THE PERSISTENCE - THE TRAP (DOCUMENT)

[Tamikosmom]

Considering the FBI has been in possession of the photo for the past two months and no action has been taken ... I do believe that the tip may have been  "swept under the table" by those who have connections to Aruba..

Something akin to Beth Holloway ... maybe the determination of Patti and John Muldowney was underestimated.  This couple was not about to move on until answers were forthcoming.

Whoever those remains are ... there is a family who has a right to have their loved one returned to them.

Janet

+++++++

On the Record w/ Greta - April 11, 2006

DAVE HOLLOWAY, NATALEE HOLLOWAY'S FATHER: Oh, the media was our best friend. If it hadn't been for the media this thing would have been swept under the table the very first day and we'd have been calling back to Aruba "Have you heard anything? Have you heard anything?" I truly believe that.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,191377,00.html


Couple Snaps Skeleton Pic in Aruba: Natalee Holloway?
Pa. couple snaps pic of skeleton where Natalee Holloway went missing
By KAREN ARAIZA
Updated 11:20 AM EDT, Thu, Mar 18, 2010

Patti didn't notice anything out of the ordinary when she snapped the photo last November. No one noticed until mid January when they met up with a couple that was on the same cruise, to compare vacation photos.

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local-beat/Couple-Snaps-Skeleton-Pic-in-Aruba-Natalee-Holloway-88402067.html


Couple finds 'skeleton' in Aruba picture
Intelligencer Journal
Lancaster New Era
Mar 18, 2010 00:06 EST
Oranjestad

"We did receive that photo, and it was sent to the lead agent down in Miami who handles that area in the Caribbean," said Special Agent Frank Burton Jr., a spokesman for the FBI's field office in Philadelphia.

It is unclear what happened to the photo after that. The FBI in Miami said it has no record of getting it, and neither does the agency's legal attaché in Barbados, which has jurisdiction over Aruba.

http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/249987

[Tamikosmom]

My position regarding Kyle Kingsman's own words has not change ... my position regarding the contents of the trap/cage which was turn over to the Aruban enemy unchallenged by the Persistence' project lead.

However ... I concede the article and the images of what appears to be a skeleton did cause me to waver a little.  I just wish all this phot had been immediately turned over to Beth Holloway for her consideration.  She would have made sure the tip was not "swept under the table".

Loving Natalee - Beth Holloway

Page 194:  It's quiet in the room when i add, 'Oh, come on. Everyone knows there was a cover-up.' And to this, Jorge Pesquera, president and CEO of the Aruba Hotel and Tourism Association, shrugs his shoulders, nods in the affirmative, and says softly, 'Yes...yes there was'."

[Tamikosmom]

I suspect IF the photo reveals skeletal remains ... they are not those of Natalee Holloway.  Although I did waver for a very short period of time ... I repositioned myself.  I cannot let go of Kyle Kingman's own word in post after post after post regarding the happenings on board the Persistence.

+++++++

REMINDER:

Kyle Kingman - In His Own Words

Kyle Kingman:  While we were searching shortly before Christmas, we were contacted by an Aruban detective who was involved in the Holloway case

Kyle Kingman:  Just before Christmas they are contacted by a detective and his brother who gave them information that turned out to be the correct latitude.

Kyle Kingman:  The detective's brother gave what he thought were coordinates, but turned out to be a line of latitude. This latitude aligned with Arashi beach and came within a half mile of the fish trap

Kyle Kingman:  The implications of this are tremendous. If true, it means that the early investigators knew where and how Natalee was disposed and it was kept secret and covered up.

Kyle Kingman:   I found the trap on 1:45am Christmas morning. I got the OK to begin our ROV dive series for the 29th, so I made it our first dive. We got visual of the fish trap and that it was suspicious. Basically, the fish trap door was open and there appeared to be a skull and torso-shape in sand on the door inside the trap Reviewing the 29-Dec video I noticed the torso shape in sand had a 90 degree angle and that the sand was supported from falling through the bottom of the trap, which was slightly excavated by currents. I proportioned out the distance from the top of the head, to shoulder, to that 90 degree angle and it was a match to Natalee's photo of her standing -head, to shoulder, to the end of her denim skirt. I showed TM the proportional match and the possibility of a skirt under the sand.

Kyle Kingman:  Based on this comparison and with what we believed we saw in the Dec 29th video, Tim Miller contacted the family and told them the 99.9% comment.

Kyle Kingman:  Jan 7th we sampled the contents and in my opinion we found the skirt under the sand along with the other items The blue fabric was found right where the skirt is pictured. If it isn't her, it will forever haunt me as a major cosmic WTF.

