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Archive 1Archive 2Archive 3→Archive 5

What is this list of individuals at the bottom of the page?

People who recently disappeared and for whom there were large manhunts? I think this list should be removed, as it is not comprehensive or really related. Tcassedy 15:27, 11 Jun 2005 (UTC)

is / was

I think it is time to change the word "is" to "was" in the first line. -vega007

It's still presuming death. "is" is the correct grammar until she's either found (dead) or presumed dead. - Lordwow

she is dead -vega007

Care to cite? --Yamla 22:06, 2005 Jun 24 (UTC)
body not found; suspects charged with aiding murder; no sign of her a month later;-vega007
Probably true but I'd still like to see a conviction or a body. --Yamla 22:45, 2005 Jun 24 (UTC)
  • An official pronouncement from Aruban or United States authorities of "presumed dead" will be the minimum requirement for changing the verb tense. Even then, the presumption will be explained as such. Wikipedia is not a crystal ball Dystopos 06:19, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Is it safe to say at this stage that she's dead?? -vega007

  • Feel free to say whatever you want, but it's not going to be encyclopedic until it comes from an authoritative source. Perhaps Fark.com or LiveJournal is where you really want to be? Dystopos 30 June 2005 04:32 (UTC)

she is most certainly dead at this point -vega

  • Nobody disagrees with you that she's probably dead. That's not the point. The point is that an encyclopedia reports on verifiable facts, so unless you've got a death certificate or other verifiable confirmation, just keep it on your blog. Dystopos 8 July 2005 22:33 (UTC)

she's dead -vega007

  • Do you just not get it or what? -- Lordwow

why is it so hard for the american public to accept the fact that she got drunk, went swimming, and drowned?? -vega007

  • First, that's not a fact, it's a suspicion. Second, I wouldn't be surprised if most of the American public shared your suspicion. As stated many times, this article has to stick with verifiable facts. Dystopos 03:07, 16 July 2005 (UTC)
  • I disagree that the missing case thing caused a short media attention in the US. This stuff is still going on today. Make this thing a current event, please! As it is she could still be alive, off somewhater on the island.--68.0.39.140 04:27, 28 July 2005 (UTC) or user:steven

this girl is dead. why don't you all just leave her alone and let her rest in peace!! I will continue to change the "is" in the first sentence to "was" every time I get the chance.

I can assure you that in no way are we disturbing Miss Holloway by insisting on verifiable information for Wikipedia. The reasoning for this policy is clear. If you fulfill your pledge to continue, it will be reported as vandalism. Dystopos 17:10, 18 August 2005 (UTC)
I agree that we need objective reason to 'declare' her dead on this article. Are we satisfied that an official pronouncement from Aruban or United States is what is required, or is this worth discussing? I'm wondering what happens if the Aruban authorities have to release van Sloot, for example, and/or drop the case. What if nothing more has been heard on the one year anniversary of her death? etc. etc. Do we change the article to say, "missing, presumed dead"?
It is an interesting predicament indeed. While there is a strong possibility that Holloway may be dead, her status is not yet known. In my opinion, this presumption should be made by government authorities, not Wikipedians. Hall Monitor 18:36, 18 August 2005 (UTC)

At what point do we assume she's dead?? Aruba are hardly going to declare her dead due to the negative publicity they would be subject to. The state of Alabama are unable to issue a death certificate because she did not die in the USA(allegedly). There is a good possibility that ten years from now you guys will still be reverting my edits and saying that she "is" a teenager from Alabama. What happens on her 20th birthday?? Do we change "is a teenager" to "was a teenager". Do we make it "is a 20 year old" or would we put "would be a 20 year old"?? What are the rules on this? -vega007

The rule is found here: Wikipedia:Verifiability. Dystopos 21:42, 18 August 2005 (UTC)

Thanks. That clears it up. --Yamla 22:37, August 18, 2005 (UTC)

no, it does not clear it up at all. -vega007

If you don't understand the policy of only including verifiable information, perhaps the illustration at Wikipedia:No original research#Verifiability, not truth will be useful. Dystopos 04:59, 19 August 2005 (UTC)

still dead - Vega lover

it's been a year. she's dead. let her rest in peace. the article has been changed to "was" and i will change it to that every chance I get, so don't bother trying to stop me. if you want to ban me go ahead but i share an IP address with about 400,000 other people.

Um, thanks. But I've changed the first sentence to eliminate the need for present or past tense.--Wehwalt 01:12, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

that's a good compromise. we should send this guy to israel to sort that mess out next.

"According to the Kalpoe brothers, she was making out in the back seat with van der Sloot." I checked whether this means (if true) that Holloway could have committed an act of sexual assualt/statutory rape. This is unambiguously not the case. The age of consent in Aruba is apparently 16, as is the case for Alabama (relevant because it is illegal in the U.S. for citizens to break U.S. law abroad, though I don't remember the specifics here... it falls under legislation passed to prevent sex tourism where such actions are legal in the host country but not in the U.S.). Anyway, it doesn't really fit in the article itself except perhaps as a passing reference, and probably not even then. But I post the information here so nobody else has to bother doing the research. --Yamla 15:47, 2005 Jun 24 (UTC)

Not so fast! It turns out that a different law applies. 18 U.S.C. 2423B. It turns out that if she traveled "for the purpose of engaging in a sexual act with a person [younger than] 18 years of age" [1] then she could be found guilty. I believe that she met up with van der Sloot there and had no previous contact with him, however, so it is unlikely that anyone will charge her with travelling for the purpose of sex. Can someone confirm that she did not know van der Sloot before traveling? --Yamla 16:40, 2005 Jun 24 (UTC)
  • For what it's worth, the Alabama "age of consent" for statutory cases is 18. At 16 you can get a marriage license, though. I have not heard any speculation that she knew Van der Sloot before traveling. Dystopos 17:00, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)
Are you sure about that? This link[2] seems to imply differently. The age of 18 isn't mentioned at all, though 12, 16, and 19 all are. I don't live in Alabama and I'm not a lawyer so I am just guessing here.
    • Looks like I'm wrong. Nothing on that page would prohibit an 18 year old woman from making out with a 17 year old boy in Aruba, though. Dystopos 06:09, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Discussion

This is the discussion page on the topic, so lets talk about. Did the Van Der Sloots do it? CaptainAmerica 01:44, Jun 25, 2005 (UTC)

  • It is a Wikipedia guideline to use talk pages for collaboration toward article improvement, not for general chatter. WP:TPG. Dystopos 06:02, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

People really need to stop caring about stupid cases like this. If she is worth saving, she wouldn't have been engaging in underage drinking and making out with a foreigner.

Whoever keeps editing/deleting the references on the investigation page to all of the false leads/fruitless searches in the pond, etc., please STOP IT! While I sympathize with those who don't want to let this case die, it is an indisputable fact that the hair on the duct tape was NOT Natalie's, and the search of the pond yielded no clues and was abandoned. It is both important and honest to describe the lack of physical evidence in this case. (unsigned comment by User:68.194.91.203)

I readded this comment. We don't normally blank comments on the discussion page. The wiki standard is to simply archive the discussions. However, I did not see that the person who blanked this was also the person who initially posted it. I don't know what the wikipedia standards are in such a case. If you believe wikipedia allows blanking discussion comments in this case, please feel free to reblank. --Yamla 21:34, August 3, 2005 (UTC)

It is some months since anything further seems to have been said about this young woman's disappearance : i am really amazed at the callousness of some remarks regarding Natalee - how dare you decide to play God and refer to her as some stupid case - it should make no difference at all whether Natalee was inebriated - high on some drug or that she had sex with any of the three sleazes who are the chief suspects - no person deserves to be murdered or left to die and just brushed aside you have. Deepak and Satish definitely know something if not guilty of the crime themselves as for the Joran - his flight has already condemned him. I would not visit Aruba not encourage any of my family or friends to do so - it would appear justice is not served on this island. Also, any parent who can cover up their child/children's involvement in something so heinous is guilty themselves. cocomia on the 06th March, 2006.

Press Coverage

I've heard a number of media commentators discuss the overplay this is receiving, particularly on Fox News. I think it should be mentioned in the article that her disapperance has generated a media circus much like that of Terri Schiavo, well, almost as bad as hers was, anyway. Especially since people disappear all the time.

  • I agree that there is definately a lot of playing of this in the media as a whole, but firstly, it is mentioned in the article that it's covered quite widely in the press, so you may consider editing that paragraph, and secondly, I don't think Fox News is covering this anymore than CNN or MSNBC, Natalee has been a headline story in all the news casts pretty much daily since she dissapeared. - Lordwow
  • There was a discussion about this on an NPR interview I caught part of this afternoon, referencing a particular show on CNN that made a point to show photos of other missing children, but spend a great deal of time discussing the Holloway investigation. I also remember the Birmingham Post-Herald drawing a comparison between this missing person case and a black woman who has been missing in Birmingham for about the same amount of time. Accounts of secondary discussions such as that are preferred over "original research" of how much coverage we think has been given this case. Dystopos 3 July 2005 04:36 (UTC)
    • Strongly dissent with the underlying premise. The primary reason she became news was because crime in general on Aruba is extremely low, and serious crimes such as kidnapping and murder are almost unheard of. With less than 1% unemployment and a crime rate of around 0.5%, police in Aruba literally perform their jobs in tee-shirts and shorts, and the most common crimes they investigate are burglaries and thefts of bicycles. The downside of this is that their police forces are almost completely inexperienced in actually investigating crimes of this nature, and already charges of incompetence are being slung at them from several pundits. Xaa
      • I am not convinced that Aruba's crime rate has fueled the media sensationalism. If you could cite someone for this claim it would merit more space in the article. I've seen plenty of charges of incompetence, even some theories of conspiracy to conceal drug smuggling rings. I haven't seen much talk in the US (where the media circus is being produced) about how this case is of interest do to Aruba's low crime rate. Dystopos 03:39, 28 July 2005 (UTC)
        • Cite:MSNBC Quote: Why is it that the story of this one girl has had such international reach? Well, I guess because it’s trouble in paradise, for one. It is the place that people go to get away from the problems of the world, not believing it is where you are going to find them. Aruba in the minds of many Americans is considered a very safe place, which it is. But, now you have this story of a beautiful young girl, who is full of so much promise. She came here to celebrate that she is moving on to the next stage in her life and this tragedy occurred. Cite: USA Today Similar article. Note also these tourist's comments. Conclusion: Aruba's nearly-zero crime rate is a major instigative factor. Note that missing white women from America in neigboring areas (like Nicaragua) get virtually zero attention - even when it's a nun. Everyone knows they shoot Americans there. Aruba, on the other hand, was known as a tropical paradise. =) Xaa

No person should be left to die - Paradise? Even Paradise was short lived - cover up cover up coverup - shame on you. cocomia

          • It's a valid point. I notice that the commentator you cite goes on to say "beautiful young girl" in the same quote. I don't think there's any denying that her youth and appearance are a key factor in how much attention this is getting. I suppose the drawn-out search with it's investigative twists has contributed to keeping the story alive, as well. Dystopos 04:44, 28 July 2005 (UTC)
            • Agreed on the points of appearance and the investigation. It's why I specifically highlighted that quote in my reply to you. It simply can't be denied that her beauty is a factor - she is (was, most likely) an astonishingly beautiful lass. But, in the end, we've had absolutely gorgeous American nuns go missing in Nicaragua, and the American Media doesn't give it more than a day of coverage (two days if they later turn up shot between the eyes). It's the 'trouble in paradise' angle that started this more than anything else, really. Compare Aruba to Jamaica, and you'll really see what I mean. The official guides from the US government for American tourists to Jamaica advise Americans to avoid the impoverished areas, hand over their valuables quietly when faced by a robber so they don't get shot or stabbed, etc. Xaa

