New Arrests in Disappearance of Alabama Teen
ORANJESTAD, Aruba, June 9, 2005 — -- Three men Aruban authorities initially questioned and referred to as "persons of interest" in the disappearance of an Alabama high school graduate who vanished while vacationing in Aruba have reportedly been arrested.
According to reports, Aruban police have arrested the three men -- whose names have not been released --in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway and are searching their homes. Holloway 18, was last seen May 30 while on a five-day trip to the Dutch Caribbean island with classmates celebrating their high school graduation.
Last week, police said they questioned and then released the three men, who told them they took Holloway to a beach and then dropped her off at her hotel the night she vanished. The Aruba attorney general's office said at the time the three were considered witnesses and not suspects.
Holloway was seen eating and dancing at Carlos' n Charlie's bar and restaurant the night she disappeared. Holloway never showed up for her flight the next morning, and police found her passport and packed bags in her hotel room.
The potential new development comes the day after a judge ruled that Aruban authorities could continue to hold two former hotel security guards, Nick John and Abraham Jones, in connection with Holloway's disappearance while investigators search for the teen. Neither John nor Jones has been formally charged, and their relatives have insisted the men were not involved in Holloway's disappearance.
The Aruba government and local tourism organizations have offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to Holloway's whereabouts. Holloway's family and benefactors in Alabama have offered an additional $30,000, and Carlos' n Charlie's donated another $5,000 for information leading to the teen's return.
Reported by ABC News' Deborah Roberts in Aruba.
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