The Night I Met Beth Twitty
DISCLAIMER: I was scribbling notes like a madman for half the evening, so I'm painting a very broad picture of the events. I also apologize ahead of time for misspelling anyone's names or forgetting names altogether.
Let me dispel some rumors. First, Joe Mammana was not there. Second, it was not a fundraising event for Beth or even for TES (they have a bigger fundraiser in March). It was a media event for Texas Equusearch and a pep rally- in attendance were local Houston news reporters and a camera crew from 60 Minutes. I might actually be in the footage since I was hovering around Beth when the cameras got all in my face...I am the chubby guy in the striped 'Mafioso' shirt and glasses. The one desperately trying to ignore the cameras and just act natural.
Downtown Houston absolutely sucks if you're not familiar with it, and how I missed a major intersection like Main and Preston twice I don't know. I got there an hour late and the first thing I asked the guy at the door (who was himself a TES member whose own sister has been missing for years) if Beth had arrived yet and then realized that she arrived just ahead of me...she hadn't even cleared the entry and was standing no more than twenty feet from me! Beth immediately said hello to Tim Miller and a few other people, and so I got in line to say hi as well.
About Beth Twitty: Beth looks just as thin in person as on TV, and she is taller than I expected. But she also seemed quite relaxed, friendly and open, confident, strong, and I had the feeling that she has made peace with some things. I know the Twittys are quite religious so perhaps she found that rock and fortress that the Bible speaks of. She is an ordinary woman with extraordinary resolve. Beth spent a few minutes talking to each person hovering around her with the news camera right in her face, and when she learned I had a boycott strategy guide to offer her she told me, "Don't leave tonight without talking to me again!" I offered to be her go-for; she graciously accepted but didn't ask for anything the whole evening. I ended up near the buffet chatting with a very nice lady named Kim Ogg, director of the Houston Crimestoppers and proud mother of a wanna-be break dancer (her young son discovered how well you can spin on a slick concrete floor). Kim was the evening's first speaker (Tim Miller was the MC), and her subject was the long-standing and mutually beneficial relationship that TES and Houston Crimestoppers has. But Kim began by explaining how on dispatch one night she fielded a missing persons call and found out that officially the police at that time couldn't do anything to help the missing person's family. Kim said that was the night she realized this was a terrible way to treat these people, official policy or not.
Tim Miller called Beth up to speak not about herself, not about Natalee, but about Texas Equusearch. She spoke of how TES offers something that even law enforcement cannot- hope and a chance to find answers and closure. She explained to everyone what Arubans don't seem to understand- if you find yourself faced with the mysterious disappearance of a loved one, you simply must do everything possible to find them. There is no other option. Of course Tim Miller understands this, having lost his own daughter Laura; her disappearance and murder inspired him to start Texas Equusearch. Tim said he is the most blessed man in the world for this life mission he is on and despite the loss of his daughter. He went on to speak about one of TES's earliest searches. He spoke of a Hispanic family whose father was beaten badly and the mother and infant boy kidnapped (unfortunately the mother was later found murdered). TES found the mother's body and helped police find the boy- who had been sold! Tim described how TES members started a relief fundraiser for this man and his infant son that went from $200 to $35,000 in two days. I have the man and his son's name in my notes, but I can't seem to make them out...but they were there in person. There were several other past and current clients who spoke: the man I met at the door who first got involved with TES when a co-worker disappeared and whose own sister is still missing today; Barbara Rigsby, whose brother disappearaed in West Texas earlier this year; and a man whose brother disappearaed recently- this search is ongoing. But Barbara added something to Beth's speech: finding a lost loved one, even if they are most likely dead, is a final act of love for them, not just closure for their family.
You see, TES not only looks for missing persons but they allow families to get involved and feel that they are doing something more than waiting by a phone; Barbara said that TES is her family now.
I caught Tim at intermission and asked him a few questions, which he spoke about later that evening. If you look at the TES website you will see 250 members, but Tim told me that there are currently 700 members nationwide and that Natalee's disappearance and TES involvement in Aruba opened a lot of doors for this organization and brought a lot of new contacts, members, and resources. He told me that TES does about a hundred searches a year on average, and that he wants to see a half million members nationwide someday. About Tim: he's very laid-back and easygoing, with striking blue eyes that I would describe as utterly free of pretense. If I remember correctly he attended this rally wearing blue jeans and cowboy boots!
