Body found in Aruba?

[DetectorGuy]

I heard people talking on the radio about a photo taken in Aruba that may or may not be the remains of a body. It sure looks like one to me. Here is a newspaper clip:

Couple finds 'skeleton' in Aruba picture - Rapho Township man believes it could be remains of Natalee Holloway, the 18-year-old who disappeared in May 2005. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Intelligencer Journal, Lancaster New Era, Mar 18, 2010 00:06 EST, By TOM MURSE, Staff Writer, Media Center ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Patti Muldowney was busy snapping pictures of colorful fish during her snorkeling dive off the coast of Aruba last fall. She didn't notice what else was on the sea floor. "We only discovered it after we got the film developed," the 62-year-old Rapho Township woman said. Flipping through the prints in December, the Muldowneys realized Patti had photographed more than just underwater scenery. One picture appears to show a human skeleton. "You can see a fish. You can see some rocks. And then you can see this body lying on its back, facing up," said her husband, John Muldowney. They showed friends. They showed the local police. All agreed: It looks like human bones. "I showed my doctor," John Muldowney said. "He said it looks like it's weighted down with some rocks." Skeleton. Aruba. Could it be? The Muldowneys wonder. The Muldowneys forwarded copies of the photo — which they had enlarged — to the FBI field office in Philadelphia, but investigators won't say what, if anything, they're doing with it. John Muldowney has a gut feeling the skeleton could be that of Natalee Holloway, the 18-year-old Alabama honors student whose mysterious disappearance in Aruba in May 2005 continues to make international headlines. "It just seems so strange that that girl never showed up, and here we are right off the shoreline, right where she disappeared, and there's a body lying there," said John Muldowney, 78, a retired propane inspector with the state Department of Labor and Industry and owner of the Pinch Pond Family Campground. "I hate to say I wish it was her, but it would give that family some closure." Muldowney said he contacted this newspaper about the photo because he was getting nowhere with the FBI. "I've called Quantico" — the agency's training academy in Virginia — "so much the receptionist said, 'We've got to stop meeting like this,' " he said. The FBI in Philadelphia sent the picture to its senior investigators who work in the Caribbean. "We did receive that photo, and it was sent to the lead agent down in Miami who handles that area in the Caribbean," said Special Agent Frank Burton Jr., a spokesman for the FBI's field office in Philadelphia. It is unclear what happened to the photo after that. The FBI in Miami said it has no record of getting it, and neither does the agency's legal attaché in Barbados, which has jurisdiction over Aruba. The Muldowneys were on a seven-day cruise aboard Royal Caribbean's Adventure Of The Seas, whose first port was Oranjestad. They and another couple from Lititz had taken a catamaran out to a snorkeling site. "It was far enough out that we couldn't see land," remembers family friend Ken Dimm. The couples remember the site was near a shipwreck, though which one of the numerous wrecks off the western coast of Aruba is unclear. The most popular snorkeling and scuba site there is near the Antilla, a German freighter that was scuttled in World War II. Patti Muldowney went snorkeling with the Dimms while her husband stayed above on a catamaran. She had purchased a disposable camera and was taking pictures from just under the water's surface. "It was kind of hard, my first time taking pictures. You can see a little bit of the wreckage, so I saw it down there and snapped it," said Patti Muldowney, who works in the billing department at Luther Acres. Only two months later, in December, did she realize there was more to that picture. Evette Dimm noticed it first. "She looks at the one picture, and you can see a fish in it," remembers John Muldowney. "Then she says, 'God, that looks like a skeleton or a corpse.' " Patti Muldowney wonders whether the skeleton is that of Holloway. "The thing is, they haven't found her yet," she said. "So, for the parents' sake, I would hope that this picture does help. "But we have not heard anything. I hope they do look into it. It would be good if the parents have finality."~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/249987

[BladesRobinson]

I am going to bet a buck that is it a bunch of rocks!

Human remains in a salt water environment do not typically remain intact for any length in time. How many fish skeletons have you seen on the bottom? Let your imagine run with that thought for a moment and then ask why, in an environment with meat eating fish (large and small, including sharks) would a victim stay intact?

The photographer did not see skeletal remains when the picture was taken and I strongly suspect had there in fact been skeletal remains, they would have been recognized immediately and authorities notified that day.

[DetectorGuy]

Your probably right. I guess 4 years underwater would have taken its toll on a body with all the omnivores/carnivors around, but if the body had decayed to a skeleton prior to being dumped in the water... no food for the fish. If this was a skull dropped after it went skeletal, the part that looks like a jawbone and teeth probably would not be attached. If I was snorkeling on vacation and taking pictures of all the neon fish, I can see where one could overlook this until the film was developed. I don't know whether this is a skull or not, but I can see how it is suspicious.

[DetectorGuy]

Here is a color image that you can zoom in to see what appears to be teeth:

[freedivernd]

That's about the worst underwater picture I've ever seen.. I never took one that bad even with a $10.00 disposable... with a picture that poor, it'll turn out to be nothing.. just a waste of reading time.

[grumpie]

I guess that I would have to agree that its a bunch of rocks and the thing in the lower right corner is a tail of a fish.