Still No Natalee and No Charges

The Natalee Holloway case continues to plod along aimlessly in Aruba.
ORANJESTAD, Aruba -- A judge heard competing appeals Tuesday in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, with a defense lawyer seeking the release of a Dutch teen in the case and prosecutors asking for the re-arrest of two brothers from Suriname.

...The hearings were closed and the judge was expected to confer with two colleagues before issuing a ruling Thursday.

Separately, a U.S. organization that has been searching for Holloway for more than three weeks said it planned to halt its efforts and return home Sunday.

"We want to feel in our hearts we did everything," a tearful Tim Miller, director Texas EquuSearch, said at a news conference.

The first hearing Tuesday was an appeal of a judge's ruling earlier this month that there was insufficient evidence to hold the brothers in Holloway's disappearance. Satish Kalpoe, 18, and Deepak Kalpoe, 21, had been in custody since June 9, when they were arrested along with van der Sloot. They were released on July 4.

The Kalpoe brothers left court with their lawyers after brief hearings. Van der Sloot left the courthouse — handcuffed and hiding his face from the news media — in the custody of authorities.

David Kock, the lawyer for Satish Kalpoe, said he was confident the younger brother would remain free.

"There's nothing new against my client," Kock said outside the courthouse. "I'm speculating but perhaps the prosecution wants to appeal for PR reasons."

Kock said prosecutors informed him Monday that they had new evidence in the case that included online chatroom conversations between Deepak Kalpoe and van der Sloot.

But Ruud Offringa, the lawyer for the older brother, told reporters the chatroom conversations were not new evidence and had previously presented to a judge.

When will Aruban officials get around to filing some charges in the case of Natalee's disappearance?

Tim Miller and Texas EquuSearch have done so much to help Natalee's family. I have to believe that Natalee is no longer on the island.

The van der Sloots and Kalpoes must be breathing a sigh of relief knowing that search efforts are concluding. They came up with nothing, not a shred of evidence.

Will Natalee's family see justice done on Aruba?

Sadly, I doubt it.