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The recent concern with a fake suicide that eventually ended with finding the "body" to be alive and well and intent on avoiding prison poses a strange paradox. No one threw in the towel on Mr. Samuel Israel when his vehicle was found on a bridge and a suicide note written on the hood. There was an instant reaction that the suicide was probably a fake and he was probably still alive. Contrast this with the attitude taken toward Natalie Holloway who was never even given the courtesy of a consideration that she might be captive and alive somewhere. There was an almost instant reaction that the body must be found. Why? There was no evidence that she was dead. There was no blood. There were no witnesses that said they had seen her killed. Why the rush to judgment? Why not a consideration of all the possibilities that could have caused her to go missing? Why was this innocent abandoned as dead when a guilty criminal was not?
One could say that criminals lie and this would be expected. But the motive for his suicide was far more clear and convincing than the fabricated motive(s) of killing Natalee. No motive was ever offered that made any sense. Yet Natalee was written off and all that was ever done was to listen to contradictory fabrications by Aruba officials and follow red herrings that came up with nothing. Why is the ´confession " of Joran that was so "expertly" orchestrated now just a memory in the public consciousness? You don´t see even the investigative Greta prying into the stalemate. There is still only one answer to all the bizarre circumstances and investigations that fits these odd "conclusions" that explain nothing. That answer can only be that the "authorities" in Aruba had something to hide and are continuing in their efforts to hope this crime is never fully explained and resolved. That they have a vested interest in delay and silence has been confirmed every day this saga continues.
Law enforcement in the case of Mr. Samuel Israel wanted to get the bottom of the issue and seek out the truth. The law enforcement involved in Natalee´s disappearance took a far different approach and concluded without evidence that Natalee was dead. What kind of rationale leads one to conclude a person is dead just because they disappeared? Legally seven years is necessary for a person to be declared dead if there is no evidence of their existence. In the meantime, wouldn´t you assume the fact she was not dead was a possibility and openly declare that? Not if you are an investigator in Aruba. Somehow the lack of a body leads to a conclusion of death under the Aruba investigative logic. The news media most involved in this case in the United States ( mostly Fox News ) has bought into this approach and has talked all around the edges of the disappearance to the extent that one of their commentators ( whose looking out for the folks ) announced he had it on "good sources " that she was killed and dumped into the ocean. When challenged on this contention he referred to the F.B.I. as his source. Why , if that was known, wasn´t it confirmed with witnesses and evidence? The answer is obvious it was just another bit of bloviating that was to be taken on faith by the loyal listeners
One can certainly understand a wish for closure on this, but how is closure to be obtained by simply declaring what is not known must have happened? And what exactly did happen that would put a person´s mind at rest? A simple explanation that Natalee was killed without motive? That there was no evidence found because a perfect crime was possible by three teenagers involved in a murder that no one could verify or find any evidence of? Conflicting stories? Who would buy into this and settle for this as closure? What kind of mind(s) are willing to accept what is not factually proven and announce they are "now at peace"? Thousands of missing prisoners of war were never treated this way. People who went missing under all kinds of strange circumstances were considered to be lost but not dead until evidence showed otherwise. Yet in the Natalee Holloway disappearance a different and strange willingness to discount her life became the search for a body that never appeared and to this day is still only a conjecture.
Even if Natalee is never found it does not excuse the approach and the continuing evasion of the Aruba authorities. They can talk all they want about how justice is served under their system but if the Natalee Holloway disappearance is the standard ( which I´m sure it isn´t ) a verdict could never be rendered, a suspect never convicted and a criminal never arrested. There is only one agency that could keep this case under the wraps it has endured and that agency is the Aruba government. It has shown itself to be corrupt under the umbrella of incompetence which too many are willing is dismiss as sufficient and a reason for the lack of results.
This issue will never go away just by the passing of time. The circumstances will always lead to a conclusion that something was wrong and something was strange about how this disappearance was handled. It will always arouse curiosity and even though the perpetrators may die off and the case remain in the cold files the circumstances and the resolution cannot be pronounced solved until all of the facts are known and the disappearance of Natalee is explained.
The press could push this issue but it won´t because it waits for a break that will come from something other than its own curiosity. This news story is what Watergate would look like if Bernstein and Woodward had simply taken the approach the reporters of today have taken with regard to the disappearance of Natalee. Digging for the truth is no longer what reporters do. They wait for news from people calling in and then they respond like robots willing to take opinions at face value. The tenacious seeker of truth is no longer the ideal of the reporter of today. The Natalee Holloway disappearance will be the hallmark that will define the willingness to accept what is unacceptable. It is the story that journalism schools can point to where everyone in the business left a story to a faulty approach. Meanwhile in a brothel in a dark corner of the world may be the only person that can defy their theory with a shout of , "I´m not dead". All who have condemned her to this need to examine their conscience for the willingness to live with the unexplained. May it never happen to them.
