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NANCY GRACE

Divers Now Searching for Natalee Holloway`s Remains in Ocean

Aired March 22, 2010 - 20:00:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight in the disappearance of Alabama beauty Natalee Holloway, missing off her high school senior trip, Aruba. Aruban police couldn`t or wouldn`t make a case against judge`s son Joran Van Der Sloot even after high-tech surveillance catches him describing Natalee`s death. After Van Der Sloot`s father, Judge Paulus Van Der Sloot, key in the alleged cover-up for his son, collapses dead, speculation Joran Van Der Sloot would slip up. Sure enough, just days after his father`s cremated, video emerges of Van Der Sloot claiming he`s there when Holloway falls to her death from a balcony.

Bombshell tonight. Less than 24 hours after we report divers` grainy photos surface showing what could be a human skeleton face up on the rocky ocean bottom off the Aruban shore, Aruban prosecutors send dive teams to scour the water. Why? To pinpoint the exact spot of the photo. Tonight, have the remains of American girl Natalee Holloway been located?

And tonight, we obtain the rest of Joran Van Der Sloot`s alleged confession, describing how Holloway disappears. He insists she`ll never be found. But tonight, will justice finally win out?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JORAN VAN DER SLOOT, SUSPECT IN HOLLOWAY DISAPPEARANCE (through translator): Yes. It`s just she`ll never be found again, I think.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): She`s been dumped in the ocean?

VAN DER SLOOT (through translator): Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Breaking news. The Aruban police dive team searching an area off the island coast, looking for the area in question where this photo was taken.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An underwater photograph may be a new clue in the Natalee Holloway case.

GRACE: Is it really remains?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s a photo taken by a Pennsylvania couple vacationing in Aruba.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is a corpse. You can see the skull. You can see where the eye sockets were. It`s laying flat on its back. And its arms are cradled around. You can almost see fingers.

GRACE: Are they the remains of Natalee Holloway?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): She`s been dumped in the ocean?

VAN DER SLOOT (through translator): Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): By yourself?

VAN DER SLOOT (through translator): Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): How? You went swimming or what?

VAN DER SLOOT (through translator): No.

DAVE HOLLOWAY, NATALEE`S FATHER: I`m not so sure he did throw her in the ocean. I don`t know that. And I hope they find her.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): With a boat?

VAN DER SLOOT (through translator): Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Then it`s done. When you`ve brought her away with a boat further than two miles, she won`t be coming back ever, you know.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Van Der Sloot admits he made the comments but says they were all, quote, "lies."

BETH TWITTY, NATALEE`S MOTHER: It`s just despicable what he`s done.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Results of the dive team search expected at any moment.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This pretty boy is going to go down, and the reason why is that this seems to be exactly what was described in his first confession in that van. This is going to prove it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. It`s less than 24 hours after we report here about divers` grainy photos that surface showing what could be a human skeleton face up on the rocky ocean bottom off the Aruban shoreline. Then Aruban prosecutors decide they`ll send dive teams to scour the water to pinpoint the exact spot the photo was taken. And tonight, finally, we obtain the rest of Joran Van Der Sloot`s alleged confession.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Could a seemingly innocent vacation photo be the clue investigators have been waiting for so long in the Nancy Holloway case?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now Aruban authorities rushing scuba divers into the water, inspecting the site where an American couple says they saw human skeletal remains lying on the ocean floor.

GRACE: Some snorkelers take a photo. It`s there just off the Aruban coast. They believe they have a shot of a skeleton on the rocky bottom of the ocean floor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I looked at that photo, I said, By darn, that certainly does look like a skeleton.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Remains that just might be missing Alabama teen Natalee Holloway.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was a tape that surfaced in which Van Der Sloot is heard saying that Holloway`s body was dumped at sea.

HOLLOWAY: When you go into a panic, which he said he did, the first thing you think of is call an ambulance. And with him choosing the alternative of getting rid of her, something else happened.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): How do you know she`s dead, Joran?

VAN DER SLOOT (through translator): I just know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): How did you see it? Did you feel her pulse? Did it go in one time?

VAN DER SLOOT (through translator): I just touched her, and there wasn`t anything anymore. It was over.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Did you try to resuscitate her?

VAN DER SLOOT (through translator): I tried everything. I even lifted her up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Patrick was asking him, How can you be so sure that Natalee was dead? And then he said, Well, I wasn`t, she was just not moving anymore, I thought she must be dead. And then he dumped her into the ocean.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it a skeleton? Is it her? Urgency is critical.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Straight out to Jean Casarez, legal correspondent, In Session. Jean, you and I reported on this Friday night. Up until then, Aruban prosecutors hadn`t done a darn thing about this photo. Now suddenly, after it`s been publicized, they send out dive teams. Now, I know they worked Saturday, they worked over the weekend, they`re continuing to work into tomorrow. What`s the progress? Have they even been able to pinpoint the spot where the photo was taken?

