Natalee Holloway

Natalee Holloway was an 18-year-old American who was killed by Joran van der Sloot. Her disappearance made international news after she vanished on May 30, 2005, in Aruba. Holloway lived in Mountain Brook, Alabama, and graduated from Mountain Brook High School on May 24, 2005, days before the trip. Her disappearance resulted in a media sensation in the United States.

Holloway was scheduled to fly home from the Caribbean island on May 30, 2005, but she failed to appear for her flight. Her classmates last saw her outside of Carlos'n Charlie's, a restaurant and nightclub in Oranjestad. She was in a car with local residents Joran van der Sloot and brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe. When the three men were questioned, they said that they dropped off Holloway at her hotel and denied knowing what had become of her. Upon further investigation by authorities, Van der Sloot was arrested twice on suspicion of involvement in her disappearance, and the Kalpoes were each arrested three times. Due to lack of evidence, the three suspects were released each time without being charged with a crime. Holloway's parents criticized the Aruban police for the lack of progress in the investigation and interrogation of the three men who were last seen with their daughter. The family also called for a boycott of Aruba, which gained governor of Alabama Bob Riley's support but failed to gain widespread backing.

With the assistance of hundreds of volunteers, Aruban investigators conducted an extensive search operation. American special agents from the FBI, 50 Dutch soldiers, and three specially equipped Dutch Air Force F-16 aircraft participated in the search. In addition to the ground search, divers searched the ocean for Holloway's body. Holloway was never found. On December 18, 2007, Aruban prosecutors announced that the case would be closed without charging anyone with a crime. The Aruban prosecutor's office reopened the case on February 1, 2008, after receiving video footage of Van der Sloot, under the influence of marijuana, saying that Holloway died on the morning of her disappearance, and that a friend had disposed of her body. Van der Sloot later denied that what he had said was true, and in an interview said that he had sold Holloway into sexual slavery. He later retracted his comments. In January 2012, Van der Sloot was convicted of the May 30, 2010, murder of 21-year-old Stephany Flores Ramírez in Lima, Peru. At the request of Holloway's father, Alabama judge Alan King declared Holloway legally dead on January 12, 2012.

On June 8, 2023, Van der Sloot, who was still the main suspect in Holloway's disappearance, was extradited to the United States to face trial for extortion and wire fraud, with both charges being linked to Holloway's disappearance, and on October 18, 2023, he pled guilty to extortion charges as well as confessing to killing her by blunt force trauma after she rejected his sexual advances.

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