Kidnapping on Bonaire

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[puts on political hat]

Phelana, I do apologize if I have offended you with making the statement that, to a person who has seen no person from Bonaire talk openly about the crimes (small and big - and except Harrie) on Bonaire, it appeared as though you were either uninformed or less than truthful. I do however have confidence that you spend time on BonaireTalk so perhaps this little snip will refresh your memory as it came from there.

<snip>............Ryan was locked up for six years on Curacao because of among rape. ...............<snip>

I trust that with the extremely aggressive cencorship in place on BT, you will take my source as being correct and factual. If not, I do apologize for stating that I believed you would.

All sarcasm aside Phelana, it is almost never my intention to be rude. That you will just have to take my word on (if you so choose). However, I have never seen such a group of "protected people" as those on the island of Bonaire. Crime is everywhere. Not just on Bonaire. And yet I have seen no other place in this world where there was such a STRONG self-preservation and self-protection approach to a communistic control over information. Just admit that things happen, discuss them, maybe come up with some positive prevantative measures in the process, keep the tourists informed and prepared and happy.....what is so wrong with this picture? We have in no way violated anybody's privacy and we will continue to respect that. We will also continue to hope and pray that this young woman is by some act of god returned to her family safely.....but we will not keep our mouths shut.

ScubaSteve, is it necessary to be so rude? I did NOT know there is a serial rapist on Bonaire. Please cite your source so I may be informed. Your rudeness especially being a sponsor here IMHO is uncalled for. I am not a liar, Sir.
 
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Phelana:

quote: I was not aware Harrie was the official authority on this crime. It's interesting his first post is about this crime the day Bonaire Talk stopped the thread. end of quote.

I am NOT an official authority on crime here, I just want to inform people with warm feelings for Bonaire as good as possibloe on this item, including eventually "hearsay", I stated I will filter "hearsay" as good as possible, and have stated the way I do this in my first post.
I also wrote in that post that I came here BECAUSE BT stopped the thread, in casu started to censor the posts heavily. As we all know police everywhere and on Bonaire in special doesn't inform much. People with interest in Bonaire want to know more and asap. Thats why.

quote: We have a serial rapist? I had no idea. End of quote.

Yes Phelana, the guy that is taken in prison was CONVICTED to 8 years for rape. He is been in prison for 6 years, he was released some 2 months ago. Unfortunately he didn't get any assistance when he came out. He is now 24 years old. Before he was convicted the 8 years, he was also in a rape crime, he was a minor at that time. And who knows he has done more. I don't.
Calling this guy a serial rapist is not so strange, I think.

In the next post I will post some articles on this case from dutch newspapers, I received from Marjan. Including translation.

Harrie
 
Thanks to Marjan, who passed me this article.
AD.nl - Binnenland - Rechercheteam op zoek naar tas Marlies


dinsdag 30 september 2008

Rechercheteam op zoek naar tas Marlies
BONAIRE - Het onderzoeksteam dat de verdwijning van Marlies van der Kouwe onderzoekt wil weten waar haar tas is.
Het onderzoeksteam is op zoek naar dit model strandtas.
Op het moment dat zij voor het laatst werd gezien was zij in het bezit van deze strandtas. Marlies verdween in de nacht van zaterdag 20 op zondag 21 september.

Het is goed mogelijk dat de strandtas bij haar verdwijning is weggegooid door de vermoedelijke dader(s). Het gaat om een stoffen zalmkleurige strandtas (model schoudertas) van ongeveer 30 x 40 centimeter. Op de voorkant van de tas staat in gele letters het opschrift &#8216;Bonaire divers&#8217; paradise&#8217; geborduurd.

Ook is een strandtafereel afgebeeld in diverse kleuren. Binnenin de tas zit een opbergzakje met rits. In de tas zaten spullen van Marlies. Over de aard van die spullen doet de politie geen verdere mededelingen.

Gisteren zijn er verder gerichte zoekacties op het eiland. De verdachte wordt nog steeds verhoord. De familie van Marlies stelt het op prijs als journalisten geen contact met hen zoeken, aldus de politie.