Deleted 'The story generated only mild interest in the Netherlands.' from the paragraph 'Media Coverage. This sentence is clearly POV and may very well be interpreted as a 'mild' critisism to the Dutch in general as if it is a people 'that don't care much about others'... Well, since dutch are known to be blunt, I will say this bluntly: the dutch don't care about every foreign missing person. If they did, there would have to be a seperate 24/7 TV channel to broadcast all the hundreds of thousands missing people every year worldwide. The fact is that this story got hugely more media coverage than just about any foreign missing person case. It has been on the primtime national news many times and has been covered in national daily newspapers and on monthly news magazines. Besides, the deleted sentence was irrelevant, so instead of editing the sentence to reflect the facts which are contrary and to what it states now, I chose to remove it. --DIY Freak 16:12, 8 August 2006 (UTC)

Contraction proposal

It occurs to me that this page is more detailed than it needs to be. Each time a new turn is announced in the media it seems to gain material without losing much previous speculation. The case is not particularly notable from a long-term point of view. I'm planning to weed out a lot of material I consider unencyclopedic soon. I wanted to put this notice here in case anyone had any comment. Dystopos 5 July 2005 16:07 (UTC)

That sounds good to me. It may be worth maintaining a brief timeline, but certainly much condensed over what is currently in there. --Yamla July 5, 2005 16:17 (UTC)

Also agree with that. Five years from now, people are going to marvel at how much attention these "cases" received in the American media. Even now, there are very few people outside of the U.S. who know who Natalee Holloway is or was, and there are even fewer people who'd see her disappearance as significant. She's being used as gossip fodder -- nothing more, and nothing less. We've got the media to thank for that, I suppose. --Jeus July 5, 2005 17:47 (EDT)

In Holland (where I live) their is also little attention to this case. The Dutch media are saying that this is just another case that shows how hypocrit Americans are. The're is more attention to the fact that Americans don't know that American teenager are misbehaving in Aruba by using severe amounts of drugs and alcohol (even to Dutch standards (which are according to you quite high because)). From Alkmaar, The Netherlands. Yours, Wiki213ip 6 July 2005 17:44 (UTC)

I don't see what's wrong with maintaining all verifiable information. If the article were 10 pages long and unwieldy, that'd be one thing, but a one-to-two-page article is certainly fine. We have no lack of space here. --Delirium July 9, 2005 17:37 (UTC)

Recentism sets wikipedia apart from commercial encyclopedia. Does Britannica have articles about this case? Will Encarta tell you who Gordon Freeman is? Sorry for this off-topic remark :) --Mzzl 08:19, 6 October 2005 (UTC)

Kuro5hin

  • The Kuro5hin editorial does seem to be a valid reference to a more balanced critique than the title would imply. Thanks for making the citation more polite. Dystopos 6 July 2005 14:14 (UTC)
  • Although I too wish the title was changed, I think it's valid to provide both sides of the issue, just as in any other article on here. - Lordwow
For the record, I removed a link containing responses to this article. It's fine to include an article about Natalie Holloway, but including every article about the article is going a bit overboard.
Since the Kuro5hin article is the #1 return on google I think it relevant to include it as I see it was done already. It would be useful to add a criticisms section eventually but it maybe a generally good idea to wait until this story dies down.--ShaunMacPherson 19:34, 16 July 2005 (UTC)
    • The Kuro5hin article continues to attract a lot of attention from well-meaning editors on both sides of the question of whether it should be included. So far the strongest case for including it has been it's status on Google. I'm of two minds on the subject. On one hand, it seems that Google results aren't particularly relevant to encyclopedia articles as such. And people who are interested will probably use google to find it instead of WP anyway. On the other hand, because it's ranked so highly in Google, it has attracted a great deal of attention and comments. (and, to some extent, vice-versa). Therefore...
I propose that we reference the Kuro5hin article, with link, in the context of criticism of the media coverage and remove it from the separate "external links" section. I don't see any need to include the title, which is admittedly provacatory. One contributor gave in and added the title because others kept adding redundant links, not knowing it was already there. WP is not censored, of course, but there's just no need for this particular word here. (Unlike, say, an article on the song "Fuck tha Police"). I'm going to "be bold" and go ahead and do that. Feel free to over-rule my decision, but please consider contributing your reasoning to this page and perhaps a consensus will form. I'll revert thoughtless removals or redundant re-additions. Dystopos 14:14, 11 August 2005 (UTC)
This seems to me to be a reasonable compromise. That said, we are now giving the Kuro5hin article _more_ prominence which may annoy the people who want to see it entirely removed. --Yamla 14:55, August 11, 2005 (UTC)
That's a valid point, but hopefully the additional prominence puts it in a context that makes clear that WP does not endorse the site, but mentions it only as having a notable place among critics of the sensationalism. Dystopos 15:13, 11 August 2005 (UTC)
  • A recent edit (January 4, 2006) removed the paragraph contextualizing the Kuro5hin article, which is certainly reasonable. I still don't see any need to use the name of the article as the link, since it is more inflammatory than descriptive. I moved it from "References" to "External links", since it's a source of opinions rather than facts. Someone else might want to weigh in on whether these particular opinions are still encyclopedic given the enormous volume of opinions out there. --Dystopos 14:49, 4 January 2006 (UTC)
  • I agree the paragtaph should be out and the reference should be not be inflamatory. If the article is an important bit of 'Net history, then let it be part of the article on Kuro5hin, rather than taking up 20 percent of the Holloway article. Joaquin Murietta 15:34, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

Delete this article

Why should information about a missing person be part of an encyclopedia? Why should Wikipedia add to the exaggerated media hype around this case? Remove it - it just makes Wikipedia more embarrassing.

Wikipedia has no space limitations, so we generally write up pretty much everything that's verifiable. --Delirium July 9, 2005 19:18 (UTC)
If you believe this article should be removed, please feel free to follow the guidelines and propose it for deletion. It won't survive, but you are free to try. --Yamla 19:41, July 9, 2005 (UTC)

-I vote for deletion -vega007

That's not how it is done. The page needs to be nominated for deletion first. --Yamla 01:58, July 13, 2005 (UTC)

As a person who lives in Canada and doesn't really watch network news, I wasn't really aware of Holloway until I read the Kuro5hin article. When I did, the first thing I did was look up her name in Wikipedia. Although I agree that the american media seems to be overdoing this story (like so many other missing persons stories), I believe it's still relevant and helpful to have an article like this.--LucidGA 06:01, 15 July 2005 (UTC)

I expect it will be several years before a deletion proposal is taken seriously. The media frenzy is notable, which makes an open-content NPOV article valuable. Dystopos 13:36, 15 July 2005 (UTC)
When did WP turn into a newspaper? Guys, this is supposed to be an encyclopedia - what exactly did Holloway achieve to deserve an article? Are we going to have an article for anyone getting kidnapped and/or killed? Should I start creating articles for each of the Guantanamo prisoners?
The media frenzy has been critisized here but we're actually contributing to it by working on this article. Being able to create an article shouldn't be enough. It's not quantity that matters but quality. From that point of view, this article shouldn't exist. --Philantrop 05:42, 29 July 2005 (UTC)
The existence of the article reflects interest in the subject. The media creates the interest. I don't think this article contributes much to that process and, in fact, balances it a bit by focussing on the facts of the case rather than the endless speculation. (I'm glad we're not voting about "Natalee Holloway (prior speculation)" like we did with Harry Potter). Presumably once things die down, the article will be further condensed and will exist happily alongside (or even possibly outlive) other trivial topics like Stargate technologies, internet memes, pokemon characters, and individual episodes of "Will & Grace".
Do you have any specific concerns about the quality of the article, or just the worthiness of the subject? Wikipedia is pretty open to verifiable NPOV subjects. It's a shame that individual Guantanamo prisoners are so difficult to verify. Dystopos 14:07, 29 July 2005 (UTC)

I just came across the name "Natalee Holloway" in a Dave Barry column - never heard of her - but now I have. So I guess it serves a purpose --Paul 04:25, 1 January 2006 (UTC)

No, this article should be deleted. It's pretty much useless as a body will never be found. The ocean probably swallowed her up forever. This article won't change. unisgned comment by Mimbster
The guidelines for proposing article deletion can be found here. --Dystopos 14:29, 17 February 2006 (UTC)
This is still not how you do it. --Yamla 23:53, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

Criticism of the news coverage

The two top returns from google for the term Natalee Holloway [3] are about how this case is overblown with respect to other (nonwhite?) missing persons. As well the article criticises the infotainment value of this story, and asks why this case should get more coverage then other issues (gay marriage, bombing, etc. there is a list. The two articles are here and here.

Since this appears to be valid criticism, that this story is overblown with respect to stories that in which more lives are directly affected / impacted, it should be included in the article then. --ShaunMacPherson 19:25, 16 July 2005 (UTC)

  • In the interest of verifiability and NPOV, the best approach might be to include a short summary/reference to the already-linked article (which seems to be the most notable critical source). If someone has access to the Birmingham Post-Herald's archives, they did a story a few weeks ago comparing the Holloway coverage to another Birmingham missing person case. (Nancy Lewis), which is probably worth a cite. Does anyone know of any other notable criticisms? Dystopos 19:59, 16 July 2005 (UTC)

I don't think we really need to do that. If necessary, link to Missing White Women Syndrome once that article is more fully developed--220.238.53.100 12:58, 17 July 2005 (UTC)

  • Good point. That article is currently on VfD, but appears headed for "keep". The criticisms that it is NPOV by nature are somewhat valid, and more could be done to present more detailed analysis by media watchdogs. Dystopos 14:58, 17 July 2005 (UTC)

Missing White Women Syndrome has survived VfD, and rightfully so, and that and this article now link back and forth. This article, while IMO is clearly a case of MWWS, also deserves to survive precisely because it is a well-known news story, regardless of whether or not it deserves to be. I have great sympathy for the family and friends of Natalee Holloway, but I am ashamed for a media that singles out and so brazenly exploits one case over others with such obvious bias for the victims. For that reason, I take exception to this text: 

Other media observers have countered that labelling this case another instance
of Missing White Women Syndrome may be an overstatement, considering the incident
newsworthy because of the longstanding reputation of Aruba as an exceptionally
safe tourist destination.

