Beth Twitty never imagined she would be at a Ball State University podium telling hundreds of students how her daughter was kidnapped, raped and most likely murdered.
But Thursday night, the mother of 18-year-old Natalee Holloway, who has been missing since May 2005 after a graduation trip with friends to Aruba, encouraged students to remain alert over Spring Break. And that means not traveling with strangers, leaving drinks unattended or getting into a situation where a student cannot exercise his or her free will, Twitty said.
"We do it because it's not a safe world," Twitty said. "It's not safe at home in the Internet chat room, and it's not safe on an exotic trip."
Students filled L.A. Pittenger Student Center's Cardinal Hall and lined the walls as Twitty kicked off her "Save Yourself" program, sponsored locally by Delaware County Sheriff George Sheridan and his department. Sheridan met Twitty in January at a National Sheriff's Association conference in California. Twitty, however, did not charge a fee.
"You are some of the first people to actually hear her program," Sheridan said.
The program began with a video tribute to Holloway, produced by High Noon Film and accompanied by a song from Ericka Haney. After explaining the trying investigation process in Aruba, Twitty emphasized how Holloway's passport, cell phone and packed luggage were found in her hotel room following her disappearance.
"I am convinced that she never left that island," Twitty said. "But if she had had that passport with her when she disappeared, it would have been extremely difficult to convince the authorities that she didn't run away."
Twitty also encouraged students who were planning to travel overseas during Spring Break or during the summer not to let their guards down. Adolescent girls are at the greatest risk for being abducted, she said.
"All I'm saying is that you need to know when you leave our border, you leave behind the privileges and rights you're accustomed to and you often take for granted," Twitty said.
Sophomore Mandy Sickler, who will travel to California next week for Spring Break, said she did not realize how much U.S. rules differed from those of foreign vacation spots.
Sophomore William Foster, who will travel to Jamaica this summer, said the presentation reminded him that both women and men need to remain vigilant and not to get too relaxed while overseas.
"It's not to say that a man, when overseas in a foreign country, should be reckless," Foster said. "They should take precautions, especially with what is going on in the world today."
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