BREAKING: One of three young suspects detained in Aruba confesses to kill

[Singular73]

One of three young suspects detained in Aruba confesses to killing Alabama teenager, senior police official says. Details soon.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/06/10/missing.teen/index.html

[Sydnie]

1. That is very sad

I feel for her family. I pray that I have taught my children better than to go off with strangers should they ever been in a similar situation. Her parents must be devastated. :grouphug:

[Singular73]

2. Yeah, must be horrible...

But we all knew she was dead.

Was just a matter of time..the sooner they find her body, the better for her family.

[SoCalDem]

6. It's a shame that teenagers feel immortal.. So many do not

survive their teens..

I am sure that most of us have "taken chances", and lived to tell the tale...but lots do not.

I hope this sends a HUGE message to young people. That message:

Your life can be snuffed out in a nanosecond. Sometimes you cannot avoid it, but USUALLY you can.

At the risk of sounding like a preachy 56 yr old Mom.. Let me give you young uns some advice:

1. When you get drunk, you are opening yourself up to real danger. You might hook up with someone who will give you a fatal disease, make you pregnant(for the girls), or even kill you.

2. There IS safety in numbers, and going off alone with people you do not know well (and even if you DO know them sometimes) can be a fatal error.

3. Alcohol silences your "inner voice"..the one that warns you of trouble.

4. Your parents cannot always bail you out of trouble (although they usually do). There will be times when you have no one to rely on but yourself.. If you are dead-drunk in that moment, it might be your last moment.

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

8. There is nothing wrong with preaching .

Us youngins need to be reminded of everything that you said . Sometimes even at work if I am in an elevator with another male or more , I actually step out . You never know - and there are no cameras in there to tell the tale . Call it extreme , I just want to be safe .

[IndyOp]

70. I would not call it extreme by any means. I would call it smart. (nt)

[aquart]

11. Could someone tell me what parent thought it was good

To send teenagers to a place with nothing to do at night but legal drinking?

I'm really confused about that one.

[SoCalDem]

12. That one has me baffled too..

Our son went to college in Florence, Italy, and was only 19 when he left..I worried about him all the time.. The only "bad" things that happened to him:
He lost MY camera in Pompei...and had his pocket picked in Buda or Pest...

There is a reason that US kids quit going to Florida.. Florida clamped down on the drinking.. Foreign countries usually don't give a rip if underage kids get stinking drunk..

Parents who think THEIR kids won't indulge, or that the 'chaperones' will babysit them..are deluding themselves..

Anyone who is honest with themselves knows that these kids go to exotic places like Aruba to be as "naughty" as they can be in as short a time frame as possible...and Mom & Dad will never know.. (unless they have to arrange their funeral):(

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

14. You are exactly right .

I remember during my senior year of HS , I was given the opportunity to join a marching/concert band of High schoolers from all over the United States that would be touring Europe during the summer time . The representative that was sent to our school to tell us band students about the program completely turned me off . The only thing he talked about was the fact there would only be 2 chaperones and that we could drink . I did not want to be alone in Europe with only 2 chaperones for two hundred kids and represenatives who had nothing but drinking on their mind .

[RevolutionStartsNow]

29. Talking about this very thing with my husband tonight...

One of our friends is sending her high school graduating daughter on one of these trips...not organized by the high school, but by some private organization that arranges them for kids from high schools all over. They are going to Mexico.

I am also not sure I would send my daughter on a trip like this. Of course I know that thousands of kids go every year and it's very rare for something like this to happen, but this does seem a bit like a recipe for trouble, putting these kids into an atmosphere that is about not much more than partying very hard -- on the other hand, I would've loved this as a teenager, and I did in fact do some trips like this when I lived in Europe.

[napi21]

41. I asked my son if he would let his daughter go to Aruba after HS graduatio

He didn't think a minute! He instantly said NO! I asked, because I'm 61 now, and I was curious to see if the feelings have changed over the years, and I thought it was really a bad idea, but that was just me. It's NOT!

