Interview With Former Suspect in Natalee Holloway Disappearance
ZAHN: And we're back now with more on the latest in the investigation of Natalee Holloway's disappearance. Tonight, Aruba's government is asking the Netherlands to free up more Marines to help in the search for her. She is the American teenager missing on that island. That may be a sign of the intense pressure Aruba's government is feeling at this hour, one month since the Alabama honor student vanished on the tiny resort island in the Caribbean. Joining me now with the very latest from Aruba, Rick Sanchez. Rick, I know that you spoke with Natalee Holloway's mother today. She has been increasingly critical of the Aruban government's efforts here. What did she tell you?</s>RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: She's frustrated, Paula. She's frustrated because she just wants to make sure -- and this is the point that she was most strong about, is that these three young men, including Joran, the man who says that he went with her daughter to the beach, remain behind bars. She thinks that they -- if they continue to press them, eventually, they will get to the truth. And they just want to make sure that these three young men tell their stories. She's also frustrated because she believes -- and she told me this today -- that the police took too long to actually arrest him and that they took too long to search his house. Respectively, that would be 10 days for the arrest, 16 days to actually go inside the home. Now, to be fair, we have spoken today with the prosecutor here in Aruba, who says that she has done everything possible and that we just have to understand the process by which Aruban law works. Nonetheless, though, it's extremely frustrating for a lot of people here on the island, but, most of all, of course, for Beth.</s>ZAHN: So, are the locals as critical of this effort as she is at this hour?</s>SANCHEZ: I think they're critical because they would like to see this come to an end. They -- they -- they seem to be taking a toll here on the island, they say, with all the media coverage and exposure. They're also frustrated about the way the investigation went. They refer to Joran as, oh, the Dutch guy. And they've told me that on several occasions. And I've talked to a lot of people here on the island who say that they thought that police may have been a little bit lenient with him. Of course, police deny that. They say they were working the investigation all along. But they say that they were lenient with him because his father is a judge, who, as you know, was arrested as well. Police, by the way, and prosecutors have said now that they do believe, as Natalee's own mother had suggested today, when I talked to her, Paula, that there was some corroboration, some story sharing on the part of the three young men, including Joran's father, Paul, as well -- Paula.</s>ZAHN: Which is why she told me yesterday she was so frustrated that he had finally been released from jail, as his son remains in jail tonight. Rick Sanchez, thank you so much for the update. Late last week, a team of 27 specialists from Texas joined the search for Natalee Holloway. One member of that team is driven by his own intensely personal loss. Our Alex Quade has his story.</s>ALEX QUADE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Each day, the search for Natalee Holloway begins with prayers.</s>PHILLIPS: Father, we are going to -- out there to search Natalee. God, we pray, Father, that you will be with us.</s>QUADE: Darryl Phillips provides inspiration to the Texas volunteers looking for the missing teen.</s>TIM MILLER, FOUNDER, TEXAS EQUUSEARCH: He knows what it's likes to have somebody missing, too. And he wishes, at that time, there would have been somebody to help him out. But instead of holding on to that bitterness and that, he's out here helping other people.</s>QUADE: Darryl Phillips has not shared his story with anyone, except his fellow searchers. Now he shares it with us, while searching for Natalee Holloway.</s>PHILLIPS: Her name is Angela Phillips. She went missing on September 16, 1986. And I don't know where she is.</s>QUADE: He's been searching for his sister Angela for 19 years. This worn-out photo is the only one his family has of her, the rest destroyed in a house fire.</s>PHILLIPS: I think about her every time I'm out in the field. I think about her. I can't get her out of my mind. It's like you took a flower away from the rose garden.</s>QUADE (on camera): Why would you be doing this if you've got a missing loved one that you still need to find?</s>PHILLIPS: Well, one of the reasons is, there's always hope. Her disappearance has not been as long as my sister's. Natalee needs to be with her family. She needs to be with her family.</s>QUADE (voice-over): As he searches for Natalee Holloway, he comes across a lone grave by the sea.</s>PHILLIPS: It reminds me of my sister, that -- some day that hopefully someone or myself will run across her, so she can have a proper burial, which she deserves.</s>QUADE: Phillips and the other volunteers focus on finding Natalee, ignoring the minor injuries, the danger of combing through a smoldering garbage dump, and the heat.</s>LINDA ALLISON, AUNT OF NATALEE HOLLOWAY: In 90-something degree weather, it is difficult.</s>QUADE: Natalee's aunt, Linda Allison, knows the hardships Darryl Phillips and the others are facing on their behalf.</s>ALLISON: Cacti, thorns, a lot of rocks, a lot of large boulders, hard to -- hard to maneuver around in some of the areas.</s>QUADE: She searched in vain for Natalee before the Texas team arrived.</s>ALLISON: The island is huge when you're looking for a person. It's a needle in a haystack.</s>QUADE: Just one of the reasons the family asked for the volunteers' help and one of the reasons why Darryl Phillips agreed.</s>PHILLIPS: They deserve to have some closure. And she deserves -- Natalee deserves to be with her family.</s>QUADE (on camera): Because you don't want the Holloways to have to experience the not knowing.