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Nancy Grace

Search for Natalee Holloway Continues

Aired April 20, 2006 - 20:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

JANE-VELEZ-MITCHELL, GUEST HOST: Tonight, imagine your daughter goes on a high school trip to a vacation paradise and never comes home. It happened almost a year ago, and 18-year-old Natalee Holloway`s parents are still desperately searching for signs of their daughter and for answers. Tonight, a new suspect is behind bars in Aruba. What does he know? And will renewed ocean searches reveal even the smallest clue?
Also tonight, in Durham, North Carolina, accusations and alibis. Does a local cabbie hold the key to the defense of one of the lacrosse players indicted in the Duke rape investigation? And will DNA test results, that could come in any minute now, make or break the state`s case? And will a secret grand jury hand down an indictment on a third lacrosse player?

Good evening, everybody. I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell, sitting in tonight for Nancy Grace. Tonight, live to Durham, North Carolina, and the Duke rape investigation. The defense for one of two indicted lacrosse players offers an alibi. Does a local taxi driver back up his story? And we wait for more DNA test results. Will they reveal physical evidence that a 27- year-old student-turned-stripper was allegedly raped at an off-campus party? And will the secret grand jury indict a third player?

But first tonight, live to Aruba. Almost a year ago, a vacation paradise for a group of Alabama high school seniors turns into a real nightmare for 18-year-old Natalee Holloway. Tonight, the ongoing search for signs of Natalee and the investigation into her puzzling disappearance with a new suspect behind bars.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BETH HOLLOWAY TWITTY, NATALEE`S MOTHER: I think we`re really -- we`re really encouraged by the (INAUDIBLE) investigation.

DAVE HOLLOWAY, NATALEE`S FATHER: I didn`t know anything about it until I heard (INAUDIBLE) was on some report late Saturday evening.

TWITTY: I just hope that this new suspect can, you know, give us, you know, the one break that we need in order for this mystery to unravel.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do you leave girl on the beach?

JORAN VAN DER SLOOT, SUSPECT IN NATALEE HOLLOWAY DISAPPEARANCE: She wanted to stay there the whole night. I told her, no, I had to go. If I had that moment back, I would have made sure she got back to her hotel safely.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How can a girl just disappear?

VAN DER SLOOT: I don`t know. I think that`s the million-dollar question.

TWITTY: We`re just missing a couple of small pieces, and I just feel as if it will all come to light.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: FYI, I want to let you know Nancy Grace will be back here tomorrow night. Tonight, Nancy is at her college and law school alma mater attending a meeting and also helping pick up trash to keep America beautiful, something we should all be doing, myself included.

Now straight out to Jim Moret. Bring us up to date on the very latest in the Aruba case, Jim.

JIM MORET, "INSIDE EDITION": Well, Jane, the authorities there have a person in custody. This is a person who before Saturday, no one really had ever heard of, Gerald (SIC) Van Cromvoirt. He`s a 19-year-old. He`s worked as a security guard around the same beach where Natalee Holloway -- at the hotel Natalee Holloway was staying, but according to statements issued just the last couple of days, he was not working at the time of Natalee`s disappearance as a security guard.

However, he`s been taken into custody and being held for an additional eight days over and above the first days he was held. And the prosecutor`s office in Aruba made a statement that Mr. Van Cromvoirt, this 19-year-old, is being held as a suspect, not a witness, but Van Der Sloot -- that`s Joran Van Der Sloot, one of the three people originally taken into custody -- remains the main suspect.

Now, I talked extensively with Beth Holloway Twitty. She was in Los Angeles on Monday night. We spent a few hours together. She was very encouraged by this latest arrest, encouraged because it`s on the heels of a Dutch version of "America`s Most Wanted" that played just in the last week or two, and there were some 50 leads that seemed to come out of that program. And there was also the change in the guard of the chief of police, who was relieved of duty on this particular case and a new investigator was put in place. And since that time, this suspect has been taken into custody. But again, there have been leads before that have gone nowhere. So all the people in the Holloway and Twitty families are still cautiously optimistic.

GRACE: And Jim, I have to give kudos to two staffers on Nancy Grace, Eric Marrapodi and Karen Shipman. They are down in Aruba, and some of video you`ve been looking at they have obtained exclusively for the Nancy Grace show.

Let`s go to Eric Marrapodi. How did you get this video, first of all?

ERIC MARRAPODI, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Yes, Jane. We...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hey, Eric, can you hear me?

