Security Guards Released

ORANJESTAD, Aruba -- Authorities in Aruba released two former hotel security guards Monday who were the first men detained in the disappearance of an Alabama honors student.

Three young men who took 18-year-old Natalee Holloway to a beach early in the morning hours before she went missing remain in custody.

Antonius "Mickey" John, 30, and Abraham Jones, 28, had been in custody since June 5. The release came the day after the missing girl's mother said she believed the former security guards were innocent.

John said he's happy but disappointed.


"I knew from day one that I was innocent," he said.

If the Aruban government hoped to use John and Jones as scapegoats, that plan has been trashed.

Their release was long overdue. Perhaps it was the comments made by Natalee Holloway's mother that prompted the action. Her suggestion that the government was protecting the three students drew unwanted attention to how Aruban authorities were proceeding in the investigation.

Beth Holloway Twitty said the three young men should be pressured by Aruban authorities to reveal what they know.

Maybe if interrogators drip water on their heads or bring in barking dogs they'll give up the information necessary to explain Natalee's disappearance. No, that would be torture, right?

Meanwhile, Natalee's loved ones just suffer and wait.