Finally, they showed two DVDs: one was photos of the Aruba search, complete with Erica Harvey's Natalee song in the background; the second was photos of far too many missing persons that TES was or is searching for- and that DVD represented on a handful of their clients. I believe that many of the people present were Aruba veterans, because when TES member Joe Huston mentioned how wonderfully supportive, concerned, and helpful the Aruban people were but how worthless the Aruban government was in the search efforts, the room erupted in applause and agreement. This is something that travellers to Aruba are repeating again and again, and if you read Walter's comments on this blog you willse e that some of the Arubans aren't too happy about their government and ALE, either. It is too bad that they aren't unhappy enough yet to protest the MEP and ALE instead of criticizing and blaming the U.S. media and Beth herself. If any of you Arubans are reading this, know that Americans blame your government for this fiasco of an investigation, not you. They are the problem here.
I did get to speak to Beth again for about ten minutes before I left; it was a quick discussion about boycott strategies that for now is on a need-to-know basis. Aruba will find out what Beth and her team have been up to soon enough if ALE doesn't produce some real results real fast!
Let me dispel some rumors. First, Joe Mammana was not there. Second, it was not a fundraising event for Beth or even for TES (they have a bigger fundraiser in March). It was a media event for Texas Equusearch and a pep rally- in attendance were local Houston news reporters and a camera crew from 60 Minutes. I might actually be in the footage since I was hovering around Beth when the cameras got all in my face...I am the chubby guy in the striped 'Mafioso' shirt and glasses. The one desperately trying to ignore the cameras and just act natural.
Downtown Houston absolutely sucks if you're not familiar with it, and how I missed a major intersection like Main and Preston twice I don't know. I got there an hour late and the first thing I asked the guy at the door (who was himself a TES member whose own sister has been missing for years) if Beth had arrived yet and then realized that she arrived just ahead of me...she hadn't even cleared the entry and was standing no more than twenty feet from me! Beth immediately said hello to Tim Miller and a few other people, and so I got in line to say hi as well.
About Beth Twitty: Beth looks just as thin in person as on TV, and she is taller than I expected. But she also seemed quite relaxed, friendly and open, confident, strong, and I had the feeling that she has made peace with some things. I know the Twittys are quite religious so perhaps she found that rock and fortress that the Bible speaks of. She is an ordinary woman with extraordinary resolve. Beth spent a few minutes talking to each person hovering around her with the news camera right in her face, and when she learned I had a boycott strategy guide to offer her she told me, "Don't leave tonight without talking to me again!" I offered to be her go-for; she graciously accepted but didn't ask for anything the whole evening. I ended up near the buffet chatting with a very nice lady named Kim Ogg, director of the Houston Crimestoppers and proud mother of a wanna-be break dancer (her young son discovered how well you can spin on a slick concrete floor). Kim was the evening's first speaker (Tim Miller was the MC), and her subject was the long-standing and mutually beneficial relationship that TES and Houston Crimestoppers has. But Kim began by explaining how on dispatch one night she fielded a missing persons call and found out that officially the police at that time couldn't do anything to help the missing person's family. Kim said that was the night she realized this was a terrible way to treat these people, official policy or not.
Tim Miller called Beth up to speak not about herself, not about Natalee, but about Texas Equusearch. She spoke of how TES offers something that even law enforcement cannot- hope and a chance to find answers and closure. She explained to everyone what Arubans don't seem to understand- if you find yourself faced with the mysterious disappearance of a loved one, you simply must do everything possible to find them. There is no other option. Of course Tim Miller understands this, having lost his own daughter Laura; her disappearance and murder inspired him to start Texas Equusearch. Tim said he is the most blessed man in the world for this life mission he is on and despite the loss of his daughter. He went on to speak about one of TES's earliest searches. He spoke of a Hispanic family whose father was beaten badly and the mother and infant boy kidnapped (unfortunately the mother was later found murdered). TES found the mother's body and helped police find the boy- who had been sold! Tim described how TES members started a relief fundraiser for this man and his infant son that went from $200 to $35,000 in two days. I have the man and his son's name in my notes, but I can't seem to make them out...but they were there in person. There were several other past and current clients who spoke: the man I met at the door who first got involved with TES when a co-worker disappeared and whose own sister is still missing today; Barbara Rigsby, whose brother disappearaed in West Texas earlier this year; and a man whose brother disappearaed recently- this search is ongoing. But Barbara added something to Beth's speech: finding a lost loved one, even if they are most likely dead, is a final act of love for them, not just closure for their family.