MARRAPODI: ... were there at the Nord (ph) police station -- Jane, I can hear you just fine. We were down there today at the Nord police station, where Geoffrey Van Cromvoirt was being questioned. At about 6:00 o`clock, they brought him out of that police station and started to transport him down to the -- to the Kia (ph) prison on the other side of the island. And as soon as he saw us jump out with the camera, threw his hoodie up and put his cuffs in front of his face. It was clearly him, and they took him away tonight.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. And this, of course, a very encouraging development, the arrest of a new suspect, but it`s also very, very confusing. Let`s hear what Natalee Holloway`s mom, Beth Twitty, had to say about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TWITTY: It`s really hard it stay focused. It`s really hard to not, you know -- I feel as if you kind of get derailed off your path. And just so many different things going on and so many new elements into play. It`s just -- it is just -- just too much. I just can`t imagine that the shirt has any connection with Natalee because it seemed as if -- if it -- if it did, then that would have come out early this summer. I mean, it just doesn`t make any sense that it wouldn`t have.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: It is very overwhelming to even cover this. Take a look at this graphic we have put together of everybody they have brought in on this case thus far. And Nancy calls it catch-and-release. It`s a very funny way of describing what`s going on here, but you have Joran Van Der Sloot, the Kalpoe brothers. You have Joran`s dad. You have the party boat guy. You`ve got the two security guards that they originally arrested. And now you have this other guy, Geoffrey. And then there`s a question mark in the middle.

Jim Moret, "The New York Post" is reporting that they may be on the heels of two other people. What do know about that?

MORET: Well -- well, before we get there, you heard Beth Twitty talk about a shirt. And what she was talking about is in June of 2005, there was a shirt with a logo, VCB logo, on it, and that was found on the south side of the island with blood on it. It was originally not believed to be involved in this particular case. However, we were told by Mr. Tacopina, the attorney representing Joran Van Der Sloot, that Van Cromvoirt was detained because recovered his T-shirt with forensic evidence pertinent to this case on the south side of the island. It`s not known whether it`s the same T-shirt, but VCB is the security company that Geoffrey Van Cromvoirt works for now. And according to the statement released by his family, he did not have access to those T-shirts at the time of Natalee`s disappearance, did not own those T-shirts at the time of Natalee`s disappearance.

As far as new suspects -- you know, we keep hearing about potentially new suspects, but you have to remember, Jane -- you`ve been following this case, as have I, for the better part of a year. We`ve heard a lot of leads that have gone nowhere. There`s a great deal of this investigation which may have been tainted by faulty reporting or word coming out of Aruba that simply wasn`t correct.

So I don`t want to comment on anything until I know it and I see it from a source that I can believe is accurate.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, Jim, one of the perplexing things about this new development, at least with Joran Van Der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers, even though they changed their story many times, we had a picture in our heads of some of the possibilities. But this guy seems to come out of the blue, and we can`t really put it in context. We can`t say who, what, when, where, why, how, even in theory. So we`re operating sort of rudderless right now. Would you agree?

MORET: We are, except we still believe that Joran Van Der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers were the last people -- they`re at least the last people we know of to have seen Natalee Holloway alive. Therefore, they are still on the radar. And as the prosecutor`s office has indicated in its statement, Joran Van Der Sloot is still the main suspect. That doesn`t mean there couldn`t be other people involved.

Let`s face it, you have the potential crime of a rape, of a murder. And then you have the problem of what happened to a body. So that could involve more than one, two or three people. It`s impossible to guess why this latest person was detained, but it`s certainly my assumption we will find out very soon.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And you know, this is also perplexing. We`re very pleased to have with us tonight Dave Holloway, Natalee`s father. Perhaps you can give us some context because Joran Van Der Sloot is reported as saying he doesn`t know this guy. This guy, Geoffrey, is reportedly saying that he doesn`t know Joran. And by the same token, Natalee`s mom, Beth, has said that she had never heard of this guy, that the friends that were with Natalee have never heard of Geoffrey Van Cromvoirt. And so you yourself had said that you didn`t hear his name until he was arrested.

What do you make of this development, sir?

HOLLOWAY: Well, you can throw the shirt away. That kid we have pretty good evidence that`s coming out now that he was at Carlos and Charlie`s that same night Natalee disappeared. So you know, he wouldn`t be wearing a security shirt out like that. You put...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wait. I think you said something very...

(CROSSTALK)

HOLLOWAY: ... with the fact that he was arrested for drug charges and he`s connected to the case, and you start putting two and two together and you start coming up with some pretty good theories.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I want to make sure I heard you correctly because what you said was very significant, if I heard you right. You`re saying that you believe Geoffrey was at Carlos and Charlie`s that night?

