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FBI test results on strands of blond hair stuck to a piece of duct tape found on an Aruban beach show that the hair did not belong to Holloway, the Associated Press reports. Holloway, who disappeared while vacationing on a graduation trip in Aruba two months ago, has been the subject of an exhaustive manhunt – and an ever-widening mystery.
In one of the latest developments in the case, a park ranger discovered the duct tape on the island's northeast coast, far from where Holloway was last seen. However, authorities sent the tape and hair to the FBI's crime lab in Quantico, Va., where it underwent genetic testing. The conclusion was that the hair did not belong to Holloway.
"I was completely relieved," said Beth Holloway Twitty, Natalee's mother. "Every time we exhaust something like this it's a possibility that Natalee is still alive."
In other developments in the case, officials on Friday were expected to finish draining a pond near a hotel that has become central to the search. A witness who claimed to have seen Joran van der Sloot, 17, a suspect in the case, near the pond at a time van der Sloot claimed to have been home, prompted the search. Currently, van der Sloot is the only suspect being held in the case.
The witness also told authorities of seeing brothers Satish and Deepak Kalpoe with van der Sloot at the pond. The Kalpoe brothers were detained in the case but were released on July 4.
A spokesman for crews draining the pond said nothing unusual had been discovered yet.
Holloway disappeared May 30, just hours before she was scheduled to return home to Alabama.