The fact that Aruba is a generally safe tourist destination visited by rich white girls on vacation is exactly why this is a case of Missing White Women Syndrome. Personally, I don't think color matters as much as class and beauty when it comes to winning the "news lottery," but the accusation is valid. Moreover, I think the text should be amended because it is surely the POV of the Wiki writer, not a journalist. I have found no defense of the coverage case in the news media, and there's no link to one in the references. --Tysto 21:18, 2005 July 29 (UTC)

  • Scroll up a bit on this 'talk' page, some citations are given there. =) I'll copy the most straightforward of them to the links in the article, which should (hopefully) satisfy what you're asking. The MWWS aspect of this case has been a subject of discussion in many media outlets, both mainstream (TV/Radio/etc) and alternative (blogs), though never the entire subject of an *entire* article on any mainstream source I can find and easily hyperlink to. I've heard it discussed on radio talk shows, but what I hear on the radio can't be linked to the page. Note that this goes both for it being a case of MWWS and for it not being one - it hasn't been the *entire* subject of an article I can link to, though it has been discussed in the media many times as part of larger coverage of the issue. =) And, let's face it, the kuro5hin link to a story titled "Fuck Natalee Holloway" is hardly an objective mainstream observation of the media coverage. This is a blog-ish post someone who finds the media hype annoying - opinion. It is lengthy and well-written opinion (despite what the title might imply), but still one man's blogged opinion. <digression>As there are blogs for people who talk to aliens and snap pictures of bigfoot, as well, I think the Blogosphere isn't necessarily the greatest source for accuracy or public opinion in an encyclopedia, but rather only a source for the opinions of the individual writers. =)</digression> I feel the response I put as a countervailing opinion to follow it is valid, verified by the citations I showed above, which carry the gist of what I've been hearing in the mainstream media (TV/Radio) regarding the subject of MWWS. I acknowledge that there is no direct article I can link to on the web from a mainstream source to counter the "Fuck Natalie" article. I believe the sources I gave, above, are adequate in rebuttal if read in their entirety. I am more than willing to discuss this at length, however, please don't consider me inflexible on this point. =) Perhaps a re-wording of the sentence you quote would be in order? Xaa 21:30, 29 July 2005 (UTC)
    • I reviewed the links and don't really think they argue that the story is not MWWS but rather seek to explain (not justify) the coverage (and rather weakly). Citing them in the article would help, but I think their logic is very poor (the story is not MWWS because it's "real news" for the reason that Aruba is generally safe). There are lots of very safe places where crimes are nevertheless occasionally committed, but they don't get the attention that Natalee Holloway is getting. IMO, this story simply, as I put it before, won the "news lottery," which I view as a very complicated phenomenon that is much bigger than just MWWS. But I also don't think this article is the place to address it. I think this article should just include a couple lines mentioning that the amount of news coverage has prompted some criticism, link to MWWS at the bottom, and leave it at that. --Tysto 19:28, 2005 August 1 (UTC)

Criticism of the investigation

We've established that the manner of media coverage is of some note. It seems many are convinced that the manner of investigation is notable as well. "Conspiracy theories" involving the Aruban police, the van der Sloot family, the drug/rave underground, etc. don't seem to have anything verifiable to speak of, but it might be worth watching if anything emerges from the criticisms. Dystopos 20:03, 16 July 2005 (UTC)

  • There's definately some conspiracies out there, I heard one the other day about her being sent into the slave trade. A lot of the banter comes from blogs, but of course, we're not a research organization. It would be interesting though to at least mention in passing the numberous conspiracy theories, at least for historical reference, if this case is ever solved. - User:Lordwow

Kidnapped

The picture on the page, while obviously legitimate, implies that Holloway has been kidnapped. Should we add a disclaimer? It is clear that she was not kidnapped (and nobody seems to be proceeding under the assumption that she was) though she may possibly have been murdered. --Yamla 15:05, July 20, 2005 (UTC)

  • The caption used to be longer and said something about how the poster reflected the family's assumptions, but it has since been shortened (maybe even by me). At this point I'm inclined to agree with you. Maybe just cropping out everything except the portrait photo would be the better move. Dystopos 15:34, 20 July 2005 (UTC)
  • Changed. Dystopos 19:18, 26 July 2005 (UTC)

Sonar-Equipped F-16's

It had been reported that the Dutch F-16's sent to assist in the search for Holloway were equipped with infrared and sonar sensors. Sonar is apparently extremely unlikely, as User:Dan100 noted. See this discussion for more information on F16 capabilities pertinent to this case. Dystopos 19:18, 26 July 2005 (UTC)

blogsfornatalee.com

I don't see the meaning of keeping this link. The website is a registered-user-only one, and one need to sign up to get to even the front page of the site. So, I think this can be removed from external links. The other links provide ample information. --Ragib 18:35, 27 July 2005 (UTC)

That sounds acceptable, considering that WP:NOT a link farm. What we definitely do not need is *two* links to the same website, which 141.157.60.113 keeps adding. Hall Monitor 18:39, 27 July 2005 (UTC)
Just the forum is registration only, not the actual site, idiots.
Anon 141.157.60.113 (talk · contribs), I hope you'd be more decent in your comments. From your other comments in different talk pages, you've mostly left obscene remarks about almost everything. Please maintain Wikipedia's etiquette on Talk pages. Thanks. --Ragib 20:01, 27 July 2005 (UTC)
  • blogsfornatalee.com appears to be primarily informational and not commercial. I suggest keeping the link, at least until the investigation is wrapped up. There's no need for a second link to the forum. Comments and behavior that are not WP:CIVIL will be deleted with prejudice. Dystopos 21:14, 27 July 2005 (UTC)
If it's "primarily informational and not commercial", then it would have made more sense to use a .info domain instead of .com, but people who set up Web sites these days just don't seem to think logical like computer geeks... *Dan* 12:22, August 30, 2005 (UTC)
I don't see the logic in making that criticism here. Surely a computer geek would be able to find the contact information for the owner of the domain registration. Dystopos 14:33, 30 August 2005 (UTC)

Revert war/Vandalism?

It appears an anon poster is trying to replace the entire article with a picture of Conan O'Brien. =\ Xaa 04:50, 29 July 2005 (UTC)

Holy fucking shit, that is the funniest thing I have ever heard in my life. I literally just fell off my chair laughing at that. --24.251.143.179 05:01, 13 August 2005 (UTC)

Now it seems like people are posting pics of goatse.

  • That is disgusting. Why would anyone do this to such a beautiful girl with an article done in her memory?
  • This is horrible, they're doing it again!

"Beautiful girl"?? You mean American slut who got drunk, had sex with an underage boy, went swimming, drowned, and now her bitch mother is trying to blame it on the entire island?? I hope this bitch burns in hell. --Vega007 16:09, 6 October 2005 (UTC)

Reminder: Talk pages are to be used for article improvement, not editorializing. Dystopos 18:55, 6 October 2005 (UTC)

VEGA - what they meant was - beautiful on the outside. and she was (not is).- vega lover

NPOV

The article is completely written from a biased US based perspective and is therefore distictly anti-Dutch and anti-Aruban. How many people are there in the US that go missing every year and that the oh-so-superior FBI fails to find? If it happens to a Dutch girl in the US can Holland also send police to the US to take the lead in the inverstigation? What are the political reasons behind the whole media-hype? The situation in Iraq?

As a Dutchman I protest against such bias. Simply copying US media hype is a severe threat to the whole wikipedia community af:Gebruiker:Jcwf

You are confusing this article with the actions that have been taken. The fact that the U.S. sent police forces to Aruba does not in any way make this article POV. Also, I am not a U.S. citizen, nor have I ever lived in the U.S., and I do not see a bias against Aruba and against the Dutch in the article. Feel free to tone down any POV statements you find, though. In the end, however, this does deserve a wikipedia article, even if just to provide further evidence in the future for the pretty white girl syndrome. If you disagree, feel free to nominate the page for deletion. --Yamla 19:06, August 2, 2005 (UTC)
Beyond the actual existence of an article, I don't know what bias or hype you refer to. You are invited to create, suggest, or discuss changes to improve the neutrality. Bedankt en tot ziens. Dystopos 19:30, 2 August 2005 (UTC)
I dont think I am confusing anything. I live in the US and can see my country of origin trashed on a daily basis. For no good reason I might add, because the US legal system does not work that ideally either. I think the relatives of all the other missing people would probably agree with me on that. If the whole phenomenon deserves a page it ought to be about how small countries get abused by big ones and how ugly that is. There is none of that in this article. I think the bullied-small-country syndrome is much more pertinent than the pretty-white-girl one.
(Besides, if the parents can put a million on the table are they really middle class? )
The bullying is all the more repugnant given the fact that Aruba has been willing for many years now to have foreign police stationed on its territory. The USA would never,ever consent to such a thing. The FBI's gratitude for that hospitality is that they want to take over the whole island and impose their oh-so-superior methods like the use of polygraphs. No we dont need innocent people on death row and yes the US is rather infamous for such 'justice'. af:Gebruiker:Jcwf
It would appear that your complaints are about America or the American media and not about Wikipedia or this article.
The article is about the facts of the case. So it says "Alabama Governor Bob Riley and U. S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) pressured Aruban authorities to accept more assistance from the FBI." You can interpret that factual statement any way you want. It does NOT say "Because of Aruban incompetence, the most excellent Gov. Bob Riley and hard-chargin' Sen. Richard Shelby were forced to pressure those backward two-bit "officials" to take a back seat to the FB of I, America's best and brightest" nor does it say "Despite Aruba's careful and earnest search for the truth, stupid redneck politicians, notably spineless populists like Bob Riley and fat cat Dick Shelby, tried to overrule Aruba's God-given sovereignty to make a big show for the U.S.'s scandal-crazed media-giants."
So feel free to write about your opinion of the case on any other forum, but this page is to be used to discuss the content of the Wikipedia article, not to discuss our opinions of the phenomenon itself. Dystopos 16:36, 4 August 2005 (UTC)

ss :::: Quote: "As a Dutchman I protest against such bias." Reply: I think you protest too much in this case. The article makes no claims as to the competence or incompetence of the Dutch authorities. Yes, one could assume incompetence because the girl has not been found and Aruba is only approximately 5 miles by 19 miles in size (I.E. there's not much land to actually have to search - only about seventy five square miles or so, according to Travelguide.com). But the article itself makes no assertions as to the competence or incompetence of the Dutch authorities, it simply presents the facts - they've spent two months searching and come up dry. That's it. Xaa 17:37, 4 August 2005 (UTC)

  • (copied from User talk:Dystopos in order to continue presenting NPOV arguments in an open forum)
Thank you for censoring the political background that I added. I was not surprised: What you folks call 'neutral' point of view is really a biased pro-American point of view, isn't it? Any information that is not welcome within that constraint will be censored by saying the American media do not report it that way. But even the American media did report the invasion of Panama, Dystopos and there was nothing untrue in what I wrote. And yes the advisory capacity of the FBI was criticised on many occasions on US TV as well.
Please do not pretend to respect the Dutch: you don't. - af:Gebruiker:Jcwf
Please explain the relevance of the political background as you have described it to this article. Has the Medellin cartel played a part in this case? Is the possibility of US interference in a Surinamese dictatorship of the 1970s relevant? These facts have not been "censored" and I have not claimed they were untrue. They have been edited out of one article in which their only purpose is to criticize the Aruban government for being a tool of US agencies. This is a minor consideration in this article; it may be more appropriate for articles about the History of Aruba or United States foreign policy in the Caribbean.
A criticism is necessarily a point of view. You are welcome to add a cited reference for the importance of that POV (and no, it does not need to be from an American source). I removed your addition because it is not in line with WP policy and guidelines. I am not acting in bad faith or making false pretense. You are reminded to refrain from personal attacks. Dystopos 23:17, 21 August 2005 (UTC)

influence networks

An influence network operated to bring Natalee Holloway and Joran van der Sloot together; a close reading of a map of the City and County of San Francisco (California, USA) reveals the plausability of a real conspiracy which has caused her disappearance as a result. That such an influence network has operated to bring together other teens, such that other dis-appearances have resulted, is a premise which cannot be ignored by investigatory agencies. A use of telephone call-demand strategies is not uncommon, with which any response is used somewhere, somehow. >beadtot@aol.com