JEAN CASAREZ, IN SESSION: That is the big challenge, Nancy, because they`re trying to find exactly where that snorkeling picture was taken. The FBI is interviewing the couple in Pennsylvania to find out if they can give more precisely where they were. They are also interviewing one of the Muldowneys` relatives in Aruba to see if they know where it is.

But Nancy, this was a catamaran. This was a ship that took people out to do snorkeling. It was by a German old ship that had sunk years ago, the Muldowneys told you Friday night. So there are some landmarks in what part of the waters this could be in.

GRACE: Here are the Muldowneys. Everybody, this is the couple, the American couple that joined us out of Pennsylvania to tell us where they went, how they ended up there, and how they got this photo of what could be the remains of American girl Natalee Holloway. Muldowneys.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: John Muldowney, do you have any idea whether Aruban authorities have this in their hands?

JOHN MULDOWNEY, WIFE TOOK PICTURE OF POSSIBLE REMAINS: I don`t. I heard that they only get their mail over there once a month, and that`s why they haven`t seen anything yet.

GRACE: Well, have you been contacted?

JOHN MULDOWNEY: By -- no. No.

When I looked at that photo, I said, By darn, that certainly does look like a skeleton. But I start showing it around to different people, getting comments, What do you think? I just told them to look at this picture. What do you see? And of course, there`s that little snake (ph) that Pat was taking on the right side of the picture. And then they`d look and say, Oh, my God, yes, that looks like a skeleton, a human body.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Back to Jean Casarez, legal correspondent, In Session. So 72 hours later, we now learn that after hearing this show, the Aruban authorities get into gear and go diving. What more can you tell us, Jean?

CASAREZ: Nancy, they wasted no time, so we can confirm that. But we can also confirm that they are saying that it is their police dive teams that are going out there. Although the FBI`s involved as far as questioning the Muldowneys in Pennsylvania, Aruban authorities have specifically said the FBI is not involved in this search. The FBI has responded by saying, We`re not involved unless we are asked to be involved. And Nancy, the FBI has some of the most renowned dive teams in the world.

GRACE: Well, you know, Jean, speaking of the FBI dive teams -- they are the best that I know of -- I want to go to a special guest joining us tonight out of Miami. Michael Gast. He`s the founder and trainer of the National Academy of Police Diving. Mr. Gast, it`s a real pleasure to have you on. You have such a great, great reputation. I`ve been diving for many, many years. I`m sure I must have done now over 200 dives. And if somebody asked me to go back on a dive trip and recreate where I went diving, it would still be very, very difficult to do.

What do you think about this wreck dive, though? We know where that German boat has been sunk off the Aruban coast. Shouldn`t that be relatively easy to find?

MICHAEL GAST, FOUNDER, NATIONAL ACADEMY OF POLICE DIVING: Yes, it should be, except for the size of the boat and also where the people were diving off of the boat.

GRACE: But Mr. Gast, isn`t it true that these pleasure boats that take people out to snorkel or dive, they typically go to the same spots every time?

GAST: That`s very true, yes.

GRACE: So what`s the problem in finding this location if you`ve got a group of good divers?

GAST: Well, the problem is probably because the picture was taken at such an angle that divers scouring the area may not be in that same angle to see it. I mean, obviously, if it is skeletal remains, it would look, you know, skeletal from all directions. But if it isn`t, it could look like it in one direction and not like it in the other.

GRACE: OK. What`s the first thing divers would do to look for a potential human skeleton, Mr. Gast?

GAST: Well, first they`d want to get into the area, and they would do that by systematically squeezing in the circle and making the area in which they`re searching smaller. And then when they find the area, mark it properly so they can do a survey of the area around it.

GRACE: Out to Rupa Mikkilineni, our producer on the story. What more can you tell me, Rupa?

RUPA MIKKILINENI, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, Nancy, we know that the couple took a pleasure boat or catamaran from the docking area when they got off the Royal Caribbean cruise line. We know they sailed about 20 minutes to get to the area. We also know that the area she was snorkeling in isn`t precisely -- I mean, it`s close by to the area where the Antilla shipwreck occurred, but it`s not in such deep waters. That`s what I was told by the Muldowneys.

GRACE: Well, no, you don`t snorkel in really deep water, typically.

Out to the lines. Misty in Oregon. Hi, Misty.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy.

GRACE: Hi, dear. What`s your question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I would like to know -- I know Aruba sent a dive team.