Kermit - Scared Monkeys

[Tamikosmom]

Justice knew nothing of pictures skeleton Holloway '
March 19, 2010, 14:24


ORANGE CITY - The Public Prosecutor (OM) knew nothing of an underwater photograph of an American couple, according to human remains to be seen, which may be of Natalee Holloway. She took the photograph last October, during a diving vacation in Aruba. The couple has sent the photo to the FBI. When she heard nothing, got the Americans John and Patti Muldowney to the media.

Angela Ann spokesman said the news of the OM as a surprise. Justice has directly contacted the FBI, but has not yet received formal confirmation that the U.S. investigating authority the picture indeed. A call from the U.S. Amigoe Research Service this morning yielded nothing. The police and the FBI have declared against U.S. media did not know of the existence of the picture. The Aruban OM, the photographer get in her possession. "We stress that the information is taken very seriously. We take every tip seriously. If these people can give good information and may indicate the location, then we dive. The deal is that we get things up and to the Dutch Forensic Institute in The Hague sent for examination, "says Angela. Justice is now first to see if the photo is indeed cause for a search. The image is in fact very vague.

The American couple Muldowney said the photo made near the spot where Natalee was last seen would be. That is on the southwest coast of Aruba. At first, they assumed they were pictures of coral. Only after the development saw the couple something that looks suspiciously like human remains. She showed the photo to friends, the local police and also to their GP. That all said, it looks at a body, said John Muldowney. He sent the picture then registered to the FBI in Philadelphia and says be sure that it is received. When one months after they had received no response, the couple went to the media. They want so try to get in contact with Aruban authorities.

Divers have been the disappearance of missing teenager in 2005 several times examined the seabed. The American company EquuSearch came to Aruba several times with a special boat and equipment to the ocean floor off tracking. Prime suspect Joran van der Sloot, who is currently in Aruba, said recently that he was indeed in the Natalee Bubali-lake has dumped after she fell from the balcony. This "confession" he did to the Dutch television producer Terror Jaap.  Dutch media reported today that Jaap is lit by Joran. He would Joran have borrowed money for a coffee shop.

[Tamikosmom]

ROCKS?

I have to say - and this is just my opinion and I am being honest.

That's a pile of rocks. This pic looks less than any pic I have seen yet that look like a body. I saw nothing in all the features I used that suggested that was a body.

It's a combination of lighting, shading, underwater reflection, an underwater disposable camera, and a person untrained in underwater photography.

But if makes Aruba account for somethin' - I'm all for it. I know they will never account for anything prominent.. even though I would prefer that as oppose to this pile of rocks. 

That's just my honest opinion, and nothing more. 
[/quote

[Tamikosmom]

ROCKS?

I KNOW that no one is gonna believe me - but I messed around with that pic.. and believe it or not - it's really a pile of rocks. I know I know... how could I say that - well, I did everything I could with it, and it is a pile of rocks.

There is a rock that looks like a skull - but it's not. Sorry... and there is a rock that seems to have what look like "fingers" - but that is really just depressions in the rock... The rock that looks like a skull - could be a dead brain coral - or just a rock. It does look like a skull, but it's really a dead brain coral or a rock.

I wish this was more than an underwater camera and rocks that look like something - meaning - our Girl - Natalee. Ohhh how I wish, but it's not Natalee or anyone else. It's just a pile of rocks captured from an angle that makes it look like something more than it is.

I didn't capture all the shots cause it will just lead to a huge discussion about what everyone sees and there will be sooooo many varying points of what is seen - it just wasn't worth it. I have been here long enough to know what those screen captures would lead to - however, if you want to see a pile of rocks in differing shades, and textures - I'm sure that you can click "save as" and then "monkey" as I did... and you will also see it's a pile of rocks... sooo sorry to say. And especially since the "finger" area looked promising. But it was just depressions in a rock.

Just for the record - I feel confidant in what I saw - and it's not Natalee - nor a body.. but I COULD see how that could be discerned.

[Tamikosmom]

Justice knew nothing of pictures skeleton Holloway '
March 19, 2010, 14:24


ORANGE CITY - The Public Prosecutor (OM) knew nothing of an underwater photograph of an American couple, according to human remains to be seen, which may be of Natalee Holloway. She took the photograph last October, during a diving vacation in Aruba. The couple has sent the photo to the FBI. When she heard nothing, got the Americans John and Patti Muldowney to the media.

