O Natalee, where art thou? Whatever.
Two and a half years ago I cared a lot. Now, while I hope she's at peace and in a better place, I'm tired of the whole damn mess.
When Natalee Holloway went missing in Aruba on May 30, 2005, I have to admit I was fascinated by the case. Maybe it's because I have a beautiful young daughter of my own and could relate to what her parents were going through.
I found myself watching FOX News that was all over this story like white on rice. I even started to like Greta Van Susteren of On the Record as she and Beth Holloway Twitty, Natalee's mother, went roaming through Aruba looking for clues as to where Natalee was. I was hooked.
In the beginning I wondered what happened to Natalee after she left Carlos 'n Charlie's and if Joran van der Sloot actually killed her.
And what did those two Kalpoe brothers really know and why were all three arrested, then released and then rearrested over and over again?
Move ahead two and a half years. Now I don't care.
Shortly before Thanksgiving, Natalee was in the news again with those three young guys being arrested again. At the time of this writing, nothing new has been reported, but the new chief prosecutor in Aruba states he has new evidence. He's just not sharing it yet.
Something tells me it's probably not anything new, just a rehash of the same old stuff. The truth is they have until the end of the year to try and crack the case. After that, according to Dutch law, it goes cold.
Reality is there's nothing left to crack. Let's move on. Here's probably what happened.
Natalee had been drinking all day and ran into this Joran kid at Carlos 'n Charlie's. He picked her up. Maybe he gave her some drugs to go along with the alcohol.
Joran took her to the beech, no doubt had sex with her — then something happened to Natalee. I'm guessing she died from an overdose of alcohol or drugs or both.
Panicked, Joran called his pals, the Kalpoe brothers. He also probably got his father, who's a judge in Aruba, involved. More than likely they got a boat and one of them took poor Natalee out to sea. All four have been lying ever since.
The Aruba investigators have blown this case right from the beginning and will continue to blow it. After two and a half years, it's a little late to suddenly be on the ball.
I don't mean to sound cold and heartless, but enough. Case closed.
To be honest, maybe my attitude change has something to do with Natalee's mother.
At first I admired Beth Holloway Twitty as a grieving mother doing all she could do to find her daughter. She had great strength and courage. Now she's just trying to sell books.
In early October she released Loving Natalee: a Mother's Testament of Hope and Faith. She made the rounds of all the talk shows. I understand that. What I don't understand is her going back to Aruba with Greta Van Susteren.
Along with the timing of her October book release, Twitty and Van Susteren of FOX's On the Record "retraced" their steps in Aruba — sort of going down memory lane. They visited the police station, the bench, Carlos 'n Charlie's — everywhere they had been in June 2005 after Natalee went missing.
Throughout this reenactment, Twitty talked about her book and how important it was for other parents to read it so the same thing wouldn't happen to one of their children.
How phony and what bullshit.
This wasn't about Natalee or any other child. This was about that sales ranking on Amazon.com. It's all about the money now, and Beth Holloway Twitty no longer rings true.
She has also dropped the Twitty part from her last name. She has divorced her second husband and is now dating John Ramsey — you know, the father of 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey who was beaten and strangled to death back in December 1996, another case that has gone unsolved.
It's not my place to pass judgment on this as they both share the tragedy of losing a child but I don't want to know about this relationship or read about it. Somehow it rubs me the wrong way. I can't help but wonder: What would Natalee think?
Time has a way of changing things. Two and a half years ago the story of Natalee Holloway was tragic and touching. Now I find it irritating and annoying. It's gone on much too long.
Goodbye, Natalee. For me, it's time to get out of Aruba.