GRACE: Right.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But she`s an American citizen. Couldn`t America send a dive team because of the cover-up with the judge`s son and everything? I fear they`re not going to tell us everything, or cover up again.

GRACE: You`re absolutely correct in your question. I want to go to Mark Harold (ph), former police officer, joining us out of Washington. Mark, I don`t know if this is international waters or how far it is off the coast, but if it`s Aruban water territory, I don`t know if the FBI would be welcome.

MARK HAROLD, FORMER POLICE OFFICER: Yes. I mean, they`re going to have to invite them in. When you go to other places, pretty much under the jurisdiction of that country. I don`t know how far out they are, either. But pretty much, the FBI`s going to have to be invited in to go in those waters against the wishes of the authorities.

GRACE: But Mark, if tourists can go in those waters freely, why can`t the FBI?

HAROLD: Well, that`s a good question. The problem is it`s a law enforcement activity, so the rules are a little different. The best bet is probably just to say, Look, a lot of Americans come over here, they`re tourists, they bring in money, and use that indirect approach. But as far as directly, they probably don`t have jurisdiction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Van Der Sloot describes calling a friend he says was never questioned by police, who had a boat nearby. Van Der Sloot says that they carried Natalee Holloway`s body to the boat. He went out to the sea and then he threw her out like a rag, he said.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN MULDOWNEY: What do you see when you look at that picture?

NATALEE HOLLOWAY: Hootie (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hootie who (INAUDIBLE)

NATALEE HOLLOWAY: Hi, friend.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Could be a new lead in the Natalee Holloway mystery.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A Pennsylvania couple says a picture they took during a snorkeling vacation in October there seems to show human remains.

GRACE: You took the photo, right?

PATTI MULDOWNEY, TOOK PHOTO OF POSSIBLE REMAINS: Yes, I did.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Suspicion is really focused on that young man right there, Joran Van Der Sloot.

VAN DER SLOOT (through translator): She`ll never be found again, I think.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): She`s been dumped in the ocean?

VAN DER SLOOT (through translator): Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Joran lies a couple of time, established lies.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He says that her body was taken to an ocean, a body of water.

GRACE: He says he left her on the beach.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... that he dumped her body in the swamp in Aruba.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is some corroboration.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s been five years.

TWITTY: I know he knows.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If it was a human skeleton, a body that was dumped there...

DAVE HOLLOWAY: He has no remorse.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... it would be badly decomposed.

DAVE HOLLOWAY: Nothing was done right in the beginning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... most likely, the bones would have been spread.

NATALEE HOLLOWAY: I had the best time of my life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They could probably get, if there was any bone marrow, possibly, maybe, maybe not, or even from the bone itself, some DNA.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: I would love to know what Joran Van Der Sloot is saying in light of the fact that a tourist out snorkeling unwittingly snapped what they believe and many others believe to be human remains on the floor of the ocean off the Aruban shoreline. Anything he would say right now could be extremely incriminating such as, Well, that`s not her, as if he knows where she is, or, I wonder if the Aruban police are going to go search there. I wonder what`s happening in the search. Is he reading the papers? Is he watching TV to find out about it? Things like that could absolutely come in at trial one day against Joran Van Der Sloot in the murder American girl Natalee Holloway.

We are taking your calls. But first, to Ellie Jostad, our chief editorial producer. Ellie, actually, he`s made multiple statements that would corroborate this being her remains.

ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, right, Nancy. And the most significant of those is probably that hidden camera video that Dutch journalist Peter De Vries set up. In that video, Joran Van Der Sloot is telling this other man that Natalee had some type of seizure at the beach and that he called a friend, a friend that had a boat, and that this friend loaded her remains onto the boat and dumped her out at sea. At one point, he even says something like, They`re not going to find her, the ocean`s a big place.

GRACE: What more, Ellie?

JOSTAD: Well, and also, Nancy, if you think back way at the beginning of this case, we first heard about the possibility of burial at sea when they arrested that Dutch party boat deejay. You remember that guy? And they later released him. But the theory they were operating under was that that guy had access to a boat and that he could have helped Joran Van Der Sloot -- they were apparently friends -- help him dispose of her body.

GRACE: We are taking your calls live. Beverly, New York. Hi, Beverly.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy.

GRACE: Hi dear. What`s your...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How are you?

GRACE: I`m good, dear. Thank you for calling in. What`s your question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. If those are Natalee`s remains, what evidence would they have to link it back to Joran?