Angela Ann spokesman said the news of the OM as a surprise. Justice has directly contacted the FBI, but has not yet received formal confirmation that the U.S. investigating authority the picture indeed. A call from the U.S. Amigoe Research Service this morning yielded nothing. The police and the FBI have declared against U.S. media did not know of the existence of the picture. The Aruban OM, the photographer get in her possession. "We stress that the information is taken very seriously. We take every tip seriously. If these people can give good information and may indicate the location, then we dive. The deal is that we get things up and to the Dutch Forensic Institute in The Hague sent for examination, "says Angela. Justice is now first to see if the photo is indeed cause for a search. The image is in fact very vague.

The American couple Muldowney said the photo made near the spot where Natalee was last seen would be. That is on the southwest coast of Aruba. At first, they assumed they were pictures of coral. Only after the development saw the couple something that looks suspiciously like human remains. She showed the photo to friends, the local police and also to their GP. That all said, it looks at a body, said John Muldowney. He sent the picture then registered to the FBI in Philadelphia and says be sure that it is received. When one months after they had received no response, the couple went to the media. They want so try to get in contact with Aruban authorities.

Divers have been the disappearance of missing teenager in 2005 several times examined the seabed. The American company EquuSearch came to Aruba several times with a special boat and equipment to the ocean floor off tracking. Prime suspect Joran van der Sloot, who is currently in Aruba, said recently that he was indeed in the Natalee Bubali-lake has dumped after she fell from the balcony. This "confession" he did to the Dutch television producer Terror Jaap.  Dutch media reported today that Jaap is lit by Joran. He would Joran have borrowed money for a coffee shop.

http://www.amigoe.com/artman/publish/artikel_70152.php

[Tamikosmom]

Patti and John Muldowney will be guests on Nancy Grace tonight.

Janet

+++++

March 19, 2010
A Pennsylvania couple who went snorkeling in Aruba have an underwater photo they believe may be a skeleton.

Video:
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/crime/2010/03/19/ng.aruba.possible.skeleton.cnn?hpt=T2

[Tamikosmom]

Natalee Holloway's Remains Discovered in Dive Photo?
Snorkeling Couple Might Have Photographed Missing Teen's Skeleton off Aruba
By CHRISTINE BROUWER and RUSSELL GOLDMAN
March 19, 2010

Aruban Authorities, however, have yet to receive formal notice from the FBI about the photo, according to Ann Angela, spokeswoman for the Aruban prosecutor's office.

Angela said if the couple can provide "solid information," about the location where the photo was taken, Aruban authorities could send a dive team to investigate. Anything found would be sent to the Dutch Forensic Institute in The Hague.

Angela said it was not uncommon for human remains to be found off the cost and cautioned that even if a body was discovered it may not be Holloway

http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/natalee-holloways-remains-couple-thinks-photographed-missing-teens/story?id=10147845

yw bbl

[Tamikosmom]

REMINDER:

THE DECEMBER 30TH VISUAL DIVE - THE SECOND ROV DIVE

Kyle Kingman: The FBI told me they could not send a representative down to us in Aruba unless they were specifically invited to do so by the Aruban authorities. They were simply uninvited.

Kyle Kingman:  On the morning of the 30th we met on board the Persistence with Hans Mos, Richardson, and the rest of the police brass and dive division. I showed them all the 29th dive video and they agreed that it was very suspicion and looked promising. Later that day 30-Dec we conducted the dive with the Aruban divers along with our own Tim Trahan.

Kyle Kingman:  We had an American diver with us on the Dec 30th dive.  I requested all samples to be brought on board the Persistence for visual and top-side photographs. It was ignored by the project lead (John S.) who felt the Arubans would follow whatever they needed to do as far as proper protocol.

Kyle Kingman:  Later that day 30-Dec we conducted the dive with the Aruban divers along with our own Tim Trahan.  He couldn't tell by his own admission.

Kyle Kingman:  The Arubans told us there wasn't anything of interest in the trap based on the visual-only inspection.

Kyle Kingman:  John definitely believed the Arubans at their every word when they said on Dec 30th that it was nothing case relevant.
 
Kyle Kingman:  After the diver visual inspection of the trap he (Tim Miller) was obligated to report what the Aruban divers reported because although limited, it's the only information he had and the family rightfully wanted answers. It was a royal mess.
 
Kyle Kingman:  I hadn't slept in 48 hours. I crashed for a few hours rest and by the time I got up Dateline and Tim Miller had left the boat. That is when John [Silvetti] assumed full control over the remainder of the project and had us searching in the deepest portions of our search area ...
 
Kyle Kingman: We're being fed misinformation to keep us searching and out of their way while they cover their asses, destroy evidence, cover their tracks, and keep us out at sea and away from the trap.

