Us > Suspects in Missing Teen Case to Be Freed

Three Suspects in Case of Missing Alabama Teen to Be Freed; Police Investigation Contnues

Tourists and Arubans look at a natural bridge that collapsed over night in Aruba, Friday, Sept. 2, 2005. The natural bridge is one of Aruba's top tourist attractions. The coral bridge spanned some 100 feet (30 meters) 25 feet (7.3 meters) above a cove on

Despite the order and the impending release police said the investigation into the woman's widely publicized disappearance will continue.

"The case of Natalee Holloway has not concluded with these (planned) releases," Adolfo Richardson, the police officer in charge, told The Associated Press.

Holloway's family and others have criticized the investigation, leading residents of this relatively crime-free Dutch Caribbean island to fear for their tourism industry and protest they are being unfairly targeted.

Many point out that no Aruban has been linked to the disappearance: those jailed are the Dutch teenager and two Surinamese men who were last seen with Holloway in the early hours of May 30.

Prosecutors late Friday appealed the judge's order allowing the conditional release Saturday of the Surinamese brothers.

Judge R. Smid ruled that Deepak Kalpoe, 18, and Satish Kalpoe, 21, could go free on the condition they remain on the island and available to police, said their attorneys Ruud Oomen and David Kock.

The judge agreed to their release "since the brothers were free for almost two months and made no attempt to evade justice," Oomen said.

"They maintain their innocence very, very emphatically," he added.

The court on Thursday had ordered Joran van der Sloot, now 18, freed under the same conditions.

Attempts to reach prosecutors for comment were unsuccessful.

Lawyers on the island were divided over what the releases might mean.

"The prosecution doesn't have the smoking gun. There is a fair chance they are innocent, even if a great part of public opinion has already convicted them," said Lincoln Gomez, an Oranjestad defense lawyer not connected to the case.

"People say: 'It has to be them. If not them, then who? Somebody has to be the bad guy.'"

Another defense attorney, Ricardo Yarzagaray, said the release did not mean the men would no longer be part of the case.

"You must remember that a suspect may be walking free but he is still a suspect," Under Dutch law that prevails on the island, a suspect can be summoned to court even two years after being freed from jail, he said.

Van der Sloot and the Kalpoes were arrested June 9. The brothers were released July 4 but were re-arrested last week. All three have denied any involvement in Holloway's disappearance.

Holloway, 18, disappeared after a night of eating, dancing and drinking. She was last seen leaving a nightclub with the three young men, hours before she was to catch a return flight to Alabama, at the end of a high school graduation trip.

Van der Sloot has admitted to being alone with her on a beach but insists he left her there alone, around 2 a.m., and did not harm her.

Van der Sloot's father was arrested briefly in the case and released.

"I'm devastated," the missing teen's mother, Beth Holloway Twitty, said of the prospective release of the three suspects.

She and others have criticized Aruban authorities for waiting 10 days to arrest the young men.

Associated Press Writer Alexandra Olson contributed to this report.

2005-09-03