GRACE: I`m going to go through that very carefully with our experts on the case, Rupa Mikkilineni, Jean Casarez, Ellie Jostad. And I`ll start with you, Ellie. We have not only his statements stating that he was with her that night on the beach near the fisherman`s hut, that they put her out in the water from a boat, all right? Those were the statements that first were swirling. Now, that puts him dumping her body. With the current of the ocean, this could very well support that statement.

JOSTAD: Well, right, and many of those first and early searches were focused on the beach. There was a couple of items that were found on the beach at the time. There were some bones that turned out not to be human. There was a piece of duct tape with hair. There were also water searches very early on in the search because that was deemed the most logical place to dump remains.

GRACE: To Dr. Titus Duncan, doctor at the Atlanta Medical Center, an expert in his field. Dr. Duncan, at this juncture, so much time has passed, I doubt very seriously there`s going to be any soft tissue left to determine cause of death. It`s just not going to happen.

DR. TITUS DUNCAN, GENERAL SURGERY: No, Nancy. At this particular point in time, all the soft tissue`s gone. All you`re going to have is what everybody`s speculating are the skeletal remains. And basically, those skeletal remains are all we`re going to have to go by when we actually get to those skeletal remains, if they are remains.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In an interview aired on Dutch network RTL, Van Der Sloot attempts to apologize half a decade later for all his lies, even asking Natalee Holloway`s parents for forgiveness. But many doubt the sincerity of Van Der Sloot`s apology.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): At that age I also had contact with people. They can also help me. But anyhow, I`d rather not name those people as they have never -- during all this, they`ve always been good to me and vice versa there. Therefore, I`m not going to say who it was. But it`s not my parents, for instance, but just someone who`s a real good friend of mine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): With a boat?

VAN DER SLOOT (through translator): Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Then it`s done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Right now, we learn that Aruban dive teams have been sent out by prosecutors to investigate grainy photos that surfaced -- we found out about them last week. We reported it Friday night. Within 24 hours, Aruban police had sent out dive teams to try and pinpoint what you`re seeing on the top left of your screen, a spot where American tourists who were out swimming and snorkeling took what they believe to be a photo, unwittingly, of a human skeleton, the remains of a human body.

We are taking your calls live. But to Marc Klaas, president and founder of Klaas Kids Foundation. Marc, what do you make of all this?

MARC KLAAS, KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION: Well, you know, if I were Natalee`s parents, I would be guardedly optimistic that there might be something there. I don`t believe that the Arubans have ever demonstrated any kind of a will to solve this case.

GRACE: Me, either. I don`t get it! And I`ll tell you this. Judge Paulus Van Der Sloot collapses dead on a tennis court, and now within 24 hours of hearing about this photo, they send out a dive team. That`s a little encouraging.

KLAAS: Well, it is a little encouraging. It would be a lot more encouraging if the Holloways were able to send out their own dive teams or the FBI were invited in to do it because I just don`t see that these people really want to pursue this the way it really needs to be pursued if it`s going to be solved.

GRACE: Marc, for some reason they don`t give a fig. Either at one point there was a cover-up and now they don`t want to admit they`re wrong - - but come on, Marc Klaas, even prosecuting him for moving a dead body. That`s against the law. And that`s never been done. He`s admitted it over and over.

KLAAS: Well, he has. And they`ve never sought to get him extradited back to Aruba to go into intensive interrogations or to charge him with anything. They don`t want to do it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICK VAN DER EEM (Through Translator): She`s been dumped in the ocean?

JORAN VAN DER SLOOT (Through Translator): Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Have investigators finally found the body of Natalee Holloway?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: It`s a photo taken by a Pennsylvania couple vacationing in Aruba.

VAN DER SLOOT (Through Translator): It`s just she`ll never be found again. I think.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I looked at that photo, I said by darn, that certainly does look like a skeleton.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: This five-year-old missing persons case.

VAN DER EEM (Through Translator): How do you know she`s dead, Joran?

VAN DER SLOOT (Through Translator): I just know.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Aruban authorities plan to search the area. And the FBI is investigating here, too.

VAN DER SLOOT (Through Translator): I just touched her, and there wasn`t anything anymore. It was over.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can see the skull. You can see where the eye sockets were. You can see where the chin was, the arms. It`s laying flat on its back.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: In an interview aired on Dutch network RTL, Joran Van Der Sloot claimed he and a friend put Natalee Holloway`s body in a swamp.

VAN DER EEM (Through Translator): Did you try to resuscitate her?

VAN DER SLOOT (Through Translator): I tried everything. I even lifted her up.

NANCY GRACE, HOST: Do you have any doubt in your mind that he is responsible for her death?