You see, TES not only looks for missing persons but they allow families to get involved and feel that they are doing something more than waiting by a phone; Barbara said that TES is her family now.
I caught Tim at intermission and asked him a few questions, which he spoke about later that evening. If you look at the TES website you will see 250 members, but Tim told me that there are currently 700 members nationwide and that Natalee's disappearance and TES involvement in Aruba opened a lot of doors for this organization and brought a lot of new contacts, members, and resources. He told me that TES does about a hundred searches a year on average, and that he wants to see a half million members nationwide someday. About Tim: he's very laid-back and easygoing, with striking blue eyes that I would describe as utterly free of pretense. If I remember correctly he attended this rally wearing blue jeans and cowboy boots!
Finally, they showed two DVDs: one was photos of the Aruba search, complete with Erica Harvey's Natalee song in the background; the second was photos of far too many missing persons that TES was or is searching for- and that DVD represented on a handful of their clients. I believe that many of the people present were Aruba veterans, because when TES member Joe Huston mentioned how wonderfully supportive, concerned, and helpful the Aruban people were but how worthless the Aruban government was in the search efforts, the room erupted in applause and agreement. This is something that travellers to Aruba are repeating again and again, and if you read Walter's comments on this blog you willse e that some of the Arubans aren't too happy about their government and ALE, either. It is too bad that they aren't unhappy enough yet to protest the MEP and ALE instead of criticizing and blaming the U.S. media and Beth herself. If any of you Arubans are reading this, know that Americans blame your government for this fiasco of an investigation, not you. They are the problem here.
I did get to speak to Beth again for about ten minutes before I left; it was a quick discussion about boycott strategies that for now is on a need-to-know basis. Aruba will find out what Beth and her team have been up to soon enough if ALE doesn't produce some real results real fast!
posted by Dan in Tx | 4:44 PM
16 Comments:
Thank you for this report, Dan. I am cheered to hear of Beth's supporting role at this event to raise money for TES. I had the impression it was the other way around, that TES was doing a fundraiser for Natalee. It sounds like this was a nice, if impossibly sad, gathering, for a worthy cause.
Best, tuesday
Actually it wasn't all that sad. Sure there's no Natalee, no Tara Grinstead, no a lot of missing people. But even those who still had missing loved ones were hopeful- hopeful of finding their answers someday. Beth wasn't the only one who has hope thanks to Tim and his people.
Psalms 71:14- it is kind of a rallying cry for those of us who believe Natalee is still alive somewhere.
Ha! MY blog, My rules!
Anyone who wants to slam Beth or Dave or any of their supporters, go to Riehlworldview. Dan will be happy to have you over there...but you'll still be outnumbered 20:1 with Beth's supporters.
Hi dan,
Walter here. I have promised to give you numbers as per pertaining to the Aruban tourism and the socalled NH effect on them. I will transcribe for you an article found in "the News' I read this morning. The news is an English daily in Aruba menat for the tourists in the hotels, but gets read more and more by locals also.
"ORANJESTAD- The number of passengers that passed through Queen Beatrix International Airport are down for the fourth quarter of 2005 - 7.4% compared to the same quarter of 2004 and aircraft movements were down 0.5% during the last quarter of 2005, Aruba Airport Authority (AAA) announced yesterday.
Fewer passengers from the US (including Puerto Rico) caused the passenger number to decrease.
A number of factors that also contributed to the decrease during the 3rd quarter of 2005 remainde active throughout the fourth quarter: the unussually high number of hurricanes affecting the US, the high price of oil that effects the cost of jet fuel and the negative media publicity in the US regarding the Holloway case. Moreover, only a small part of DCA's regional netweork has been taken over by Dutch Antilles Express, a smaller airline that does not have the same passenger capacity as DCA.
Latin America and Europe remained flat during the fourth quarter of 2005 compared to 2004.
The fourth quarter experienced the introduction of 2 weekly flights by ArkeFly from Amsterdam and one weekly flight by Continental Airlines from La Guardia.
Preliminary year-end figures foor 2005 indicate a 1.1% decrease in passenger movement at the Airport compared to 2004 and an increase of 0.3% in aircraft movement".