HOLLOWAY: Yes. There are some witnesses...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wow!

HOLLOWAY: ... that are being talked to that indicate that he may have been in Carlos and Charlie`s that same night.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, that`s big new information, and I want to stress the reason why it`s such big new information is that we had originally theorized when we heard about this young man that he may have been patrolling the beach that night, the night Natalee disappeared, because that was a job he later held.

Now, of course, he has the presumption of innocence. I`d like to read a statement that his attorney has handed to us, and this is sort a summary of a very long statement, basically saying Geoffrey was not employed in May or June for the Visibility team or the VCB security company. And that basically means that he says he wasn`t patrolling the beach for them. Geoffrey was not a friend and has no relationship to the three suspects previously detained, Joran and the Kalpoes. VCB did not take care of security in May 2005 for the Holiday Inn. From May 2005 to the present, VCB did not install security cameras at the Holiday Inn or any hotels along the string.

Again, bottom line, he`s saying he was patrolling that night. But gosh, Jim Moret, if it turns out that he was at Carlos and Charlie`s, doesn`t that give it an entirely new spin? That`s new information.

MORET: It does give it new spin. And let me just restate what the OM, the public prosecutor`s office, said in a written statement because this is very important. The OM said that Van Cromvoirt is being held as a suspect, not as a witness. But Van Der Sloot remains the main suspect.

So if you listen to what Mr. Holloway`s saying, then it`s certainly possible that this individual is believed to have had some part in either Natalee Natalee`s disappearance or whatever happened to her, but that doesn`t let Van Der Sloot off the hook. So there clearly more than we know. Otherwise, this case would have been solved weeks, if not months ago. And it must be horribly frustrating for Natalee`s family and friends to wait month after month after month. But at least -- and this is a very big but -- they are getting some good news in the sense that this investigation, on its surface, appears to be moving forward in a meaningful way.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Prosecutors Stacey Honowitz, why are they putting us through this? Why don`t they explain a little bit what they think happened that night? If they think that all these people hooked up at Carlos and Charlie`s, why not say that? Or if they think he was patrolling on the beach, why not say that? Why do they leave this mystery to allow for such speculation?~

STACEY HONOWITZ, PROSECUTOR: Well, honestly, Jane, I don`t think they know what theory is yet, and that`s why we`re all sitting here speculating, trying to figure out our own theory as to what happened. But I think that Jim is right. I mean, there has to be some kind of nexus, some kind of connection between this person who`s in custody now with what`s going on because they didn`t just pick him up off the street and say, Let`s try to get you involved.

Somehow, somewhere down line, he obviously had some involvement. And the reason why I think we probably can say that, and at this juncture, only because of what we`ve heard so far, is because now they`ve extended the two days to another eight days to question him. So the judge had to find some kind of connection between his involvement and the case. And just like you said, Jane, I don`t think anybody really knows what the theory is. There had to be some kind link to get his name to even get him into custody, and that...

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, supposedly, the link was the T-shirt, and that was a T-shirt that Dave Holloway just said, Well, forget about it. It`s not that significant.

But let`s go to Dr. Warner Spitz, medical examiner. Could this T- shirt hold the key to the whole thing?

DR. WARNER SPITZ, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: Well, if you find DNA on it, and at this stage, whether it`s dry or not, dried blood or not, it`s available for DNA determination. We take these drops of blood and dry them on a card and keep that card for years and years and -- just in case it`s needed some day for identification. So why not on the T-shirt?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We come back from our break, I want to go back to Natalee`s father and ask him why he said what he did about the shirt because there might be a really good explanation for that.

To tonight`s "Case Alert." The family of missing 24-year-old Jennifer Kesse is teaming up with a local attorney to generate new leads the case. The Kesse family is producing a 30-second public service announcement urging anybody with information in regards to Jennifer`s disappearance to go to an attorney. That person`s identity and information will be protected by attorney-client privilege laws. If you have any information on Jennifer Kesse, please, please call 800-423-TIPS.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) on two counts. One, that he is involved in some way with the Natalee Holloway case. And two, that he is involved in some way with some kind of drug -- drugs being sold on the beach. Maybe now we will see a solution to the case.

TWITTY: I just hope that this new suspect can give us, you know, the one break that we need in order for this mystery to unravel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell, sitting in tonight for Nancy Grace. Tonight, we are looking into the Natalee Holloway mystery and stunning new developments that just might help solve it. A new suspect is in custody tonight, and Aruban authorities are not letting up in their search for Natalee, for signs and clues about her fate.

