His father was already questioned at the beginning of the case
Geoffrey van Cromvoirt detained as suspect in the case of the disappearance of Natalee
Perhaps a link to the case with uniform found in the Colony area near the sea
DIARIO Aruba
4/18/2006

ORANJESTAD(AAN): In the noon hours of this past Saturday, the Public Prosecutor acted and detained a new person in the case of the disappearance of the student Natalee Holloway.

However, it was only in the afternoon hours that this detention was leaked to the press, and it is time to know who it is.

The youngster worked at one time for the VCB Security Company, which is also in charge of the administration of the Visibility Team in Aruba.

It can still be recalled how in the month of June 2005, when the government gave half a day free to all its workers to search, that in the vicinity of the sea, close to an area where kite surfing is done, at the entrance of Colony, a uniform of VCB (Video Camara Beveiliging) was found.

At that time, they interrogated the director of this company who is the same person who is in charge of the whole camera system on the side of the big hotels, along with the Visibility Team.

This same director is the father of the youngster Geoffrey van Cromvoirt, 19 years of age (born in Holland), who was also working in his father’s company, VCB., after his sister, who also worked there, became a policewoman.

GEOFFREY WAS ‘FIRED’

DIARIO has information that Geoffrey van Cromvoirt was fired from his job because police did not want to work with him. Aside from this, Geoffrey is a good friend of Commissioner Gerold Dompig’s son, who also was working on the Visibility Team near the sea.

Both of them, according to colleagues, apparently were always talking about how they ‘had fun’ with female tourists who they met on the beach. They even said they liked to lie and say that they were police so that they could do illegal things.

Some months back, Commissioner Gerold Dompig’s son was ‘practically’ fired from the team. It is not known where Gerold Dompig’s son is working, but Geoffrey van Cromvoirt is working on the beach, near a water sports company. In other words, he is a ‘beach bum’.

Although there is no confirmation about what his role is in this case, it must be questioned if it starts with the link of the security t-shirt found on the coast near the entrance of the Colony neighbourhood. A lawyer said that on this cloth there is relevant forensic information.

The piece of clothing was a uniform similar to the one that Geoffrey himself used. More detentions can be expected in the case, although we have information that Geoffrey is not cooperating at all with authorities in this case.

On this photo of Geoffrey, from the DIARIO archives, he can be seen when his sister was sworn in as a policewoman in San Nicolas. He was standing behind his sister that day.

HIS ROLE IN THE INVESTIGATION

Many people are asking, but no one has found the answer. What do authorities really have on this youngster? There is speculation that this arrest came after the program Opsporing Verzocht passed and that it produced about 100 tips. The Public Prosecution, however, is not giving any details. They have apparently learned from experiences in the past.

Although there’s an indication that perhaps Geoffrey met Natalee before Sunday, May 29 of 2005, there are others that show that possibly he was detained as a pretext to extract information that he could have, related to the involvement of van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers.

Apart from this, still authorities still must know whose DNA was found on the toothbrush from the hotel bathroom. It was a male DNA.

In the meantime, the American and Dutch press have also paid attention to this new detention. Some are even questioning if this is a ‘show’, due to the fact that Dave Holloway’s book came out last week, containing grave accusations towards the Public Prosecution. It has even been said that when Natalee’s mother’s book comes out, that this will really sink Aruba.

CONNECTION WITH JORAN OR NOT?

Meanwhile, Joran’s attorney, Joe Tacopina, explained that his client does not know Geoffrey, although there are some details circulating to the contrary.

He indicated that they are happy that Geoffrey is an ‘unknown’ to them, and that it shows that authorities are really working on new tips and can find a solution to this.

Sunday morning, the American press started to flood the VCB Security Company with calls. In the noon hours, even their web site had been changed, where the company decided to remove a photo of Geoffrey which was on it. A photo of the father was also removed from VCB’s web site. There are even some who question if perhaps this company could have ‘manipulated’ videotapes from hotel security in van der Sloot’s favour. However, observers deny this speculation as baseless inventions.

Today, they will have to bring Geoffrey in front of the Judge Commissioner to decide If his detention will be prolonged or not. In the meantime, it is DIARIO’s understanding that Geoffrey’s interrogation continues. He is a person who is regularly seen on the side of the beach, and they have to verify if he indeed could have met with Natalee.

[translated by Getagrip]