Translation by Harrie:

Algemeen Dagblad The Netherlands

Tuesday September 30th, 2008-10-01



Team of detectives is looking for the bag of Marlies

Bonaire &#8211; The team of detectives that is working on the disappearance of Marlies van de Kouwe wants to know where her bag is.

On the moment she was seen last, she had this beach bag. Marlies disappeared in the night of Saturday 20th to Sunday 21st of September.

It is well possible that the beach bag has been thrown away by the possible culprit(s). It is a salmon-coloured beach bag, (model shoulder-bag) of approximately 12 x 16 inches. On the front side of the bag is in yellow characters the text: &#8220;Bonaire, Divers Paradise, embroidered.
Also a beach picture in multi-colour is seen. Within the bag is a stow away bag with zipper. In the bag was stuff of Marlies. About what kind of stuff the police doesn&#8217;t want to say anything more.

Yesterday there were more dedicated searches on the island. The suspect is still examined. The family of Marlies appreciates when journalists don&#8217;t make contact to them, according to the police.


Harrie
 
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Signalement verdachte klopt niet&#8217;
Door PETER DE KNEGT
KRALENDIJK - Het signalement dat een Bonairiaanse bewaker van de ontvoerder van Marlies van der Kouwe heeft gegeven, klopt van geen kant met het uiterlijk en de kleding van de opgepakte P.

Verder is de politie ook na een week onderzoek en verhoren nog met geen enkel hard bewijs gekomen dat duidt op betrokkenheid van P. bij de verdwijning van de Nederlandse op Bonaire.

Dat verklaart Marga Domingo, de advocaat van P. in een gesprek met het AD op Bonaire. Het is voor het eerst dat de advocaat naar buiten treedt over haar &#8216;volledig ontkennende&#8217; cliënt.


,,Hij zegt het niet te hebben gedaan en de vrouw absoluut niet te kennen. Op basis van wat er nu ligt, verwacht ik dat hij vrijdag weer vrij man is. Ik ben ook zelf nog geen enkel incriminerend feit in het dossier tegengekomen,&#8217;&#8217; stelt de advocaat.

De bewaker die de ontvoering van de nog altijd spoorloze Marlies heeft gezien, heeft verklaard dat de man een zwart jack en zwarte jeans droeg. ,,Mijn cliënt droeg die avond een driekwart blauwe jeans en een strak wit-blauw shirt.

Hij is ook geen 1,80 meter zoals wordt gezegd, en had geen krullen achter in zijn nek. Hij droeg en draagt zijn haar in vlechtjes met een dreadlock of maton, zoals dat hier heet. Hij verklaart stellig dat hij niet op de ontvoeringsplek is geweest.&#8217;&#8217;

De uit Leusden afkomstige Marlies van der Kouwe, die op Bonaire stage liep, is sinds 22 september spoorloos.

&#8216;Allemaal leugens over Ryan&#8217;

&#8216;Hij zou niet zijn gaan werken nadat die vrouw is verdwenen in het weekend? Onzin. Hij is gewoon brood komen halen en ik heb hem maandag, dinsdag, woensdag naar zijn werk bij het Plaza hotel gebracht om 7.50 uur.&#8217;&#8217;

De moeder van Ryan P. , Virginia, gelooft heilig in de onschuld van haar zoon en verwerpt alle &#8216;leugens en verzinsels&#8217; die over hem de ronde doen op het eiland. In haar kleine, vol familiefoto&#8217;s behangen huisje aan de Kaya Amazon volgt ze de hele dag radio, televisie en de kranten.

,,Er klopt niets van. Mijn zoon zou vorige week maandag benzine hebben gekocht in een jerrycan om die mevrouw te verbranden? Onzin! Ik stond met mijn auto stil en heb hem gebeld om benzine te brengen. Dat is het verhaal.&#8217;&#8217;

,,Mijn auto, die in beslag is genomen voor onderzoek, zou zijn gebruikt om het lichaam te verstoppen? Onzin! De nacht dat die vrouw verdween, had een andere zoon, die als bewaker werkt, van 22.00 uur tot 6.00 uur mijn auto mee.&#8217;&#8217;



En zo stikt het volgens de moeder en de advocaat van de fabels rond Ryan. ,,Een collega van hem verklaart dat hij woensdag drie keer zou hebben overgegeven, omdat hij zenuwachtig was in verband met de ontvoering. Mijn cliënt is maagpatiënt en slikt pillen die in combinatie met de chemische verf hem misselijk maakte,&#8217;&#8217; zegt Domingo.


