Originally Posted by DLPerry

Without being able to look at the domain records in detail, I'm not sure, but...a registrar is permitted to hold an expired domain for a period of time (usually 30 - 90 days) after expiration, and they can and often do choose to register and keep the domain themselves.

During this period - the domain owner may still renew the registration (usually at a substantially higher price). If they don't - then it's up to the registrar what happens to the domain...most are released to the public, some are not - depends on the domain and it's popularity/marketability/etc.

hth.

--dlp