Wow. Is the previous paragraph even a coherent thought? --Yamla 14:49, August 9, 2005 (UTC)
It did arouse my curiosity. Best I could come up with was a Holloway Avenue that stretches from Font Blvd and the SFSU campus west to Harold Ave near the Phelan Reservoir and City College of SF. Dystopos 15:29, 9 August 2005 (UTC)
The real problem is that there is zero real evidence in this case. The girl is simply gone, with no trace of where she went. And, the people who MIGHT know, won't talk. Natalee's mother said in an interview the other day that she confronted VanDerSloot Deepak Kalpoe in the Internet Cafe he works in. This was after she raised the reward to a quarter million bucks. She told him about the reward for *ANY* information leading to Natalee being found. The kid He refused to look at her, and just said "you'll have to talk to my lawyer."[4] Now, one can speculate that if he knew nothing, he'd say "Hey, I'd love to help but I don't know a damn thing." And one can speculate that he's being silent because he murdered her and hid the body and hopes nobody will find it. And one can speculate that he's being silent because he's involved in an elaborate conspiracy to conceal a sex-slave trade between Aruba and aliens from the Andromeda Galaxy. But, either way, it's all speculation - the only people who *MIGHT* know something refuse to talk, and the cops haven't found a shred of evidence. That's the real problem. There's just nothing to go on, and because of that, we're getting a lot of conspiracy theories and wild speculation. Like this post, above, where the author seems to think that people who named a street in San Francisco back in the 1930's are somehow involved in a conspiracy to kidnap this girl that spans over a quarter of a century. =P Xaa 16:05, 9 August 2005 (UTC)
I thought Van der Sloot was still being held without bail. Did Mrs. Twitty really say she confronted him recently in an Internet cafe? If so, she would presumably be lying. On the other hand, maybe she confused the dates somewhat and is talking about confronting him well before she raised the reward to that amount. --Yamla 17:08, August 9, 2005 (UTC)
No, wasn't her getting confused, it was me. =P Correction made to comment above, the hyperlink takes you to the article. =) Xaa 17:15, 9 August 2005 (UTC)

Actually, a presentation of 'name-use' schemes as a way to set up product-development sites and relays was the intended information. 'Holloway' is a street name as mapped, and so is 'Sloat' a boulevard named on maps of the city of San Francisco, California. Efforts to use ritualistic strategies to initiate the 'Sea Scout' Program within the Girl/Boy Scouts organizations have encountered or allegedly used such name-use schemes to claim program territory and recruits. 11/12/2005 Beadtot 21:59, 12 November 2005 (UTC)

Instead of deletion propose to Rewrite

Let me be clear on where I stand on the Natalee Holloway case, I think it is tragic for the family to loose a loved one. I also believe that this story has been become 'ridiculous' (quoting [Anderson Cooper] from CNN) with the amount of coverage and more importantly the type of coverage this story has receive. Especially since nothing major has happened in the case for weeks. Believe me I know, I live on the Aruba.

After reading this article and seeing it develop for weeks now, I simply thought it should be deleted because it really has no encyclopedic value. Here is why I believe that it has no encyclopedic value:

A majority of the article deals with the details of the case, what happened and when it happened. This case is about a simple missing person, that's it. If that were to make it encyclopedic then every other case in the world that included a missing person would need to have a wikipedia article, even the missing persons coming from families that can't put a million dollar reward for her return. Even though I am new to the game I don't think that is rational.
The article is implicitly bias or in wiki-jargon POV. Why implicitly, because the article itself technically when read has a NPOV with some minor POV elements in it[hey that's my opinion]. But the fact that the article exist stems from a bias for Natalee Holloway, you may connect to pretty white woman missing syndrome if you like.

I don't mean to be cynical with my remarks, I am just trying to be vividly clear about why Ms. Holloway in her own right doesn't deserve a article. What does deserve an article however is the phenomenon and the media circus that her DISAPPEARENCE has caused. Which are minor part in the article as it stands now. I believe it should be rewritten with focus on the events and the media circus surrounding her disappearance, even the actions of the family and the public reaction in the US and Aruba. That's where the Kuro5hin article carries some weight, though controversial.

Now since typically what I am proposing constitutes a major revision of the article I thought I would put it on the talk and see what people think.

To sum it up: The artical should be rewritten to show what the public and media have made of the story, instead of what it actually is.

PS Don't hate for having an opinion. --dirtyliberal 19:35, 18 August 2005 (UTC)

  • I agree with you. However, for the time being, for reasons beyond our control, there is a great deal of interest in the minutiae of this case. The best we can do for now is to keep these details NPOV and verifiable. People will continue to add them if they are removed. As soon as decisive evidence or confessions appear most of the "what happened when" will become irrelevant. I expect that it will not be long before this article goes through a period of repeated contraction until it can be summarized in one or two paragraphs.

While it is arguably of more encyclopedic importance, the phenomenon of disproportionate media coverage is harder to present from an encyclopedic POV. Your contributions toward a verifiable account of the importance of this aspect of the case are welcome. I have also recently deleted an essay on "the political dimension" of this case because it was written as a criticism without establishing relevance. If there is something relevant to say about US-Aruban relations, that could be added as well. Dystopos 23:37, 21 August 2005 (UTC)

You mean to say US-POV, Dystopos. Anything that does not fit in that picture is deleted. I know, I tried. Mentioning the reasons why there is such an anti-Dutch/Aruban campain in the US media is of course highly undesirable (not relevant to use your own words). I am sure you do not want it revealed to the reader. Bias,bias,biasaf:Gebruiker:Jcwf
But that assumes that there is an anti-Dutch, anti-Aruban bias in the U.S. I haven't seen one and I am not a U.S. citizen, nor do I live in the U.S. Furthermore, as mentioned above, this article is primarily about Ms. Holloway, not about the media biases. Also, I'm removing your POV tag because the only comment you added is in the rewrite/delete section; when adding a POV tag, you have to explicitly explain why. --Yamla 15:51, August 22, 2005 (UTC)
The accusations against me are without foundation. If you wish to accuse me of violating WP policy, then take it up with an administrator. I'm not going to respond to your attacks any more. I will continue to remove uncited personal opinions from this article. Dystopos 20:48, 22 August 2005 (UTC)
Of course you will af:Gebruiker:Jcwf

If one is to take the discussion in a constructive manner (beyond personal criticism of editors as well as contributors), I think the aforementioned suggestion of rewrite is highly appropriate, relevant and encyclopedic - as the media and public's response to this tragic event has more historic value than the tragedy itself: a view that which academics, Fox News and European & Pacific newsmedia alike should be able to subscribe to. I think also it would be appropriate to purge the article of minuscule details of course of events, especially relating to the ones involving the mourning parents - her involvement in the judicial process, mental heath, did-or-didnots has absolutely no historic relevance, however right they may be - unless it involves public and media reactions, like the initiative to boycott Aruba.

Although I cannot claim there's a strong US bias (especially since the majority of US now forgotten her name or assume the worst of her character as well as her fate), there's certainly a US centric POV especially in proportion of criticism against Aruba. A stub on public's reactions, debate storm and the media phenomenon - rather than judge the action of a grieving mother or trying to determine the standards of a sovereign states legal system - seem like more encyclopedical and dignified approach.

Timeline

Does anybody feel up to writing a timeline? Zoe 08:22, August 27, 2005 (UTC)

What's the point?

Why on earth did someone think that the recent news coverage of this girl constitues giving her an entire article. Look, there are many, many disappearances each day. This is not significant on the large scale. Her story is, just like all stories like this are, but she is not special just becuse FOX and CNN chose her as "the missing blond of the week." Adamwankenobi 20:50, 28 August 2005 (UTC)

Yawn. So propose the page for deletion. Why post this comment here? --Yamla 21:28, August 28, 2005 (UTC)
There's something of a self-fulfilling prophecy or feedback loop aspect to this sort of thing, in that as the media over-hypes something, that in itself makes the whole thing more "notable" as a media / cultural phenomenon, justifying more discussion and coverage. Eventually, whether or not the original event was particularly notable, the "media circus" about it is certainly enough of a notable occurrence to be worthy of an article here, given the fairly low threshhold this site has relative to a paper encyclopedia. *Dan* 21:37, August 28, 2005 (UTC)
Not the disappearance, but the media hype is the news worthy subject. This article covers it relatively impartially (as in not furiously demanding military action like some major media outlets), other than the references to the 'boycott aruba' item. --Mzzl 08:27, 6 October 2005 (UTC)

Serial spammer

This anonymous editor is changing the Natalee Holloway URL on a near daily basis. Hall Monitor 22:56, 31 August 2005 (UTC)

Why not include both? They're equally relevant websites.--220.238.233.226 17:32, 9 September 2005 (UTC)

World Journier's Natalee Holloway Detailed Timeline & Persons Involved List

Has anyone read this site? It is the incoherent rambling that is not supported by any facts. The inclusion of this reference site is in no way contributing to the facts of the case. It's not a blog so it's the opinion of one person and only one person. It's not a media site, news or otherwise so it is not responsible for providing legitimate and accurate facts. This some private yahoos AOL account. This is not any source of fact whatsoever. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 70.179.251.147 (talk • contribs) 17:08, 1 September 2005 (UTC)

Agreed, and it has been removed as such. Hall Monitor 17:18, 1 September 2005 (UTC)
Merged in section:

I have also deleted the misc link that Patrick posted. It isn't clear what this is or how reliable the information contained in it is. For one thing, it contains the old myth about Paulus saying "No body, no case". I don't think it is a useful site for someone seeking to expand one's knowledge further beyond the article and does not meet the standards for an external link.Wehwalt 16:59, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

I'll put it here for the time being: Large collection of texts about the case.--Patrick 17:17, 1 March 2006 (UTC)
Just a very few articles, much speculation, noth WP worth. --KimvdLinde 17:24, 1 March 2006 (UTC)
Very few articles? It may be the largest website about the case, with 12 Mb of text.--Patrick 17:41, 1 March 2006 (UTC)
3 HTML pages, two huge ones, pretty much copy and paste stuff from all over the internet, indiscriminatly whether it is reliable or not. The two large pages are pretty much unreadable and do not provide any usefull information in a readable way. The dye hards have found it already, for the rest it is just a long list of quotes out of context. --KimvdLinde 17:50, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Natalie is history

Natalie has tought us one lesson: Americans are just not safe outside of America. So please, stay home! The rest of the world does not like you too much anyway, so why bother? Please stay home, it is so much safer in, lets say, south central LA, or the bronx or, hmm, compton...Unisgned comment by User:201.154.89.194

    • This request your making is based on fears for the not understandable. You don't realise that your country has higher crime rates than western european country's just because your media is saying that your country is good. True you are the world number one economy and military power. But this doesn't mean that smaller country's like the European nations aren't as safe as your country. Don't stay at home. Explore the world. It will make your understanding of the world better. Regards, 213.73.149.61 16:00, 1 October 2005 (UTC)
It sounded to me like the request originated from outside the US (the DNS of the original commenter is registered in Mexico), encouraging US citizens to stay home, along with a sarcastic reference to a few notoriously high-crime areas in the US. Anyway, we are supposed to limit the discussion here to article improvement, not personal improvement. Dystopos 17:08, 2 October 2005 (UTC)
Was miss Holloway murdered because she was American? Unsigned post by User:Mzzl

We're not safe at home, either. Captain Jackson 08:12, 16 March 2006 (UTC)

Jossy vs. Julia

I have edited the following section, but it still seems to have some POV problems. Comments? Dystopos 21:16, 5 September 2005 (UTC)

Aruban media have covered this story. Jossy Mansur of Diario, a newspaper written in the Papamiento language, has focused on this case. Diario reporters have discovered witnesses and assisted in the investigation. On the other hand, Dutch language Aruban publishers, such as Julia Renfro, have been accused of letting their ties to the Van der Sloot family influence their coverage. [5]

After reading the link, which is a blog post that does not connect Renfro to the Van der Sloots, I've decided to remove all but the bare facts in this section. The new article on Jossy Mansur is a substub and I doubt it would survive a VfD using WP:BIO guidelines. The Renfro article has the same problems, with the added problem of appearing to carry a POV. Dystopos 21:27, 5 September 2005 (UTC)

Obviously this case has generated strong feelings, what Wiki-worlders call a POV.

User:Rjstott has twice deleted external links within the last six hours.His explanation is that the links are "definct" in one instance and "irrelevant" in the other. However, these two links, [Scared Monkeys and Joran van der Sloot Blog are two of the most active blogs that catalogue and record MSM news, blog news and user comments on this case. Anyone researching this case would be wise to start their research at those two blogs.