I must admit, neither me, nor my son are wealthy, but he is middle class for sure. I think many parents think they are doing favors for their kids by letting them go on trips like this and trusting they far beyond where they should.

I feel very sorry that this beautiful young girl is probably dead now, and I wonder how her parents feel about saying fine, go and have a good time!

[Robeson]

42. And thats whats so sad about this, and I hate to see him say that....

...Aruba is a wonderful place. Have you noticed that those involved in this crime are not Arubans?

I have friends there, and have been there myself. This thing has paralyzed the island, because things like this don't happen there. They are family oriented, and this horrifies them all. If the person who did this was let out in the general population in Aruba, they wouldn't last 5 minutes, because things like this just aren't acceptable. I'm sorry your son feels the way he does, and I could think of about 1000 cities in the the U.S. where his child would be a lot less safe than in Aruba.

[SoCalDem]

56. It could have been anyplace..not just Aruba.

The problem is that there are a lot if young people who feel invinceable..and are used to having their parents get them out of scrape after scrape.

They have not mastered the art of self-preservation, because they have never been "tested"... they go "on vacation" to exotic places to cut loose and some never make it home alive.

Every year kids go to Baja or to Mexico and end up dead beacuse they were careless or just plain stupid..

Kids go away to college and end up OD-ing or drinking themselves to death in dumb initiation rituals.

Being rich, smart and pretty/handsome will not protect you from yourself or the actions of others:(

[stanwyck]

55. actually

these girls were a couple of years older than the thousands of teenagers who swarm to the islands during high school spring breaks every year. Visit Cancun during spring break. (actually, don't). There are high school freshmen and sophmores on booze cruises, partyiing at the clubs, getting their faces (and, more importantly, their bodies) on MTV. I was unfortunate enough to share a plane with these drunken kids after spending a week in Ackumel. No parents. Just lots of kids with cash.

[alcuno]

3. CNN keeps showing the black men being taken away.

And yet it's the white guys who are responsible.

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

4. Yeah I noticed that too .

[shanti]

30. it's always been that way

blame it on the black man....

[rainbow4321]

34. The white guys are from prominent local families...

The black guys were the ones who camethisclose to taking the fall for the white guys. Guess someone couldn't pull enough strings??
So is it the judge's kid who confessed?

[boohootwo]

64. You know that for a fact?

[GiovanniC]

75. Who Are You Gonna Believe?

The white kid who confessed, or that part deep down inside you that REALLY wants it to be the black guys?

You have a very interesting posting history.

[boohootwo]

81. I don't think that way and I pity anyone that does.

If there's any healing to be done it won't happen through hate and paranoia.

Hollering "racism" everytime anything happens just dimishes the impact of REAL racism. You know the advice, "Pick your battles wisely."

[GiovanniC]

82. Oh, Diminishing Racism Like THIS!?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=3826009#3835767

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1535369#1535675

I guess we can be picky about what diminishes racism, right?



CNN showing black people arrested when white kids most likely suspects = NOT RACISM

Pointing it out = DIMINISHES RACISM

Saying you see more racism on DU than "anywhere ever in my life" = DOES NOT DIMINISH RACISM

Confederate flag = NOT RACIST

South during the Civil War = NOT RACIST



I think I've got your M.O. down pat.

[boohootwo]

86. Perhaps...just perhaps it was the only footage they had.

BTW, the past is gone.

[GiovanniC]

88. Wow, Maybe CNN Needs to Buy Some Video Cameras Then

And maybe you need to stop trolling. Your hypocrisy regarding racism is shining through big-time.

[boohootwo]

93. Not trolling. Just truthful and realistic.

[GiovanniC]

94. Bullshit

And we both know it.

[boohootwo]

95. LOL! Your response is so typical of the posts on DU.

So sad. No exchange of ideas or give and take discussions. Just "disagree with me and I'll insult you" blather. Too bad.