DAVE HOLLOWAY, FATHER OF NATALEE HOLLOWAY: Well, there`s no question in my mind at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Natalee`s family being guardedly optimistic that this may be a break in the case. After all this time. An American couple goes snorkeling off the coast of Aruba and unwittingly takes a photo, months later taking a look at it, they realized they may have snapped a human skeleton off the Aruban coast.

We are taking your calls live. Out to Jennifer in Kentucky. Hi, Jennifer.

JENNIFER, CALLER FROM KENTUCKY: Hi, Nancy. I love your show. I love Sue Moss. I love your twins. I was calling --

GRACE: Thank you.

JENNIFER: -- with a two-part question. My question is, one, do we have an approximate date on the photo? And also five years after the body being dumped, is it even possible this is her? The skeleton looks quite intact.

GRACE: It is possible. But I`m going to go to an anthropologist. After - - and I am just an amateur. As many dives as I have done. If you do what`s called a drift dive, the water really moves you along. You don`t even have to kick your arms or feet.

You can go miles with the current. So I agree with you. But remember. Remember, Jennifer in Kentucky, these alleged remains are beside a German wreck. A boat wreck, which may be protecting the remains from that current.

I want to go out to Heather Walsh-Haney, forensic anthropologist joining us out of Ft. Myers. She is quite the expert in her field.

Miss Walsh-Haney, thank you for being with us. Can you answer Jennifer`s question?

HEATHER WALSH-HANEY, FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGIST (via phone): I sure can. Irrespective of the water current, what we have to remember is that these - - if these are skeletal remains they`re in an area where we have a lot of animal activity.

You have various types of fish and other types of invertebrate animals who are going to feast upon those remains. Typically what will happen then is something like the fingers from your hands, those will be dispersed. The mandible may drop away from the rest of the skull. The arms and legs themselves may also move away from the body.

GRACE: But would it be possible at this juncture, Heather Walsh-Haney, for this to be Natalee`s remains? This photo was taken in fall of 2009, in answer to Jennifer`s question.

WALSH-HANEY: It`s absolutely possible. It is possible for human remains that are deposited in a subaqueous, or water environment, for them to be uncovered five or six years later. Absolutely. In my experience of over 14 years doing forensic anthropology in subtropical environments that certainly has been the case.

GRACE: Let`s unleash the lawyers. Joining us tonight, Penny Douglas Furr, defense attorney, Atlanta, Hugo Rodriguez, defense attorney, former fed with the FBI, joining us out of Miami.

Welcome to both of you.

First to you, Hugo Rodriguez. Now I know you`re a defense attorney, but try to put on your prosecutor`s hat just for a minute. Think back to the days when you were a fed. All right? Just try to recall.

Hugo, wouldn`t you love to know what Joran Van Der Sloot has been saying since this show aired Friday night? Since he found out people believe they see human remains off the coast? Because no matter what he said it will likely be incriminating.

HUGO RODRIGUEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY, FMR. FBI AGENT: Love to know that. Love to get it in a manner that I could use it to successfully prosecute him, which is a whole different thing. But I agree.

And I`m hoping that this new evidence may bring some closure to this case. But the real question, Nancy, is, one, is it Natalee? Two, is there any evidence that will link him to this sufficient to prosecute him for her death?

GRACE: What about it, Penny?

PENNY DOUGLASS FURR, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy, if he`s made confessions that he was there in a boat, he threw her into the sea, I think if they find her in the sea that`s enough to prosecute him because that`s physical evidence that corroborates the story.

I think the problem now is they don`t have anything to corroborate the story.

GRACE: Now, Penny Douglas Furr, true, you are a defense attorney. But I`ve seen you, I`ve caught you on many occasions actually being very fair.

Penny, come on. What`s the problem with Aruba? I mean, they`ve got him on tape. He`s not in custody. He doesn`t need a lawyer. He`s not being interrogated by police. Saying he was there when she died and he hid the body.

On that alone, Penny, tampering with a dead body is prosecutable. He could be locked up right now and in much more likely a position to give a confession.

FURR: He could be, Nancy. But prosecutorial discretion is a very powerful thing, and it`s not just in Aruba. That`s anywhere. Prosecutorial discretion is huge anywhere. If they do not want to prosecute it, there is nothing anyone can do to force them to prosecute the case.

GRACE: But isn`t it a fact, Penny Douglass Furr, that tampering with a dead body or hiding it is a crime? That is a felony crime.

FURR: It`s a crime. Absolutely. But he`ll come back and say I lied, I made up the story. And there`s no physical evidence. But if you find a body, that`s physical evidence. And it corroborates everything he admitted.

GRACE: To Dr. Janet Taylor, not only psychiatrist but MD as well, joining us out of New York.