Rather than get into a revert battle, I have opened this topic to ask this question: where an article is sensitive and there are many points of view, what are the standards for removal (not addition) of links clearly labled as external links? Here, we have the Kuro5hin OP-Ed, whic has a clear POV, listed as a reference, not as an external link. Therefore, what is the justification for removing two of the key blogs, albeit blogs with a POV? How are they less relevant than Kuro5hin? Should Kuro5hin be placed as an external link rather than a reference?

PS on second thought, the Scared Monkeys link should be here: Scared Monkeys at their Natalee Holloway subsection. But it is not "definct" by any means.

  • The WP policy reference is Wikipedia:External links. Here's my opinion on the subject: Wikipedia is a natural "first stop" for researchers, so links that are felt to be particularly useful for research should be welcome. The Kuro5hin link has been kept as a reference because it is specifically discussed in the article. The inclusion of that link was fought for a long time before a consensus developed to keep it. I wrote a little bit of context around it so that readers would have an idea about the content and why it was considered important. No such consensus has developed around the various blogs that are repeatedly linked here. Giving an indication of why the site is important for research is helpful in establishing a consensus. In my opinion, an indexed compendium of mainstream news articles or other verifiable info could be valuable, but we would still want to find one primary link - either the most prominent of them or an index to the best of them. Links to "discussion" and "comments" are, in my opinion, not encyclopedic. My opinions are by no means authoritative. Dystopos 20:35, 14 September 2005 (UTC)
  • Here is what I get on the scaredmonkeys link:

Network Error (dns_server_failure)


"Your request could not be processed because an error occurred contacting the DNS server. The DNS server may be temporarily unavailable, or there could be a network problem.

For assistance, contact your network support team. "

This is pretty consistent though originally it just directed to the main web site. The other link gives:

"Problem Report 

The system detected an Unresolved Host Name while attempting to resolve the host specified in the requested URL.

Message ID 

UNRESOLVED_HOSTNAME

Problem Description 

DNS resolution failure encountered.

Possible Problem Cause 

The host entered has a mistake, or the requested Web site is temporarily unavailable in DNS.

Possible Solution 

Examine or correct any mistakes, or try again at a later time."

Which also seems to be defunct. Perhaps if these reliably worked and as there is now a justification which there wasn't before I will remove my objection to this non-notablt topic!--Rjstott 04:35, 17 September 2005 (UTC)

I just checked [6] and found it to be working just fine. Perhaps your network is at fault? --Ragib 04:42, 17 September 2005 (UTC)
Works about one in ten times, perhaps the site is busy!--Rjstott 09:16, 17 September 2005 (UTC)

Why are the external links The Bushy Haired Stranger and News coverage of the NH case deleted??? The Bush Haired Stranger is a forum who gives another view on this case while Joran van der Sloot blog contents a lot of BS and is still on it! I thought Wikipedia was about giving good and fair information?Emma62 06:31, 7 November 2005

Links are being deleted when no justification is presented here to explain why they meet the criteria of Wikipedia:External links. In general, forums and discussion are not going to be worth linking from an encyclopedia article. Digests of verifiable source material would be. One exception is the Kuro5hin discussion which achieved note on its own. Wikipedia does want to present the best and fairest information. The best way to do this is to add such info to the article with the proper citations rather than to link to a blog or forum which contains much more than just what is good and fair. Dystopos 15:27, 7 November 2005 (UTC)

Okay, thank you for your answer. But can you please tell me why I am not allowed anymore to add a link? Furthermore, did you recently visit Joran van der Sloot Blog. Don't you agree with me that this website is totally BS and not informative at all? Emma62 17:31, 7 November 2005

I am not preventing you from adding links, though I am deleting them when I see no reason for them to be here. I have just now visited the Joran blog. I didn't see anything that distinguishes it from any other digest of news articles. It is informative, but probably redundant and unnecessary. If you choose to delete it, I won't object. Dystopos 17:24, 7 November 2005 (UTC)

Well, that is what I mean dear Dystopos, as from yesterday I can not add of remove a link. If I want to edit, the last sentence on the editing page is "the Aruban Judicial System", a link what I have put on myself. That's what I mean by not allowed to add a link anymore. which is strange right? So my next question is: Who is monitoring this website? Thank you for answering. Edit (6.53): never mind seen the changes, thank you! Emma62 6:31, 8 November 2005

Hm. It wasn't me disallowing your edits. It sounds like a glitch in the software. The content of the site is monitored by volunteer editors like you and me. The administration of the policies are handled by editors and administrators. And the workings of the site are handled by the Wikimedia Foundation, another group of volunteer coders and managers. See Help:Contents for more information. Dystopos 14:49, 8 November 2005 (UTC)

Deepak Kalpoe article

I found the following text on the Deepak Kalpoe article:

  • On September 16, 2005, Beth Twitty stated that after his release, Deepak Kalpoe "admitted", ‘On the Record’ that he, his brother and van der Sloot raped Natalee: "Beth: Thanks to Deepak it is no longer a mystery what they did to Natalee. Deepak admitted on national media how they all three raped her."

Now I know nothing about this case, the first I heard of it was today, but this information seems to contradict the information in Natalee Holloway. Could someone verify/refute? And if so, could you then merge the two (or let me know and i'll do it), because the Deepak Kalpoe article adds precious little. Jdcooper 18:32, 20 September 2005 (UTC)

  • I'd certainly recommend merging the Deepak article, (along with Joran van der Sloot and any non-notable figures whose names came up only because of this case) and putting them on AfD. I've never made a nomination, so I might leave that to someone else. -- As for this alleged admission, I'll need to look into the sources, which I might not be able to do for a couple of days. (I'm more a guardian-editor than a researcher on this topic) Dystopos 20:44, 20 September 2005 (UTC)

Kudos to Wikipedia

  • This is obviously a controversial subject with lots of POV's and hidden agendas -- the Aruban government and it's supporters now troll the net looking to correct negative statements. The Birkinstock/Kuro5hin crowd complains that it's too much coverage of a pretty missing woman. (I think maybe they never had a date?) Meanwhile, the MSM is having a field day with it, and, people like me (whoever I am) are mad about the level of corruption in Aruba and proud of Beth Twitty's courageous fight to find her daughter.
Despite this, the article is a good one. It is pretty fair, it has all the right external links. This is Wikipedia at it's best. Bravo! (Or as the pretty white women say, "Snaps! To Wikipedia"unsigned comment by User:209.178.138.202

Merge

  • This article should not be merged because the Mathews case, which started the boycott several years ago, is a separate issue. Moreover, the Holloway family has not called for a boycott, but others have.

The Mathews family alleges institutional racism in Aruba. It is interesting that there is very little focus on the two black security guards were arrested in the beginning of the Holloway case. To merge this is to delete it.unsigned comment by User:209.178.163.101

I see no evidence of a unified campaign. These are, as you say, separate issues. Making connections that are not verifiable or reporting unsubstantiated allegations constitute original research. The merge would correct that problem without deleting anything verifiable or encyclopedic. Dystopos 18:53, 26 September 2005 (UTC)
  • Merger should occur. The Mathews issue (no doubt found by anti-merger advocates via Google) is trivial, and there is no indication that it ever went beyond the call of one person. Frankly, there is no indication that there is a "Boycott Aruba" beyond the calls of a few people. As far as we can tell, there is no significant organization.unsigned comment by User:Wehwalt
I suppose the Alabama Legislature is viewed by some as significant, but an article about a single resolution would be pretty trivial unless it actually had an impact.

Dystopos 21:47, 26 September 2005 (UTC)


One house of the legislature resolving is the legislative equivalent of one hand clapping.Wehwalt 02:54, 27 September 2005 (UTC)

Possible Compromise?

  • The problem is that most of the sources as to Mathews are in Papamiento from the Aruban papers. A compromise - why not keep the following and merge the rest --

This would be the new boycott aruba

Boycott Aruba refers to claims of institutional racism by Eduardo Mathew, a black inmate whose family and lawyers called for a boycott during his incarceration in an Aruban prison. After his release, Mathew campaigned against alleged racism against black inmates.

A separate campaign to boycott the tourism industry in Aruba emerged due to criticisms of the investigation of the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.


The rest of the page could be merged to Natalee Holloway.

What do you think, dystopos?


PS the preceeding was from Anonymous "User:209.178.138.202 etc etc etc.

    • Sounds ok to me. The development of the Boycott Aruba article has been impressive, but I'm not sure it has the right title or would survive a deletion nomination. (By the way, you can sign a post by typing four tildes (~~~~) at the end. Dystopos 02:40, 28 September 2005 (UTC)

Also on second thought, maybe the second para. could read:

A separate campaign to boycott the tourism industry in Aruba emerged following the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.

  • It is better than nothing. The thing is, there is no objective evidence that the campaign even exists beyond the yakking of people who probably wouldn't visit Aruba anyway, let alone it having any effect on Aruban tourism. I fear we give these matters too much dignity by giving them an article.

Wehwalt 02:52, 27 September 2005 (UTC)

  • I understand your point, which is why I suggested the compromise. To eliminate the article is to take one side. To leave it as it is, is to take another. The merger tends to minimize a boycott that has been taken seriously by the Aruban tourism industry and government. What I proposed is a middle ground.

The problem is that this story isn't about something non-controversial, like botany or engineering specs. It is a current event and people have taken differents sides.

Also, I will do some research on the Mathews case and post what I find here, for your input. Again, most of the stuff is not in English. As a newcomer, I'd like some input into how you treat such sources.

"User:209.178.138.202 etc etc etc.

Should we start a Mathews Article?

Here is what I have found about this fellow Mathews, the one that called for the first boycott.

His full name is Eduardo Alexander Antonio Mathew. He is a Netherlands national who was born in 1973 and lives in Providence, Rhode Island, USA. He is referred to as Eduardo Mathew and also as Alex Mathew.

He has a pending case in the European Court of Human Rights alleging abuse in the Aruban prison, as described in the Boycott Aruba article. References are Dutch and English. Specifically, in Mathew v. the Netherlands (no. 24919/03) The applicant, Eduardo Alexander Antonio Mathew, is a Netherlands national who was born in 1973 and lives in Providence, Rhode Island, USA. The applicant alleges a violation of Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment) in that during his detention in the Aruba Correctional Institution he was physically abused, placed in solitary confinement in abject conditions and denied urgently needed medical treatment. The case is listed as Press release issued by the Registrar FORTHCOMING CHAMBER JUDGMENTS 27 and 29 September 2005, so if we wait a week or so, there will be a published opinion on the case.

In the recent elections in Aruba, the incumbants won and remained in office, but the allegation of institutional racism was a campaign issue. See ARUBA, A GOVERNMENT OF RACISM AND HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS. Please read the last article since it does give more substance to the Mathew boycott.


Anonymous "User:209.178.138.202 etc etc etc.


Sounds fair to have a Boycott Aruba article with Mathew info, esp. once the Court issues its judgment, and then, instead of repeating a lot of info, refer the reader to the Holloway page for further info. Incidently, if this court is anything like the US Supreme Court, a Chamber judgement may not be a full-scale opinion.Wehwalt 09:00, 27 September 2005 (UTC)

The next step...

If we have a Boycott Aruba article with Mathew info,

  • a. when do we do it? -- is there consensus now?
  • b. Since Mathew spoke out after the arrests of the Black security guards based on the admitted lies to the police by vds and the Kalpoes, then does any of this old text become relevant again oycott and should it be in the Boycott Aruba article?

