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In yet the latest tale from the Dutch boy who can not tell the truth, Joran van der Sloot has another new/revised story to explain his role in the disappearance of American teenager Natalee Holloway. Reading like the headlines from some grocery store tabloid magazine, van der Sloot has proclaimed that he sold Natalee Holloway for $10,000. Few viewers of cable television will not know that Holloway disappeared on May 30, 2005, while on a high school graduation trip to Aruba. I was in Aruba shortly after her disappearance and, along with her mother Beth, retraced Natalee's last known steps on this earth.
On that fateful day, Natalee had been partying with the other 124 members of her high school graduation class. She and a number of her friends wound up at Carlos'n Charlie's, a well known watering hole in Aruba's capital city of Oranjestad. It was here that she talked to then 17-year-old van der Sloot and eventually left the bar to get into a car with him and local brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe and drove off to meet her destiny. When later questioned by authorities, the three young men said they dropped her off at her hotel, and denied knowing her ultimate fate. Local police, with the urging of Holloway's family and the US media, would later catch and release van der Sloot and the brothers Kalpoe multiple times, indicating each time that they did not have enough evidence to charge them, or the seven other persons eventually arrested, with a crime concerning the young American's disappearance.
Through the many versions of van der Sloot's story, the one thing apparent is that he has a hard time with the truth. Some would later call him a predator of young women, indicating that his father, a local lawyer and then a judge in training, would get him out of trouble when ever needed. While in Aruba investigating this story, I came to accept the theory that Natalee, already under the influence from her drinking activities that day, was probably slipped a date rape drug that further diminished her ability to refuse to accompany the three men she later rode off with that night. The theory continues that when one or more men attempted to force themselves on her, she resisted and the combination of alcohol, the date rape drug, her physical struggling and the actions of her assailant(s) caused her to pass out. She was then disposed of like some old shoe.
In January 2008, a Dutch investigative reporter went public with a secret video tape of van der Sloot, perhaps with his lips loosened by marijuana, telling a man he believed to be both an ex-con and friend, that he was on the beach with Natalee; she died, and he disposed of her body at sea. This is a likely scenario as many in Aruba are quick to point out where the sharks come to feed just off the island or, if her body floated away, the currents would carry it toward the Panama Canal. Again Natalee's body would sink or be eaten by sea life long before it could have been discovered in the belated search for her body by Dutch F-16 photo recon jets that later flew over the area in a public relations inspired search for her body. Authorities would seek to once again arrest van der Sloot and charge him with Natalee's suspected murder, this time based upon his videotaped statements and believed confession. A judge denied this arrest, stating that van der Sloot had told so many versions of his story that it was impossible to know which was true while van der Sloot, in his own defense, said it was the marijuana and not him talking. It appears, at least in Joran's case, that lies, and not the truth, will set you free…
Now van der Sloot has again implicated himself in Natalee's disappearance, once again on national TV, and without the marijuana cigarette in his hand on which to blame his recent tongue wagging. His latest "how I did it" version, one that apparently brought him financial gain from Fox TV, again places him and Natalee on the beach, but now he says he had spoken to an unknown man earlier that night who offered him $10,000 for a blond girl who, common sense would dictate, would likely then be forced into sex slavery. Joran stated he used his (cel) phone to confirm the human trafficking sale while in the car with the Kalpoes and Holloway.
The two brothers allegedly dropped Joran and Natalee at a local beach where he says they "made out" until the mystery man appeared in a boat at the water's edge. Joran turned Natalee over to him in exchange for a bag with $9,800, indicating the man inexplicitly kept $200 or more back for himself. Van der Sloot said she made some sound and then the boat, the man, and the 18-year-old American girl were gone, with Natalee eventually being taken to Venezuela to become a sex slave. The story continues, though, that the mystery man has subsequently given van der Sloot another $10,000 as hush money, that the Kalpoe brothers knew about Natalee's fate and each received $1,000 (of the original $10k) from Joran, and that Joran's father, a local Aruban attorney, and at least two police officers also had guilty knowledge of Natalee's fate. Joran goes on to say his father allegedly paid the two police officers $50,000 to keep the story to themselves, and offered, as proof, a tape recording on which he indicates he and his father discuss the case and the issue of human trafficking. This tape, of course, brought him money from the cable network. Not that the media pays for news, but only for "licensing fees."