Let`s go back out to Eric Marrapodi, who is live in Aruba. He has been tracking this case from the start. Eric, what about this T-shirt? Is it that significant? When did they find it? And what might be on it?

MARRAPODI: Jane, here`s the back story on that T-shirt. That T-shirt was found on June 5 back in 2005, when this search for Natalee Holloway first began. It was found on the south side of the island, which is quite a ways away from where Natalee Holloway was last reported seen.

Now, we have spoken with our sources, and sources close to the case today, Jane, tell us, Don`t exclude it, meaning the shirt may still have relevance to this case tonight.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right, now let`s go to Dave Holloway, Natalee`s father. I thought I heard you say, Forget about the T-shirt. Did you say that? And if so, what`s the meaning that?

HOLLOWAY: Well, I understand that he was not employed with the security firm at that time, and we also have a witness that is pretty sure that he was at Carlos and Charlie`s that night. I know that there was a lot of mis-sightings (ph) when Natalee went missing, and this individual may be wrong. But he or she is pretty sure that this individual was at that location that night.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I guess the bottom line is we`re all trying to figure out how he plays into this story. We know -- at least, we believe we know that Natalee left with Joran and the Kalpoe brothers. If this young man was there, is the theory that they all hooked up later, that they talked to each other on the cell phone? Would there be any evidence of that?

I mean, listen, this is a good-looking young man. They`re there on their last night out. They`re having a fun time. It wouldn`t be inconceivable that the two of them were chatting, if, in fact, both of them were at Carlos and Charlie`s.

HOLLOWAY: Well, I`ve always had the theory that the drug GHB was possibly used. This kid was arrested on drug charges. Is there any connections? Who knows. So that`s the -- that`s the position that I`m taking, is that he was arrested on drug charges. Maybe he -- maybe he sold some drugs. Who knows?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, so you`re suggesting maybe, in fact, even though they say they don`t know each other, there could be a connection, in your mind, between Joran and this young man?

HOLLOWAY: Possibly. I know that Joran had a picture taken some time in April, I believe, at a red sailboat dock or something like that, and that happens to be where this individual was working at the time.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, it`s a small island, and everything is six degrees of separation on this island, for sure. So you may have something there.

Let`s go to defense attorney Midwin Charles. I want to ask you about all this rumored speculation. I mean, they bring this young man in. They say that he`s a suspect now, and they also say that he has some undisclosed drug issues, but they don`t charge him with anything. He has the presumption of innocence. Are they essentially just smearing this man`s name, at this point, without offering any specifics? (INAUDIBLE) drugs is not that complicated to prove. If he has a drug connection, why don`t they charge him?

MIDWIN CHARLES, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, you`re right, Jane. I mean, you bring up a very good point. I guess one of the things that they`re trying to do here is just assure everyone that Aruba is doing as much as it can to find out what happened to Natalee. I mean, let`s be frank here. Every single person they have arrested in this case has been let go. So I`m not confident at all that they could keep him locked up for too long.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: But you`d think they would just say something to give us an indication of what it is exactly with drugs he`s allegedly done.

CHARLES: I think you`re -- I mean, you`re right. I think one of the things they may be doing is holding back on the information from hopes that it won`t jeopardize whatever information it is that they have out there.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Excellent points.

To tonight`s "Trial Tracking." The prosecution wraps up its cross- examination of former Enron chief executive Jeffrey Skilling after three days on the stand. The state accuses Skilling of misrepresenting the real reason he left Enron in 2001, shortly before the company declared bankruptcy. Skilling faces 28 charges of conspiracy, fraud and insider trading.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TWITTY: There were so many times where Joran would just simply place his fingers in his ears because he was not going to answer any more questions with the interrogators. You know, he gave those statements early on, but from then -- there on, I mean, he was just advised either not to talk or, you know, continue to change his story because in Aruba, it`s in your best interest just to continue lying. I think the only thing that a judge would do is maybe frown upon the lies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell, sitting in tonight for Nancy Grace. Tonight, the Natalee Holloway case. We are focusing in on a new suspect, Geoffrey Van Cromvoirt. His father runs a security company. His sister graduated from the Aruban police academy. Now 19-year-old Geoffrey van Cromvoirt is in custody in connection with the disappearance of 18-year-old Natalee almost a year ago. What does he know about this mystery that has captured the entire world`s attention?

I would like to go to defense attorney Sam Cammack and ask him why it is that police there haven`t charged him with anything, although they mentioned this drug connection? Are they smearing his name? Are they possibly trying to use that drug issue as leverage?