In their initial statements, the Kalpoes and van der Sloot said that they drove Holloway to Arashi Beach/"California Lighthouse" area where she and Joran "made out" for a short time before they dropped her off at her hotel around 2:00 A.M. They said Natalee fell down and hit her head as she got out of the car, then she was approached by a black man who was a security guard as the boys drove away. On June 5, Aruban Police detained Antonius "Mickey" John, 30, and Abraham Jones, 28, former security guards for the Allegra Hotel near where Holloway was staying. They were released on June 13, and are still considered suspects until a Dutch judge of instructions clears them in writing.

  • c. How do you decide which external links stay and which are out in the merged article?

Anonymous "User:209.178.138.202 etc etc etc.

Merged!

I just want to say thank you and I did the merger.

When this started, I really was pushing my point of view, but the discussion helped me see that there was another way to do this.

So thank you for your patience.

And I joined up and have an acct now. I was under all those similar IP addresses on this topic.

Ciao

Joaquin Murietta 00:40, 30 September 2005 (UTC)

I've now done another round of condensing and editing. The biggest change was removing the tally of notable supporters and critics of the calls for boycott, which I see as trivial. Two good sources of Aruban points-of-view have emerged, finally, through Aruba Truth (tourism industry bias) and a source for translations of articles from the Aruban press (perhaps less bias, but verifiable and encyclopedic anyway). Dystopos 02:13, 4 October 2005 (UTC)


Reverts to the Talk Page

  • Why revert the talk page? Let's archive it if it is too long.

Joaquin Murietta 14:58, 10 October 2005 (UTC)

Governor calling boycott: Black day of American democracy :

I am following US top 3 news channels every day and I have never seen anything more biased than the coverage about Aruba in the context of NH.

Every grownup American has heard about separation of powers but practically everybody in any TV show pretends he/she has never heard about it and raves every day hundreds of times that "the Aruban Government" (!!!) has somehow to solve the case. And this absurd claim is repeated by bipartisan politicians, state governors, senators, professional legal experts, talk show hosts, EVERYONE !!! Does any of these people think US GOVERNMENT should be boycotted because of letting O.J. Simpson go? And, off course, it is totally 'forgotten' that the people of prosecution which US media has problem with are mostly not even residents of Aruba.

I am absolutely shocked that the society of AMERICA which I have adored is capable of such level of primitive TRIBALISM and lynching mentality ... and about the lack of people there who have any courage to say anything about that. Warbola 05:08, 9 November 2005 (UTC)

Please limit discussion here to the content of the article. There are other places to editorialize. Dystopos 05:24, 9 November 2005 (UTC)

Merger of Grassroots coverage of Natalee Holloway

Grassroots coverage of Natalee Holloway has an AfD, should it be merged here? Joaquin Murietta 05:11, 9 November 2005 (UTC)'

I don't see anything there worth merging. Conspiracy theories are by nature unverifiable. Strong feelings come with POV. External links serve a specific purpose in an encyclopedia which may or may not reflect their "importance" in other contexts. If a contributor wishes to discuss the case without respect to WP policy there are better forums out there. Dystopos 05:24, 9 November 2005 (UTC)
I am trying to understand your position, but I don't understand what you mean by "If a contributor wishes to discuss the case without respect to WP policy there are better forums out there." Would you mind elaborating?Joaquin Murietta 05:35, 9 November 2005 (UTC)
I mean that Wikipedia policy discourages original research, unverified and/or unverifiable information, speculation, and opinion. The content in the Grassroots coverage of Natalee Holloway article, uncited original research about speculation and opinion, fits those categories and is unsuited for Wikipedia. It is perfectly suited for discussion forums and blogs, and that is my suggestion for where to take this content. Dystopos 16:16, 9 November 2005 (UTC)

Rumors

"According to some, Natalee had spent part of the evening drinking and dancing on the bar in a miniskirt. There are rumors that she invited Joran to suck and lick liquor from her navel."

- According to whom?

"Starting with the confiscation of cameras and cell phones from other students to taking posession of Natalee's luggage and hotel room to asking students to remain silent they have been active in preventing the truth about what when on during the five day binge."

- What is the source for this? - Dystopos 19:57, 9 November 2005 (UTC)

- All above has been exposed (with other witness statements and official records) in the January 2006 Vanity Fair article by Bryan Burrough. The group was also banned for life from the Holiday Inn where they were staying for their behavior. As it is based on official records and witness accounts cited by a large "quality" publication, it should be put back (except for the details on navel and such, and with the reference to the source as Vanity Fair instead of just rumors) as much of the information on this article is based on claims by the victim's family. So it's only fair that counter-claims (which are officials quoted in US media) should be put back in.

Blog citation to Blogs for Natalee

Dystopos suggested that this is the place to propose links to blogs.

The first one is Blogs for Natalee, which adds to the article because it is mini encyclopedia of video and print media coverage of this case. It does not allow comments on the front page of the blog. The front page of the blog is limited to links to news media. Joaquin Murietta 15:22, 14 November 2005 (UTC)

  1. Official sites should be added to the page of any organization, person, or other entity that has an official site.
  2. Sites that have been cited or used as references in the creation of a text. Intellectual honesty requires that any site actually used as a reference be cited. To fail to do so is plagiarism.
  3. If a book or other text that is the subject of an article exists somewhere on the Internet it should be linked to.
  4. On articles with multiple Points of View, a link to sites dedicated to each, with a detailed explanation of each link. The number of links dedicated to one POV should not overwhelm the number dedicated to any other. One should attempt to add comments to these links informing the reader of what their POV is.
  5. High content pages that contain neutral and accurate material not already in the article. Ideally this content should be integrated into the Wikipedia article at which point the link would remain as a reference.
  • It would appear that this proposal falls under the last category. Therefore I suggest making links within the text to particular media reports when they are cited and then including a link to their main page under "References". Dystopos 17:21, 14 November 2005 (UTC)

I am not sure I understand, do you agree that I may add Blogs for Natalee, or do you suggest that we add the individual links to each video or news source referenced in Blogs for Natalee? Joaquin Murietta 17:08, 15 November 2005 (UTC)

I'm saying the best way to use external sites like "Blogs for Natalee" is to cite it as a reference for particular portions of the article content, rather than to just put it up as an "External link". That said, the site apparently archives a lot of verifiable NPOV material that needn't be reproduced here, and, in the end, probably is a worthwhile link. So do as you wish (and thanks for explaining the site here. I really hate slogging through every link that gets added on my own dial-up connection just to figure out why it might be valuable.) Dystopos 17:46, 15 November 2005 (UTC)

Blog citation JvdS blog

Although http://joranvandersloot.blogspot.com/ is entitled JvdS, it contains references to video and print media, including a lot of photos and video clips. Based on Dystopos' comments, could we discuss whether this citation belongs in the Natalee Holloway article? Joaquin Murietta 15:26, 14 November 2005 (UTC)


the Boycott issue

Has the boycott issue reached a point now, where it deserves its own subsection, rather than being smushed into the criticism section? Joaquin Murietta 15:32, 14 November 2005 (UTC)


  • Joaquin, I would agree to promote it to a subsection. Maybe it solves the issue below.

I was trying to give more balance to the article as far as remarks on the "boycott" are concerned.

I added:
The interim chargé d’affaires at the US embassy in The Hague, Mr. Blakeman, told Dutch diplomats that the call for a travel boycott of Aruba by the Governor of Alabama is not supported by the government of the United States.

You deleted this. You have as yet not motivated this deletion.

The reason I added this sentence is threefold:

A US governor can call for a boycott but cannot enforce one, that is the prerogative of the federal government of the US.

The federal government of the US, through Mr.Blakeman, has recently - on request of the Dutch Foreign Office - given the official view of the federal government on the boycott, as stated above.

You have cited several views of Mrs. Beth Twitty Holloway, why not admit one official statement from a US diplomat assigned to give the US view on the the boycott?

Source: official website of the Dutch Foreign Office in The Hague (source is in Dutch) 86.84.82.113 16:46, 3 December 2005 (UTC)

  • There is a difference between calling for a boycott and enforcing travel restrictions of which Governor Riley is well aware. He is not attempting to enforce anything, but calling for Alabamians to voluntarily exercise their economic power against a state dependent on tourism. The general lack of support for the Governor's action outside the state of Alabama is quite evident. The official you quote is merely stating the obvious. That said, a flat statement that the United States government does not support any boycott would be fair, and Blakeman's may be the clearest official pronouncement on the subject. Dystopos 15:43, 3 December 2005 (UTC)
  • Thanks, I will put the remark back on, preferably after Joaquin has seen this as well. 86.84.82.113 16:46, 3 December 2005 (UTC)

the Scrux MBHS quotes page

Should we delete the Scrux link to quotes by MBHS students. Scrux is essentially a blog, does it meet the standards for inclusion as proposed by Dystopos? Same question as to the "unedited transcript" cite.

Joaquin Murietta 15:35, 14 November 2005 (UTC)

  • Scrux's "facts in evidence" (with cited sources) seems to be a reasonable reference regarding the facts of the case. As above, it would be best to use these references to expand or correct the article content with the links as citations. It would probably be best to ignore the "facts not in evidence" and "bulletin board" parts of their site. Dystopos 17:43, 14 November 2005 (UTC)

Here are the External links now

Should we rearrange them like this:

Joaquin Murietta 15:42, 14 November 2005 (UTC)

Is this OK?

Is this ok? Joaquin Murietta 17:11, 15 November 2005 (UTC)

References

Weeding out irrelevant detail

  • I think that the bolded sections of the following passage should be removed:
    • The search for physical evidence has been unsuccessful and marked by false leads. Blonde hairs attached to a piece of duct tape found by an Aruban park ranger were DNA tested, but the hair was not from Natalee. A small lake near the Aruba Racquet Club was partly drained between July 27 and 30 after a witness claimed to have seen Joran, Deepak, and Satish sitting parked on a dirt road nearby between 2:30 AM and 3:00 AM on the morning Natalee disappeared. [7] Another witness claims to have seen Joran, Paulus, and Deepak burying a nude, blonde-haired woman in a landfill during the first week after Natalee disappeared. The police searched the landfill by hand for two hours, finding nothing of interest. Later, when a volunteer search team learned about the witness, the landfill was extensively searched with heavy garbage-moving/digging equipment. On August 15 it was reported that when the search team members arrived at the landfill, the excavated area had been filled in with new garbage. Several bones had washed up on an Aruban beach and generated some interest, until an analysis of the bones determined they were not from a human. A blood-stained mattress was discovered, but the blood was canine. On July 4, the Netherlands deployed three F-16 warplanes, equipped with infrared sensors, to aid in the search. This attempt was also without result.

since they do not have anything to do with Natalee Holloway's case, or indeed anything encyclopaedic at all. Any objections if i remove it? Jdcooper 18:53, 4 December 2005 (UTC)

  • You have my support. The process of moving from a short-term to a long-term perspective on this case will take some time, and this seems like a good start. Dystopos 04:28, 5 December 2005 (UTC)

Cell Phone call

i dont have any details on the so called cell phone message left on her mothers mobile voice mail. but it would be nice to have them here.

Bellyshots

Anyone want to cite a source for all the "alleged" behavior we're reporting? --Dystopos 19:38, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

See above mentioned Vanity Fair article. Her behavior and intoxicated state has never been disputed in the investigation—Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.216.45.92 (talk • contribs)

i think we need a few pics of some bellyshots. for educational purposes of course. - vega lover


Is this section even necessary? It looks like another attempt to villify the FEMALE victim of a violent crime. Natalie must've brought the murder on herself because she was doing bodyshots! I don't understand why the provocative behavior displayed by women is always mentioned, yet the similar actions of men go unmentioned. Does anyone care how many jell-o shots that the boys did in total that night? It all really has nothing to do with the case and adds to the sensationalism of the poor girl's death.