Also the director ATA announced that they are alomost ready with the tourism numbers of 2005. So far she thinks that in the worst case scenarion there will be a small decrease of tourism in 2005 of about 1 to 2 %. Now keep in mind that in the first quarter tourism was up almost 10%. And including the second quarter, it was still up 7%. So in the third and fourth quarter tourism must have gone down at least 8-9% to get a negative effect of 2%. Now on total numers that means (if you use the number of 1.1 million that came to Aruba last year (fly-inn and Crusieship guestst)) a decrease of 90 to 100 thousand guests. Not enough to kill any of the resorts, but enough to make people start to scratch behind their ears. I am waiting to get the numbers of January, compared with Jan 2005 and Dec 2005, to see if it is still going down, stabilizing or going back up. I myself think that the NH effect will have the same short to midterm effect as 9-11 had on our tourism, but that after that tourism will be back on it's feet. In other words, I still expect between 800,000 and 1 million guests to Aruba in 2006.
As per TES, more power to them, they deserve all the help they can get, because it is a very noble (and thankless) job they are doing. Thankless, because, either you don't find the preson you are looking for, or you do find them, and that ussually means they are dead.
Anyways, everybody, sned in your questions.
Walter in Aruba
Yo Dan,
which was the comment you deleted, I didn't get a chance to see it. Could you please e-mail it to me if you get a chance.
And I also agree that NH, BT and DH should not be bashed. Because whatever you might think of them and their ways of dealing with the situation, they are the ones going through hell.
Walter in Aruba
Walter, I told him that I thought Dan had put Beth on a very high pedestal and that I hoped she wouldn't fall off it.
Now why he keeps deleting that is beyond me....
Ok, I'll bite.
Why do YOU think she doesn't deserve this attention? Is it somehow wrong for a woman whose only daughter disappeared without a trace udner some very shady circumstances to ask some tough questions and get ugly about her concerns? I certainly don't think so.
No Dan, I just don't understand why it has to be so public? Why did there have to be a camera crew there? In fact, why is there always a camera crew around when Beth Twitty comes to town?
Why does it seem to be all about Beth and not about Natalee?
Why does she associate herself with people like Joe M.?
Why is it ok for Beth to lie, but not for a couple of teenagers?
where is the BIG NEWS Beth promised us months ago? Was it the fake Skeeters tapes? If it was, why does she never mention them again?
Why does she keep going on Dr Phil's show after those tapes were proven to be tampered with? Why does she keep associating herself with people like him?
What happened to all the money that was donated? What was it spent on (besides new cars, outfits, etc).
Well Dan, as you can see, I (and many others) have lots of questions for Beth that we would like to see answered. These are just a few of them.
I have no problem with you putting her on a pedestal, but I don't think she's a saint and I wouldn't put her on a pedestal. That's all. I think she's the mother of a missing teenager. Like there are so many in the US and all over the world. Beth is not any more special than any of those mothers. Pay some attention to them as well! They deserve it!
"I think she's the mother of a missing teenager. Like there are so many in the US and all over the world. Beth is not any more special than any of those mothers. Pay some attention to them as well! They deserve it! "
Dan,
That s another feeling Arubans have on this case. As per data from CIA and the FBI, more than 2500 poeple dissappear everyday in the US. Lets assume that only 1% are "real" dissappearences. If you take the fact that today is day number 248 that Natalee dissappeared, that means that already 6,200 people have dissappeared in the US. Are you now going to start a boycott against the whole US. Where is your criticism on ALL the police forces that haven't been able to find these people yet. According to both the FBI and the CIA, there are more than 200,000 (That is twice the population of Aruba!!!)cold cases of missing people that have never been found, and each year that amount grows with 6,000. Should we now boycott the FBI and the CIA. There is nowhere on your site any mention of this fact, Around the time that Natalee dissappeared, 2 BLACK americans who were on St-thomas, for the wedding of a friend were murdered. I haven't here you talk about them yet. What about the couple that dissappeared from a cruiseship in midseas? Should we boycott that Cruiseship now? In fact, the FBI came all the way out of the US to do an investigation, but they turned op nothing.
BT is in pain, because her daughter is missing, but to start a boycott against a whole island because you don't understand their laws, or because you don't like how the investigation is going, is a little toomuch of a good thing. Alabama has more than 150 people missing without a clue. Are you now going to boycott Alabama? I don't think so.
