Brothers Re-Arrested in Holloway Case
Aug. 26, 2005 — -- Two brothers previously detained in the disappearance of missing student Natalee Holloway have been arrested on the suspicion of rape and murder in the case. Another man has also been arrested in connection with the case.
Deepak Kalpoe, a 21-year-old Suriname national, his 18-year-old brother, Satish, and another man whose name has not been released have been arrested by Aruban authorities and are being turned over to Dutch investigators for questioning, Dave Holloway, Natalee's father, told ABC News this morning. Aruban authorities later confirmed the arrests as the men appeared in Aruban court today.
The brothers, Aruban prosecutors said in a statement, and "other people" were arrested after authoritiesuncovered "new facts and circumstances," in the investigation. Prosecutors said "there had to be new facts andcircumstances" to lead to the arrests.
Dave Holloway said an FBI official close to the investigation called him and informed him of the arrests today. The Kalpoe brothers and the third person of interest will be questioned, but they have not been charged.
"I think the authorities, as time went on, developed some information that they could re-arrest these guys," Dave Holloway said.
The Kalpoes and 18-year-old Joran van der Sloot were the last people seen with Natalee as the four left a nightclub on May 30 -- the night the 18-year-old Alabama student disappeared at the end of a high school graduation trip to the Dutch Caribbean island.
The young men were arrested June 9, but the Kalpoe brothers were later released after a judge ruled there was not enough evidence to hold them. Van der Sloot was the only person held in custody in the case, until today, and no one has been formally charged.
Van der Sloot Scheduled for September Release
An Aruban judge is scheduled to hold a hearing on Sept. 4 to determine if there is enough evidence to continue holding van der Sloot. Dave Holloway said the arrests of the Kalpoes make him optimistic that authorities will keep van der Sloot in custody.
"The re-arrests give me hope that Dutch authorities will get to the bottom of this," he said. "The first interrogators were able to get this far, but I'm confident that they'll also keep Joran van der Sloot in custody after Sept. 4."
The re-arrests come weeks after Deepak Kalpoe filed a complaint with police against Beth Holloway Twitty, Natalee's mother, and asked that she stay away from him. Holloway Twitty has repeatedly said she believes the three young men were involved in Natalee's disappearance. They have denied the allegations.
Holloway Twitty said she is encouraged by the arrests and believes the Kalpoe brothers initially should have been arrested shortly after Natalee was reported missing and should not have been released back in July.
"We felt early on, as early as May 31, that these boys should have been arrested then on that day," she said. "We have hung on to this possibility [the re-arrests] since July 4."
ABC News Radio and ABCNEWS.com's Bryan Robinson contributed to this report.