No, I think it is necessary. Natalee's actiities before she vanished are necessarily relevant to her disappearance. Can you say otherwise?--Wehwalt 13:02, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

Okay, I agree that the extent to which she drank is relevant, but the mention of the bodyshot is unecessary and is information that may lead some to think that her provocative behavior was "asking for it". I'm sure that one bellyshot is less relevant than the total number of drinks she consumed.

  • Reporting facts does not necessarily vilify anyone. Her behavior sheds light on the circumstances of her disappearance, not just her character. We should be careful, of course, not to lead the reader toward any conclusions that can be reasonably disputed. "Vilification" is among those from which we must steer away --Dystopos 22:59, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

Dutch public opinion

  • To avoid further edit wars, we should discuss the following passage to consensus here:

Due to the false tapes and boycotting actions the Holloyway family can count on an increasing lack of understanding by the Dutch general public. To me this passage would appear speculative and POV, but i am sure we can take something from it. How about "Due to use of the false tapes, as well as what many see as overly emotive appeals and opportunistic use of the media, Beth Twitty has become the object of much criticism from many blogs." Obviously this would require sources/references, but assuming they could be found (and i know i have read them) at least these claims are verifiable. Thoughts? Jdcooper 16:20, 17 February 2006 (UTC)

If all we are talking about is blogs, the sentence should be entirely left out. If a mainstream Dutch newspaper (i.e. not a tabloid) can be found that shows Twitty is the subject of much criticism, we could use a slightly modified version of Jdcooper's rewrite. A magazine (real magazine, not a trash rag) can be found, that would be good as well. That's my opinion, anyway, and I'm willing to discuss why I feel blogs aren't useful here if people wish to know. As an aside, it might be interesting to see if we can figure out what American public opinion is. This Canadian's opinion is that Twitty is a raving loony, albeit one who unfortunately suffered a terrible loss. I certainly don't speak for Canadians in general, of course. --Yamla 16:48, 17 February 2006 (UTC)
I don't see that the opinions of the Dutch public, however accurately recorded, have much importance for an article on Holloway. We'd be wise to start shearing a lot of the trivia from this article. --Dystopos 17:10, 17 February 2006 (UTC)
No that is true actually. Ok, forget the opinions of the Dutch public on Beth Twitty. When i Put it like that it does sound completely irrelevant. Jdcooper 17:20, 17 February 2006 (UTC)
First of all, Wikipedia is not USpedia, and especially the english language version is international. The Natalee Holloway case has much to do the Dutch, as Joran is Dutch, and the legal system of Aruba is originall molded on the Dutch system. In the Netherlands, this case is getting way less attention than in the USA. --KimvdLinde 17:31, 17 February 2006 (UTC)
Precisely my point. We can say that Joran is Dutch, that the Aruban legal system is modelled on Dutch law, and that the Dutch media have not covered this event very much. The opinions of the Dutch public don't really bear on this case. In fact, American opinion would have no bearing except that there is a political movement to "boycott Aruba" arising from this. It's not about being US-centric, It's about being encyclopedic. --Dystopos 18:13, 17 February 2006 (UTC)
If you want to encyclopedic, I think the difference in respone/opinion etc between the US and the Netherlands is definiatly a point to be added. And as now, it focusses more on the US side of the story. --KimvdLinde 18:26, 17 February 2006 (UTC)
That is because it is a US story. The whole reason this topic is encyclopaedic at all is because it highlights a hugely important phenomenon in American media and public opinion (Missing white woman syndrome) As such, the opinion of the US public is going to be a central focus of the article. This case doesnt really say anything about Dutch media and public opinion, so it is not necessary to include details. We could include the opinions of the Argentinian public in the article on Japanese whaling, to make it more globalcentric, but it is unencyclopaedic. Jdcooper 17:07, 18 February 2006 (UTC)
That is the point, it is NOT an exclusive US story, but one that involves three countries, US, Aruba, and the Netherlands. Yes, it highlights the missing white woman syndrome, but the stricking difference in response makes it very noticable. It in fact highlights that it is a near typical US phenomenon. --KimvdLinde 18:48, 18 February 2006 (UTC)
Unless there are external sources for "The whole reason this topic is encyclopaedic at all is because it highlights a hugely important phenomenon in American media" and "the stricking difference in response makes it very noticable" then both observations are original research. We have references for the former (though I think we may be using them clumsily), and none for the latter. We can't ourselves say, without a direct reference, that (a) there is a lack of opinion in the Netherlands or (b) that this lack of opinion means something. --Dystopos 16:49, 19 February 2006 (UTC)
Lets agree to disagree. I think you treat two things that I see as similar as two very different things. --KimvdLinde 00:16, 20 February 2006 (UTC)
The above two posts display how US centric this article is without even realising it. There hasn't been a single European mainstream broadsheet who HASN'T covered it albeit just a small footnote - or rather the hysterical media coverage and the boycotts against Aruba, which has been portrayed as completely insane. The entire affair have been subject to much ridicule (ie US lack of understanding of sovereignty and appreciation of other judicial systems than their own). —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 80.216.45.92 (talk) 08:08, 24 February 2007 (UTC).

Article contraction revisited

  • I'm glad to see that most of the uncorroborated rumors are dying down and can no longer be justified for this article. There's actually less "bloat" here than I remembered. I've removed a few other details (toothbrush DNA, Chandra Levy and 9/11, etc). If any of that becomes important in some verifiable way, I'm sure it will be added back in without delay. The main thing I did was divide the Investigation section into subheadings - and mostly to facilitate discussion here. Sometimes a little organizing can make it easier to see what needs to be improved or dispensed with. --Dystopos 01:44, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Very nicely done, though I suspect it will grow again. I did make one change. Her name is not "Beth Holloway Twitty" despite Foxnews, there is no indication she kept the name "Holloway" on her divorce. In the lawsuit against the VDS, she is styled as "Elizabeth Ann Twitty". Calling her "Beth Twitty" is justifiable as a commonly used nickname, but Holloway is not in her legal name.--Wehwalt 10:20, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

kuro5hin article

I'm just curious, why is the article at k5 not described in more detail as part of the "media sensation" or in the "criticism of the investigation"? It's definitely a part of both. It is STILL first hit on Google for Natalee Holloway. A page doesn't get that much PageRank without having excited the interest of a great many people. And the editorial attacks the investigation with scathing venom. It is certainly critical.

So why not add a note, under the criticism section? Here is my proposal on what I might add:

On July 4th, 2005, the collaborative website Kuro5hin.org posted an editorial highly critical of the investigation. The editorial accused the mass media of subtle racism for covering the Holloway case but ignoring the case of Reyna Alvarado-Carerra, a missing Hispanic girl. It was also critical of the great expense and time devoted to the search for a single missing person despite many other issues of concern the media could have covered instead. The openly combative and harsh tone of the editorial sparked hundreds of angry responses, including legal threats directed towards Kuro5hin's staff.

Would this section be acceptable? I've tried to pare it down for size, but I can't seem to get it smaller without dropping important points (basic facts, accusations of racism and disproportion, combative tone and angry responses). If anyone can suggest a better write-up of the k5 article I'm willing to hear it.

Are there any objections, otherwise, to my adding this small section to the "criticisms" section? -Kasreyn 11:57, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

It is still pretty long and the last sentence might be hard to prove.Wehwalt 14:00, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

Actually, the legal threats are documented in the comments section of the story in archive at k5. Nothing actually came of the legal threats, but threats were made. I think it's noteworthy because it shows how worked up people got over the issue, and that they failed to get the point of the editorial. -Kasreyn 05:27, 3 March 2006 (UTC)
  • Would be better if someone else were saying that the editorial was notable/important/influential/relevant so we could cite them. Right now I'd be hard-pressed to defend a long description from a charge of original research. --Dystopos 14:23, 2 March 2006 (UTC)
Is primary source, needs the backup of secondary sources. --KimvdLinde 15:07, 2 March 2006 (UTC)
Right. The content of the editorial is sourced, but anything we say about it also needs to be sourced. --Dystopos 16:44, 2 March 2006 (UTC)
I think we are at the same page on that. --KimvdLinde 17:27, 2 March 2006 (UTC)
So wait, are you saying we literally can't say anything here but "kuro5hin had an editorial. Here it is."? Isn't that taking NOR to ridiculous lengths? How about if I replace some of the comments with direct quotes, as in, according to the editorial, "blah blah blah". Would that work? -Kasreyn 05:27, 3 March 2006 (UTC)
The point is that it would be helpful, if we're going to go into detail about this one editorial (among a huge number of opinions written about this matter), for us to have something to say about why it's important, not just what's in it. And to do THAT, we need to use an independent source. Up until now we've relied on the Google rank, which is fine for making it an external link, but to go further and lay out the points made in the editorial, Google alone seams a little weak. Hasn't anyone written an article about the influence of Kuro5hin's boldness in galvanizing public opinions? --Dystopos 05:43, 3 March 2006 (UTC)
Heh, well, there was also a k5 follow-up article on the "fuck natalee holloway" impact. But of course, it wouldn't exactly be appropriate to quote k5 about k5. -Kasreyn 18:18, 3 March 2006 (UTC)
Well maybe, but does the follow-up article give any sources about its impact that we could use as well? Jdcooper 12:22, 21 March 2006 (UTC)

Chaperones

A recent edit summary stated that "chaperones" was the "actual term used". Used by whom? I remember reading early on that the older adults on the trip were specifically NOT chaperoning the young adults. --Dystopos 19:26, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

See the 16,000 Google hits [8]. The quotes are there because they are called this, but they are nor really chaperoning.--Patrick 00:19, 5 March 2006 (UTC)
If they are not really chaperones, then why would we call them that at all? --Dystopos 00:41, 5 March 2006 (UTC)
Agreed. Since the chaperones play no significant part in the story, why bother to mention them?Wehwalt 01:03, 5 March 2006 (UTC)
These people are irrelevant either way, there is already far too much irrelevant detail in this article. Remove that sentence i reckon. Jdcooper 02:00, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

Excess linking

I'm removing some excessive wikilinking. See Wikipedia:Only make links that are relevant to the context for the relevant guidelines. --Dystopos 19:26, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

I restored some relevant links.--Patrick 00:23, 5 March 2006 (UTC)
What you did was revert my changes entirely. Would you like to explain why "security camera" and "midriff" are important links or where you have found the older persons on the trip described authoritatively as "chaperones" or is it enough to just assume that my contributions are made in bad faith? --Dystopos 00:40, 5 March 2006 (UTC)
If e.g. the word midriff occurred in thousands of Wikipedia articles one may argue that it is too common, but it occurs much less.--Patrick 01:20, 5 March 2006 (UTC)
Also, we always link to locations on Earth (even well-known ones like the US), why not link to a location on the body?--Patrick 01:27, 5 March 2006 (UTC)
Alright. Fine. Maybe we should add an illustration, too. --Dystopos 04:29, 6 March 2006 (UTC)



Breaking News

I think we need a section that is updated with breaking news, including the latest MAJOR BREAK in the story regarding natalee's use of alcohol and drugs, leading to a physiological cause of death. After all, wiki is a living encyclopaedia, and the article needs to reflect that. Kara Thrace 0733, 23 March 2006 (EST)

  • Breaking news that fits the criteria of encyclopedic content should, of course, be added to the article. Wikipedia is a living encyclopedia. (See WP:NOT for examples of things that should not be added). In my opinion the view should be toward creating a cohesive article, so new information should be added where it makes the most sense. I don't see a need for a separate section on breaking news. That seems like something for (at best) Wikinews and (at worst) blogs, fora and rumor sites.
The current, as you have put it, MAJOR BREAK, is notable because it is the opinion of the primary investigator. There is no reason to confuse his suspicions with fact. I'm sure he doesn't. --Dystopos 14:18, 24 March 2006 (UTC)

Something I will never get

WHY on earth do people want to boycot arbuba because holloway went missing? I can name a few hundred people who went missing in New York, who never turned up. Are there currently any boycots out on New York??? Superdude99 21:12, 13 April 2006 (UTC)

Racism. New York City is thought of as "American" and therefore it's seen as safer. Aruba is thought of as a foreign country full of untrustworthy swarthy people, and any "decent" white girl who goes there deserves what she gets. I grew up in the American Midwest, and trust me, that's how the boycott-Aruba people think. (It's not how *I* think, so please don't jump all over me...) There was a great deal of racism in the Midwestern culture, both tacit and explicit, and they have a lot of self-aggrandizing Victorianesque fantasies of imagined dangers from other races. White slavery and other nonsense. See Missing White Woman Syndrome, moral panic, and mass hysteria. :P Kasreyn 23:19, 19 April 2006 (UTC)

Leader of the investigation

I think Patrick putting the Leader of the Investigation where it is is jarring and out of place. And wasn't that guy Van der Stratten at first the leader, and Dompig much later?--Wehwalt 11:50, 14 April 2006 (UTC)

What drugs?!?

