanied by murders. And we did hear about it way out here in Virginia, and see photos of the kids, just not constantly. There are so many missing children that if wall to wall coverage were devoted to all the cases, there wouldn't be room for anything else.

Aruba is a foreign country that has very little crime and is visited by lots of tourists from all over the US. That a young woman could just disappear there while on her vacation is unheard of and is the sort of story that grabs the attention of the national media.

 

[sweet angel]

I'm not so much questioning the media aspect of the case. There are a lot of missing persons cases that get a ton of media attention. What I'm questioning is the seemingly endless resources being tapped to find her....Navy, etc. I mean, I could understand police divers being used, but THE NAVY????

I do hope they find her so her family can have closure, but I wonder how they have the clout or connections to get so many organizations interested.

 

[TNMom]

I don't know why this incident is getting so much coverage from the news media when other cases just as serious and tragic don't. What I do know is that if my child, loved one, or friend were missing, I'd want it to be in the news just as much or more than the Natalee Holloway case.

 

[christineann]

ditto, TNMom. If Natelee were my child, I'd be VERY vocal.

I think another reason the Holloway case is getting so much attention is that the investigation appears to have been botched from day one. An immediate search of the car Natalee was in could have yielded valuable evidence or it could have indicated that the Kalpoe brothers and Van der Sloot might not be involved in a crime at all. Instead, it was not even examined for ten days. The Jon Benet Ramsey and OJ cases have received a lot of attention in the USA for evidence gathered and evidence that was supposedly contaminated. It's still hard to believe that the Ramsey case remains unsolved and that the OJ trial turned out the way it did, and there is still press about both.

 

[sweet angel]

Again, I'm not questioning the media coverage. If it was my daughter, you can bet your bippy I'd be out talking to anyone who would listen.

I'm amazed at the resources this family seems to have. A quick search of the web showed me that they've had the following assisting in the search:

From Holland - 3 F-16 warplanes
From Texas - special search team (EquuSearch)
Dutch Marines
Aruba police (well, yeah, I'd hope so)
and now they're trying to get a Naval Special Clearing Team

There's also a trust fund set up in her name already, and "Hope" bracelets.

Are these resources available for everyone that has a missing family member? And, if not, why are they available to her family?

 

[SillyMe]

Again, I'm not questioning the media coverage. If it was my daughter, you can bet your bippy I'd be out talking to anyone who would listen.

I'm amazed at the resources this family seems to have. A quick search of the web showed me that they've had the following assisting in the search:

From Holland - 3 F-16 warplanes
From Texas - special search team (EquuSearch)
Dutch Marines
Aruba police (well, yeah, I'd hope so)
and now they're trying to get a Naval Special Clearing Team

There's also a trust fund set up in her name already, and "Hope" bracelets.

Are these resources available for everyone that has a missing family member? And, if not, why are they available to her family?

Possibly because everyone feels that the Aruba police are not doing their job. Possibly because they feel she might be alive and have been sold for prostitution or slavery. As far as what I've read, there was a dive team called in there, but they were never told to actually get in the water and search for her.

 

[DawnCt1]

This and Southerners take care of their own. There have been numerous campaigns here locally for us to call, email or fax our local and state govt, as well as the Dutch Consulate to ask for resources to help in the search.

Remember that Birmingham voted 2 locals into the top 2 of American Idol. When we care about something, we're persistent and we're loud.

God Bless Natalee and her family.

And its effective! The Aruban police handled the investigation initially, like the Keystone Cops. If the mom wasn't so persistant it would have faded into the background as "just another wild tourist". The Aruban government is concerned about tourist dollars because they need to be. There is a perception of safety in Aruba and there is the reality. They don't want the rest of the world to see the reality. Thank you Natalee's mom for alerting any parent that would consider the Carribean a safe destination for their daugther to think twice.

 

[Joan Rivers]

Let me get away from my WPASADI challenge for a few minutes to say that I wish the parents all of the luck in finding their daughter. I wish all cases got the media attention they deserve.

 

[TNMom]

Are these resources available for everyone that has a missing family member? And, if not, why are they available to her family?

My grandmother always said "Where there is a will there is a way". I would never give up. I would tell anyone who would listen, call everyone I know, and implore them to do the same. Maybe they are "connected" because they are working non-stop to make the connections. For no apparent reason other than the fact I have a daughter and two sons, I am taking this very personally. When Beth Twitty says "Natalee is everyone's daughter", that's just how I feel. May God bless Natalee's family and may those responsible for her disappearance be put in prison for the rest of their lives.

 

[SillyMe]

I just read the article you're referring to about the Navy dive team searching for her. Apparently the Prime Minister of Aruba asked them to look for her because they were pressured by the US (Alabama) to allow the FBI to help with the case.

Nothing Aruba has done so far in this case makes any sense at all to me. I smell a major cover up. Either that or they really don't know how to conduct investigations, which I find hard to believe. I'm beginning to wonder if it's all just to divert the attention away from somewhere else.

 

[sweet angel]

Grrrrr. I - AM - NOT - DEBATING - THE - AMOUNT - OF - MEDIA - COVERAGE.

My question, once again, is: How/why are all these RESOURCES being used for her, and not for EVERY OTHER missing person? Is it a money issue? Family connections? Also, I am not begrudging them any resources they are using...simply wondering how it is that THEY have access to them and the average, every day missing person's family doesn't.

Thank you, though, to the few people who addressed my question.

And for the record, I have a son and I would be doing everything possible to find him as well, but I can't imagine the Navy would be offering their help to me.

ETA: SillyMe, you snuck your post in before mine!

 

[Kitty 34]

There is a little 7 year old boy missing for six days in the Lansing area. They have volunteer search teams out all over the place and a lot of local news coverage but I have seen NOTHING on the networks about this little boy.

 

[DawnCt1]

Grrrrr. I - AM - NOT - DEBATING - THE - AMOUNT - OF - MEDIA - COVERAGE.

My question, once again, is: How/why are all these RESOURCES being used for her, and not for EVERY OTHER missing person? Is it a money issue? Family connections? Also, I am not begrudging them any resources they are using...simply wondering how it is that THEY have access to them and the average, every day missing person's family doesn't.

Thank you, though, to the few people who addressed my question.

And for the record, I have a son and I would be doing everything possible to find him as well, but I can't imagine the Navy would be offering their help to me.

ETA: SillyMe, you snuck your post in before mine!

It's a "money issue" for the Aruban government. They bungled the initial investigation and its a country that survives on tourist dollars. In the tourism industry, "perception is reality". They keep their economy afloat by enticing tourists to their "safe, friendly island". If they don't go to the limit searching for a missing tourist, then people think twice about sending their kids on a class trip or going themselves. I think that they thought they coul sweep this under the rug. Unfortunately for them, they had to deal with a tenacious, loving mother who says; as another poster says. "Where there's a will, there's a way".

 

[Bonnie40]

I think Ariel-wanna-be is right in her post...it's a sad commentary on our society when only a small percentage of missing persons garner this kind of attention...