SAM CAMMACK, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I don`t believe they`re smearing his name. What they`re doing, they`re trying to chase down every lead that they have. They`re going to have to create a link between this young man and this shirt. Why has this shirt been in evidence for 11 months and they`re just now actually accusing someone of being linked to this shirt? There`s some forensic evidence. Of course, we don`t know what type of forensic evidence that there is, at this point.

So I believe they`re just trying to chase down every lead they can and make it look like that, Hey, we`re doing something down here. We`re still investigating this matter. But I also agree that Van Der Sloot is probably still the prime suspect, and this guy`s actually going to get released at some point in time.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And it`s so interesting because, apparently, down in Aruba, you can`t plea bargain. So the whole notion that they might be using this as leverage really doesn`t add up because they can`t do the kind of complicated plea bargain deals that we do here in the United States. So that`s another fascinating wrinkle to all of this. We`re trying to sort it all out. It`s just more and more complicated with every new development.

We at NANCY GRACE want very much to help, in our own way, solve unsolved homicides, find missing people. Tonight, take a look at 23-year- old Brandon Browne, killed on November 26, 2004, Colorado Springs, Colorado. If you have any information on Brandon Browne, please call the Carole Sund Carrington Foundation toll-free, 1-888-813-8389.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVE HOLLOWAY, NATALEE HOLLOWAY`S FATHER: You just got to go back to the original statements. You know, these kids came up with or concocted a story about the Holiday Inn; that was untrue. And then you had lie, after lie, after lie, after lie.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell sitting in tonight for Nancy Grace as we try to figure out what really happened in Aruba almost a year ago when Natalee Holloway simply vanished, one of the most perplexing cases in recent times.

And now this stunning new development, as we learn more about the recent arrest of a new suspect, a fresh name that has none of Natalee`s friends and family -- they don`t know. They haven`t heard of his name. They really do not know who this person is.

And with that, I`d like to go to Pat Brown, criminal profiler. What you do is you rely on deductive reasoning, and you put the pieces together, even when it seems like there`s no connection. You`ve heard all of the discussion tonight. What do you make of this?

PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER: Well, Jane, yes, it`s confounding. It really is. But I think what we probably have here is possible issue of trying to create reasonable doubt.

Now, remember, we`ve had a lot of attacks on Aruba lately and the police department, and that`s why they`ve gotten rid out of Dompig. He`s out of the picture. And now they`ve got to recoup themselves and get a good view of them now.

If they can create some reasonable doubt, here`s somebody new. See, we`re working hard, and we`ve got a new person. Now we`re all questioning, god, is Joran really involved in any of these things? Are the Kalpoe brothers really involved? Maybe we`ve been wrong all along for a year.

Now, we have to step back and we have to say, "OK, we`re confused. Let the police do their work, because maybe they`ve got something now that we don`t know anything about." That`s my guess at the moment, because it`s not making a lot of sense why he suddenly would appear as a suspect, except for some damage control.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: That`s absolutely fascinating, because, Jim Moret, there is a dovetail between this new development and the switch in the main person in charge of the investigation. Dompig, Deputy Chief Dompig, was in charge a while back. And a couple of weeks ago, he was taken off the case, and there`s a new investigator, and suddenly this new development out of the blue.

What a coincidence. What do you think about this sort of cynical interpretation?

MORET: There was also a TV show, the Dutch version of "America`s Most Wanted," that also occurred the same time Dompig was taken off of the case, and that show supposedly generated some 50 leads.

What we do know is that Van Cromvoirt was taken into custody on Saturday. What happened on Sunday? The Coast Guard renewed efforts to search the area just off the coast from the hotel where Natalee was staying. There have been four days of searches along the water. So far, they`ve yielded nothing. But you do see a renewed effort, renewed search.

Look, it`s possible this is all for show. I`m taking the position at this point that I have to look at on its surface and say: This is a hopeful sign, but like the Holloways and Twittys, I`m cautiously optimistic at this point.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, if it is a show, it is quite a show they are putting on, because they have done some pretty extensive searches.

With that, I`d like to go to our Internet maven and good friend Clark Goldband. He has been tracking the searches going on for Natalee, and he can put it into context for us, in terms of other famous searches and what the results were.

Take it away, Clark.

CLARK GOLDBAND, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Thank you, Jane.

Some people say -- and you especially see this on the Web -- why are we still searching for this girl almost a year into it? Well, they`re wrong, and there is some hope. I`ll show you why.