Dr. Taylor, thank you for being with us. To me -- and I`m just a layperson. I`m a JD, not an MD like you. But it would seem to me that this would be a time that police should try to infiltrate around Joran Van Der Sloot. Because these goings-on, they`re sending out dive teams to look for her. It`s back in the news again. There may be a break in the case.

To me, this would be a time that knowing him he`s liable to slip up and yak.

DR. JANET TAYLOR, PSYCHIATRIST: Absolutely. Loose lips sink ships. And I would put the pressure on him because clearly he likes to talk and it sounds like he`s getting more familiar and a little too comfortable. So pressure him all you can.

GRACE: Let`s take a listen. Speaking of Joran Van Der Sloot, we`ll be back with our panel and taking your calls, but take a listen to more of what we have obtained and translated off his last confession.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VAN DER SLOOT (Through Translator): Yes. It`s just she`ll never be found again. I think.

VAN DER EEM (Through Translator): She`s been dumped in the ocean?

VAN DER SLOOT (Through Translator): Yes.

VAN DER EEM (Through Translator): By yourself?

VAN DER SLOOT (Through Translator): Yes.

VAN DER EEM (Through Translator): How? You went swimming, or what?

VAN DER SLOOT (Through Translator): No.

VAN DER EEM (Through Translator): Then what? Quite bizarre, though, it`s not possible.

VAN DER SLOOT (Through Translator): Look, I do know some people in Aruba. At that age I also had contact with people. They can also help me. But anyhow, I`d rather not name those people as they have never -- during all this, they`ve always been good to me and vice versa, there.

Therefore, I`m not going to say who it was. But it`s not my parents, for instance. But just someone who`s a real good friend of mine.

VAN DER EEM (Through Translator): With a boat?

VAN DER SLOOT (Through Translator): Yes.

VAN DER EEM (Through Translator): Then it`s done. When you`ve brought her away with a boat further than two miles, she won`t be coming back ever. You know?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Jean Casarez, "In Session." I mean, what more does this guy have to say?

JEAN CASAREZ, CORRESPONDENT, "IN SESSION": Well, you know, Nancy, Aruban prosecutors went on your show several weeks ago and said, look, all we want is some corroboration. We hear that interview, we hear what he says, we need corroboration.

And Nancy, they got the photo right when your show aired, and then that weekend they sent out the dive team. So they kept their promise to you. We can say that.

GRACE: Well, we can say that. But now what they`ll do and how effectively they`ll do it remains to be a mystery. And also, Jean, they`ve been diving since Saturday. As of yet they say they still haven`t pinpointed this location.

Hello? If you`re listening, it`s by the German wreck. How many of those can there be, Jean?

CASAREZ: And Nancy, you know, when somebody does snorkeling, it`s in a particular area. You`re right, this was only about 15 feet deep. So it wasn`t real deep. And the catamarans go out to the same areas. It shouldn`t be that difficult.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VAN DER SLOOT (Through Translator): Yes. It`s just, she`ll never be found again. I think.

VAN DER EEM (Through Translator): She`s been dumped in the ocean?

VAN DER SLOOT (Through Translator): Yes.

VAN DER EEM (Through Translator): By yourself?

VAN DER SLOOT (Through Translator): Yes.

VAN DER EEM (Through Translator): How? You went swimming, or what?

VAN DER SLOOT (Through Translator): No.

VAN DER EEM (Through Translator): Then what? Quite bizarre, though. It`s not possible.

HOLLOWAY: I believe the one in the SUV where he was not aware that he`s being recorded is the closest to the truth that we`ll ever see. He was not under any pressure to tell anything. He was not paid and he was unaware that he`s being recorded.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: American couple goes snorkeling off the Aruban coast --

PATTI MULDOWNEY, TOOK PHOTO OF SKELETAL REMAINS IN ARUBA: I had my camera, and I started to snap pictures of all the fish.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: When they returned from vacation and looked at their pictures, one really stood out. This photo.

GRACE: They believe, as do many others, that they have coincidentally photographed skeletal remains.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my god, yes. That looks like a skeleton, a human body.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Could it be Natalee Holloway?

JORAN VAN DER SLOOT (Through Translator): And at one time, Patrick, it was just like in a movie. This is what she did.

PATRICK VAN DER EEM (Through Translator): Shaking?

BETH TWITTY, NATALEE HOLLOWAY`S MOTHER: When I`m hearing Joran say that it looked like Natalee was having a seizure and then he even -- it makes me sick.

VAN DER SLOOT (Through Translator): So I said to myself, (EXPLETIVE DELETED), what is going on?

VAN DER EEM (Through Translator): What did you do then?