Ryan heeft geen waterdicht alibi voor die zaterdagnacht. ,,Of hij om 1.30 uur al thuis was of nog aan het stappen, weet hij niet precies, maar hij was zeker niet op de plek waar zij is ontvoerd.&#8217;&#8217; Volgens zijn moeder en een broer gedroeg Ryan zich normaal na die zaterdagnacht. ,,Hij kwam gewoon zondagochtend op bezoek. Hij was net als altijd blij. Totdat hij donderdag door de politie uit de auto werd gesleurd.&#8217;&#8217;

Translation by Harrie:

Description doesn&#8217;t fit by Peter de Knegt. &#8211; Algemeen Dagblad. .

Kralendijk &#8211; The description that a Bonairian guard gave upon the kidnapper of Marlies doesn&#8217;t fit just a little bit to the appearance and clothes of P., who is taken in custody.
Furthermore the police didn&#8217;t come after a week of searching and examining with any strong evidence that proves the involvement of P. with the disappearance of the Dutch woman on Bonaire.
This is what Marga Domingo, the lawyer of P. declares in a conversation with the Algemeen Dagblad on Bonaire. This is the first time the lawyer gives information about her &#8220;totally denying client.
He says he hasn&#8217;t done anything, and doesn&#8217;t know the woman at all. I expect on what is known now, that he will be a free man again on Friday. Me myself I didn&#8217;t find any incriminating fact in the files.&#8221; Is what the lawyer said.

The guard that saw the kidnapping of the still missing Marlies, has said that the guy was wearing a black jacket and black jeans. &#8220;My client was wearing that evening a three-quart blue jeans and a tight white-blue shirt. He is also not 1.80 m. long, as was said, and has no curls in his neck. He is wearing his hair twisted with a dreadlock or maton as they call it here. He denies explicitly that he has been at the site of the kidnapping.

The from Leusden (Netherlands) originating Marlies van der Kouwe, that had a training on Bonaire (not true, she had a job in the farmacy &#8211; Harrie) is disappeared since September 22nd.

&#8220;All lies about Ryan&#8221;.
&#8220;He hasn&#8217;t gone to work since that woman disappeared in the weekend? Nonsense. He just came by to catch a bread, and I have transported him on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to his work at plaza Hotel at 7:50 am. &#8220;
The mother of Ryan P. , Virginia believes for sure in the innocence of her son and rejects all &#8220;lies and inventions&#8221; that go around about him on the island. In her tiny house, covered with family-pictures, on the Kaya Amazon, she follows the whole day radio, television and newspapers all day.
&#8220;Nothing is right. My son is supposed to have bought a Jerri can with gasoline last Monday to burn that woman? Nonsense! I was stuck with my car and called him to bring me some gasoline. That is the story&#8221;.
My car, that has been confiscated for investigation, would have been used to cover the body? Nonsense! That night the woman disappeared, another son, working as a guard, used my car from 10:00 pm till 6:00 am. &#8220;

There are lots of myths around Ryan, according to the mother and the lawyer. &#8220;A Colleague of him declared he had been vomiting three times on Wednesday, because he was nervous in concern with the disappearance. My client has a stomach complaint, and takes pills, that made him sick in combination with chemical paint.&#8221; Said Domingo.

Ryan doesn&#8217;t have a watertight alibi for that Saturday night. Whether he was home at 1:30 am or still spreeing, he doesn&#8217;t know exactly anymore, but for sure he was not on the site of the kidnapping.&#8221;. According to his mother and brother Ryan behaved normally after that Saturday evening. He visited us as normal on Sunday morning. He was happy as usual. Until he was dragged out of the car on Thursday by the police. &#8220;.


