Her parents should have said 'No!'

Gone. Missing.

Words that strike fear in the hearts of parents and raise the suspicions of police.

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They know that routine. It happens too often.

Natalee Holloway is still missing, although one of the five men – five! in custody allegedly has told police that "something bad" had happened to her.

The 5-foot 4-inch, blue-eyed blonde had just graduated from high school. For her class, the five-day trip to the Dutch Caribbean Island of Aruba celebrated that event and their future.

For Natalee – a straight-A student – that future included a full scholarship at the University of Alabama for premed study.

The 18-year-old was last seen late at night, May 30, getting into a car with three men – men described by some as "locals."

I'm sorry. Is it rude to ask where were the chaperones? On the last night of a short trip to a tropical island, which can clearly mesmerize the best of us on vacation, how does it happen that a young girl is seen getting in a car with three strange men and no one tries to stop her or report the situation? Perhaps, I'm just old fashioned.

It seems no one noticed Natalee was missing until the next morning when she failed to show up for her flight.

Gee, her classmates didn't notice she never got home? No one noticed she didn't show up for breakfast or to check out of the hotel? Where were those darn chaperones, anyway?

When they finally realized Natalee was missing, police checked her room, finding her passport and her packed bags. Clearly, she'd planned to return home with her classmates.

And with the chaperones, of course. You know, the people who were trusted by the parents to keep a wary eye on those 125 newly graduated teens who had party times on their minds. By the way, who are they?

Thousands of people searched for Natalee on the tiny island – local police, Dutch military, island citizens, her family and friends, even the FBI. They found nothing.

It was reported many locals were "upset" – no, not because Natalee was missing, but because her disappearance could mar the peaceful image of the island as a tourist haven. Disgusting, but not surprising.

Her uncle, Paul Reynolds, on the island to help the search, told the Associated Press that Natalee was a levelheaded, churchgoing girl who wouldn't have done anything rash and that she wouldn't ever run away.

He noted her almost childlike side saying, "Natalee's naive. She hasn't dated a lot. She doesn't party a lot."

Seems to me, that's just the kind of kid you'd allow to go with 124 other teens and too few chaperones to a tropical island for a music festival attracting 8,000 people, where there's legal drinking and casinos, plus all the illegal temptations.

"Can I go Mom, huh? Can I, huh?"

They should have said no.

The night she vanished was the last night on the island for Natalee and her classmates from Mountain Brook High School, outside of Birmingham, Ala.

She reportedly spent that evening at a beach concert, part of the Soul Beach Music festival, followed by eating and dancing at a local bar and restaurant. Then, left with three local men.

Sounds like just the kind of thing a naive, shy kid might do when freed of parental restrictions and out of sight of the seven – count 'em, seven! – chaperones responsible for keeping 125 partying teenagers safe.

Natalee planned to fly home the next day, but someone had other plans. Who and what remains a mystery.

Perhaps.

First, two men – 28 and 30 – were arrested, initially for vague connections with her disappearance, then on suspicion of murder and capital kidnapping or kidnapping resulting in death. It's reported they're fired hotel security guards, known to troll the area for women.

Then, three other locals were arrested – one, 17, the son of a Dutch judge, and the other two, brothers 18 and 21, are Surinamese.

They told police they drove Natalee to a beach where there was sexual activity, that she was drunk, that they later dropped her at her hotel parking lot where she was approached by a security guard.

Tell me again who decided that seven chaperones for 125 teenagers on a tropical, party island were sufficient? Tell me who should also be responsible for this tragedy?

News reports focus on the search and the suspects. Television plays on the grief of Natalee's mother, who clings to sanity, resisting what must be a mother's urge to scream.

Why do we expect people wracked with grief to be calm and controlled? Why shouldn't they wail and cry and shriek to the heavens? They need that to deal with perhaps the greatest grief a parent can endure, the loss of their child.

Natalie is missing. She may be injured. She's likely dead – where, how and why, we don't know. For the sake of her family, I hope we find out. It won't change the outcome, but they'll have the answers to the questions that now shred their souls.

And then, I hope they get the attention of the school board by contacting a really good, really nasty lawyer who'll have the names of those seven chaperones. He'll know what to do.