[GiovanniC]

97. Really... Tell Us More About the Typical Posts on DU

Enquiring minds want to know.

[bunny planet]

5. Absolutely horrible news.

That is so sad.

[saracat]

7. And the son of a judge ? Hmmm.

And as one says, it was the white guys yet the attention was immediately placed on the black security guards!

[Gemini Cat]

9. Poor kid.

I hope her family finds peace.

[readermostly]

10. This is just so sad. Very sorry for her family and friends.

[izzie]

13. It is sad for all the these young people. One question?

Why would a young women go off with these men in the first place? Even in the so called 'safe' days of 50 years ago I was in the know enough not to go off like that. It is like these women who bring in boy friends to live with then and wonder why their children get hurt.

[SoCalDem]

16. In a word.. alcohol

:(

[lebkuchen]

61. How do you know her drink wasn't spiked?

[Maddy McCall]

15. PHOTO OF VAN DER SLOOT

[SoCalDem]

17. Is he the one?? Looks like it'll be GrayBar U for him

His Mom was all over the news sayng what a good boy he was, and how he was accepted to six colleges in the states..

[shanti]

31. looks like a typical

spoiled fratboy. :eyes:

[Pachamama]

48. We all know about those "frat boy pranks" like the ones at Abu Ghraib

:eyes:

[Sydnie]

18. He reminds me of Robert Chambers

Wouldn't surprise me if he tried the same type of defense as Chambers either.

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

19. Oh man I saw something on A&E the other day ...

regarding Robert Chambers ... Freaked me out .

[Sydnie]

24. Picture of Chambers

They do have similar looks, don't they?

[Maddy McCall]

20. PHOTO OF ALL THREE SUSPECTS

[Jane Eyre]

22. The middle one is probably the one

The other two are brothers from Surinam. It is obvious that they are all guilty, if indeed one of them killed her and the other two helped to cover up the crime.

There seems to be somewhat conflicting reports. I've heard one report that one of the suspects admitted to killing her, another report says that one of the suspects says that "something bad happened to her". It is possible that she died accidentally, and the boys covered it up. They were probably all very drunk.

This is very, very sad.

[bluestateguy]

44. Could be

He has kind of that "fraternity asshole" look to him that I have become all to familliar with in 11 years on college campuses.

[Maddy McCall]

21. ANOTHER PHOTO OF VAN DER SLOOT

[WatchWhatISay]

25. Yeah but its this photo thats going to be getting all the attention now

[Maddy McCall]

28. This one isn't blurred out.

[Pachamama]

49. OMG! Where are those photos from?

They remind me of the videos of Robert Chambers AFTER he had been found guilty and was awaiting conviction/going off to prison, where he had a party at his house and they mocked Jennifer the victim...

Whoa...

[Maddy McCall]

63. I found them on some blog. The guy who has the blog claims that...

Van Der Sloot emailed him the photos. The blog guy had been keeping up with the case since it began, and I guess Van Der Sloot enjoyed the limelight. What a sicko.

[susanna]

99. Many sociopaths love the limelight

especially if they think the suspicion is off of them...

It is very interesting; the minute I heard of the three guys she took off with (and were let go), I thought "what kinda cops does Aruba have?!" Seriously - the last ones to see her alive shouldn't just be let go. They're crucial to the entire story, and at a gut level I knew that.

This whole story has been messed up since Day One, IMHO.

[Catherine Vincent]

23. Did they report which of the three?

Why he did it and how? How sad for the family.

[dejaboutique]

26. gives me the creeps

very sad and the saddest thing is that they arrested those two local black security guards right away and they had nothing to do with it. They have not said which of the three teens killed her but what do you bet that one of those other guys takes the fall for the judges son. when I see pictures of him I just cant imagine him confessing, he looks like a real egotistical pric%. Like "my daddy will get me out of anything". The thing that gives me the most creeps is that I was around young men like that when I was a co-ed...young men that got away with anything because their parents were in high places. I am just glad I am not 18 anymore. I made it!

