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Updated June 17, 2005, 1:49 p.m. ET

Aruba police arrest another suspect in missing student case

ORANJESTAD, Aruba (AP) — A fourth person was detained in Aruba on Friday on suspicion of being involved in the disappearance of Alabama teen Natalee Holloway, who vanished nearly three weeks ago while celebrating her high school graduation, authorities said.

Meanwhile, Holloway's mother said she believed there might be more arrests before the case was resolved. She did not elaborate.

The person "suspected of being involved" in Holloway's disappearance was identified by the attorney general's office only as a 26-year-old with the initials S.G.C. The office did not disclose any more details, but Holloway's mother, Beth Holloway Twitty, referred to the person detained Friday as "Steve" during an interview with Associated Press Television News.

She declined to give more details of his identity, but she said she believes more people could be detained in the case.


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"This is just the beginning," she said.

Authorities already have detained 17-year-old Joran van der Sloot, the son of a Dutch justice official on Aruba, and his two friends, Surinamese brothers Deepak Kalpoe, 21, and Satish Kalpoe, 18.

Holloway disappeared in the early morning hours of May 30 on Aruba, a Dutch protectorate in the Caribbean. The three men previously in custody said they took Holloway, 18, to a northern beach but dropped her off at her hotel, where she was approached by a black security guard.

Looking tired and angry, Holloway Twitty said she was increasingly unhappy with the lack of progress in the case.

"I want my daughter and I want her now," she said. "It's not that hard to figure out. ... I'm very frustrated. We are in day 18 with no answers."

Holloway Twitty added that she would "believe my daughter is alive until I find out otherwise."

Also Friday, prosecutors asked a judge to rule that there was sufficient cause to continue holding van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers. The three were detained June 9. Under the law, a judge must review their case after 10 days, rendering a decision by Sunday.

No one has been charged with a crime in the case.

The court was expected to rule Friday on a petition by van der Sloot's father, Paul, to visit his son in jail and on a request by the son's attorneys to see any evidence against him. Paul van der Sloot is a judge-in-training, serving a three-year term on the bench that allows him to hear a limited number of cases.

On Thursday, prosecutors filed a motion to stop Joran van der Sloot's lawyer, Antonio Carlo, from seeing him, said Mariaine Croes, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Caren Janssen.

Authorities claim their investigation could be damaged because Carlo spoke with one of two former security guards who were detained in the case and then released, Croes said Friday.

The judge was brought in from neighboring Curacao island, as is typical in high-profile cases.

Holloway disappeared the same day she was to return from a five-day trip with 124 other students celebrating their graduation from high school in Mountain Brook, Ala.

Searches by authorities, volunteer islanders and tourists have come up empty. Authorities refused to say whether they believed Holloway was dead.

On Thursday, however, Police Superintendent Jan van der Straaten told The Associated Press that authorities used a helicopter "to search for possible remains -- but found nothing." He declined to say where the search was conducted.

On Wednesday, authorities searched the van der Sloots' one-story, yellow-beige home, where Joran lived in an attached apartment. Agents were seen carrying two white garbage bags filled with items from the house, while authorities towed away a blue sport utility vehicle and a red Jeep from the property in Noord, outside the capital, Oranjestad.

After the approximately four-hour search, Janssen said Paul van der Sloot was not under investigation.

Asked why it took investigators more than two weeks after Holloway's disappearance to search the van der Sloot home, Janssen said Thursday, "You have to build up an investigation. You can't just go in there like a cowboy. You have to give certain direction to investigators."

The Kalpoe brothers have told police that they and Joran were with Holloway the night she disappeared and that she and the Dutch youth were kissing in the back seat of their car. The detainees initially said they took Holloway to a northern beach and then dropped her off at her Holiday Inn.

But Antonius "Mickey" John, a former hotel security guard released from custody Sunday, said to reporters that Deepak Kalpoe told him during a chat in jail that he and his brother actually dropped the young van der Sloot and Holloway off together near the Marriott, about 10 blocks north of the Holiday Inn. John said he passed the information on to police.

On Tuesday, FBI agents and officers from the Miami-Dade police department used German Shepherds to search the area, known as Malmok beach, which is a popular nighttime spot for lovers.

Deepak Kalpoe's lawyer would not comment on John's statement Wednesday, but has said his client maintained his innocence.

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