Chandra Levy, 13 months we were searching for Chandra Levy. She was found on land, a human skull and bones. They were able to identify her, and that averaged temp, Jane, in Washington, D.C., swings between 24 degrees and 89 degrees. So a big change in temperature there.

Let`s go to a...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, wait a -- go ahead.

GOLDBAND: I was just going to show you, Laci Peterson. We were searching for Laci for four months, Jane. She was found onshore, and we know they`ve been searching offshore down there in Aruba to find Natalee Holloway.

They found a decomposed body. There was no head. The average temperature down in the water there, Jane, 53 degrees. We know the average temp down in Aruba is 79 degrees in that ocean.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wow, well, 79 degrees is a lot warmer than 53 degrees! I wonder if it causes more deterioration?

Let`s ask Dr. Warner Spitz, medical examiner, about that. I mean, does the water temperature play a key role, in terms of the degradation?

SPITZ: Well, of course, it does, but we`re talking about 11 months. And if we`re talking about 11 months, then 53 degrees is not -- it`s an average temperature. That`s not the only temperature.

So it gets warmer, and it gets perhaps a little cooler. And I`m quite certain that, whether she is in for 11 months or even six months or three months, she will be very badly changed, very badly decomposed.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: But isn`t it true that all they need is a tiny, little piece of remains for DNA? I mean, I remember the case of Teresa Halbach, who was brutally murdered, and then her body was set on fire. And, nevertheless, investigators were able to go in there and find in the fire pit DNA evidence to produce that this girl was murdered, very important evidence in her case.

SPITZ: Well, no question. If you have a few hair still on the body, and, if not, you have bone. The bone is there, totally protected and available for DNA analysis.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So it`s not a waste of time, the search that they are doing in Aruba?

SPITZ: Oh, absolutely not. If the body needs to be found, that`s the way to identify it.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Psychologist Jeff Gardere, I know you`ve been waiting a long time to weigh in. You`ve heard all of the evidence, and now let`s talk a little bit about the psychological pressures on the family.

Given all this information that`s so hard to make sense of, they try to keep hope alive within themselves with every new turn of events, but it also has to be very destabilizing, I would think.

JEFF GARDERE, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Oh, it certainly is, Jane. But as long as things are starting to develop, whether it may be the wrong turn, maybe Aruba`s just grasping at straws at this point, because we know tourism is their major business there, and they have to show the world that they`re really doing something here.

It just keeps giving the message that no one is giving up. And Beth Twitty Holloway and her family, they know that, as long as they keep pushing this investigation and pushing the Aruban government, that there is still hope that Natalee Holloway, or at least her remains, will be found.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And I have to ask Sam Cammack, defense attorney, this is kind of a devil`s advocate question. Obviously, Van Der Sloot is still a suspect. We are not ruling him out.

But what if -- and that`s just a big if -- it turns out that this is a suspect that essentially exonerates Van Der Sloot? What legal recourses does he have, in terms of what`s happened to him, in terms of his reputation?

CAMMACK: Well, I guess, with regards to his reputation, if he is completely exonerated of this alleged crime that he supposedly may have committed, the best thing for him to do is just walk away and write it off as a bad experience. I don`t believe, at least in Aruba, he`ll have any legal recourse or try to get any type of civil damages or anything like that as a result of it.

But I have one other thing to say with regards to this new suspect. Even if he was at Carlos and Charlie`s that night, I don`t know how they`re going to be able to link him to this crime, if the shirt itself doesn`t have any forensic evidence that would link him to it as a result of that.

So just because he was there that night does not make him a prime suspect in the case.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Absolutely. And everybody has the presumption of innocence at this point, certainly.

Stacey Honowitz, what do you make of the whole Joran Van Der Sloot angle, because there`s a civil suit against Van Der Sloot and his father? And how would that be affected by this new suspect coming in?

HONOWITZ: Well, first of all, I don`t understand why everyone thinks that it`s such a big deal that they`re going forward and trying to investigate every lead.

Jane, you know that, you know, murder investigations sometimes take years, we don`t find out who the real person is or we don`t solve the murders. So I think that by Aruba going forward and flushing out all of these leads is a good thing, and I think everybody has to realize that.

I wouldn`t take it as, you know, they`re trying to bring up their tourism. That could be one of the reasons, but the new blood is there, and that happens many times. When new blood comes in, they want to throw out all the bad stuff and they want to go forward on the new leads.

As far as the civil suit is concerned, well, certainly, I`m sure Joe Tacopina, who`s representing him on that civil suit, is loving all of this new attention on this new suspect, because certainly in the civil suit it`s claiming that he`s responsible for murder, for sexual battery, all of those things.