[vajraroshana]

27. Mountain Brook is a very, very rich community

It doesn't diminish the tragedy of this case, but I wonder if someone from a poorer community would have gotten this much coverage.

Mountain Brook is a very wealthy "suburb" of Birmingham. It's one of the wealthiest (per capita) cities in the US.

Again, I'm not trying to diminish this terrible situation, but I'm just wondering....Are rich people that get murdered more important and more worthy of attention than the dozens of other people that have been murdered in the US since this news coverage began. Bless her heart and her family; it's horribly sad, but is it really even close to the newsworthiness of our soldiers that have died in this f****** "war" during the same time period that this has been reported?

Just wondering........

[Maddy McCall]

32. Do rich people shed tears when their children die, just like poor ones do?

We are all human. I feel very sad and sympathetic for her parents, no matter how much money they make.

(I was wondering how long it would take for a post like this to show up on this thread. :eyes: )

[boohootwo]

77. Very nasty comment. Why did you post it?

[uppityperson]

84. What???? Of course, they also get more of the coverage.

You know, rich people and white girls disappearing/ being killed get more coverage, as poor people and black people being perpetrators. This wk our local paper showed a picture of a mosque by a story of father/son fighting terror charges when there was nothing in the story about islam. Of course rich people are devestated, but news coverage is subjectively prejudiced. Come on Maddy, this post was not needed.

[Psephos]

33. This murder has nothing to do with the war

Using a fresh murder as a platform to score a political point borders on the ghoulish, and makes your hand-wringing seem rather insincere.

Whether or not this girl was murdered, and whether or not she was from a wealthy family, the Iraq War remains tragic and damnable. There's no logical reason to tie them together. We can mourn them both.

Suggestion: if the political point you're trying to make still seems urgent to you a month from now, then go for it. My guess is it won't.

Offering my opinion here, not a judgment.

Peace.

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

35. I thought you guys would kick back on this thread

With regards to this particular tragedy,
might I suggest you quit all the"media only covers white rich people" shit -
So distasteful, unproductive and irrelevant--save it for runaway bride media stories.

[tkmorris]

52. Stop it

The media DOES only cover the rich people, or the white camera-friendly girls, or what-have-you. You KNOW this to be true. The posters on this thread that you are objecting to have bent over backwards to acknowledge that this is an awful tragedy and the parents et al deserve the utmost sympathy.

The point is that in the time this girls story has been covered almost 24/7 on the news channels (with breaks to update us on the Michael Jackson non-verdict) there have been many other abductions, rapes, murders, and so on of people who for whatever reason do not receive the same coverage, or any coverage at all. That is a valid point and it needs to be spoken of. The fact that "lesser" people suffer such tragedies everyday without anyone at CNN bothering to care is what is distasteful. Unproductive is refusing to even acknowledge that these things occur unless the victim passes whatever television friendly criterion they use. And yet you want to tell the people that have suffered through similar tragedy in the past week sans the cable news coverage that their loss is IRRELEVANT???

How dare you. How.....Dare....YOU.

[boohootwo]

74. Ditto

Except the runaway bride. Fight or flight syndrome brought on by stress is REAL and not just a coping problem. Unfortunately it's generally misunderstood by the average person, as are all mental conditions.

[jobycom]

Yes and no

No, you're right, we have created 100,000 stories of equal grief and heartache in Iraq, and similar numbers in Afghanistan, and seeing coverage of those deaths might make us more aware of what Bush is doing.

But yes, stories like this need to be covered. I have two daughters, and perhaps seeing stories like this will make them more aware of the dangers that they face in the world. Not to mention that the story reminds me that I'm not just being paranoid when I lecture them on those dangers.

And maybe the pain the nation will feel over this will make us a little more sensitive to the lives of others. Something this nation is sadly lacking at the moment.

