Three more arrested in teen’s disappearance

A source close to the investigation said the two brothers told police that Holloway had been drinking and fell down as she got out of the car, according to the source.

The source said that when Van Der Sloot tried to help her, she refused, saying, “I can stand on my own.”

The brothers added that a man dressed in a black security uniform and carrying a walkie-talkie went up to the teen, seemingly to offer his assistance. The suspects then drove off and did not see her again.

Previously ‘persons of interest’
The three are the same “persons of interest” questioned last week on this Dutch Caribbean island. At that time, they told police they took Holloway to a beach and then dropped her off at her hotel at 2 a.m. on May 30, the night she vanished. Hotel security cameras did not record her return, however.

The 17-year-old met Holloway at a hotel casino in the Holiday Inn where she was staying two days before her disappearance, Aruban police Cmdr. Jahn van der Straaten said Thursday.

The attorney general’s office earlier said the three were considered witnesses and not suspects.

Sufficient cause to hold two others
On Wednesday, a judge ruled there was sufficient cause to keep holding two former hotel security guards in connection with Holloway's disappearance.

The decision means authorities may hold Nick John, 30, and Abraham Jones, 28, for nearly four months while prosecutors investigate possible murder and kidnapping charges in the disappearance of the 18-year-old, defense attorneys said. Neither man has been formally charged.

Janssen confirmed the decision handed down at a closed hearing at a police station where the men are jailed.

Police and the FBI kept up their search for Holloway but said a lack of any solid leads was hindering progress. Local officials have asked the FBI to bring in dogs trained to search.

John and Jones were arrested Sunday on suspicion of first- and second-degree murder and capital kidnapping, the latter of which is invoked when a kidnapping victim is killed, according to court-appointed defense attorneys Noraina Pietersz and Chris Lejuez.

Judge J.S. Kuiperdal will review the case on June 15 and every eight days after that if needed, officials said. Authorities may hold the suspects for 116 days without filing formal charges.

The former security guards worked for a hotel two blocks from the Holiday Inn where Holloway stayed. Their work contracts had expired May 29.

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