VAN DER SLOOT (Through Translator): So I stayed with her. There was nobody there, Patrick.

TWITTY: I want to come through the screen and kill him.

HOLLOWAY: I saw a person who had no emotions, no respect for human life at all. He deprived Natalee of a proper funeral.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Will this image finally bring justice for Natalee Holloway?

VAN DER SLOOT (Through Translator): Yes. It`s just, she`ll never be found again. I think.

VAN DER EEM (Through Translator): She`s been dumped in the ocean?

VAN DER SLOOT (Through Translator): Yes.

VAN DER EEM (Through Translator): By yourself?

VAN DER SLOOT (Through Translator): Yes.

VAN DER EEM (Through Translator): How? You went swimming, or what?

VAN DER SLOOT (Through Translator): No.

VAN DER EEM (Through Translator): Then what? Quite bizarre though, it`s not possible.

VAN DER SLOOT (Through Translator): Look, I do know some people in Aruba. At that age I also had contact with people. They can also help me. But anyhow, I`d rather not name those people. As they have never, during all this, they`ve always been good to me and vice versa there.

Therefore, I`m not going to say who it was. But it`s not my parents, for instance. But just someone who`s a real good friend of mine.

VAN DER EEM (Through Translator): With a boat?

VAN DER SLOOT (Through Translator): Yes.

VAN DER EEM (Through Translator): Then it`s done. When you`ve brought her away with a boat further than two miles, she won`t be coming back ever. You know?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are taking your calls. Live out to Shirley in California. Hi, Shirley.

SHIRLEY, CALLER FROM CALIFORNIA: Hi, Nancy. Love your show.

GRACE: Thank you. Thank you for calling in. What`s your question?

SHIRLEY: Yes. If they are -- the Aruban authorities are looking for the skeleton remains, who is to say that they would even tell anybody is deceitful and hiding of all the information that they already do have?

GRACE: What about it, Rupa Mikkilineni? What do you know?

RUPA MIKKILINENI, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Nancy, we have a new regime in order here. The chief prosecutor is a new guy on the block. He wants to make this case. He wants to solve this case.

He wants to investigate it. And he has been incredibly communicative with the media in the last few months. He`s been investigating every lead. This is my understanding.

GRACE: What about it, Jean?

CASAREZ: I have to reiterate what Rupa is saying. And he spoke on your show, and he talked about wanting to solve this case. And I think the fact that out there -- they`re starting again tomorrow at daybreak, Nancy. So they`re back out there again tomorrow. They`re just trying to find the exact location. We`ll hope they just keep working at it.

GRACE: I want to go back to Michael Gast, founder and trainer of the National Academy of Police Diving.

Dr. -- Mr. Gast, again, thank you for being with us. You know, Mr. Gast, it`s a lot more difficult than it seems. You know, if you plop down out in the ocean and you say show me where you dived yesterday, much less last fall, 2009, how do you start?

At least here they`ve got basically a north star to go by. That would be the German wreck.

Plus, Mr. Gast, these pleasure boats always go out to basically the same spot over and over and over again. Certainly, they know where they went.

MICHAEL GAST, FOUNDER, TRAINER, NATIONAL ACADEMY OF POLICE DIVING: That`s correct. They would know where they went. And the captain of the boat should know where his snorkelers were snorkeling and how far away from the boat they got.

GRACE: Back to Ellie Jostad, our producer. Many searches have focused on the water before. Have they been in this area, do we know?

ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER, COVERING STORY: We don`t know, Nancy. And I should point out, too, that Aruban authorities haven`t announced precisely where they have had those divers. One thing that they`re worried about is onlookers, people coming by.

Of course, they certainly don`t want the scene to be contaminated or disturbed in any way. So we don`t know exactly where they`ve been conducting this search.

GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Penny Douglass Furr, Hugo Rodriguez. Hugo out of Miami. Penny, Atlanta.

Hugo, we get calls and e-mails constantly about why an arrest hasn`t been made on the confessions alone he has given. Explain. In a nutshell. This ain`t a closing argument.

RODRIGUEZ: Arrest can be made, but the prosecution may not be successful. You don`t want to make that move unless you have evidence that you believe is beyond a reasonable doubt.

The words alone are insufficient. You talked about possibly moving a dead body. That isn`t what they`re looking for. If he caused her death, they want to prosecute him for that and we don`t have that corroborative evidence yet.

GRACE: But Penny Douglas Furr, I -- don`t know what Rodriguez is saying. It`s like gibberish because that last part anyway --

RODRIGUEZ: Thanks.

GRACE: Because both of you know, and I don`t know why you`re pretending, you`re ignoring this, Hugo. Penny --

RODRIGUEZ: I`m not.