Too sad to really analyze this story yet, though. Though I suspected the outcome, there was a little spark in the back of my heart that hoped it would turn out otherwise, somehow.

[CHICKEN CAPITOL USA]

37. not applicable

not relevant

[aquart]

53. Yes. Why do you even ask?

All of us, rich and poor, cherish the false belief that money and privilege is a protection from harm, from all the cruelties and ills of the world.

When that illusion is breeched, it's a very special horror. Like losing the hope of heaven. Because there is no true safety anywhere.

[lebkuchen]

54. One of the suspects has a father for a judge

That kid's upper crust status is likely causing the police to tread very carefully, with Dad the Judge angling behind the scenes.

[boohootwo]

69. The wealthy travel abroad more and are therefore more

likely to be the victim of crimes directed towards American tourists.

With vacation season coming up, I'm thankful that these sort of crimes are spotlighted regardless of the color of the victim.

[Robeson]

36. My wife had said - and she watches all the crime shows 24/7 - ....

...that the authorities ought to put the pressure on the two Surinam brothers to say what happened, and that THAT would get to the bottom of it. Looks like she may have been right. They are brothers. In the end, they will protect each other, over a "friend" they may have had in common.

[readermostly]

40. Ah, Robeson, you have a smart wife!!! I totally agree! If it is the

the third guy, his father is very well connected in the legal community in Aruba. We'll have to see who is charged and how this will play out.

[rainbow4321]

38. MSNBC: Man admits "something bad’ happened to girl, police said

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8169252/

Police investigating the disappearance of an Alabama teenager in Aruba said late Friday that one of three young men in custody has admitted “something bad happened” to her during her island visit.

Commissioner Gerold Dompig told The Associated Press that the man was leading police late Friday to the scene. He refused to identify which young man had made the statement

A lawyer for the two Suriname suspects — Satish Kalpoe, 18, and his brother Deepak, 21 — said they told police they took Holloway to Arashi Beach, on the northern tip of the island, in the early hours of May 30.

According to their testimony, they didn’t get out of the car. Instead, Holloway and the Dutch teen, an honors student at Aruba International School, “were in the back seat kissing.”

[bluestateguy]

39. This nation is at war. This is not news.

This whole case is a tragedy, but it is not worthy of national news attention, especially in a time of war.

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

43. this is NOT "time of WAR"-kick back-this is not trivial-your comment is

So th U.S. invades a country-Time of War? Not even. Time of "occupation"-maybe-
No news blackout necessary.
Free Press limitations are not applicable to this Time of "invasion".

We're all so sick of hearing this "media covers the wrong stories" shit.
Like I said before--Save it for the Runnaway Bride stories--
it's out of context here

[Catherine Vincent]

45. Why are you tripping on these posters that feel differently than you?

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

46. Trippin's what Night Trippers do--->the "WHY" is sort of self explanatory

"Why" you ask?
You're not serious are you?

Just in case you are, I figure I'd better let you in on a not very well hidden secret --->
this is what some call a "discussion board".
Hopefully that info helps answer your question.

[Catherine Vincent]

47. I know that, but you don't have to bark at posters

that have different feelings toward this story. I was hoping this poor girl would be found alive too and this is a sad situation for all the families but you have to realize there just may be some posters that is sick of the way the media is playing this. That's all.

Peace.

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

104. sounds like you are "barking" not me--ruf ruf--

Be aware-
you yourself have not posted opinion-
yet you hound me for doing what we are supposed to do here---

Again-many of us are just so tired of hearing the "media covers white rich people" shit-
it's irrelevant here in this case of a missing girl-

by the way-I reserve the right to voice these types of thoughts on discussion boards.
If you don't like hearing it please just skip the post.
I don't take a vote before deciding what i should say.

[linazelle]

58. AMEN bluestateguy....This has dominated the news for 11 days

11 days while thousands are dying due to an illegal, unjust war.

