Natalee Holloway case stressfully continues
Dutch experts conclude ‘Dr. Phil’ tape ‘doctored’
Aruba Today
11/25/2005

ORANJESTAD – The island of Aruba continues to grieve with the mother and family of the missing Alabama teen Natalee Holloway.

The most recent update includes forensic investigators in Holland having found that someone altered a taped interview in which a Surinamese man allegedly claimed to have had sex with a U.S. teen who disappeared while visiting Aruba, the island’s police chief said Wednesday.

The tape was an interview with Deepak Kalpoe in July of this year by an investigator Jamie Skeeters hired by the U.S. television program, the “Dr. Phil” show. In it, Deepak allegedly claimed to have had sex with Natalee Holloway,
an Alabama honors student, before she disappeared in May.

The findings of the investigator were never revealed to the Aruban authorities until after Dr. Phil had the missing teen’s mother Beth Twitty on his program 2 months after the alleged confession.

The Aruban Authorities stated after hearing of the Dr. Phil show in early September of this year, that none of the suspects had admitted at any time of having sex with the missing teen and that this confession collected by Dr.
Phil’s team would be a critical piece of information to the investigation. The Aruban Authorities were surprised that such an important piece of evidence could be withheld for 2 months, and then presented on a talk show before turning
it in as evidence to the case.

It took a month to receive the original DVDs from the investigator and then were sent to Holland for verification. “The tapes played on U.S. television appear to have been altered to suggest Deepak admitted to a sexual act, our forensic investigators tell us, the original tape did not say that,” Gerald Dompig, the chief of police for this Dutch Caribbean island, said in a statement.

On the tape, Deepak allegedly says Holloway “dressed like a slut,” and that he, his brother, Satish, and Dutch national Joran van der Sloot had sex with Holloway, who would have turned 19 in October.

“I have reviewed the findings of the Forensic Institute in Holland ... those results state that the tapes were not authentic in regard to statement made by Deepak
Kalpoe,” Dompig said.

A spokesman for the “Dr. Phil” show had no immediate comment.

“We have asked the FBI to review the same tapes to corroborate the conclusion reached by our Dutch forensic investigators,” the statement said.

Holloway was last seen early on May 30 leaving a bar with van der Sloot and Surinamese Kalpoe brothers. They were arrested on June 9 but released after a court ruled there was not enough evidence to hold them.

Island-wide Searches of the island failed to find the missing teenager.

Alabama Gov. Bob Riley has called for a travel boycott of the island because of how the case was handled.

Holloway’s family accuse the island’s government of not fully cooperating with the investigation into her disappearance.

Aruban officials have criticized the boycott, disputing charges the case was mishandled.

Gov. Riley has sent letters to his fellow governors across the country, urging them to support his boycott of Aruba on behalf of the family of missing Alabama teen Natalee Holloway.

In the letters, Riley blames the Aruban government for what he called “missteps, miscommunication and inconsistencies” plaguing the investigation into the 18-yearold’s disappearance.

Holloway, of suburban Birmingham, was last seen leaving a bar with three young men from Aruba during a high school graduation trip to the island May 30. Each of the three was later taken into custody but has since been released.

Riley, in his letter sent last Friday, said Aruban authorities are no longer communicating with Holloway’s family and are not providing information about the status of the investigation.

Holloway’s family initially praised Aruban authorities for their work on the case, but they recently turned critical, alleging incompetence and conflicts of interest.

The boycott has failed to get support from the U.S. State Department.

Jeff Emerson, Riley’s communications director, said this week that the governor had not yet received any feedback from the other governors.

[English language original text]