In May 2005, 18-year-old Natalee Holloway disappeared while on a graduation trip to Aruba. She was last seen leaving a nightclub with Joran van der Sloot.
Her case quickly drew international headlines, but despite years of searches and multiple investigations, no trace of her remains was ever recovered. In 2012, Natalee was officially declared dead by a U.S. court.
In 2010, van der Sloot tried to extort Natalee’s mother, Beth Holloway, by offering to reveal her daughter’s location in exchange for $250,000. This scheme resulted in federal charges in the United States.
More than a decade later, in 2023, van der Sloot confessed as part of a plea agreement. He admitted to killing Natalee by striking her with a cinder block and then disposing of her body in the ocean.
Because Aruba’s legal system enforces a 12-year statute of limitations, van der Sloot cannot face prosecution there for Natalee’s murder.
Currently, he is serving a combined sentence: 28 years in Peru for the 2010 killing of Stephany Flores, along with 20 years in the U.S. for extortion and wire fraud related to the Holloway case.
Natalee’s mother has said the confession brought both pain and closure, declaring that, in her view, the case is resolved. The long-running mystery, which gripped the public for years, finally ended with an admission of guilt—even though full legal justice could not be achieved.