Kyle Kingman:   After the Dec 30th dive John [Silvetti] didn't want Tim Miller on board the Persistence because he said Tim wasn't necessary any more and was a liability. I don't know what that exactly means, but Tim wasn't hurting anything except releasing the statements to the press and Holloways that we found Natalee.

[Tamikosmom]

REMINDER

THE JANUARY 7TH RECOVERY DIVE

Kyle Kingman - In His Own Words

Kyle Kingman:  For Jan 7th, Eduardo wasn't on the boat, neither were any media, Tim Miller, or Tim Trahan.

Kyle Kingman: The Persistence had no divers on the 7th. Tim Trahan was our diver on the 30th-Dec, but he was out of the country at the time. The Aruban divers were on the police boat, dove from their boat, and returned to their boat.

Kyle Kingman:  Jan 7th we sampled the contents and in my opinion we found the skirt under the sand along with the other items The blue fabric was found right where the skirt is pictured. If it isn't her, it will forever haunt me as a major cosmic WTF.

Kyle Kingman: I get done in the survey room backing up the ROV dive and head to the back deck to talk to the Polis divers and see what they sampled and see the Polis boat way in the distance heading away fast. John doesn't seem concerned at all, but I am very dissapointed, concerned, and burning inside because I have a feeling that I/we will never know what they took from the trap. That evening I talked to John asking when we plan on recovering the trap. Previously this was part of the talks and plan, but this time he doesn't seem concerned about ever looking into the trap further. After John verbally BASHED me about the trap for what I said to Tim Miller about the sand body-form and that I believed her skirt was under the sand, John pretty much committed himself to the belief the trap wasn't what we were after. This shocked me because it was exactly what we were looking for- a fish trap lost at sea with human remains.

Kyle Kingman:  Richardson told us after the Jan-7th dive to keep searching in deep water. John told me then he didn't want to hear me ever mention the trap again. Of course this didn't set well with me.

Kyle Kingman:  John is not a believer in the trap. He took ALE's word as gospel that it wasn't case related, yet never studied the videos or bothered to inquire further. He had plans on doing business with Aruba and in S. America and he didn't want to hurt any feelings by talks hinting at lack of complete trust and friendship. I did not feel the same and we had a major difference in opinion. He was the one who never pressed ALE to be completely open with us with the trap evidence. I would have forced them to. However, John was the one paying my invoices so I was forced to sit back and hope for the best.

Kyle Kingman:  Remember it was Richardson who said to us that he personally handled the evidence and sent it immediately to our FBI)

Kyle Kingman:  I don't know why the time is so long between the sample date (7-Jan) and when the FBI claims to have received the items (22-Jan). Richardson claims to have personally sent the items immediately to the FBI. He didn't say anything about it being sent anywhere else. The FBI claims half the samples were sent to Holland for analysis. Richardson says the FBI got it all.

[Tamikosmom]

When the following is taken into consideration ... I assume the FBI turned over to the enemy ... the enemy who has prevented justice from prevailing since May 30, 2005 ... the compiled document pertaining to what appeared to be a betrayal by the Persistence' project lead ... the compiled document sent to them by the Natalee's Freebirds.

 

++++++++

Updated March 19, 2010
Top Pathologist: Investigate Possible Holloway Find

Patti Muldowney, of Manheim, Pa., took the photograph while snorkeling with her husband, John, during an October vacation in Aruba. They noticed that the photograph resembled a skeleton partially obscured by sand and recently forwarded it to the FBI's Philadelphia office.

"It's been sent to our legal attache in Bridgetown [Barbados] and they will work with local authorities in the matter," FBI spokesman Brian Herrick told the Philadelphia Inquirer on Friday.

The FBI will assist only if requested, Herrick told the paper.

Deputy Chief Adolpho Richardson of the Aruban police told the Birmingham News that authorities will investigate.

"We try to leave no stone unturned, so we will look into it," he said, "although the chances are very slim that it will lead to any results."

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/03/19/pathologist-investigate-possible-holloway/

[Tamikosmom]

EVIDENCE TO DESTROY

Updated March 19, 2010
Top Pathologist: Investigate Possible Holloway Find

Patti Muldowney, of Manheim, Pa., took the photograph while snorkeling with her husband, John, during an October vacation in Aruba. They noticed that the photograph resembled a skeleton partially obscured by sand and recently forwarded it to the FBI’s Philadelphia office.

“It’s been sent to our legal attache in Bridgetown [Barbados] and they will work with local authorities in the matter,” FBI spokesman Brian Herrick told the Philadelphia Inquirer on Friday.

The FBI will assist only if requested, Herrick told the paper.

Deputy Chief Adolpho Richardson of the Aruban police told the Birmingham News that authorities will investigate.