I feel for the girl and her family but this is not more important than the people that ** claims are "dying for our country."

I guess the Michael Jackson verdict hasn't come soon enough because when it does, we will be bombarded for another two weeks with that.

[lebkuchen]

60. If you have a daughter who travels...

whether chaperoned or alone, there's actually a worthwhile lesson to be taught to women from this story:

never leave your drink, and if you do, make sure your friend watches it closely; never drink anything provided you by a relative stranger; never leave without your closest friend or chaperone with you.

[deadparrot]

50. How sad.

What an awful loss.

[lebkuchen]

51. Sounds as though her drink might have been spiked

for her to have left willingly with three strangers who'd happened to be men. Considering one was the son of a judge...I'm thinking a yuppie date rape drug might have been involved. It's easy to get drugs in the Netherlands, and as a judge's son, it was probably easy for him to bring them over to Aruba.

[SoCalDem]

57. Supposedly she had met him the day before at a casino..

So when she saw him that night..the night before she was to leave, it's not unreasonable to think that she was ok with a "last minute" tryst..Perhaps she was already drunk when he showed up at the club..We'll never know.

All I know is that 17 yr olds do not belong at clubs at 2 am.,.nor do they belong in casinos..

The chaperones were not very attentive..

[lebkuchen]

59. "she was drunk," "she was stumbling but had refused help"

"she had refused to get out of the car,"....

Conversely, the guy she was last with, the judge's son, was an "honor" student, who had told his story so innocently to his own mother that she knew there was absolutely no reason why she should worry.

The way this story is being told in the press, it's the woman's fault for being missing because she's a floosy whore with no sound judgment, and the male who was last kissing her in the back seat of a car at 2:00 a.m. is a cherub.

There's something amiss.

[SoCalDem]

62. No mother wants to believe that HER child could be responsible

for the death of another's child.. His mother is in denial...as most would be. There is never a happy ending to any of these teen-tragedies.

I would imagine that there's a liberal dose of the guilties for her friends too.

[lebkuchen]

68. This story has too generous a dose of letting the boys off the hook

while painting the impression that the 18 year old girl, or murder victim, had brought this all on herself.

The guy last seen with the girl has a high level judge as a father. You don't think that helps buffer the 17 year old's position?

Recall that the 17 year old began the evening as a liar, starting with his false ID card at the "Carlos and Charlie" door. We know that because the victim's friends had outed him for the media. All the media has learned on their own, from the mother, is that he's an honor student. How honorable is he if he has a false ID?

[countingbluecars]

72. I agree.

I just heard a reporter in Aruba call the suspect "the young boy".

[lebkuchen]

76. He wasn't "young" when he'd entered the bar w/a false ID card

The Dutch boy's judge daddy is pulling strings. If I were the victim's parents, I'd have a high-powered lawyer on hand.

[Jane Eyre]

66. Just chaperoned a bunch of Teen Dems last summer

We went to the Democratic National Convention in Boston. Could not have asked for a better bunch of kids. I may have had an even better time than they did!

There were 20 kids and 5 chaperones. Most of the kids had just graduated from high school, and most but not all were from well-to-do families and private high schools. Same as the Alabama teens. The teens had worked hard to earn money for their trip. There was a chaperone assigned to each hotel room. The kids were allowed to go around the city in groups during the day on their own if they wished, but they had to let the chaperones know where they planned to go and stay in contact via cellphone on a regular basis. If someone didn't have a working cellphone, then they had to be with a group who had one.

Everyone was told up front that they would be sent home for using alcohol or drugs. We all had breakfast every morning with the state delegation, then decided when to meet again before the evening activities. We had absolutely no problems at all. The chaperones and kids liked and respected each other, and we all had a great time.

