Transcript: Corruption in Paradise?

This is a partial transcript from "On the Record," April 10, 2006. It has been edited for clarity.

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, HOST: For months and in punishing heat we watched Natalee Holloway's family scour the island of Aruba and battle local authorities in their desperate search for Natalee.

Dave Holloway says what we have seen on TV is only part of the story. In a new book, he reveals for the first time what really went on in Aruba. Joining us here in New York is Natalee's father Dave Holloway, nice to see you Dave.

DAVE HOLLOWAY, NATALEE HOLLOWAY'S FATHER: Nice to see you, Greta.

VAN SUSTEREN: I think the last time I saw you was at a landfill at about 110 degrees in Aruba.

HOLLOWAY: That's right, yes.

VAN SUSTEREN: I mean it's like it was pure hell down there.

HOLLOWAY: Tough conditions. We went through a lot in Aruba and still going through it, very difficult times.

VAN SUSTEREN: The cover of your book, I want to jump to the thing that struck me most.

HOLLOWAY: That's OK.

VAN SUSTEREN: It talks about, it says the "tragic untold story of Natalee Holloway and corruption in paradise." That's the first time I've heard you say sort of publicly the word corruption. I mean you kept a nice game face all, you know, summer and fall, corruption?

HOLLOWAY: Corruption, yes. There's a lot of things that occurred on the island before Natalee got there and we addressed some of those issues. But, you know, you have a 17-year-old kid that basically runs the island. He's 17 years old. The legal age of gambling is 18. The legal age of drinking is 18. The legal age of driving is 18. And here he does all three.

You know and then this happens with Natalee and then you get a low level police officer trying to make a decision, "Do I arrest these boys or do I turn my head and look the other way?" And we think that they've turned their head and looked the other way.

VAN SUSTEREN: And so who is corrupt?

HOLLOWAY: You know I can't put my finger on it but there's a lot of red flags about at least one individual, probably two or three others.

VAN SUSTEREN: When did you first arrive on the island?

HOLLOWAY: I arrived on the island June the 1st.

VAN SUSTEREN: And Natalee disappeared. She was out with her friends the night of the 29th and then got into the car early morning hours of May 30th is that right?

HOLLOWAY: On the 30th that's right.

VAN SUSTEREN: So you were there in very short order. How did you find out that Natalee was missing?

HOLLOWAY: My son called me late that afternoon on Monday and indicated that Beth has returned from Hot Springs and was on a jet flying to Aruba. And, at that time, you know, it's like what's happened? And so we tried to call to Aruba, called the police, couldn't get anyone to return our calls.

And, I booked a flight out for the next morning and once some of the students got back they had indicated that Natalee had left with three individuals. And later on I learned through Matt that her airline ticket had been rebooked and it was done as a precautionary measure so that she wouldn't miss that flight. So, I ended up getting there a day later.

VAN SUSTEREN: So you were hopeful that she was just getting on another flight coming home for all you knew?

HOLLOWAY: Yes. Yes.

VAN SUSTEREN: When you got there, there came a time when you were asked for money. Who asked you for money or asked if you had any money?

HOLLOWAY: Well, let me back up a little bit. When we arrived on the island we immediately rented a rental car and we're looking at two days after she was reported missing. I went to the first police station. I asked the lady in charge at the front desk, I said "I need to speak to the detective who is in charge of Natalee Holloway's case."

And, she asked someone to come up there and they summoned about 10 police officers up there and they didn't know anything about it. And then finally one looked at the newspaper and he got excited and, you know, most Arubans are very, very helpful and he got excited and said "There it is. There it is in the newspaper."

And it struck me. I said "Boy, something's wrong here." So, they directed me to the other end of the island. I got lost, ended up at another police station, same story, didn't know anything about Natalee's disappearance. When we walked in and met the lead detective...

VAN SUSTEREN: Who was which one at that point?

HOLLOWAY: Dennis Jacobs.

VAN SUSTEREN: OK.

HOLLOWAY: I identified myself and I was obviously stressed out at that moment. And the first thing he says "Well how much money you got?" It was like, like to (INAUDIBLE). My brothers looked around and couldn't believe it and then we finally settled down and went off in the back room.

And he told us, he said "Well, just go on down to Carlos 'N Charlie's." He said, "This happens all the time. People come up missing and they miss the flight, partied too much" and so on and so forth and "Just go down there and have a beer."

And I was thinking well, you know, what about a search? And I was told "Well, why would you want to do that for?" And I said, "Well, isn't that what you normally do when someone is missing?" He goes, "No, just go on down there and have a good time." But he says, "Watch your drink. That's one thing you better do is watch your drink."

VAN SUSTEREN: Watch your drink why?

HOLLOWAY: He said "People put stuff in it." He told us that several times, GHB.

VAN SUSTEREN: And you think if you had put money on the table at that time for the police would that have made a difference do you think?

HOLLOWAY: Well, not sure, you know. I've wondered about that in the beginning. My brothers also wondered about that. It came up a second time probably three or four months later. He asked us how much money we had and I thought he was asking for reward money that Natalee was located. And, then he changed, kind of changed the subject when I didn't catch on.

VAN SUSTEREN: When you didn't catch on. Well, we're going to have you stick around. We've got more on this book but it's the new book. Just hold it up for the viewer, "The Tragic Untold Story of Natalee Holloway," a brand new book up Dave has now written about his daughter and this heartbreaking search for her in Aruba. We're going to have much more in just a second.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAN SUSTEREN: It's been 10 months since Natalee Holloway disappeared in Aruba. For the first time, her father Dave is telling new details about what went on behind the scenes in the investigation. His new book is "Aruba, the Tragic Untold Story of Natalee Holloway and Corruption in Paradise."