“We try to leave no stone unturned, so we will look into it,” he said, “although the chances are very slim that it will lead to any results.”

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/03/19/pathologist-investigate-possible-holloway/


Flashback: The Persistence Undertaking

Natalee Holloways Uncle:

“They will have dateline onboard and I understand that they were involved in the Titantic so I assume they have the expertise to preserve any remains or artifacts and have a protocol. They can always find and locate it, call for assistance and then retrieve it. But that is my fear that they imediately turn it over to Aruba where her remains can become that of a large crab.”
private eye - Scared Monkeys -December 30, 2007


“I hope that the Persistence has not done all of this work and gone to all of this expense only to have gotten itself into an arrangement whereby Aruban divers are the ones who actually verify the targets and are the first ones to physically retrieve evidence, with no American divers physically with them. If so, all I can say is I just can’t believe this has happened. But surely I am wrong.”
private eye - Scared Monkeys - March 1, 2008


“Sharing information with people who work for people who are directly orchestrating the cover up, Rudy, or the Dutch, is the most irresponsible investigating I can imagine.”
private eye - Scared Monkeys - March 13, 2008


“If I understood Kyle correctly, and that would be that the Arubans retrieved and possessed all finds, not sharing anything with the crew, then that effort was a waste of time and effort. The only thing it could have accomplished was to locate additional evidence for the Arubans to destroy.”
private 36 - Scared Monkeys - pril 09, 2008

[Tamikosmom]

What is wrong with this picture?

+++++++

NANCY GRACE
Does Underwater Photo Show Natalee`s Remains?
Aired March 19, 2010 - 20:00:00   ET

JOHN MULDOWNEY, WIFE TOOK PHOTO OF POSSIBLE REMAINS: When I looked at that photo, I said, By darn, that certainly does look like a skeleton. But I started showing it around to different people, getting comments, What do you think? I just told them to look at this picture, What do you see? And of course, there`s that little snake (ph) that Pat was taking on the right side of the picture. And then they`d look and say, Oh, my God, yes. That looks like a skeleton, a human body.

So I showed that to an awful lot of people, even my doctor, and they all agreed that that is a corpse. You can see the skull. You can see where the eye sockets were. You can see where the chin was, the arms. It`s laying flat on its back and its arms are cradled around. You can almost see fingers. And then on the one sleeve, it looks like some kind of maybe clothing that`s deteriorating. It`s -- you know, you couldn`t tell if it was a garment or not.

But like I say, we sure showed it to a lot of people, and I wouldn`t tell them -- I`d ask them, What do you see when you look at that picture? And when the police saw it, they called the FBI. And the FBI transferred me to Quantico, Virginia, and I told them the story.

They put me in with Philadelphia, with the FBI in Philly. They told me to send them the picture, the story, and send it to their violent crimes department. And I did.  I sent it registered mail. So I knew when they got it and who signed for it. And I didn`t hear anything for a month.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1003/19/ng.01.html


Couple finds 'skeleton' in Aruba picture
Intelligencer Journal
Lancaster New Era
Mar 18, 2010 00:06 EST
Oranjestad

"We did receive that photo, and it was sent to the lead agent down in Miami who handles that area in the Caribbean," said Special Agent Frank Burton Jr., a spokesman for the FBI's field office in Philadelphia.

It is unclear what happened to the photo after that. The FBI in Miami said it has no record of getting it, and neither does the agency's legal attaché in Barbados, which has jurisdiction over Aruba.

http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/249987

[Tamikosmom]

Considering that a forensic anthropologist does not rule out the possibility that the image in the photo depicts a human skeleton ... maybe what we are attempting to analyse is not just a rock fomation but the actual remains of somebody's loved one.

A cylinder protecting the remains??  I don't see it.

+++++++
 
NANCY GRACE
Does Underwater Photo Show Natalee`s Remains?
Aired March 19, 2010 - 20:00:00   ET

HEATHER WALSH-HANEY, FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGIST (via telephone): Well, if these are skeletal remains, one of the things that I would look for would be a roundness of the cranial vault, or the skull. I would also expect that the jawbone, or mandible, would have separated from the cranium. I would also expect perhaps some of the smaller bones of the nose and the bottom of the eye sockets to have been removed. In addition to that, it`s been my experience dealing with underwater burials that also the extremities, the fingers, the arms and the legs tend to be dispersed.

GRACE: What do you mean by that?

WALSH-HANEY: Well, I mean with the current of the water, sometimes the lighter bones are going to be carried away from the center, the thorax, the heavier parts of the bodies. In addition to that, the various types of invertebrate species, fish or other types of wildlife that`s in the water, will pick at the remains and disperse them, take them away, move them to other areas.