Harrie
 
Vriendin: Ryan kwam bemodderd thuis
Door PETER DE KNEGT
BONAIRE - De vriendin van Ryan P. heeft bij de politie verklaard dat Ryan P. in de nacht dat Marlies van der Kouwe werd ontvoerd &#8216;onder de modder en in de war&#8217; thuiskwam.

Volgens Ryans&#8217; advocaat Marga Domingo ontkent Ryan deze lezing met kracht. Ook Ryans moeder verwerpt het verhaal &#8216;van die vriendin die niet deugt&#8217;.
Ryan heeft tegen Domingo gezegd dat hij hoopt &#8216;dat de zaak snel wordt opgelost&#8217;.

Op Bonaire begint het gevoel dat de politie de verkeerde man heeft te pakken met de dag te groeien. De eerste dagen na zijn aanhouding buitelden geruchten en beschuldigingen aan zijn adres over elkaar heen in de lokale media en op straat, nu veel van de geruchten ontkracht lijken te worden, slaat de twijfel toe.
Ryan P. zit in &#8216;alle beperkingen&#8217; vast in de cel in Rincon. Hij mag geen enkel contact met de buitenwereld hebben. Ook zijn moeder heeft hem nog steeds niet gesproken. ,,De politie heeft wel gevraagd of ik hem wil zien, maar dan moeten ze mij wel ophalen, want ze hebben mijn auto in beslag genomen voor onderzoek,&#8217;&#8217; aldus Virginia Maria Pietersz.

Domingo bezoekt haar cliënt dagelijks. ,,Ik vindt hem een prettige cliënt in de omgang.&#8217;&#8217; Alhoewel Domingo ervan uitgaat dat Ryan vrijdag vrijkomt, houdt ze er wel rekening mee dat de rechter commissaris hem toch nog acht dagen vast kan houden wegens de ernst van de zaak en het geschokte rechtsgevoel in de Bonairiaanse samenleving. Op dit moment worden op Curaçao veilig gestelde DNA-sporen onderzocht. Domingo: ,,Meestal duurt dat op Bonaire erg lang, maar misschien maken ze in deze ernstige zaak wat meer vaart.''

Domingo verdedigt ook de man die vorige week probeerde het 8-jarige dochtertje van de in Nederland zeer bekende Wout van Kouwen op Bonaire te ontvoeren.

Ondanks de bijna gelijkluidende achternamen (Marlies Van der Kouwe, Van Kouwen), het gegeven dat hij een blonde 17-jarige dochter op het eiland heeft wonen, een losgeldeis die voor de ontvoerde Marlies bij Wout van Kouwen binnenkwam per telefoon én het gegeven dat Van Kouwen een grote bekende is in de onderwereld, gelooft Domingo niet dat de poging tot ontvoering door haar andere cliënt verband houdt met een mogelijke persoonsverwisseling.

,,De man die het meisje van acht wilde ontvoeren is absoluut niet mentaal in staat om bijvoorbeeld losgeld te eisen.&#8217;&#8217; De zoektocht naar Marlies gaat ook de komende dagen onverminderd voort.


Translation by Harrie:

Girlfriend: Ryan came home full of mud. (Peter de Knegt)

Bonaire &#8211; the girlfriend of Ryan P. declared with the police that Ryan P. in the night Marlies van der Kouwe was kidnapped, came home full of mud and tangled.
According to Ryans lawyer, Marga Domingo Ryan denies this version with force. Also Ryans mother rejects the story &#8220;of that girlfriend that isn&#8217;t good for nothing.&#8221;
Ryan said to Domingo he hopes &#8220;the case will be solved quickly&#8221;.
On Bonaire the feelings that the police has the wrong person in custody is growing every day. The first days after his arrest rumours and accusations at his account came any minute in local media and in the streets. Now many of the rumours appear to be not true, the doubts are growing.
Ryan P. is in a cell in Rincon in all restrictions. He is not allowed to have any contact with the outside world. Also his mother has not been speaking to him. &#8220;Police asked me if I would like to see him, but then they will have to pick me up, because they have also confiscated my car for the investigation.&#8221; said Virginia Maria Pietersz.