And, certainly, if this new suspect flushes out and Van Der Sloot had nothing to do with this, well, there goes the civil case. So he`s watching this very carefully, as is the world.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. And very briefly to Dave Holloway, Natalee`s father. I know you have an involvement with the civil suit. Has it affected it at all, this new development?

DAVE HOLLOWAY, NATALEE HOLLOWAY`S FATHER: Oh, no, not at all. You know, back to this GVC, I think one of the reasons he was arrested is, you know, kid`s talk. And he`s in that age group, you know, where rumors flying and all of this kind of stuff.

And I think he was arrested because he had been talking on the beach a little bit too much, and some of these tips that came out from this Dutch show -- which coincidentally aired the same time my book came out -- and you`ll probably see some other people that`s listed in my book probably get involved in this case, as well, so...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Thank you, sir. I want to thank you for taking the time and, of course, we really hope that justice is served in this case and that it`s solved.

To tonight`s "Case Alert," two-time convicted child molester Carl Geddes, Jr., behind bars tonight after he pleaded guilty to six child pornography counts. Geddes, 33, made himself easy for police to track when he downloaded porn from the Internet and printed it at Cleveland, Ohio`s, public library.

The parolee sifted through the contraband, and then stuffed it in a bathroom wastebasket, discarding along with it -- guess what -- his resume. Geddes faces up to 30 years behind bars.

Also on the docket, an Oklahoma man is causing an uproar by advertising that he would like to pay for a young, virgin bride. Forty- five-year-old Michael Thelemann posted a sign in his yard saying he`ll pay a $1,000 reward for a virgin bride between the ages of 12 and 24. The local district attorney says, technically, he`s acting legally.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did they seem like they had been drinking?

MOEZ MOSTAFA, CAB DRIVER: Not that much drinking.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe a little?

MOSTAFA: Maybe a little, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From what I have heard, the overwhelming number of people who know these kids say these kids couldn`t have done that.

MOSTAFA: (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s a very upstanding young man. We`re going to let the judicial process work its way through, and I know that the family feels they will be completely vindicated of all of the charges.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell sitting in tonight for Nancy Grace.

Tonight, we are waiting for the DNA results in the Duke rape investigation. Meantime, defense attorneys for the two indicted players are coming out with new alibis.

We have been talking about the Duke rape investigation for several weeks now. You may be wondering why we have not shown you the 27-year-old photograph of the woman who was at the center of this case.

Well, it is CNN`s long-standing policy to never, never disclose the identity of an alleged rape victim. We here at NANCY GRACE abide by and support that important protection of victims and alleged victims.

With that, let`s go straight out to Kevin Miller of WPTF Radio. He has been tracking this case from the start. Kevin, what is the very latest?

KEVIN MILLER, WPTF RADIO: Jane, it`s a story that continues to change nightly, daily, hourly. What we know today is that police did release what they were looking for in one of the accused rooms. A search warrant was issued.

They were looking for clothing from the victim, accuser, and the accused. They were also looking for e-mails, video. In addition to that, they were also looking for the white, six-inch shoe from the victim accuser.

In addition to that, they were looking for a few other things, anything that could substantiate an allegation of rape, e-mails, video, still photos. What they came away with: an article from "The New York Times" talking about this case and a letter from a young lady at Boston College.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So they didn`t find very much, essentially, is what you`re saying?

K. MILLER: No, they didn`t find very much. In fact, people are waiting for the second DNA test to come back, still no word on that. In addition, we had one defense attorney outside the Durham Police Department today say he doesn`t think a third indictment will happen.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Right, now, there is another big development. A cab driver says that he picked up one of these men, Reade Seligmann, and took him away from the party relatively early, at about 12:14 a.m., essentially establishing an alibi, if that is correct and if the time of the alleged rape is also set in stone.

Let`s hear from this cab driver now.

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MOSTAFA: I picked him up and (INAUDIBLE) Wachovia Bank, where they can get some money. And I took them down there. And after they took the money out from the machine, they asked if we can go to the Cook Out Restaurant.

I took them down there, and they bought the food. And then they said, "Take us to west campus," where I will drop them.

When they got in the car, I didn`t pay attention to their conversation, but I hear the one guy -- I`m not sure if he`s the one inside my car or from outside, but I hear one guy, he said, "She`s just a stripper."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, essential what this cab driver, if I am correct, is saying is that he picked up Reade at about 12:14 a.m., took him to an ATM, where at 12:24 he got a receipt, then to a restaurant, and then back to his dorm. And he opened his dorm door, according to another record, at 12:41 a.m.