That is how a trip should work with a bunch of teenagers. If 18 is the official age when one becomes an adult, then 18-year-olds should be able to socialize with and respect older adults on such a trip. Rules need to be set out at the start of any such trip, and responsible adults need to be aware of what the kids are doing all the time. Seven chaperones were not enough for a group this size, but there should have been strict "check-in" guidelines anyway for curfews and cellphone contacts. Sounds as though the kids spent every evening at Carlos & Charlies, so there should have been a chaperone counting noses at the bar every night and making sure that everyone made it back to the hotel. Or even better, making sure that the kids had something to do every night other than hang out at a bar.

[lebkuchen]

71. What if one of the females on your trip had been drugged?

A date rape drug dropped in her drink while she'd been dancing? Were the chaperone's on your trip prepared for such an outcome? Had the females been forewarned of such a possibility?

When I was about 45 y.o., traveling in the Gili Islands of Lombok, Indonesia, I found a nice thatched room near the beach on one of the quieter islands and thought I'd have a serene New Year bagging a few rays and reading a book. I was approached by an Austrian visiting his Austrian and Icelandic model friend who lived in Bali, and he invited me to a pig roast and party w/his group.

After dancing, he brought me my glass of wine and said, "Here's your drink." The table was full of drinks, so I asked him, "How do you know this is mine?" He didn't respond, and I didn't drink it.

Later in the evening, at his friends' hut, his friend brought me another drink, this time something thick and dark and said, "Try this." I took a sip and suddenly felt very nauseous. I had to walk quickly back to my room and try to wretch in the toilet. I eventually recuperated, 30 minutes later, but did not leave the room again--went to sleep.

The next morning, I asked my acquaintance if he had put a drug (like ecstacy?) into my drink. He pretended to be shocked, but I knew that's what had happened.

Had I consumed the entire drink, I would have appeared drunk, would probably have passed out, and the result would have been all my fault for traveling on my own and partying on the beach with strangers at the age of 45 without a chaperone, right?

[Jane Eyre]

85. We were always in groups, mostly at party-sponsored functions

I'm not saying that it couldn't happen, but the likelihood was greatly diminished by making sure that everyone stayed in groups. For the most part, we attended rallies during the day such as the Democratic Women's Caucus and the Youth Rally. The Teens joked about being the delegation's "mascots", because we got into all of the parties in the evening and all of the delegates seem to watch out for them.

I know that an Aruba trip is not the same thing as a trip to the Democratic convention, but my point is that I think that parents should question the nature of the trip before letting their kids go. We had a meeting before the trip so that parents could meet the chaperones. Everyone got an itinerary and a copy of the rules at the meeting and signed a copy for the organizers' records. There were activities planned throughout the trip so that there was no time to get into trouble but plenty of time to experience new things. There was never an opportunity for the kids to go somewhere on their own at night, even though we were at parties together every night. Having a chaperon in every room meant that no one could possibly go missing over night.

I don't think that a trip to Aruba is appropriate for a high school trip, and I don't think that there were enough chaperons on this trip. The parents should have been aware beforehand that the kids would be allowed to drink legally in Aruba and that most nights would be spent in bars. The best chaperons are the ones that are having fun along with the kids so that everyone has a good time, and a safe time. The very least that the chaperons should have done was to go to Carlos & Charlie's with the kids, but stay sober and attentive to what was going on. If someone was drugged at the bar, then there was a good chance that the chaperons would know something was up and get help. Certainly, a sober adult could have at least made sure that everyone got back to the hotel safely. A better alternative would have been to plan a trip where there were scheduled activities and more adults present.

[lebkuchen]

101. I'll bet future HS graduation trips across America

will be taking into consideration all of your points.

However, for females of all ages, watch your drinks!

[tblue37]

73. Chaperones--hah!

I bet they were also drinking and probably looking for nooky as well.

[lebkuchen]

83. Now that they've returned with one less graduate

they must feel like shit. I would. It's a jot with a lot of responsibility.