Tell you what, come to Aruba, hell stay in my appartment next to my house. See how we live in Aruba, I'll show you the good, touristic part of the island, and I will sahow you the shady part of Aruba, and then, I will come to your neck of the woods, and then you can do the same, and then we can compare notes.
You also stated in a different post that I still don't seem to understand. No, you don't understand, this is Aruba, NOT a state of the US, or Alabama. We have our laws, and you have yours. I am not saying that I am impressed by what the ALE has done so far, but whatever they did fell within OUR laws, not yours. Start to understand (Not neccesarily agree) with the fact that this happened in Aruba, and not some extension of the US, then a lot of misunderstandings will be cleared out of the way.
I also still haven't heard from you as per the Skeeter/Dr. Phil tapes. Was this the big news BT had? She was on Nancy Grace yesterday (where a FBI spokesperson said that ALE was doing a good job), how come Nancy, nor BT, nor Greta or anybody else is talking about the doctoring of the tapes. Go to scrux.com, download the tapes (Video and audio) and you will see and hear Deepak say that they did NOT have sex with Natalee. Thsi tape should kill ANY suspicion of rape that BT keeps pressing on. I also like the fact that without having even been on the island when everything happened, BT knows for sure that JVDS and K2 raped her daughter, and that they should be convicted for that. Sorry, in Dutch/Aruban law, you must have PROOF (semen/blood/DNA/the victim) to convict people of that.
NRSKRASS: Are you Aruban, American or from somewhere else?
Walter in Aruba
Somewhere else Walter. But I have lived in the US and I am VERY familiar with Dutch law.
I completely understand how you feel. Aruba is a sovereign country with it's own laws. It's a country respected within the international community and NO country (not even the US) has made an official (or unofficial) complaint against Aruba for the way they are handling this case.
Walter, I hope to hear more from you soon! I'm very interested in the Aruban point of view! Thanks!
First, let me congratulate you, Dan, and Walter, on trying to open up a line of communication between Americans and the people of Aruba. I believe it is a much needed format for there is far too much finger pointing and mud slinging going on. I see a huge discrepancy between what we, America, believe and what the Arubans believe. It is quite evident right here on this blog by what Dan presents and what Walter presents. If Dan and Walter will permit, I would like to continue to contribute to their discussion by offering my viewpoint on various topics they touch upon. I will not particpate in bashing or derogatory comments as I feel that it accomplishes nothing but hard feelings which are far more damaging to Aruba than a mere voluntary-travel boycott could ever manage to be and I also feel that neither Natalee nor her family should be maligned at all. I think every person that contributes to a blog or forum should do so in a manner that will contribute to the betterment of the cause they are discussing. BTW, I am just an average American Mother. Thank you.
I think Walter and I both welcome questions and concerns by the general public, especially those that are halfway civil. At some point I believe I will delete this original thread, list the things Walter and I agree are non-issues, and then begin to examine the sticking points.
Walter and I have been e-mailing back and forth as well, and I would like to present that as well at some point. I think it might help.
I Agree with all that Dan states, summon the points we agree upon, list what we still have 'open' and welcome new questions and input.
I think I speak for Dan as well that we welcome any postive input that can keep the discussion healthy.
And yes Dan, anytime you deem fit, you can put our e-mail discussion on your website.
Dan , why don't you post some new stuff. I appreciated what you had to say.
ditto...i have a vanished, for over 2 yrs, son, neil alan eddleman...well, you KNOW he's not in the news every night! karen~
www.findingneilalan.proboards40.com
http://neil_alan.blogspot.com/2005/01/finding-neil-alan.html
mrskrass said...
I think she's the mother of a missing teenager. Like there are so many in the US and all over the world. Beth is not any more special than any of those mothers. Pay some attention to them as well! They deserve it!
Folks, let me tell you something about Karen. Karen is an old scaredmonkeys.com veteran from way, way, waaay back. This woman, whose own son is missing, gave Beth and Dave a so much of herself to help them, regardless of her own loss. I've e-mailed her many times and you'll be hard-pressed to find a sweeter, more selfless person. There's really only two ways a parent of a missing child can react to Beth's loss: with understanding and compassion or with bitterness and envy.
Karen, I once said that as soon as I could I would help you find Neil. I haven't forgotten and that offer still stands- in fact, I think I have time to now, since nothing that I'm working on for Beth and Dave is on a real timeline. I still have your e-mail, so don't think I've forgotten about you just because I haven't e-mailed for way too long!
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