Is there anything significant in the fact that Beth and JQK are talking to CNN? Are they avoiding Fox? Can Greta only get Taco Joe and nobody else? There's a lot of negative spin coming from Fox. Should we be tracking CNN more? Just asking.
CNN is more optimistic than FOX; posted about 2 hours ago by Susan Candiaotti:
By Susan Candiotti
CNN
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ORANJESTAD, Aruba (CNN) -- The chief prosecutor in the Natalee Holloway investigation has agreed to meet Saturday with the parents of the missing Alabama teen, who is presumed dead.
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Natalee Holloway disappeared while on vacation in Aruba with classmates in 2005.
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"I'm really anxious to meet him," Beth Holloway told CNN. "I've waited a long time for this meeting."
A lawyer for Beth Holloway contacted prosecutor Hans Mos last week after suspects Joran van der Sloot and brothers Satish and Deepak Kalpoe were arrested on suspicion of manslaughter.
"There's no doubt in my mind that [Natalee Holloway] is dead. ... I think we have enough evidence to prove the girl is not alive anymore, even without a body," Mos said last week.
Natalee Holloway's mother said she has hope that Mos will be able to solve the case.
"He seems great. The case seems to be handled well. I'm going to ask him some long-awaited questions," she said.
The family is encouraged that the meeting will take place, Holloway attorney John Kelly told CNN. Two years ago, the previous chief prosecutor -- who has since returned to the Netherlands -- would not sit down with them.
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Kelly said Beth Holloway and her ex-husband, Dave, want to share information they've gathered since their daughter disappeared in May 2005 while on vacation with about 100 classmates. See a timeline of the case »
Neither he nor Beth Holloway would provide details.
Questions about evidence
Lawyers for the three suspects were in court in Aruba on Thursday on behalf of their clients. They argued that last week's rearrests were baseless and that prosecutors have no new evidence against their clients. They said they have no idea what happened to Holloway.
As he rushed out of the closed hearing before a judge, van der Sloot's lawyer told CNN that authorities have no reason to hold van der Sloot in jail again as they did two years ago. He said the so-called new incriminating evidence is worthless.
"To say it's less than nothing is too much. But it's not very much. It's very, very thin," Ariean de Bie said.
Van der Sloot's parents were allowed to provide him with a Bible
but no other reading materials, the lawyer said. Van der Sloot is forbidden from seeing any visitors and can meet only with his lawyers and interrogators.
De Bie said van der Sloot has not provided authorities with any new information since his rearrest and extradition from the Netherlands, where he'd been attending college. He said his client would rather be anywhere than in a prison cell.
"He's not very happy about it," the attorney said.
Van der Sloot's co-counsel -- New York attorney Joe Tacopina -- said he has no doubt his client is innocent.
"Whatever they're holding in their bag, (NCDan i.e. recognition they may have something) whatever they don't want to show anyone ... it's not going to amount to a hill of beans against Joran van der Sloot because he had no involvement in Natalee's disappearance," Tacopina told CNN.
Tacopina said he'll be in Aruba next week and try to meet with van der Sloot in his jail cell.
Attorneys for the Kalpoe brothers will meet with a judge in separate jailhouse hearings Friday to argue that their clients should be set free and not held another eight days.
A judge will decide whether prosecutors can continue to hold the Kalpoes even longer. (NCDan Thus it has not yet been determined in spite of surferboy's comments)Van der Sloot will have a similar hearing next Friday when prosecutors are expected to ask to keep him jailed another 60 days.
Mos has said he hopes to decide by the end of the year whether he will try all three suspects for Holloway's presumed death, which he suggests was an accident.
The prosecutor won't say what his new evidence is until his investigation is complete. (NCDan Thus CNN is not pushing a scenario where the evidence must nbe seen NOW)New search for remains
The Holloways still have not given up the search for their daughter. In fact, a benefactor is donating an estimated $500,000 to help map the waters offshore.
On Thursday, Natalee's father watched Louis Schaeffer's crew load a boat equipped with the latest sonar equipment and a remote operated vehicle (ROV) to search the waters where Holloway's remains might be.
"I've got a feeling that if she's in the ocean, these guys are gonna find her," Dave Holloway said. "No doubt about it." Video Watch an interview with Natalee Holloway's father »
Schaeffer said he's retired, has the money, and was touched by the Holloways' tragedy and wanted to help.
"My only objective is to find Natalee, to bring her home for Dave and Beth and also to help identify the people that did this to her. This is a terrible thing, an injustice, and I want to help solve the case," said Schaeffer.
"We've known since [May 2005], the FBI told us Natalee's not with us anymore," Dave Holloway said.
The boat is expected to take about 10 days to get to Aruba. It'll take a few more days to set up a search.
The family says it has no new information about where to look. The Holloways just want to exhaust every area they can offshore with equipment that wasn't available to them two years ago.
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Thanks to Schaefer, that's changed.
"We are just so thankful that he's got a big heart and willing to do that," Dave Holloway said. E-mail to a friend E-mail to a friend
CNN's Tracy Sabo contributed to this report.