Aruba releases two security guards
Had been held in case of missing teen
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| RELATED |
• Hometown keeps hope alive
• Teen known for dependability
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ORANJESTAD, Aruba (CNN) -- Authorities in Aruba have released two security guards arrested in the disappearance of an Alabama teen late last month.
Abraham Jones, 28, and Mickey John, 30, who work at a beachfront hotel near where Natalee Holloway was staying, were arrested in the case on June 5 but were never charged.
Holloway, 18, was discovered missing May 30. Three men remain in custody in the case -- none of them formally charged as yet.
Police have identified the three men still in custody as brothers Satish Kalpoe, 18, and Depak Kalpoe, 21, and their friend, Joran Van Der Sloot, 17, the son of an Aruban judge. The attorneys for each have said their client claims innocence.
The three young men told police they took Holloway to a beach after leaving an Oranjestad nightclub with her early May 30, when she was last seen. They said they returned her to her hotel not long afterward.
Holloway, from the Birmingham, Alabama, suburb of Mountain Brook, was in Aruba with classmates who were celebrating their graduation from high school.
On Sunday, law enforcement sources close to the investigation said a substance found in a Honda seized after three of the men were arrested Thursday is not blood, based on a sample analyzed at an FBI laboratory in Quantico, Virginia.
On Monday, Prime Minister Nelson Oduber said Aruba's government "is doing the utmost" to find Holloway.
"We hope that we will find Natalee Holloway alive, and are still praying that there is nothing bad that has happened to her," Oduber said Sunday.
Holloway's mother, Beth Holloway Twitty, told The Associated Press on Sunday that she believes the three young men still being held in the case "know what happened to her." She also said the two security guards should be released. (Full story)
While expressing "deep concern" over Holloway's fate, Oduber also sought to reassure the media that the island is safe for visitors, noting that more than 60 percent of Aruba's income comes from tourism and more than 45,000 Arubans work in that industry.
"That's why we make an appeal to our local press and international press that the government and everybody involved will do the job," he said.
The search for Holloway was scaled back during the weekend, with teams venturing out only after receiving credible tips and coast guard patrols off shore.
CNN's Karl Penhaul contributed to this report.
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Associated Press contributed to this report.