Dave Holloway joins us again here in New York. Dave, is the investigation over?

HOLLOWAY: You know I'm not sure. They cleared the sand dunes I understand last week and I don't know what they're going to do now. But for us we're going to continue investigating the case.

We've just about done all the investigation for them I guess so to speak, identified witnesses, put the three suspects on a silver platter and gave it to them and, you know, look what they've done with it. We located the gardener and, you know, just a host of things.

VAN SUSTEREN: Who do you blame if anybody for this being unsolved besides I mean whoever, you know, hurt your daughter? I mean you know you've got prosecutors. You've got detectives. You've got governments. I mean who let you down?

HOLLOWAY: Well, the police obviously and, you know, I don't want to call of them bad but, you know, there's two or three that can make an investigation go wrong.

You know there's a law professor from Holland who wrote an article just a few days ago. He looked at this case and thought it was the most strange and bizarre I guess unprofessional case he's ever seen in his life. And, you know, that just reconfirms what most people think about it.

VAN SUSTEREN: Do you have any plans to go back?

HOLLOWAY: No.

VAN SUSTEREN: None at all?

HOLLOWAY: No.

VAN SUSTEREN: There's no more search to be done?

HOLLOWAY: No, I did all the searching I could do and I was through with the island when I left back in October.

VAN SUSTEREN: You know I was disappointed they didn't look to see what, you know, what the beaches were like at night. I mean we were out there at night. Obviously we had camera crews and other people but, you know, beaches can attract a lot of unusual people, you know, late into the night.

HOLLOWAY: Yes, when we told them about the fisherman's huts that someone had broken into those back in September when I was in the island they had someone sit at the beach right next to the fisherman's huts and to see, you know, what kind of traffic was walking by. So, they did that a time or two.

VAN SUSTEREN: You know the viewers watch this sort of tortured investigation. I mean we had video of you out in the water trying to pull in that big, huge, whatever it was, drum of — it turned out to be nothing but digging for hours. They saw you there. They saw you walking in the landfills for hours. They saw Beth. They saw Robin, your wife. So, everybody, you know, it's like, you know, everyone struggled with you. You know people want answers for you.

HOLLOWAY: Yes, yes. Yes, you just do what you have to do, you know. When I got on the island we hit it. You know I guess what was a little different and I guess in a good sense we had two parties, Beth and Jug and her family looking for Natalee and then Robin and myself and our family looking for Natalee, so it wasn't just one group of people. It was really two.

VAN SUSTEREN: Did the media help or hurt you?

HOLLOWAY: Oh, the media was our best friend. If it hadn't been for the media this thing would have been swept under the table the very first day and we'd have been calling back to Aruba "Have you heard anything? Have you heard anything?" I truly believe that.

VAN SUSTEREN: If you pick up the phone and call Karin Janssen is she going to talk to you?

HOLLOWAY: I think she will.

VAN SUSTEREN: I mean did you ever learn anything, make you feel frustrated when you talk to her? I mean do you think she has empathy for what your family has gone through?

HOLLOWAY: I think she, you know, she wanted to tell us what was going on but she couldn't tell us everything obviously because of the investigation.

VAN SUSTEREN: So you have faith in her?

HOLLOWAY: Well, somewhat. I think she really wants to solve the case.

VAN SUSTEREN: How about Deputy Chief Dompig?

HOLLOWAY: Dompig, I think he's on the fence. I think he really does but he always mentioned higher-ups. The higher-ups had his hands tied.

VAN SUSTEREN: Who are the higher-ups, higher-ups in Aruba or higher- ups in Holland?

HOLLOWAY: Well that's what I was trying to figure out. I never have been able to pinpoint who it was. I'm thinking it may be Rudy Croes, but I may be mistaken.

VAN SUSTEREN: And for those who don't know who Rudy Croes is?

HOLLOWAY: He's the minister of justice.

VAN SUSTEREN: And he's an Aruban?

HOLLOWAY: That's correct.

VAN SUSTEREN: Why do you suspect him?

HOLLOWAY: You know he made some comments early on in the case that, you know, 30 days and this case will go away and we'll be back to business. There was a time or two that he had made some statements like that.

VAN SUSTEREN: How did they close the case, I mean they just let it go?

HOLLOWAY: Well, you know, back in November I got word that they're going to give it about 60 more days and close the case and take their hit on tourism and then start back next year just like nothing ever happened.

VAN SUSTEREN: Now we've got the reenactment that they're going to do April 11th with Dutch TV and it's also going to air in Aruba.

HOLLOWAY: Yes.

VAN SUSTEREN: Anyway, the new book "Aruba" by Dave Holloway. He's looking for his daughter, still looking, still wants answers right?

HOLLOWAY: That's right.

VAN SUSTEREN: Boy, I hope you get them sometime. Dave, thank you and good luck.

HOLLOWAY: Thank you, Greta.

Content and Programming Copyright 2006 FOX News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Transcription Copyright 2006 Voxant, Inc. (www.voxant.com), which takes sole responsibility for the accuracy of the transcription. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No license is granted to the user of this material except for the user's personal or internal use and, in such case, only one copy may be printed, nor shall user use any material for commercial purposes or in any fashion that may infringe upon FOX News Network, LLC'S and Voxant, Inc.'s copyrights or other proprietary rights or interests in the material. This is not a legal transcript for purposes of litigation.