Kevin Wayne Williams wrote:
> John W. wrote:
> > declan_murphy@hotmail.com wrote:
> >
> >
> >>I luv Japan. Half-million plus googlits and I'd never heard the story
> >>until now.
> >
> >
> > The state of Alabama is asking for a US travel boycott to Aruba. The
> > investigation was fairly sloppy.
>
> Only the Dr. Phil version. Real-life, the island was scoured by
> professionals and volunteers. They closed the government for two days so
> that every member of staff could search for traces of the girl. They
> brought over the Dutch Air Force to do reconnaisance, detailed
> photographic surveys, and assist in the investigation. They  imprisoned
> the son of a judge for 6 damn months with charges or bail trying to get
> him to break. Round-the-clock police investigation for months. They
> endured continuous insults from Larry King and Dr. Phil (who now claims
> that he has evidence that Natalee is a white slave in a brothel on an
> island with no shortage of volunteers to perform such duties, and
> probably no brothel unvisited by cops).
>
But it took them two months to search a very obvious lake near the
suspected murder scene, and a similar period of time to search the
garbage dump. I don't agree with all the criticism, what little I've
seen, and I trust Dr. Phil's opinion about as much as a drunk crack
whore. But in most situations in the US you search the garbage dump and
the lake whether or not a lead points you in that direction or not.

> Sometimes, a case goes unsolved. A small country of 90,000 broke itself
> trying to find a teenage girl that left a bar with three guys that she
> had just met. Did she meet with foul play? Probably. Was it one of those
> three? Probably. Can it get pinned on any one of them beyond reasonable
> doubt? Nope. Probably never will.
>
> Natalee was the second tourist in a decade to meet foul play in Aruba
> ... one per seven million is pretty damn good odds. Much better than
> your odds in Alabama. Aruba has a nice display in the town square of
> Oranjestad, now: a map, with photographs and data about every unsolved
> missing person and murder case in Alabama ... it's a lot more than one kid.
>
I have tons of issues with the whole case and the reaction here in the
US; strikes me as elitist most of the time, and usually ungrateful.
Still, a good investigation is more than a strong PR campaign.

John W.