GRACE: With me, Heather Walsh-Haney, forensic anthropologist. By looking and studying the photo, do you believe it`s possible these remains had been placed inside of something? You see that cylinder there.

WALSH-HANEY: I see -- it looks as though there is something on top of what may be the skeleton. That would certainly bode well for preserving the center of the mass of the body and keeping most of it there.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1003/19/ng.01.html

[Tamikosmom]

Holloway's father sees Muldowneys' 'skeleton' photo
Doubts it is a skeleton, spokesman says

http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/250080

Natalee Holloway's father doubts the underwater photo taken by a Rapho Township snorkeler off the coast of Aruba shows his daughter's remains, a spokesman said.

But Dave Holloway also reportedly told John and Patti Muldowney — who believe their picture shows a skeleton near where the teenager disappeared about five years ago — to keep pressing ahead for answers.

"He said, 'Jack, you've got my blessing. Any publicity we can get in the case the better,' " Muldowney said Holloway told him during a telephone conversation.

Holloway could not be reached for comment.

But author Larry Garrison, who collaborated with Holloway on a 2006 best-seller about the case, spoke to the missing teen's father about the photo Friday.

Garrison, who has served as a spokesman for Holloway, said Holloway believes the picture likely shows just a rock formation.

"Dave did receive the picture. We have received pictures in the past that have been a lot of rock formations that look like they could be human," Garrison said in a telephone interview.

"If Dave Holloway said to me, 'I'm excited by this, let's get involved,' he'd be the first person to hire people to go down and look," Garrison said. "Dave dismissed this."

Garrison added that he wasn't trying to negate the Muldowneys' attempts to get authorities to look into the matter.

"But when you get so many people over the years coming to you with so many things, you become overwhelmed," Garrison said. "If this turns out to be Natalee, then God bless them."

An attorney for Holloway's mother told NBC Philadelphia that she was aware of the photo and was choosing not to comment.

The Muldowneys say they believe a photo Patti took while snorkeling off the coast of Aruba last fall revealed a skeleton that could belong to Natalee Holloway, an Alabama honors student who disappeared during a high school trip to the island in 2005.

Nationally renowned forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden said in an interview that he believes the photo might depict skeletal remains and that police should act quickly.

"You can't tell from that picture if it's real or not real, and it would require somebody going down and picking (the objects) up. I would assume they're doing that," he said. "There's enough there to be concerned.

"If it is a head, it's facedown, and you see the skull. The rest? I don't see any other bone. … If it is a body, it's a decomposing body with clothing on it. It's not skeletonized, except for the head."

Baden, a former chief medical examiner for New York City, told FoxNews.com that authorities in Aruba have an "absolute obligation" to investigate, and that the remains — if that's what they are — appear to be in good condition and could provide useable tissue to investigators.

The Muldowneys retold their story in a taped appearance on the HLN network's "Nancy Grace" show Friday evening. Grace, a former prosecutor, called the photo a "bombshell" and was critical of Aruban authorities for not acting quickly on the Muldowneys' tip.

Asked what his reaction was upon seeing the picture for the first time, John Muldowney said: "When I looked at that photo, I said, 'By darn, that certainly does look like a skeleton.' … You can almost see fingers. On the one sleeve it looks like some kind of clothing that's deteriorating."

Experts appearing on the same broadcast, though, would not commit to saying the photo shows a skeleton. They would only say it's possible.

"When I look at this, I wonder, Is this a human body?" said Dr. Marty Makary, a surgeon who serves on the faculty at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and School of Public Health. "There are some things in favor of it, and some things that tell me it may not be."

Makary acknowledged what appear to be a skull profile and, perhaps, limbs. "What I don't like about the photo," he said, "is there's no spinal cord or vertebral column."

Heather Walsh-Haney, a forensic anthropologist at Florida Gulf Coast University, said "it looks as though there is something on top of what may be the skeleton."

Muldowney, reached for comment Friday, said that's the last TV interview he's giving — at least until authorities begin searching the Aruban waters for whatever is in the picture.

"We're not going on any until they start looking," Muldowney said. "And if they find something and it's not her, somebody else gets closure. That's the deal."

Meantime, FBI agents have made two separate trips to the Muldowney household on Aaron's Lane in northern Lancaster County.

The first visit to the house, on Thursday, was thwarted because there were television trucks in front of the house. So John Muldowney met the agents at a campground he owns across the street, where he handed over another picture — one that will be digitally scanned and e-mailed to the agency's legal attaché in Barbados, which has jurisdiction over Aruba.

The initial picture was delivered via mail and is believed to still be in transit.

