Good Morning America
October 2, 2007
Chris Cuomo:
… especially for her mother Beth, it was the beginning of a
desperate search for a beloved daughter.
(play video of
Natalee in the backseat of the car)
This is a story that is hard to forget; a beautiful, vivacious Alabama teenager
Natalee Holloway, seen here as a child in exclusive new video.
Vanished from the idyllic island of Aruba the night of May
29, 2005. She'd been at this Carlos & Charlie's bar with friends but
was later seen getting into a car with 3 boys, never to be heard from again.
( play video of Jug and Beth holding up Natalee's
picture in Aruba)
Desperate for clues, family and friends flew to Aruba and scoured the island
battling the authorities for answers. Police later arrested 3 suspects, Joran
van der Sloot, Satish Kalpoe and Deepak Kalpoe. They all gave conflicting
accounts of what happened and were never charged with anything. Many believe,
Joran van der Sloot who always maintained his innocence, is at the centre of
this mystery.
We were the first to get van der Sloot to explain his actions that night.
(play video of Cuomo and Joran interview in New York)
But his initial lies to prosecutors about the last time he saw Natalee have
kept him in the spotlight. He said he dropped her off at her hotel but he later
admitted he left her on the beach. At the time, we pressed the 19 year old.
(play video of Joran and Cuomo interview)
Police never developed enough evidence to charge anyone. Van der Sloot is back
in Holland. Deepak and Satish Kalpoe are in Aruba, with the disappearance of
Natalee Holloway remaining a mystery.
Beth Holloway has written a book about the love and faith that systained her
during her search for her daughter and to this day.
"Loving Natalee: A Mother's Testament of Hope and
Faith" The true story of the Aruba kidnapping and its aftermath.
She joins us now with more on her daughter's case and life since. Let me ask
you, how are you doing?
Beth: Well I am doing great now,
I am Chris, thank you for asking. I'm doing really good.
Chris: When we look at the video, Natalee was 18
years old, a young woman going on with her life but for you, always your baby,
always remembering those first moments with her right?
Beth: Oh right, I mean as parents they will always
be our children, absolutely, and you know, it's been a long journey. I just
can't believe it's been over two years, but you know time is healing and I
think I'm getting to a good place, a good point in my life.
Chris: And while time does, just by the nature of it,
it creates distance you've stayed close to this situation. Last weekend you
went back to Aruba; you're still looking at things. What did you discover when
you went back down there?
Beth: I think the most important thing I discovered
when I returned to the island is things are pretty much the same and when I say
that, my hopes are that, you know the, my hopes are that things would change as
far as being able to, you know, you know even to find the correct police
officials on the island of Aruba.
You know it concerns me, you know, we had difficulty locating them early on in
Natalee's disappearance and what concerned me over the weekend, I was even in a
police station, Noord police station in Aruba and couldn't even find a police
official and that's a concern of mine.
Now I think that travelers, you know if they find themselves in a crisis
situation and you need to, especially if you go to a police station you expect
there to be someone there who can assist you.
Chris: Do you believe that with time the urgency has
faded on this investigation for them?
Beth: Ummm, absolutely! I think that it's certainly
not in the forefront anymore. I think that primarily her case is being handled
by the Dutch investigators in The Netherlands.
Chris: In California though, you have a Judge who
ordered two suspects, two of the suspects in the case, the two Kalpoe brothers
to turn over certain communications. What's the hope there? What might be
there?
Beth: You know there was a lot of e-mailing and text
messaging and phone calls, cell phone calls being placed during those early
morning hours that Natalee was with them or had been with them and I think what
they're wanting to do is just, you know, see what the communication was, see
what the timeline was, see who all the persons were that these 3 suspects
reached out to that night and you know, there's no telling what else could be
uncovered; we've never had access to any of this, forensics evidence that
they've collected.
Chris: And to be fair, a lot of it has never come out
at all, the idea of proof in this situation of what
police may or may not believe. At this point, do you think you would ever
accept an explanation for this disappearance that does not involved those
brothers, that
does not involved Joran van der Sloot?
Beth: Well I think we've all tried
really hard to look outside of the circle of the 3 suspects. I think there have
been possibly 11 including them, maybe 12 persons that have been arrested,
questioned and released but it always goes back to the 3 primary suspects who
Natalee was last seen with. So roads always leads back
to them, even though we tried.
Chris: You keep looking, the search is there, it's a
journey for facts but also for healing and moving on; tremendous personal toll,
took a toll on your marriage but now as part of your rebirth with this, you're
dating a man who may be uniquely qualified to share in this journey: the father
of JonBenet Ramsey
Beth: Yes, John Ramsey and I, yes we're dating and
it's been a great relationship to support each other and have an understanding
and as you said, we have somewhat similar experiences and yes, it's been very
good and I enjoy his company.
Chris: Well it's good to see you; we're going to talk
more about the book. We're going to talk tomorrow, Beth and I,
about the faith that sustained her as she faced the loss of her daughter and we
will get a rare look at Natalee's journal entries, all from the perspective of
Beth, her mother.
You can find an excerpt from Beth Holloway's book: Loving Natalee at ABC
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