Mystery in the Tropics
Two of the suspects in the Holloway disappearance ordered released.
Nov. 30, 2007 — -- Two of the three suspects in the disappearance of an Alabama teenager in Aruba were ordered released Friday.
A judge Friday afternoon ordered brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe, who had been detained by authorities in Aruba since their rearrest last week, released. The prosecutor's office said they would be freed by Saturday afternoon. Prosecutors have three days to appeal the judge's order.
The third, and chief, suspect in the 2005 disappearance of Natalee Holloway, Joran van der Sloot, is being detained until early next month on the basis of what prosecutors called "new evidence." Defense attorneys have said that the new evidence appears to be wiretapped conversations between the three men.
A judge ruled earlier this week that police can continue to detain Van der Sloot, who flew in from the Netherlands this weekend, until Dec. 7.
The three friends are believed to be the last people to see Holloway alive. Her body has never been found.
A friend of Holloway's mother, Beth Twitty, told ABC News that Twitty was "upset and disappointed" by the Kalpoe brothers' release.
The men were last held as suspects two years ago, but they were released after a judge ruled there was not enough evidence to indict them in Holloway's disappearance.
Without confirming the type of new evidence, Hans Mos, one of the prosecutors, said it is compelling. "We are convinced if we had had this evidence we have now, they would not have been released by the court at that time."
The defense attorneys, David Kock and Ronald Wis, said the new evidence is based on wiretaps.
Prosecutor Dop Kruimel told The Associated Press that they were looking into phone calls but would not say whether they were the basis for the new round of arrests.
"It's part of the investigation," he said. "We do everything we can to see what happened."
Former Aruban prosecutor Helen Lejuez believes if the wiretap report is true, the suspects may have assumed they were no longer being wiretapped.
"It's a long time ago, and people get relaxed and maybe start talking — things they haven't said before, and prosecutors and police are sharp listeners," said Lejuez, who is now an attorney working for the Holloway's mother, Beth Twitty.
Meanwhile, prosecutors now insist they can prove that Holloway is dead.
"There's no doubt in my mind that she's dead. … I think we have enough evidence to prove the girl is not alive anymore, even without a body," Mos told CNN.
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