Domingo visits her client every day. I think he is a agreeable client to work with&#8221;.
Although Domingo is starting from Ryan being release on Friday, she also keeps in mind that the responsible judge can keep him in jail for another eight day because of the seriousness of the case, and the shocked sense of justice in the Bonairian society. At this moment secured DNA-traces are examined on Curacao. Mostly that takes a long time on Bonaire, but perhaps they&#8217;ll make a little more speed in this case.&#8221;
Domingo also defends the man that tried to kidnap on Bonaire the 8-year-old daughter of mr. Wout van Kouwen, very well-known in the Netherlands.

Despite the nearly same second names (Marlies van der kouwe, Van Kouwen). Tha fact that he (van Kouwen &#8211; Harrie) has a 17-year-old daughter living on the island, and a ransom was asked through telephone with Wout van Kouwen, ánd the fact that Van Kouwen is very wellknown in the criminal world, Domingo doesn&#8217;t believe that the attempt to kidnap her other client has something to with a possible personality mistake.

The person that tried to kidnap the little girl of 8 is absolutely not mentally in the possibility to ask for instance a ransom.&#8221;.
The search for Marlies is continuing the coming days in same intensity.



Harrie
 
There hasn't been any press-conference from the police since Friday or Saturday.

There hasn't been any information on radio this morning which added new things onto we already know.

Keep you informed.

Harrie
 
And there was news on the radio, minutes ago.

The guards at the WEB, that heard the kidnapping happen, explained now, that they heard two shots, that saturdaynight/sundaymorning, and went to the noise, heard the victim scream, and saw the rest happen, from a long distance.
I have no idea why the part of the shots comes out just now, and I don't know how true this is.

Harrie
 
The mods on Bonaire Talk have an almost fanatical attitude about anyone saying anything negative about Bonaire. Bonaire is a wonderful place, but it's not all hearts and flowers as some on Bonaire Talk want you to believe. :palmtree: Bob

Spoken for truth.

Looks like they want to limit posts on other boards as well
 
To All,

As you know I try and help as many people as possible with questions and inquiries regarding Bonaire. I am also know personally by many on this board.

I have purposely not posted on this subject, because I felt it was impossible to provide true facts on the case.

If it helps, anyone, let me explain some things.

There is A LOT of rumor, inuendos, heresay, etc, about this case. The sad truth is that something happened to this poor girl. There is not a day on this island that I don't think about her, or while driving as a passenger with my husband that I am not looking into the brush on my way home to the hill that I pray that I catch "something" in the corner of my eye, so I can maybe provide a lead. It is heart wrenching.

HOWEVER, this is a VERY small island and rumors tend to run wild. I would not be surprised if sometime down the road that someone would say they witness an "alien aircraft" land and pick her up!!! (JUST KIDDING).

IMHO, press coverage is to sell newspapers, tv ratings, etc. ALL newspapers, tv, etc tend to put a spin on everything. I remember when working for Exxon in NJ many years ago (only a couple of years after Valdez) we had a small spill at the Kill van Kull (area between NYC and NJ). I was involved in the cleanup and attended a press conference and an officer for the Coast Guard was assuring the press that everything that they could think of to be done, was being done. In light of Valdez, there was one reporter who would not quit. He kept on asking "RU sure there was nothing else Exxon could do??? After repeated questions, the poor officer got frustrated and said "Well I'm sure there is something, but as of this moment, they are doing everything we can think of". The next day in a NY Newspaper the headline read "Exxon can do more". See the spin on words.

They have over 50 people working on this, both in public and undercover. They have brought in special police from Holland and "sniffing" dogs from Curacao (I think, may be Holland, not sure on that). The Dutch Coast Guard is even involved.

The truth will come out. The police department may not be perfect on Bonaire, and may not operate the same as we all are used to whether in US or EU. I can tell you this however, that in my dealings, they make sure they have an airtight case, as there is really no such thing as "circumstantial evidence conviction" here.

I hope and pray to God that she is being held somewhere against her will and is still alive. I hope and pray for her family and friends.

All I ask is that you be careful in ALL that you read and hear in this case and that you do not make judgement on anything until you hear the real truth. When all the outer layers are pulled away, the truth always comes out. It may take a while, but it will happen.

Thanks for letting me put my 2 cents in....

Liz
 

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