A Gaithersburg man being held in Aruba for his alleged involvement in the disappearance of his traveling companion is appealing his detention.
An attorney for 50-year-old Gary Giordano said Tuesday that he has asked for Giordano to be released, or at least freed until a trial.
Giordano has been in custody on the Caribbean island since early August, when he was detained after his vacation partner, 35-year-old Robyn Gardner, went missing. Aruban prosecutors say they doubt Giordano’s claims that Gardner, of Frederick, disappeared at sea while the two were snorkeling.
No additional hearings on Giordano’s detention or the new appeal have been scheduled, his attorney, Michael Lopez, wrote in an emailed statement.
An Aruban judge on Aug. 31 approved prosecutors’ request to keep Giordano in custody for another 60 days. An appeals court upheld that decision last month.
Shortly before the trip to Aruba, Giordano took out a $1.5-million accidental-death insurance policy on Gardner, according to Aruban authorities. Giordano was the beneficiary of that policy. The pair arrived on the island July 31. Gardner was last seen Aug. 2, and Giordano was taken into custody three days later.
Gardner’s disappearance has drawn international attention for the past several months, in part because of comparisons to the still-unsolved case of Natalee Holloway, an American teenager who went missing in Aruba in 2005.