FBI agents returned Friday and interviewed John Muldowney for about an hour. The questions centered on details of the Caribbean cruise and the snorkeling trip.

"They're trying to find out which catamaran took us out," John Muldowney said.

tmurse@lnpnews.com

[Tamikosmom]

http://www.peterrdevries.nl/

Google translation:

Friday, March 19, 2010, 09:53 hours

Peters Diary

"Skeletal Remains of Natalee found"



John Muldowney with underwater pictures. (LancasterOnline.com)

Yesterday afternoon I received an email from Beth Holloway, the mother of Natalee disappeared, that greets the words 'URGENT'. She sent a link along an Internet article about a remarkable discovery in the waters around Aruba. The headline was: "COUPLE FINDS 'SKELETON' PICTURE IN ARUBA. With the 'couple' were John and Patti Muldowney provided, in the autumn of 2009 were essentially snorkeling in Aruba. They had an underwater camera with some pictures that Patti and then some months later at home to ease the downgrade was suddenly something caught her. It seemed at one of the pictures to see was a skeleton. She showed the pictures to see some friends and everyone was with her: it looked as though there was a skeleton on the ground, possibly with some stones had been aggravated. The Muldowney were then immediately the 18-year-old Natalee Holloway thought, whose body was never found, but according Joran have been dumped into the sea. The picture is now in the hands of the FBI and the Dutch justice in Aruba made.


The picture which is all about. Are the skeletal remains of Natalee to see if the fuss about nothing? (Source: LancasterOnline.com)

Skeptical
"What am I thinking of," said Beth Holloway me. In recent years there are a few of these stories surfaced that the news got. You only have one bar in Aruba textile storm out, or there is a story in the newspaper that the possibility of a garment is Natalee. Each appeared to be nothing.


Natalee Holloway

I looked at - rather vague - and admit that picture it looks like a skeleton, but otherwise I'm very skeptical that I wrote and also Beth Holloway. The picture was taken last autumn. That is four and half years after the disappearance of Natalee. I believe strongly that after such a long time have a complete skeleton at the bottom. The waters around Aruba is at thirty degrees, this ensures that a body of a man, but also a dead fish, rapidly decomposes. There is also current. Both factors ensure that, in my view a corpse after four and half years virtually disappeared and that any remains are carried by the flow.


Beth Holloway

Snorkelers
The Muldowney was also no snorkelers and divers, which means that the body should lie in shallow water and that seems to me obvious. Then it was previously found in many searches. It is also not at all that it is indeed a skeleton. It may very well go to a pet rocks that apparently the shape of a skull and skeleton have one. I warned Beth is not here yet to attach too much value. Research should clarify whether it really is and we are not dealing with chance, another corpse, or a joke. I count on nothing.

Peter R. de Vries

Last update: Friday, March 19, 2010, 10:09 hours

Updated March 19, 2010
Top Pathologist: Investigate Possible Holloway Find

Patti Muldowney, of Manheim, Pa., took the photograph while snorkeling with her husband, John, during an October vacation in Aruba. They noticed that the photograph resembled a skeleton partially obscured by sand and recently forwarded it to the FBI’s Philadelphia office.

“It’s been sent to our legal attache in Bridgetown [Barbados] and they will work with local authorities in the matter,” FBI spokesman Brian Herrick told the Philadelphia Inquirer on Friday.

The FBI will assist only if requested, Herrick told the paper.

Deputy Chief Adolpho Richardson of the Aruban police told the Birmingham News that authorities will investigate.

“We try to leave no stone unturned, so we will look into it,” he said, “although the chances are very slim that it will lead to any results.”

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/03/19/pathologist-investigate-possible-holloway/

[Tamikosmom]

Natalee Holloway's Remains? Aruba Divers to Examine Area
Snorkeling Couple Believe They Might Have Photographed Missing Teen's Skeleton off Aruba
By CHRISTINE BROUWER and RUSSELL GOLDMAN
March 20, 2010

Aruban authorities are dispatching a dive team to investigate a Pennsylvania couple's underwater photograph that may show skeletal remains of Natalee Holloway, an Alabama high school student who went missing on the Caribbean island five years ago.

Ann Angela, a spokeswoman for the public prosecutor's office in Aruba, said she was not authorized to say when or where the dive would take place, except that it will happen "in the very near future." Officials likely will have the results of the preliminary investigation by Sunday or Monday.

The underwater photograph of the sea floor depicts a rough outline that the couple believes resembles a human skeleton, according to the Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era, which first published the photo on Thursday.

Patti Muldowney, 62, of Rapho Township, Pa., took the photo while snorkeling off the Caribbean island but "only discovered it after we got the film developed," she told the paper of the body-shaped image in the picture.