Let`s go to Stacey Honowitz, prosecutor. This sounds like, on its face, a very good alibi. What do you make of it?

HONOWITZ: Well, you hit the nail on the head: On its face, it looks like a very good alibi. Prosecutors are forced with an alibi or presented with alibis all the time.

But an alibi has to be thoroughly investigated. And that`s why, under normal circumstances and under any circumstance, an alibi can`t just be presented upon the prosecutor in trial. It`s got to be presented days before, so that the prosecutor has adequate time to investigate, and that`s what they have to do in this case.

On its face, as we hear it right now, as we hear the defense talking about it, spinning it, the cab driver talking about it, yes, it looks like they could be presenting something. But we don`t know the time of the rape, the alleged rape. And so we have to get a time line down perfectly to see if, in fact, this alibi is actually valid.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And, very quickly, I want to ask you about this, because I was so shocked. This cabbie reportedly said that law enforcement hadn`t talked to him. Is that possible? I mean, they should have talked to him.

HONOWITZ: Well, let me tell you something, Jane. Plenty of times there`s indictments and there`s cases that are filed, and alibis come forward afterwards. So we don`t know when this cab driver was notified. We know that the father went to the cab driver`s house and asked him if he would please speak. So, not knowing this alibi prior to going to the grand jury is not so strange.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right, quickly to tonight`s "All-Points Bulletin." FBI and law enforcement across the country on the lookout for Danny Arthur Moran, wanted in connection with the 1996 Phoenix-area kidnapping of his own daughter, Rebecca.

Moran, 57, 5`7", 180 pounds, brown hair, blue-gray eyes. If you have any information on this man, call the FBI, 602-279-5511.

Local news next for some of you. We will be right back. And, remember, Internet hacking leads to murder, 3:00 to 5:00 Eastern, Court TV.

Stay with us as we remember Army Staff Sergeant Kevin P. Jessen, 28, of Arkansas, killed in an explosion in Iraq. His sister fondly remembers how he played with G.I. Joe action figures when he was a boy and became a big history buff. He is an American hero.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It doesn`t mean nothing happened; it just means nothing was left behind, which is the case in 75 to 80 percent of all sexual assaults.

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VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell sitting in tonight for Nancy Grace.

A scandal that has rocked a top-tier university and devastated families on both sides of the case. As the search for truth continues, I`d like to go out to Stephen Miller with the Duke Conservative Union.

And I`ve heard you before. I completely agree the presumption of innocence; let`s not jump the gun on this case.

I`d like to ask you, though, about attitudes on campus, because you`re there. And I`m wondering, with the strippers being called that night, with reports of boorish behavior by some of these players -- and that was a word used by a Duke University official -- with allegations that there were some racial comments made, do you think that there`s an attitude problem on campus?

STEPHEN MILLER, DUKE CONSERVATIVE UNION: I don`t think there is an attitude problem on campus if you`re talking about a widespread, pervasive kind problem. There`s no doubt that, if the behavior that`s alleged at that party occurred -- and I think a lot of it even hasn`t been denied, in terms of the way they interacted with the stripper and all of that -- that is inappropriate, what the lacrosse team specifically did.

In terms of, well, first of all, inviting the stripper to begin with. There`s no question about that, and there seems to be an indication that there were at least some racial epithets that were involved that evening. And no one denies that that`s heinous, to the degree that that may or may have not occurred.

However, people have used this issue from day one as a political agenda. This was a chance for many activists on campus and in the local community to try and get out their message that Duke University is a racist, elitist institution.

And there was actually a full-page ad ran in our student newspaper a couple of weeks after this event came to light saying that Duke University was filled with racists and that we were treating this issue differently because of the race of the alleged attackers.

And I think it`s absolutely heinous that this issue was used as a chance for people to advance their political agendas. And many, many students...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And we are out of time, but I will say that these things don`t happen in a vacuum. I understand your point, but it`s also freedom of speech. People have a right, just like you`re expressing your opinion, to express their opinion.

S. MILLER: They do, but it was prosecuted as a witch hunt from the beginning. People presumed their guilt. And in America, we don`t do that.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Got to wrap it up. All right. Thank you for your point. That`s why we asked you.

We would like to thank everyone on our panel for their insights, and thanks to you at home for tracking these important cases with us. I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell sitting in for Nancy Grace.

Coming up, headlines from around the world. Nancy will be back here tomorrow night, 8:00 p.m. Eastern. Until then, have a terrific night. Bye.

END