Missing teen's mom relies on faith, determination

PALM BEACH, Aruba – She spends some of her mornings at a tiny, open-air chapel perched on a hill above the rocky coastline, praying for her daughter's return.

She spends some of her days walking through neighborhoods, handing out fliers, handmade bracelets and prayer cards, asking everyone she meets to help find her Natalee.

And she spends countless hours doing interviews with the small army of journalists who have flocked to this island paradise to cover her family's unfolding drama.

Beth Holloway Twitty, mother of 18-year-old Natalee Holloway, who went missing May 30 on the last day of a high school graduation trip, has been slammed with every parents' nightmare – their child's mysterious disappearance.

But in today's peripatetic media world, she's also been thrust into one of the leading roles in a drama no mother would ever wish for: at the center of relentless, international coverage of every tiny development in a private, painful family crisis.

Her calm, determined demeanor in interview after interview has galvanized the viewing public, fueling the coverage that has propelled Natalee's case into the latest cable television news mega-event. The coverage clearly has put immense pressure on image-sensitive Aruban authorities to solve the case, although they insist it is being handled like any other.

From the start, Twitty and her family showed they were not going to be passive victims waiting for police to solve the case. They contacted the FBI almost immediately upon learning of Natalee's disappearance, and got agents to travel to the island to assist Aruban officials.

Arriving on Aruba within a day of the first reports, they started what Twitty has called "our own investigation," tracking down leads by talking to other teens on the trip, identifying possible suspects and even interviewing them on their own.

They boldly drove to the home of 17-year-old Joran van der Sloot — the Dutch youth last seen with their daughter — late on their first night on the island, holding what press reports say was a fairly confrontational meeting with the youth and his parents that was witnessed by police.

And when police failed to arrest van der Sloot for 10 days after that meeting, Twitty stepped up the pressure, telling television interviewers that she believed the police should hold the youth and even question his father, Aruban judge-in-training Paul van der Sloot.

In the midst of their sleuthing, however, the family also had to deal with the media crush.

"We were stunned the first week," said Carol Standifer, who worked with Twitty at home and has spent several weeks in Aruba helping the family. "It was just surreal."

Holloway has remained remarkably balanced in the midst of her family's crisis and the media storm, even though friends say that like other typical Americans, there was no way she could have prepared for it or even imagined what it would be like.

"We had no plan for dealing with it," Standifer said. "Beth has just been herself, determined to find Natalee, to find an answer."

In the first weeks after Natalee's disappearance, a public relations specialist who works for the Aruban tourism office helped the family manage the media onslaught, a role that has since been taken up by family friends who carry several cell phones that ring constantly with requests for television appearances.

"Nobody advised her on how to deal with it," Standifer said. "But it's just the way Beth is. She has a sense of integrity about her. It's been easy for her to deal with because she tells the truth and is determined to find an answer."

Twitty grew up in Pine Bluff, Ark., and met her first husband, Dave Holloway, after college, family members said. The couple had two children, Natalee and Matt, 16. They eventually divorced and Twitty lived in Mississippi for several years.

In the late 1990s she married George "Jug" Twitty, who works for a metals company in the Birmingham area. She moved to Mountain Brook, a Birmingham suburb, and continued her career working with young children as a speech pathologist in the public schools, where she was hired by Standifer.

"I knew she was strong and smart," Standifer said. "That's why I hired her. But I've been surprised at how determined and strong she is."

Twitty and her daughter were extremely close – "buddies" – in Standifer's words. Natalee was sometimes called "Hootie" by friends, and Twitty at times took the moniker, "Big Hootie."

"Beth took the summer off to help Natalee get ready to go to college," Standifer said. "She was an honors student and got a full scholarship to the University of Alabama."

Natalee came to Aruba with more than 120 other freshly-minted graduates of Mountain Brook High School on a chaperoned trip. The upscale island is known for its gorgeous beaches, steady trade winds and relaxed atmosphere. It has a miniscule crime rate that is the envy of most other Caribbean islands.

From the scant information released by police, it appears Natalee went to a popular bar, Carlos n' Charlie's, the night before she was to return home. She left the bar with Joran van der Sloot, riding away in a car with him and brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe.

The youths at first told police they dropped her off at her hotel, but have since changed their stories to say that van der Sloot and Holloway went walking on a beach near the hotel.

Van der Sloot has told his mother that he left Holloway there alone, unharmed, and does not know what happened to her.

The three youths have been jailed for the last two weeks, although no formal charges have been filed. A judge recently ordered they remain in jail for at least another week, and they could remain in custody for up to 116 days without being formally charged.

Van der Sloot's father, Paul, who was apparently suspected of coaching his son on what to tell police, was also arrested last week, but was released after being questioned for two days.

His lawyer said the elder van der Sloot cooperated with authorities and insists neither he nor his son have committed any crimes.

Tuesday, Twitty told ABC's "Good Morning America" that she was "devastated" by the release of the elder van der Sloot because she believes he is hiding vital information in the case.

Recalling her questioning of Paul van der Sloot at his home, with his son and wife present, she said: "I have never sat across from an individual in a well-ventilated room and seen a man sweat so profusely and only increasing in intensity as the 90 minutes (of questioning) went on."

Appearing Tuesday on CNN's "American Morning," she asserted that Paul van der Sloot "knows exactly what happened. he knows what, where, when, who, why and how."

Anita van der Sloot told the Associated Press Tuesday that Aruban authorities are fixated on her son and husband because investigators have "lost control" of the probe.

And in Twitty's mind, Anita van der Sloot said, "Joran is guilty and that's it. What can I say to a woman who is desperate to find her daughter?"

While Twitty and her family have been critical of the slow pace of the investigation, they have also spoken highly of Aruban authorities, saying that FBI agents helping with the case have told them the local police are doing a good job.

Aided by a large contingent of friends, including parents of some of Natalee's classmates, they have spent the last four weeks in an exhausting whirlwind of searching, meeting with Aruban authorities and responding to the unending request for media interviews.

The Twittys are staying in Natalee's room at the Holiday Inn, where Beth Twitty sleeps in one of her daughter's night shirts, People Magazine reported. She is often approached by strangers in the hotel's lobby, people who have seen her on television and want to offer their support.

"Beth is kind and patient with them all because that's just the way she is," Standifer said.

Each day, Twitty has made time to go to a church on the island, often the picturesque chapel overlooking the sea, where she prays for Natalee, Standifer said.

"Her faith in God is really strong," she said.

Twitty has kept an optimistic, determined public face, but has been through "the range of emotions," Standifer said.

"She's risen to the occasion," she said. "She's done this for Natalee.

"Whatever happens, she's prepared for it."

Mike Williams may be e-mailed at mikew@coxnews.com

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