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I Apologize

Certain facts demanded re-confirming - now done. There is much more coming. I will complete this tonight, I promise. I had no intention of doing a partial post and if you wish, please go to bed. It will be here in the AM. Arrgh! And my editor has gone to bed, so forgive me. Excuse any typos.

Initial part:

The trip from Mountain Brook, Georgia to Aruba was not an official "school" trip, but an organized celebration for a group of mostly carefree and deservedly celebratory seniors from Mountain Brook High School, as well as some attendees from other surrounding schools. The last a fact that has gone mostly unreported.

While adults were involved in the organization of the trip, waivers were signed by students, and or parents, as appropriate. While adult chaperons traveled along for general oversight, it was reasonably clear and well established that, excepting for a clear and known emergency, the bold, bright faces of MBHS were, in some ways, almost striking out on their own for their very first time in an island paradise considered at least as safe as the streets of many American towns. They were celebrating years of hard work and sacrifice paid to earn their way into, in many cases, some of the better colleges of America.

Mountain Brook is home to a class of people some would describe as too well-off and perhaps a bit over-privileged; while still others will tell you it is the heart of an America that works hard for its money, establishes and runs banks and various businesses and fuels the great engine of commerce which funds the American dream.

Sun-tanned and not-rested, much as any bright new life might find itself glowing after a mostly uneventful but fully enjoyable trip, seniors were expected to be in the lobby of the Holiday Inn by 10:30 on Monday morning to assemble for the journey home. One young blond face of a reportedly mostly shy girl named Natalee Holloway never did join the gathering there.

Assuming she had simply stayed the night in another room with other friends, Natalee's roommates gathered up her belongings - luggage, purse, cell phone, and passport, bringing them down to the now crowding lobby in preparation for their flight home. As the bus began to load, adults began to ask questions of the seniors as to why the missing Natalee might not be there. Her friends stated that she had left Carlos and Charlies with a local boy.

It was decided that the students and 6 of the 7 chaperons for the trip would go on to the airport so as to not miss their flight back home. Many of the chaperones were veterans of the trip as it had become almost a ritual having been undertaken without incident for the past five, or so years. The remaining chaperone, who was not my source for this story, kept her belongings, including cell phone, in case she turned up at the hotel.

Had she made a youthful misjudgment, maybe over-slept somewhere? Or, was she perhaps simply too embarrassed for having made a choice many might characterize as unusual for the girl? It's impossible to under-speculate as to what thoughts likely passed through the mind of a presumably worried chaperone sitting alone in a hotel lobby waiting for the return of an increasingly missed young girl.

Local police were first notified of the situation at approximately 11:30 AM, one hour after the seniors scheduled departure from the hotel lobby. A member of the beach patrol was dispatched to take a report and collect a copy of her passport for identification purposes.

Hotel staff interacted with the chaperone, answering questions and putting forth possible explanations prior to the travel agent for the trip being contacted at approximately 2PM. That is believed to be close to the time of the departing flight, though the exact time of the flight is unconfirmed. The travel agent then contacted Natalee's family.

The parents and several high profile Birmingham business men left Birmingham around 4:30 CST on a private jet owned by one of the men, G. Ruffner Page, Jr., President of McWane Inc. - one of Alabama's s largest private companies. The private plane is owned by the company. Natalee's parents placed several calls regarding the troubling developments prior to their departure for Aruba. AT approximately 5:00 CST a member of the US DEA contacted the remaining chaperone. The DEA representative was on Aruba on another matter and the two individuals agreed to meet that evening back at the Holiday Inn.

By now the seniors, save one notable exception were back in Atlanta and several received incoming calls from Aruba from Natalee's cell phone. Unfortunately, what some thought was the re-appearance of their missing friend turned out to be more questions about her disappearance from the chaperone back in Aruba. Attempting to provide as much helpful information as possible the chaperone was informed that the boy with whom Natalee left Carlos and Charlies was somewhat known for having had played poker with several of their male classmates during the course of the trip. They identified the local boy only as Joran.

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