</s>PHILLIPS: The not knowing, and go through 19, 20 years of not know where their daughter is. It's not fair to them. It's not fair to any family.</s>QUADE: And this is something that your family is still dealing with.</s>PHILLIPS: For almost 19 years this coming September. And it's not easy. But me being out here, it's not about my family. It's about Natalee's family, and that they can at least have some kind of peace of mind. Father, we pray for strength for Natalee's family, God, that...</s>QUADE (voice-over): The search day ends with another prayer.</s>PHILLIPS: We pray, God, that you would be with us tonight, God. Give us all strength.</s>QUADE: Until this moment, Linda Allison and the rest of Natalee's family had not met Darryl Phillips, knew nothing about his own tragedy. (on camera): He said to us he's out here because he doesn't want you to all go through the not knowing.</s>ALLISON: Oh, I think it's awesome. I can't believe that he's here with us looking for Natalee. I know that 19 years, I hope that's not what we have to look forward to.</s>PHILLIPS: It's very important to me to see other families have a peace of mind and not having to wait so long.</s>ZAHN: That was Alex Quade reporting for us tonight. Three men remain in jail, but none has been charged in her disappearance. Earlier this week, two others were released, a judge whose son is one of the three still being held, and Steve Croes, a disk jockey on a party boat that was docked near the hotel where Holloway was staying. Croes was held for 10 days. He joins me now from Aruba. Thank you so much for joining us. How did you wind up in jail?</s>STEVE CROES, FORMER SUSPECT: Well, the first of all, good night, everybody over there. Yes. I end up in jail just for a stupid mistake that I did. And, yes, that's -- that's about it.</s>ZAHN: What was the mistake you made?</s>CROES: Lied to the cops.</s>ZAHN: And what did you tell them?</s>CROES: I just told them that I witnessed when they dropped the girl at the hotel. But that wasn't true, because I didn't even know these guys.</s>ZAHN: Why would you make that up, Steve?</s>CROES: You know, I -- I don't know. Normally, I'm not, like, that stupid, stupid person. I'm always, like -- in the group of the guys that we go out with and stuff like that, I'm the only one that gives them the good advice, like, please don't do this or don't do that. But this time, I did a stupid mistake. And I got into jail for 10 -- 10 days.</s>ZAHN: You certainly had to be aware of Natalee Holloway's disappearance, right. So you knew enough that she had been missing.</s>CROES: I knew until the Thursday after the missing, because I was -- I was working on the boat where I was working. And, yes, I didn't like really follow the news and everything about this case. That's why I make also that mistake, because I didn't follow the news.</s>ZAHN: But didn't it occur to you if you told police that you could very well wind up in some way being implicated in her disappearance?</s>CROES: Sorry. I didn't understand the question.</s>ZAHN: Didn't you think about when you told this so-called lie to police, that you could end up being in a whole lot of trouble and perhaps held responsible for her disappearance?</s>CROES: You know, I didn't realize it until I was in there. And the cops, they were explaining that I did. You know what you did? And I'm like, no, I didn't know. I was -- I did it unconsciously. Yes, I'm glad that I proved that I wasn't true, that I wasn't even there. Yes, that's it.</s>ZAHN: But Steve, the story gets a little more confusing because apparently you were at this Internet cafe where you -- I am told -- overheard a conversation of one of the men who's now currently in jail being held for Natalee Holloway's disappearance. What did you overhear?</s>CROES: Well, what I heard that night that night or afternoon, sorry, the Internet cafe was like the story that everybody knows here on the island, which is the one that they dropped the girl at the Holiday Inn, in the lobby, that she fell on the floor. And then one of them tried to help her and she refused. And then they still help her and drop her in the lobby and they left. That's the story that I know.</s>ZAHN: But then you still made up your own story when you talked to police?</s>CROES: No, it was that story that I told them first.</s>ZAHN: That was the story you told them first.</s>CROES: Yes.</s>ZAHN: But then you told them at the top of this interview that you had actually made a mistake because you told police that you had seen her yourself.</s>CROES: I'm sorry?</s>ZAHN: The two stories are very different.</s>CROES: Yes.</s>ZAHN: One more time, you claim you overheard this conversation at the Internet cafe, but you also said you made a mistake because you told police that you had seen Natalee Holloway.</s>CROES: Yes. That was the first time that's why they came arrest me because the story that I told them was matching almost exactly the one from the guy that was still arrested. And they thought that maybe I was inside that problem right now. And I wasn't even there. That was one of the problems why they arrested me.</s>ZAHN: I know you are a relieved man, but you certainly paid a price. You lost your job as a result of what you did. And we know you got a tough road ahead. Thank you, Steve, for sharing your story with us tonight. We appreciate it.</s>CROES: No problem. Have a good night. Thank you.</s>ZAHN: Thank you. You as well. And we change our focus again. An instant message pops up on your computer saying you and your friends will be murdered. Do you write it off as a prank?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn't want to take that risk. Not when you're talking about people's lives.</s>ZAHN: Well, one teenager and her mother ended up calling the police and the community's reaction shocked them. Also, her album "Jagged Little Pill" sold 30 million copies. A decade later, has Alanis Morissette learned to lighten up?