"We have received the photo," Angela said. "The problem is that the couple cannot say exactly where they took the picture. They cannot point to the exact location. But someone has now come forward who believes that they know the spot. So we are going to do a preliminary investigation, which means a dive team will be dispatched to that location."

Angela couldn't reveal the identity of the person who recognized the underwater location of the photo -- but said it's likely a local who dives often and knows the waters around the island well.

Angela previously said evidence found during any dive to investigate the photo would be sent to the Dutch Forensic Institute in The Hague.

She added that it was not uncommon for human remains to be found off the coast and cautioned that even if a body was discovered it might not be Holloway.

Muldowney and her husband John initially showed the photograph to local police and forwarded it to FBI, which told them it would investigate.

"It just seems so strange that that girl never showed up, and here we are right off the shoreline, right where she disappeared, and there's a body lying there," John Muldowney said.

"I hate to say I wish it was her, but it would give that family some closure," he said.

Calls to the couple by ABC News were not immediately returned. Holloway went missing in May 2005 during a high school graduation trip to Aruba. Her disappearance became an international cause celebre.

Much of the speculation about Holloway's disappearance has focused on Dutch national Joran van Der Sloot, who seemingly admitted to reporters twice in recent years that he knew how and where Holloway died but who has never faced charges in her murder.

We looked down and saw her lying there. Yes, there was blood. I think she fell on the ground with her head first," van Der Sloot told Dutch television station RTL 5.

"It's a story that in and of itself does fit in terms of timing," Peter Blanken, Aruba's chief prosecutor told ABC News in February. "But all the other things that could be investigated, and that means the story about the witnesses ... the house, the height of the balcony, all those types of things don't add up in Joran van der Sloot's statement."

The alleged confession came almost two years after undercover tapes were released by Dutch crime reporter Peter R. de Vries, in which van der Sloot appeared to admit he was present when Holloway died and that he helped dump her body in the ocean.

http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/natalee-holloways-remains-aruba-divers-examine-area-couple/story?id=10156542&page=2
 

[Tamikosmom]

(Continued)

http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/natalee-holloways-remains-aruba-divers-examine-area-couple/story?id=10156542

[Tamikosmom]

Aruban divers find little in first look for possible Natalee Holloway skeleton
By Toraine Norris -- The Birmingham News
March 20, 2010, 8:15PM
and Roy Williams -- The Birmingham News

The lead investigator for Aruban police said Saturday night that divers will resume searching Sunday in an area where a couple snorkeling took an underwater picture they believe may be the skeleton of missing Mountain Brook teen Natalee Holloway.

Deputy Police Chief Adolpho Richardson told The Birmingham News that nothing was found in the area searched Saturday.

"The FBI is helping Aruban authorities by conducting more interviews with the Pennsylvania couple who took pictures," Richardson said. Also being interviewed are members of the group on the snorkeling trip, he said.

"We are trying to narrow down the search area," Richardson said. "We have an idea of where it could have been but we are just guessing based on the information we have. The moment we have more accurate information, you can conduct a more thorough search."

The search is the latest of many that authorities have launched since Holloway disappeared in Aruba in 2005 while on a school trip. The 18-year-old was last seen leaving a bar with Joran van der Sloot on the final night of a high school graduation trip.

Richardson said the dive team will remain on the scene as long as it takes.

"The FBI has been in contact with the Holloway family," he said.

Efforts to reach Holloway's parents, Dave Holloway of Mississippi and Beth Twitty of Mountain Brook, were unsuccessful Saturday.

Larry Garrison, who has been a spokesman for Dave Hollway, said Natalie's father has received similar pictures in the past only to find out they are rock formations.

"He is more or less dismissing this," Garrison said Saturday. "I think they've found the same thing other people have found in the past, rock formations."

Aruban spokeswoman Ann Angela told the Associated Press it is too early to say whether the Pennsylvania ouple's underwater photo is more viable than other tips authorities have received.

"It could be a skull, it could be a stone, it could be anything," she said. "That's what we're trying to figure out."

The couple cannot pinpoint the exact location, but an Aruba resident believes he can find the spot, Angela said.

"We are a very small island with lots of people diving or snorkeling, so it's not unusual for one of us to see an underwater picture and recognize the location."

John and Patti Muldowney made the pictures while vacationing in Aruba in early October 2009. John Muldowney, who appeared on CNN's Nancy Grace show Friday night, said his wife took the pictures in about 15 feet of water.

He said the film was not developed until December. Fearing the photos may be remains of Holloway, Muldowney said he turned the pictures over to the FBI.

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2010/03/aruban_divers_in_first_look_fo.html