Incompetence, Lies, and Duct Tape

FOX reports:

Four strands of blond hair were being flown to Holland for DNA testing, Aruban police confirmed to FOX News Sunday. The discovery could be a much-needed break in the search for missing Alabama high school student Natalee Holloway.

The foot-long locks were attached to a piece of duct tape in a remote part of the island territory known as Boca Tortuga. Police received an anonymous tip that led them to search the area. Sources on the scene said that the hair washed ashore and was found in a cave. Divers were reportedly dispatched the area to retrieve any other possible evidence.

The strands will be flown to Holland to see if they are a genetic match for the missing teen. Results could be available as early as Tuesday.

The possible break came a day after Dutch authorities took a teenager held in connection with the disappearance to retrace his steps at the beach where he says he last saw Holloway the morning she vanished.

Police took Joran van der Sloot, 17, to a beach near the Marriott Hotel, where he has admitted he was alone with the 18-year-old in the early hours of May 30, said police superintendent Jan van der Straaten.

I would feel a lot better if the strands of hair were being tested in the U.S.

I have serious misgivings about the Dutch government's ability to do anything right in this case.

That said, suppose that DNA testing shows the hair to be a genetic match to Natalee Holloway.

What sort of break in the case would that provide?

It would suggest that there was some sort of foul play. Theories that Natalee freely left the island on her own would be dispelled.

However, her hair on duct tape would not give any definitive evidence that she was murdered. The tape could be the remnants of a kidnapping.

Even if DNA results are positive, Natalee's family won't really learn much more than what they already believe, that Natalee was a victim of some sort of foul play.

Unless investigators are somehow able to prove a connection between the duct tape and Joran van der Sloot, that piece of evidence would not implicate him in Natalee's disappearance.

It's possible that duct tape may have been found in van der Sloot's possession if his home had been searched immediately after he was first taken into custody, rather than after he was arrested for the second time.

That blunder made by Aruban authorities still boggles my mind. I will never understand why they potentially gave van der Sloot and the Kalpoes the opportunity to cover their tracks.

In sum, positive DNA testing won't mean justice will be done here. When Paul van der Sloot told his son and his friends not to talk, he may have given them the key to their freedom.

In the end, his advice, coupled with the incompetence of the Aruban officials, may allow Joran and company to get away with murder.