[okieinpain]

87. i want to know what the fuck happend to going to six flags or disney

for a high school senior trip. I mean do people have that much money that its now like play money. hey why stop at aruba, why not a world cruise, followed up with a new porsche, or ferrari.

then when someone goes and asks for a raise, all they are going to hear about is how the company is barely making it.

man the world is fucked up!

[misanthrope]

98. Because...

...most of those kids got the car of their choice before they ever left on this trip.

Read an account from one of her friends who said the judge's son seemed "different" because there were pictures of him on the web in that same bar the week before and he was "wearing the same clothes" that he was the night they saw him there.

Heaven forbid! Someone call the fashion police.

[tblue37]

89. EXACTLY!

A huge responsibility, and not one to be taken lightly. If the chaperones had been as attentive as they should have been, the girl would not have been able to leave with three strange men.

Of course, I can't see allowing a bunch of kids that age to go to a party island like that, either. The idea of 17- and 18-year-olds drinking and partying until 2:00 a.m. or later rather troubles me in and of itself. But that is what a place like Aruba is for as far as vacationers are concerned, so it really is not an appropriate place for kids that age to be playing around at with insufficient chaperonage--and no matter how "many" chaperones there are, it is insufficient if a girl that age can get that drunk and then leave with 3 strange men. (Yes, I know she met the Dutch boy the day before, but that doesn't exactly make him a lifelong friend, does it?)

[lebkuchen]

100. I doubt she was drunk

I think she may have been drugged--ecstasy or some other drug. While she was dancing w/the Dutch guy, the other two could have been putting something in her drink, which, for all we know was coca cola.

Since 40 of the group had gone to Carlos and Charlie's, there had to have been a chaperone along so that no one did get drunk.

[boohootwo]

65. I'm not sure you read the article. It's talking about rumors.

"Law enforcement sources close to the investigation said there has not been a confession, but that cracks in the three suspects' stories are emerging."

[Jack Rabbit]

67. CNN will cover the murder trial in Aruba LIVE

. . . as soon more documentation of war crimes and other impeachable offenses becomes available.

[lebkuchen]

78. The trial doesn't require live coverage

but the sexism in the lopsided reporting seen thus far is at least worthy of a cursory examination, especially if you have a daughter who travels.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

79. yes

cnn will create another channel specifically for this trial. because they need cnn headline news and regular cnn just for the missing white woman of the week. they have to stay on top of the new ones, too, ya see.

[misanthrope]

80. Geez, that looks like...

...just like Ronnie Ray-gun in your sig.

[FrenchieCat]

90. Very tragic.....

I was wondering why the 2 black men where being held solely on the fact that the 3 non black men had fingered them out....

I wish Darfur would get some much attention. There's approximately 300,000-400,000 dead men, women and children there in just a very short period.....and yet, the topic doesn't seem to make the morning, afternoon or nightly news.

Maybe there's just too damn many of them!

Would Darfur get better coverage if it was about only one young blonde American death? seems so. :shrug:

[SlavesandBulldozers]

91. hooray Mission Accomplished. Now about those Downing Street Minutes

nt

[leesa]

92. Must you really post these distraction 'murder of white women' stuff?

People are murdered every day.

[Catherine Vincent]

96. My local news just reported that officials in Aruba deny

that a confession has been made. I'm confused.

[lebkuchen]

102. The Aruba investigators sound as bad as the ones in Colorado

Hopefully this case won't get "Jon Benet Ramsey'd," providing the "Inside Detective" US media more fodder with which to divert attention from much bigger issues.

[FreedomAngel82]

103. How horrible

:( She shouldn't have been at a bar in the first place. According to the news (I believe it was CNN) she was with some older young adults and was at a bar (she's only eighteen) on a graduation trip. It looks like you'd know not to go anywhere with strangers. I hope their parents will be okay.

[Ron Green]

105. This story, tragic as it is, has absolutely nothing to do with the lives

of the people who are watching it on TV. It's pure morbid entertainment.