GRACE: -- if you can get the -- look at Misty Croslin. All right? They can`t as of yet prove anything about the disappearance of little Haleigh. But they`ve got her on drug trafficking. She can be behind bars over 100 years.

And it kind of works like meat tenderizer. You start out, you know, tough, won`t talk, won`t crack, but after a couple of years behind bars suddenly 100 years seems like a wrong time and you want to cut a deal.

RODRIGUEZ: That`s not what the constitution says.

GRACE: What, Penny? I`m sorry. Your voice has changed.

FURR: They had him under arrest, Nancy, for months without indicting him, and he did not talk. He seems to clam up when he`s under -- when he`s under arrest. I think they think if they let him go he will start talking, which he did.

GRACE: And very quickly, put up Hugo Rodriguez.

Hugo, what`s unconstitutional about a legitimate arrest on, say, a drug charge when you believe the person`s committed a murder? What`s unconstitutional about that?

RODRIGUEZ: If you want -- you can arrest them if you want but you`re not going to successfully prosecute them for murder.

GRACE: That`s not what I said.

RODRIGUEZ: But you didn`t have -- in Stacy Peterson --

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: It`s not unconstitutional to make a lawful arrest.

RODRIGUEZ: You can arrest anybody you want but prosecute him successfully is something else. That`s all I`m trying to tell you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOLLOWAY: It brings up a lot of stress and anxiety. You know, I look at it two ways, Nancy. It`s good that he`s talking but I don`t like the way that it`s being portrayed or done. I don`t like the fact that he`s in it making money on a crime that he`s, you know, committed and profiting from it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Out to the lines. Michelle in Texas, hi, Michelle.

MICHELLE, CALLER FROM TEXAS: Hi, how are you, Nancy?

GRACE: I`m good, dear.

MICHELLE: It`s wonderful to watch your show. You`re totally awesome.

GRACE: Thank you.

MICHELLE: And my question is back on the FBI deal.

GRACE: Yes.

MICHELLE: Is the Aruban government hiding something that they would not invite the FBI if they`re already involved?

GRACE: That`s an excellent question. Penny, you know, you and I have both -- you`ve defended in front of the feds, I was a fed. Why are they so dead set against the FBI staying out?

FURR: Well, they -- it may be that they`re just -- they`re insecure about bringing in somebody who is more qualified than they are. That`s a big possibility. For whatever reason, they like to keep people out of their jurisdictions.

Nancy, that happens in jurisdiction to jurisdiction here. And other cities don`t want to bring the state in or the feds in. So that`s not unusual. They like to keep --

GRACE: No, it`s not.

FURR: -- other people out.

GRACE: To Dr. Titus Duncan joining us out of Atlanta.

Dr. Duncan, thank you for being was. You have studied the photo. Could this be human remains?

DR. TITUS DUNCAN, MD, GENERAL SURGERY, ATLANTA MEDICAL CENTER: It could be. You know it`s all speculative. But it could be. The form of the skeletal looks like a human. It`s actually -- you can actually see some fingers, a couple of them are missing. And so it actually could be human remains and actually we won`t know until we actually get the body and get it aboard and actually examine it. But it`s definitely it looks like human remains to me.

GRACE: Out to the lines, Linda, Florida. Hi, Linda.

LINDA, CALLER FROM LINDA: Hi, Nancy. How are you, hon?

GRACE: I`m good, dear. What`s your question?

LINDA: First, I want to say congratulations on your twins.

GRACE: Thank you.

LINDA: And my sister is the one in Maine who introduced me to your program and I`ve been watching ever since Casey.

GRACE: Thank you.

LINDA: God bless you for keeping the kids, the ones that are missing, murdered and everything, for keeping them on the show.

GRACE: Thank you, my love. What is your question, dear?

LINDA: A couple of statements. They keep -- he keeps saying that he killed Natalee. I too am from Alabama and it disturbs me tremendously and he said he did it and why don`t they just take him in and keep him because he said he did it?

GRACE: What --

LINDA: And why did they not take samples from the backseat of that car that they said -- or he said the backseat was all bloody?

GRACE: Very quickly, Ellie Jostad, did they take a sample from the backseat?

JOSTAD: Well, yes, we have heard reports, Nancy, that they were able to locate that car and could not find forensic evidence.

GRACE: Let`s stop and remember Army Private 1st Class Cory Hiltz, just 20, Laverne, California, killed Iraq. Awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, with a heart of gold, loved golf, football, basketball. Leaves behind parents Wayne and Debra, sister Kayla (ph).

Cory Hiltz, American hero.

Thanks to our guests but especially to you for being with us. I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.

END