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LAW CENTER

Two Aruba suspects released

Third held in teen's disappearance to remain in jail 60 days

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Satish Kalpoe, right, and brother Deepak leave jail after being freed Monday in Aruba.

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ORANJESTAD, Aruba (CNN) -- Two brothers held nearly a month as suspects in the disappearance of American teenager Natalee Holloway were released Monday, but a judge ordered a third youth to remain in police custody, court officials said.

The judge ordered 21-year-old Deepak Kalpoe and his 18-year-old brother, Satish, freed after hearings Monday morning. They were released a few hours later.

Suspect Joran Van Der Sloot, 17, was ordered held for another 60 days while police continue to investigate.

Authorities had interrogated the three numerous times since their arrests June 9. No charges have been filed, and defense attorneys have said they are innocent.

Under Aruban law, prosecutors can request extensions for holding suspects. Each time, they must meet a higher standard for proving the necessity of keeping the suspects in custody before a judge can approve the request.

Prosecutors had asked a judge to order all three held for another two months while police continue their search for Holloway, 18. She was last reported seen early May 30 leaving a nightclub on the Caribbean island with the trio.

Prosecutors could appeal Monday's ruling but have not decided whether to do so, according to a statement from the Aruba prosecutor's office.

Prosecutors said Van Der Sloot and the Kalpoes had made statements "that are not sustained by other investigative results and/or witness statements."

Phone conversations, text messages and computer chat records also cast suspicion on them, prosecutors said in the statement.

After Monday's hearings but before the judge's order was announced, Deepak Kalpoe's attorney, Rudy Oomen, told reporters: "What was presented, in my view, is beneficiary -- is good for my client."

Oomen said there were "no grounds to keep my client any longer in detention."

Arlene Ellis-Schipper, a lawyer on the island, said the decision indicated police no longer have enough evidence against the Kalpoes to keep them in custody. But that "does not mean they are ruled out as suspects," she said.

Holloway's mother, Beth Holloway Twitty, and stepfather, George "Jug" Twitty, went to the courthouse Monday but weren't allowed inside because the hearings were closed.

"We just felt like it was important for us to be here," George Twitty told reporters. "We're anxiously awaiting a decision."

On Sunday, police took each of the three suspects at separate times to a stretch of beach near a Marriott hotel, said Ruben Trapenberg, an Aruban government spokesman. (Full story)

"Investigators wanted to make sure that their stories matched," Trapenberg said.

At first, the Kalpoe brothers and Van Der Sloot reportedly told prosecutors they dropped Holloway off at the Holiday Inn where she was staying. But police said that account fell apart under questioning.

The Kalpoes' mother has said one of her sons admitted lying to protect Van Der Sloot and said he and his brother took the Dutch youth and Holloway to a beach and dropped them off.

Anita Van Der Sloot also has said her son changed his story and admitted being alone with Holloway on the beach, saying he then left her because she wanted to stay there.

Holloway, from Mountain Brook, Alabama, a Birmingham suburb, was celebrating her high school graduation with classmates and parent chaperones when she disappeared.

Aruban authorities have conducted a widespread search but have found no trace of the American teenager.

Three Dutch reconnaissance planes equipped with lasers and special cameras landed Monday afternoon on the adjacent island of Curacao after flying from the Netherlands to assist in the search, the Dutch Defense Ministry said. (Full story)

Each of the F-16s is equipped with a television infrared camera, two daylight cameras and a 12-inch lens in pods slung beneath the aircraft.

About 40 personnel accompanied the planes; they include specialists who will analyze pictures taken from the planes, the ministry said.

Aruba, an island off Venezuela, is a self-governing part of the Netherlands.

Specialists from Texas who arrived last weekend also are scouring the island.

Paul Van Der Sloot, Joran's father, was arrested June 23 but released three days later. Aruba's chief prosecutor, Karin Janssen, said the elder Van Der Sloot and his wife, Anita, interfered in the case by asking one of their son's friends what he had told authorities when they questioned him.

Janssen said Van Der Sloot, a judge, also spoke about the case with his son and the two other suspects "some days after" Holloway's disappearance.

"They were speaking about the situation that if you don't have a body, there is no case," Janssen said.

When investigators -- who learned about the conversation during their questioning of one of the Kalpoes -- asked Paul Van Der Sloot about the remarks, the father told them he was speaking about such a situation generally, according to Janssen.

CNN has tried unsuccessfully to contact Paul Van Der Sloot and his wife as well as attorneys representing the father and son.

CNN's Tracy Sabo contributed to this report.

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