One could say that criminals lie and this would be expected. But the motive for his suicide was far more clear and convincing than the fabricated motive(s) of killing Natalee. No motive was ever offered that made any sense. Yet Natalee was written off and all that was ever done was to listen to contradictory fabrications by Aruba officials and follow red herrings that came up with nothing. Why is the ´confession " of Joran that was so "expertly" orchestrated now just a memory in the public consciousness? You don´t see even the investigative Greta prying into the stalemate. There is still only one answer to all the bizarre circumstances and investigations that fits these odd "conclusions" that explain nothing. That answer can only be that the "authorities" in Aruba had something to hide and are continuing in their efforts to hope this crime is never fully explained and resolved. That they have a vested interest in delay and silence has been confirmed every day this saga continues.
Law enforcement in the case of Mr. Samuel Israel wanted to get the bottom of the issue and seek out the truth. The law enforcement involved in Natalee´s disappearance took a far different approach and concluded without evidence that Natalee was dead. What kind of rationale leads one to conclude a person is dead just because they disappeared? Legally seven years is necessary for a person to be declared dead if there is no evidence of their existence. In the meantime, wouldn´t you assume the fact she was not dead was a possibility and openly declare that? Not if you are an investigator in Aruba. Somehow the lack of a body leads to a conclusion of death under the Aruba investigative logic. The news media most involved in this case in the United States ( mostly Fox News ) has bought into this approach and has talked all around the edges of the disappearance to the extent that one of their commentators ( whose looking out for the folks ) announced he had it on "good sources " that she was killed and dumped into the ocean. When challenged on this contention he referred to the F.B.I. as his source. Why , if that was known, wasn´t it confirmed with witnesses and evidence? The answer is obvious it was just another bit of bloviating that was to be taken on faith by the loyal listeners
One can certainly understand a wish for closure on this, but how is closure to be obtained by simply declaring what is not known must have happened? And what exactly did happen that would put a person´s mind at rest? A simple explanation that Natalee was killed without motive? That there was no evidence found because a perfect crime was possible by three teenagers involved in a murder that no one could verify or find any evidence of? Conflicting stories? Who would buy into this and settle for this as closure? What kind of mind(s) are willing to accept what is not factually proven and announce they are "now at peace"? Thousands of missing prisoners of war were never treated this way. People who went missing under all kinds of strange circumstances were considered to be lost but not dead until evidence showed otherwise. Yet in the Natalee Holloway disappearance a different and strange willingness to discount her life became the search for a body that never appeared and to this day is still only a conjecture.
Even if Natalee is never found it does not excuse the approach and the continuing evasion of the Aruba authorities. They can talk all they want about how justice is served under their system but if the Natalee Holloway disappearance is the standard ( which I´m sure it isn´t ) a verdict could never be rendered, a suspect never convicted and a criminal never arrested. There is only one agency that could keep this case under the wraps it has endured and that agency is the Aruba government. It has shown itself to be corrupt under the umbrella of incompetence which too many are willing is dismiss as sufficient and a reason for the lack of results.
This issue will never go away just by the passing of time. The circumstances will always lead to a conclusion that something was wrong and something was strange about how this disappearance was handled. It will always arouse curiosity and even though the perpetrators may die off and the case remain in the cold files the circumstances and the resolution cannot be pronounced solved until all of the facts are known and the disappearance of Natalee is explained.
The press could push this issue but it won´t because it waits for a break that will come from something other than its own curiosity. This news story is what Watergate would look like if Bernstein and Woodward had simply taken the approach the reporters of today have taken with regard to the disappearance of Natalee. Digging for the truth is no longer what reporters do. They wait for news from people calling in and then they respond like robots willing to take opinions at face value. The tenacious seeker of truth is no longer the ideal of the reporter of today. The Natalee Holloway disappearance will be the hallmark that will define the willingness to accept what is unacceptable. It is the story that journalism schools can point to where everyone in the business left a story to a faulty approach. Meanwhile in a brothel in a dark corner of the world may be the only person that can defy their theory with a shout of , "I´m not dead". All who have condemned her to this need to examine their conscience for the willingness to live with the unexplained. May it never happen to them.
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