Criminology Research Project Inc.

There is a law of unintended consequences and it was apparently put into play in the Holloway/Flores cases.

Van der Sloot was apparently without funds therefore he demanded money from Miss Holloway’s family to the tune of $250,000 and actually received $15,000.  This $15,000 was used by van der Sloot to travel to Peru where evidence indicates he killed Stephany Flores who met the Dutchman while playing poker at a casino.

The very man that killed Natalee Holloway traveled to his next known criminal spree on Holloway funds!

So many times individuals, especially those in a desperate situation, will illogically contribute to the criminal spree of an derranged person by giving them money therefore this is no surprise.  It’s sad, so sad, but not without precedent.

This comes at no surprise as Miss Holloway’s family is groping for anything that casts the slightest possibility of a safe return of their daughter.  Rational thinking and judgment doesn’t plug into the formula in cases such as this.

Criminology Research Project, Inc., urges anyone that receives a demand such as this to do two things: 1. Don’t provide the funds and, 2. contact the FBI immediately.

Now Miss Holloway’s family is out $15,000, Natalee remains missing and another young lady is dead.

The best that can be hoped for is civil action to recover the lost funds, which, under the circumstances is unimportant, and to never give up hope.  Hope is the only thing Miss Holloway’s family have at the moment.

Plus, its interesting to note that we now know that there were legal routes that could and should have been taken advantage of that, for whatever reason, weren’t.  What a shame and what a blight on our criminal justice system.

This is, more than likely, going to be a long, drawnout case and, in my opioion we have only seen the tip of the iceberg.  We can only hope and pray, yes pray, that criminal justice officials in Peru, Chile, and Aruba.  With in inbreeding apparent within these “professional” organizations it’s highly unlikely that anyone’s going to be satisfied when the story crosses the finish line.

To the Holloway family I say only that you shouldn’t feel guilt for having funded van der Sloot’s latest crime spree.  You were, afterall, merely grasping for straws in an ongong effort to locate and bring back your daughter.

I seriously doubt that Natalee and Stephany are the only two victims of van der Sloot but there’s no evidence to say that is is correct.  Knowing and believing is not proving.  Proof and only proof is all that counts.  Plus, of course, it would be nice to know that there are unbiased, professional, and knowledgable investigators doing due diligence.  For the latter—I wonder.

My prayer is that justice will prevail but I seriously doubt it will bring any significant degree of closure.  If is justice does prevail it won’t bring Natalee back to Alabama nor will it bring life back to Stephany Flores.

Finally, as for justice, I understand that in the almost certain event van der Sloot is tried and convicted his sentence is likely to be no more than thirty five years in prison!

Dr. Edward Blackwelder

Executive Director