This latest story, while appearing totally farfetched, begs further investigation such as: does van der Sloot's cel phone show him talking to the mystery man the night Natalee disappeared and if so, who is he; is there a cash trail for van der Sloot and the Kalpoe's that suggest their then infusion of cash; can the alleged cash transfer from Joran's father to the two police officers be verified; how did this mystery man know to contact Joran the very night he was with Natalee; why would he trust a 17-year-old whose father was a local official; could there be other similar cases and, if so, why were they not part of the initial investigation; how did the mystery man know how to contact Joran in Holland to send him the additional $10,000; can the second payment, allegedly by Western Union wire transfer, be verified and traced back to the sender, and so on and on.
When I watched his latest interview, Joran impressed me as someone making up the story as he went along. He had to think of answers he should have known outright, so I would not be quick to place too much trust in this new version of Natalee being sold into international sex slavery, a story originally offered up by TV's Dr. Phil when Natalee's mother Beth and I were on his show in November 2005. At that time Dr. Phil suggested his theory that Natalee was one of the suspected 1-to-4 million women and children a year traded, sold, tricked, or kidnapped into physical bondage and sexual slavery. See Van Zandt: Why some say Natalee may still be alive, at www.msnbc.msn.com./id/10086587/
Many point to a new undercover video tape of van der Sloot bragging to a man he apparently believes to be involved in sex slave trafficking that he (Joran) can get passports for girls and women from Thailand to facilitate their travel to Holland to work as dancers, when in reality van der Sloot allegedly wanted to sell them as prostitutes and sex slaves with him making $13,000 per "victim." It is activities like this that have convinced so many that Joran is a sexual predator, a pathological liar, and, perhaps, a murderer, but like O.J. Simpson, he simply cannot keep his mouth shut or keep a low profile and move on with his life. For some, once you get away with something you may feel beyond the law and above approach. As the Dutch reporter who made these two hidden videos of van der Sloot has said, "these pictures show how little respect this 21-year-old (Joran) has for the lives of others. The fact that he goes into the trafficking of women after the disappearance of Natalee is typical of him." What could also be typical would be Joran lying to Fox TV to get some money out of them. After all, he's told so many lies, how could one more present a problem for him?
Although Natalee's mother, father, Joran, and probably others have all written books concerning Natalee's disappearance, the final, true version of her believed last night on earth has yet to be told. Could Natalee actually be alive and help captive in some dank bordello in Hugo Chavez's Venezuela? We know that Dr. Phil (and the US Government) has checked out such stories concerning Natalee and American Amy Bradley (who disappeared from a cruise ship near Curacao, Antilles, in 1998 and was suspected of meeting a fate similar to Natalee's), to no avail. No matter, though, as there are still hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children who are sold into slavery every year who all need to be rescued from the living hell of a nightmare they find themselves in every day, one in which Joran van der Sloot apparently sees himself as a player and day trader.
The problem with this latest version of van der Sloot's story is that it's just too complicated and the timing is just too close to seem true. If Jordan thought he could scam Fox TV, I believe he'd do it at the drop of a hat, especially if he could take them for money along the way. And should Fox or anyone else have tape recordings, videos, or other evidence for months that appear support this latest wild story, they should have immediately given all of this information to the FBI and the Aruban authorities to corroborate and not tried to use such information to raise the ratings of their TV show. Meanwhile van der Sloot has renounced this latest story, indicating that once again he was lying. The true story of Natalee Holloway needs to be finally told, those involved in her disappearance finally held responsible, and just like the pirates off the coast of Somalia, there needs to be a continued and ongoing international action against those who traffic in human misery. It's the least we can do and still call ourselves "civilized humans," a title that currently seems totally inappropriate for Joran van der Sloot.
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