Is it mentioned anywhere what drugs were possibly involved? It mentions people selling them, her taking them, her possesing them... Which one(s)? I would assume ecstacy (given her age and situation), but we all know what assuming does. -DejahThoris 17:36, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

Deletion Nomination

While this event was sad, but the fact is, it is a one missing persons case. One. Uno. Thousands and thousands of people go missing each year, and just because this one person goes missing they instantly get a long page about them. What about all of the others? Where is their page? It can't just be me who thinks that the only reason this page exists is because person was a white teenage suburbanite. I would bet anything that if this happened in another country, or if this person was another race. I don't see this as even one bit fair. Where are the other missing people's wiki sites? It's simply not just, and I find it intresting that this person was seen leaving, not being dragged out kicking and screaming, but leaving under her own will. And so I ask once again, why have this page here, why have this pie in all of the other missing person's face here? Delete this, and prevent Wikipedia from becoming a sensationalist media network Change1211 00:25, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

I agree, personally, that it's a sad reflection on our society that a good-looking white girl from a relatively well-to-do background gets so much attention that fighter jets are dispatched to look for her, while a poor Hispanic girl, like Reyna Alvarado-Carerra, goes unmentioned. However, it was the rest of society that made the decision to pay a great deal of attention to Holloway, basically because certain highly placed individuals in news media organizations decided Holloway's case would be useful sensationalism with which to sell advertising. (Let's keep our eye on the dollar, here). This is equivalent to the Terri Schiavo case; it, too, was an example of a kind of case which has happened before, and will happen again. That specific one was catapulted into the national spotlight simply because it was judged that it would push enough people's buttons to become sensational and sell advertising better.
That being said, however, I should point out that Wikipedia is not in the business of picking and choosing what to cover, the way those "news" organizations are. That is not how Wikipedia's standard of notability operates. Simply put, the fact that the rest of society has chosen to focus a great deal of attention on otherwise-insignificant cases, like Holloway's, or Schiavo's, or Cindy Sheehan's, is enough to make those people notable by Wikipedia's standards. In fact, when it comes to notability, Wikipedia has little option but to be the puppet of the topic-setters in the mass media. We have no grounds on which to make judgement calls on notability. All we can do is see which things are most heavily discussed, and devote more attention to them. The fact that some of those heavily-discussed things would never have achieved such attention without being "pushed" is not something we can make a call over. At least, that's my understanding of NPOV and notability on Wikipedia. Kasreyn 01:11, 2 May 2006 (UTC)
Agreed, althoigh I wuld be in favour of moving it to a more approproiate title, such as Natalee Holloway disappearance. KimvdLinde 01:19, 2 May 2006 (UTC)
I understand the objections. For better or worse, Wikipedia is "the encyclopedia that anyone can edit." Whether it's directly because of Holloway's status and appearance or because of sensationalism in the media that capitalizes on such factors, the fact is that this article gets a lot of attention from a lot of readers and contributors. The attention of the media also provides numerous verifiable sources of detailed information. Wikipedia reflects these facts.
Furthermore, Wikipedia, because of its comprehensiveness and neutrality policy, presents a much fairer and better-contextualized view, even in its seeming imbalance, than is easy to find elsewhere. The issue of oversensationalism is directly addressed in the article and links to Wikipedia's articles on Missing White Woman Syndrome and notable third-party editorials are included here. This is a service to people who are curious about the case but don't wish to be bombarded with appeals to their emotions.
And lastly, I'll just throw in that I think the article title is appropriate, since it is by far the most likely link or search. The text cuts pretty quickly to the circumstances of her celebrity and does not pretend to be a biography in the laudatory sense. --Dystopos 02:21, 2 May 2006 (UTC)
For better or worse, Wikipedia is "the encyclopedia that anyone can edit.".
Not for long, if Kaiwen1 gets his way, which is beginning to look very likely. Kasreyn 02:51, 2 May 2006 (UTC)
Nah, it is an usersubpage vote, which has not recieved much attention of the administrators. I do not think it is going to fly. KimvdLinde 02:58, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

Merging articles

I think we should merge Carlos’n Charlie’s, Gerold Dompig and maybe also Joran van der Sloot into this article, as they have no relevance outside this main article. KimvdLinde 21:34, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

I'd agree. They have precious little notability even in this article, since the case has largely died down in public notice. They definitely don't deserve their own articles any more. In a year's time, the same question will apply to Natalee. Kasreyn 22:58, 2 May 2006 (UTC)
My recollection is that some of those peripheral articles were created as a way of editorializing and spamming outside the watch of the people who try to maintain this article. I will be glad to see them gone. --Dystopos 23:17, 2 May 2006 (UTC)
  • Actually, I started the Gerold Dompig article, and it was neither to "spam" nor to "editorialise" outside the watch of anyone at all. Consider whether an article on the deputy chief of the United States or United Kingdom would be considered non-notable, then consider that wikipedia editors are supposed to be eliminating systemic bias. Joran van der Sloot can go, as he is a regular teenager with no external notability, but Dompig is a verifiable notable topic. I think Carlos N Charlies could stay, with removal of reference to Holloway, which I will do now, as it has nothing to do with the chain per se. Jdcooper 00:47, 3 May 2006 (UTC)
I can agree with Carlos’n Charlie’s, as it has been modified. I disagree with Dompig, I think his only notability is the Natalee Holloway case. KimvdLinde 00:55, 3 May 2006 (UTC)
Well what of Brian Paddick, Ian Blair et al. The top tiers of other countries' police forces are well-documented, why leave Aruba out? Just because the article was created as a by-product of the Natalee Holloway debacle doesn't mean that the topic itself is non-notable. The top policemen of every country should have their own articles. Think eventualism ;) Jdcooper 01:05, 3 May 2006 (UTC)
Merge - While I see what you're saying about systemic bias, the population of Aruba is a little over 100,000. The U.S. and U.K. are closer to 300 million and 60 million, respectively. I don't think the comparison is quite valid. Also, if Dompig is the Deputy Chief of Police, who is the Chief? And why would Dompig be notable enough for an article of his own, when there isn't an article for the position that (theoretically) made him notable? Recent news stories are calling him the 'Police Commissioner,'[9] so I'm not even sure what his position currently is. While the law enforcement system of Aruba is definitely due for an article, I don't think this one man is. As for Carlos 'n Charlies, not too notable. Weak merge. -DejahThoris 01:34, 3 May 2006 (UTC)
Well, there are about half a dozen Deputy Chief of Police at Aruba, so that will be fun. And in the Netherlands, more than you can count. Maybe it should get listed on its own for AfD and see if it is notable enough. KimvdLinde 02:05, 3 May 2006 (UTC)
The merge patrol might want to examine Julia Renfro, too. --Dystopos 05:17, 3 May 2006 (UTC)

Restructuring of article

I have started a mild restructuring of the article, which was getting repetitive, and contained outdated information. I have focused on moving the sentences about the suspects' statements to parts of the article approximately contemporaneous with the statements.--Wehwalt 15:11, 11 May 2006 (UTC)


Correct me if I'm wrong ...

But it seems to me that the investigation went haywire the moment Natalie's parents and freinds turned up in Aruba and began their own 'investigation'. And would I be wrong in opining that a lot of the truth has and will be forever obscured because of her mother's obesseion with denying that Natalie was sexually active?

This is not a nasty comment, just my own sad persepective on a terribly sad affair. Not fair. Most of all, not fair to Natalee Holloway. Fergananim 17:11, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

  • It's beyond Wikipedia's scope to formulate a judgment and therefore it would be wrong to attempt to do so here. There are many forums for discussion elsewhere. --Dystopos 17:22, 22 May 2006 (UTC)
  • You're right, and that was wrong of me. I did'nt intend to include such in the article itself, just to discuss it here in the talk page. If I gave an impression to the contrary, my apoligies. Fergananim 13:30, 23 May 2006 (UTC)

Deleted text in paragraph Beth Twitty's involvement

68.186.131.8 (Overleg) (Deleted paragraph for NPOV violation and lack of references.)

The deleted text was:

<begin citation> Causing unrest and practicing civil disobedience Beth Twitty has not only slandered the Van der Sloot and Kalpoe familys so terribly they are now despised throughout the world, she has also damaged the economy of a small Carribean Island. With her call for a boycott of Aruba she has stopped some tourism from reaching the country. In addition to her slander of Dutch citizens and the economy draining boycott, she has also implied Aruba to be a dangerous and barbaric place further damaging the reputation of the Island. Twitty has alienated many of the Aruban citizens who have attempted to give her help. In July of 2005 Beth Twitty and her husband George "Jug" Twitty entered the property of the Palm Beach Marriot in Aruba. As they approached the entrance to the hotel they encountered Julia Renfro, editor of Aruba Today. Renfro, who approached the two to say hello was set upon by a raging and heaving "Jug" Twitty who assaulted the woman. Renfro said,"He pushed me, im holding a sleeping baby. He starts screaming and yelling words you can't print, "F**** You!" and "Get the fuck away from my wife!". The unprintable word screamed by "Jug" was the C word! Renfro allegedy attempted to flee the situation. The Twittys have gone on to defame Ms.Renfro in many public forums. The Twittys are widely believed to be a blight on society. <end citation>

As a source I found: http://blogsfornatalee.com/forums/index.php?topic=4302.msg%25msg_id%25 This is a scan from the statement Renfro made with a policeofficer. The deleted text has some inaccuracies and is a bit emotional and "over the top", but I regard saying that Beth Twitty is slandering a NPOV description of her behaviour which doesn't help any investigation of the disappearance. Until now there hasn't been found any evidence that the disappearance has been caused by a crime. Otto 06:43, 4 August 2006 (UTC)

  • The text in question adds very little to an encyclopedic discussion of the case. There are more authoritative sources already cited on the question of Twitty's involvement. Regarding the claims that are, perhaps, under-emphasized such as the claim that she has committed slander against Van der Sloot, the extent to which her behavior is responsible for economic damage, and the question of physical and verbal assault against Renfro could be added without all this editorial garbage, and without using a blog as the source. --Dystopos 15:29, 4 August 2006 (UTC)
ehm... so why don't you add it?

Media Portayal

I recall hearing somewhere a comparisson between this case and the case about the Lindbergh Baby. A comparison could be drawn between the singular focus of Twitty and Lindbergh in how they are looking at this case. Also the similiarities in the lack of any conclusive evidence and the large collection of witnesses.

October 22, 2006

Possibly. Though I don't think Lindbergh's attitude is well known. I don't think they are similar, that is more than any other two cases that have been subject to media frenzy. After all, in this case, there is not certainly a crime. In the Lindbergh case, there certainly was.--Wehwalt 01:11, 23 October 2006 (UTC)
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