ORANJESTAD — The jawbone part that was found on the beach of Divi Phoenix Hotel two weeks ago, does not belong to the American teenager Natalee Holloway, who’s been missing since 2005.
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This appears from research by the Dutch Forensic Institute (NFI). The Public Prosecutor (OM) announced this in a press report this afternoon.
At the request of the Aruban OM, the NFI conducted forensic anthropologic investigation on the piece of jawbone with a tooth. They simultaneously conducted a DNA research from which it appeared that it indeed was a human jaw. Whether it had been the jaw of a female or a male, still remains unclear. Solicitor general (AG) Taco Stein says it is very difficult to determine the sex without further affecting the evidence. In addition, it is also difficult to say whether the jaw belonged to a female or male due to the mixed composition of the ‘Caribbean’ population, according to Stein.
Missing persons
In any case, one is checking the Aruban list of missing persons to see if a link could be made with the jaw. Whether there’s a possible link to Vincenzo Tromp, who disappeared in 2008, one cannot say yet, according to Stein. The Solicitor general states that justice didn’t find more material besides the jawbone that was found on the beach and after having searched for more evidence a few days afterwards. The other bone on which the American press reported yesterday and that was found in the neighborhood, does not appear to be from a human being, says Stein.
After it was determined that it regarded a human, the forensic anthropologic research was widened with a forensic odontology research. Based on dental data (amongst others the position of wisdom teeth and fillings) from Natalee Holloway, which her family provided, a comparison was made with the found jaw. Based on these comparisons, one was able to preclude that the found jaw material and the tooth did not belong to Holloway.
Once NFI arrived at this conclusion, the DNA research was halted. DNA researchers from NFI had used very refined techniques to examine the DNA present in the bone. The small amount of DNA material was of low quality.
The bone material was badly damaged due to all sorts of (weather) influences, and was porous. According to the OM, ‘it is within the bound of possibilities to use the tooth from the jawbone for further attempts to come up with a DNA profile’. However, such a research ‘impedes’ future research into the identification of the person to whom that bone belonged to. ‘As one was already able to preclude that the piece of bone did not belong to Natalee Holloway based on the dental data’, the OM in Aruba decided not to have this follow up research done just yet.
In any case, one is checking the Aruban list of missing persons to see if a link could be made with the jaw. Whether there’s a possible link to Vincenzo Tromp, who disappeared in 2008, one cannot say yet, according to Stein. The Solicitor general states that justice didn’t find more material besides the jawbone that was found on the beach and after having searched for more evidence a few days afterwards. The other bone on which the American press reported yesterday and that was found in the neighborhood, does not appear to be from a human being, says Stein.After it was determined that it regarded a human, the forensic anthropologic research was widened with a forensic odontology research. Based on dental data (amongst others the position of wisdom teeth and fillings) from Natalee Holloway, which her family provided, a comparison was made with the found jaw. Based on these comparisons, one was able to preclude that the found jaw material and the tooth did not belong to Holloway.Once NFI arrived at this conclusion, the DNA research was halted. DNA researchers from NFI had used very refined techniques to examine the DNA present in the bone. The small amount of DNA material was of low quality. The bone material was badly damaged due to all sorts of (weather) influences, and was porous. According to the OM, ‘it is within the bound of possibilities to use the tooth from the jawbone for further attempts to come up with a DNA profile’. However, such a research ‘impedes’ future research into the identification of the person to whom that bone belonged to. ‘As one was already able to preclude that the piece of bone did not belong to Natalee Holloway based on the dental data’, the OM in Aruba decided not to have this follow up research done just yet.
It was only yesterday that the Dutch crime reporter Peter R. de Vries stated through the media that the authorities had not contacted Beth Twitty – Natalees’s mother – yet. The FBI would have informed Natalee’s mother immediately if the bone had belonged to Holloway, according to De Vries.
American press
However, it did not stop the American press from assuming the possibility beforehand that the jaw indeed belonged to Natalee. CNN soon dispatched a team that posted themselves at the Public Prosecutor. The breaking news in the TV-program from the American Nancy Grace last night was that one had even found a second bone on the beach at Divi Phoenix. Nearly the entire broadcast was in the theme of this discovery.
Experts in DNA research were given the floor during the program and there was a short interview with the tourists who had found the second bone. It regards an American mother and her minor son. They said they had brought the bone to the hotel’s reception and were amazed to hear that the hotel employees did not want to call the police because they did not want any negative publicity for the hotel. A bar with the message that ‘officials would come with a statement within several hours’ could be seen during the entire broadcast. However, that statement was still not on her website this morning. Reports that the found piece of bone could possibly be a sparerib, could not be confirmed just yet. In any case, the OM states that the police picked up the bone yesterday and that is now appears, it is not from a human being.
However, it did not stop the American press from assuming the possibility beforehand that the jaw indeed belonged to Natalee. CNN soon dispatched a team that posted themselves at the Public Prosecutor. The breaking news in the TV-program from the American Nancy Grace last night was that one had even found a second bone on the beach at Divi Phoenix. Nearly the entire broadcast was in the theme of this discovery.Experts in DNA research were given the floor during the program and there was a short interview with the tourists who had found the second bone. It regards an American mother and her minor son. They said they had brought the bone to the hotel’s reception and were amazed to hear that the hotel employees did not want to call the police because they did not want any negative publicity for the hotel. A bar with the message that ‘officials would come with a statement within several hours’ could be seen during the entire broadcast. However, that statement was still not on her website this morning. Reports that the found piece of bone could possibly be a sparerib, could not be confirmed just yet. In any case, the OM states that the police picked up the bone yesterday and that is now appears, it is not from a human being.
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