Report: Insurance Policy Thickens Plot in Case of Missing South Carroll Graduate

A discovery in , 35, a graduate of missing in Aruba, has caused investigators to keep the man she was traveling with in custody, according to an article by ABC News. 

Investigators recently discovered a $1.5 million accidental death insurance policy taken out by Gary Giordano, the man Gardner was traveling with, and are considering the new finding as a possible motive, according to the report.  

According to a report by the Associated Press, it is unclear at this time whether Giordano was listed as the beneficiary. 

Giordano is currently being held in Aruba and is the only suspect in the case so far, according to ABC News. 

On Monday, a judge in Aruba stated there was enough evidence to hold Giordano for at least 16 more days, according to the Associated Press. 

Gardner has been missing since Aug. 2 and was last seen at the Renaissance Aruba Resort & Casino in Oranjestad, according to an article by Huffington Post.com.

Giordano's house was searched last year during an investigation into a rape and assault that never went to trial, according to an article by WUSA9.  

Gardner was staying in the same resort town as Natalee Holloway, the young high school student whose disappearance in 2005 remains unsolved, according to the Natalee Holloway Resource Center.

Before her disappearance, Gardner, who lived in Frederick, often stayed with her boyfriend, Richard Forrester, who lives in Bethesda, according to an article by WAMU.org.

According to the article, Forrester didn’t know Gardner was meeting Giordano and instead thought she was taking a trip to Florida with her family.