Portrait of a Monster: Joran Van Der Sloot, a Murder in Peru, and the Natalee Holloway Mystery by Lisa Pulitzer, Cole Thompson Page A
Authors: Lisa Pulitzer, Cole Thompson
couldn’t get anybody on the line who seemed to be in a position to help. It was Memorial Day weekend and all the agents were home celebrating with their families. Beth’s cell phone continued to ring with calls from the Mountain Brook students relating what little information they had.
One of them was Jug’s nephew, Thomas, also a senior at Mountain Brook and on the class trip. He had actually seen the guy who had left with Natalee from Carlos’n Charlie’s. He shared a poker table with him at the Excelsior Casino during the trip. The young man told Thomas he was from Holland and staying at the Holiday Inn. Thomas also remembered his first name. “It’s Gerran or Juran or something like that. I don’t think he would hurt Natalee. He seemed like a regular guy, like me.”
* * *
The private jet carrying Beth and Jug Twitty hit the tarmac of Aruba’s Queen Beatrix International Airport at 10:00 P.M. on Monday, May 31. Also on board were Madison Whatley’s father, Matt, and Ruffner Page Jr., the owner of the jet. Ruffner’s daughter had also been on the trip. Beth’s friend, Jodi Bearman, the travel agent who had booked the travel for all 124 students and seven chaperones, was also on the flight.
Ruffner had arranged for private handlers to meet the party at the airstrip to assist with customs, ground transportation, and anything else they might need. The two local men were waiting at the airport as promised, and quickly ushered everyone into a white van.
The group’s first stop was the Holiday Inn SunSpree Resort, where Natalee and her friends had spent their holiday. Hurrying into the hotel lobby, the Twittys spotted Paul Lilly, the Mountain Brook chaperone who had stayed behind in case Natalee returned to the hotel. He was seated uncomfortably on a wicker couch to the left of the reception desk talking with a dark-skinned American man.
Amid a lobby abuzz with laughing tourists sipping piña coladas, the grim-faced gym teacher looked Beth straight in the eyes and sadly shook his head. The look said it all. He had no news about Natalee. Striding over, Beth immediately noticed her daughter’s purple duffel bag on the table next to him.
Seeing the bag, Beth’s mind flashed back to Thursday morning when Natalee had carried it out of the house just after 3:00 A.M. to catch her flight. She had been so excited. The farthest from home Natalee had been before the Aruban adventure was to Austria with her mother. But this would be her first time out of the country without a parent to accompany her. Natalee’s mother had set aside money so that her daughter could attend. She felt Natalee had worked hard in school and deserved the trip.
Her stepson, George, had gone on the senior trip to Aruba two years earlier. Natalee’s stepcousins, twins named Thomas and Hunter, were joining her on this celebratory Caribbean getaway.
In the weeks leading up to the trip, Beth had attended meetings at which the role of the chaperones had been discussed. She’d even sat her daughter down and warned her to be careful, that there were predators out there, men who might try to pick her up or try to slip drugs into her drink.
With 124 students going on the trip, Beth had assumed there would be safety in numbers. Now standing in the lobby of the Holiday Inn, she realized she’d been wrong. Natalee was out there somewhere, alone and frightened, or worse.
The Mountain Brook chaperone explained that earlier in the day he’d reported her daughter’s disappearance to members of the Visibility Team, who were stationed at various locations around the resort.
Judging by their official-looking uniforms, he assumed he was dealing with law enforcement. For years, drug dealing and petty crime plagued the tourist zones, threatening the tranquil image of “One Happy Island” promoted by the tourism industry. In response, with funding from the private sector, a high-profile Visibility Team was created in 2002 to patrol the
One of them was Jug’s nephew, Thomas, also a senior at Mountain Brook and on the class trip. He had actually seen the guy who had left with Natalee from Carlos’n Charlie’s. He shared a poker table with him at the Excelsior Casino during the trip. The young man told Thomas he was from Holland and staying at the Holiday Inn. Thomas also remembered his first name. “It’s Gerran or Juran or something like that. I don’t think he would hurt Natalee. He seemed like a regular guy, like me.”
* * *
The private jet carrying Beth and Jug Twitty hit the tarmac of Aruba’s Queen Beatrix International Airport at 10:00 P.M. on Monday, May 31. Also on board were Madison Whatley’s father, Matt, and Ruffner Page Jr., the owner of the jet. Ruffner’s daughter had also been on the trip. Beth’s friend, Jodi Bearman, the travel agent who had booked the travel for all 124 students and seven chaperones, was also on the flight.
Ruffner had arranged for private handlers to meet the party at the airstrip to assist with customs, ground transportation, and anything else they might need. The two local men were waiting at the airport as promised, and quickly ushered everyone into a white van.
The group’s first stop was the Holiday Inn SunSpree Resort, where Natalee and her friends had spent their holiday. Hurrying into the hotel lobby, the Twittys spotted Paul Lilly, the Mountain Brook chaperone who had stayed behind in case Natalee returned to the hotel. He was seated uncomfortably on a wicker couch to the left of the reception desk talking with a dark-skinned American man.
Amid a lobby abuzz with laughing tourists sipping piña coladas, the grim-faced gym teacher looked Beth straight in the eyes and sadly shook his head. The look said it all. He had no news about Natalee. Striding over, Beth immediately noticed her daughter’s purple duffel bag on the table next to him.
Seeing the bag, Beth’s mind flashed back to Thursday morning when Natalee had carried it out of the house just after 3:00 A.M. to catch her flight. She had been so excited. The farthest from home Natalee had been before the Aruban adventure was to Austria with her mother. But this would be her first time out of the country without a parent to accompany her. Natalee’s mother had set aside money so that her daughter could attend. She felt Natalee had worked hard in school and deserved the trip.
Her stepson, George, had gone on the senior trip to Aruba two years earlier. Natalee’s stepcousins, twins named Thomas and Hunter, were joining her on this celebratory Caribbean getaway.
In the weeks leading up to the trip, Beth had attended meetings at which the role of the chaperones had been discussed. She’d even sat her daughter down and warned her to be careful, that there were predators out there, men who might try to pick her up or try to slip drugs into her drink.
With 124 students going on the trip, Beth had assumed there would be safety in numbers. Now standing in the lobby of the Holiday Inn, she realized she’d been wrong. Natalee was out there somewhere, alone and frightened, or worse.
The Mountain Brook chaperone explained that earlier in the day he’d reported her daughter’s disappearance to members of the Visibility Team, who were stationed at various locations around the resort.
Judging by their official-looking uniforms, he assumed he was dealing with law enforcement. For years, drug dealing and petty crime plagued the tourist zones, threatening the tranquil image of “One Happy Island” promoted by the tourism industry. In response, with funding from the private sector, a high-profile Visibility Team was created in 2002 to patrol the
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