18 years after her disappearance, there’s finally justice for Natalee Holloway. For a quick refresher on one of the more infamous true crime stories from the last two decades, Natalee Holloway was 18 years old when she went to Aruba in May 2005 on a senior class trip. She was last seen leaving a nightclub with 18-year-old Dutch national Joran van der Sloot. Although he was arrested twice on suspicion of being involved with her disappearance and presumed death, van der Sloot was released each time for lack of evidence.
On the five year anniversary of Natalee’s disappearance, Joran murdered another young woman, which he was later convicted of and is currently serving time in prison for. The thing that brought about this confession, however, was charges of federal wire fraud and extortion. That psychopath made Natalee’s mother pay him $25,000 in exchange for info on where her daughter’s body was, then tried extorting her for an additional $250,000. He didn’t get his $250k, but he did get a plea deal! The main condition of this deal was to finally tell Beth Holloway the full truth about her daughter’s death. And this is just the condensed version. It’s been nearly two decades of twists and turns that have kept authorities, journalists and true crime podcast hosts busy. But now, finally, Natalee’s family has answers.
It’s been a long time coming, but Beth Holloway finally knows what happened to her daughter Natalee in Aruba, back in 2005.
Joran van der Sloot, the now 36-year-old man long believed to be responsible for Natalee Holloway’s death pleaded guilty Wednesday in a Birmingham federal courtroom to wire fraud and extortion charges. As part of the plea deal, van der Sloot agreed to tell Beth Holloway how her daughter died and where her body was stashed.
Natalee went missing on a high school graduation trip to the Dutch Caribbean island. Van der Sloot was the last person to be seen with the 18-year-old. Though he was a suspect from the beginning, Aruba authorities never managed to build a case.
In the United States, however, federal prosecutors in Alabama had charged van der Sloot with extortion and wire fraud in 2010, while he was already in prison in Peru for a killing a college student, Stephany Flores, in his hotel room in Lima. In the indictment, the U.S. government said van der Sloot had attempted to get $250,000 from Beth Holloway in exchange for information and details in Natalee’s death.
“Today, the United States held Joran van der Sloot accountable for his scheme to exploit a mother looking for information about her missing daughter,” U.S. Attorney Prim Escalona said in a statement.
For Beth Holloway, it wasn’t the guilty plea she would have liked to see. “I can tell you with certainty that after 18 years, Natalie’s case is solved as far as I’m concerned,” she told reporters outside the courthouse. “It’s over, it’s over. Joran van der Sloot is no longer the suspect in my daughter’s murder. He is the killer.”
Holloway said specific details about what van der Sloot did the night he killed her daughter would come later. But she spoke in court that he bludgeoned her after she rebuffed his sexual advances and dumped her body in the ocean. Addressing van der Sloot directly she said, “You are a killer and I want you to remember that every time you hear that cell door close.”
A judge sentenced van der Sloot to 20 years in a U.S. federal prison. First he will be returned to Peru to complete serving time for the murder of Flores. If he serves more than 20 years there, he will not need to return to the U.S. to finish his sentence for extortion and wire fraud.
So there you have it. After nearly two decades of headlines, Natalee’s family finally knows what happened to her. I was in college, going on trips and spring break with my own friends when Natalee disappeared, and I remember how it was such a huge, international story. What happened to her is a woman’s worst nightmare. It’s so scary and awful. Natalee’s mom believes van der Sloot’s latest account to be the truth and although the Holloway family may never truly heal from their loss, I hope having answers will give them closure.
I would be remiss, though, if I didn’t acknowledge that Natalee’s story got attention because she was a young, pretty, white woman who fits the description of a victim that the media is more likely to give attention to. This doesn’t make Natalee’s death any less tragic. I hope van der Sloot rots for what he did to her and his second victim. I just think it’s important to also acknowledge that young BIWOC also deserve to have the same level of attention and desire for justice that the world gave to Natalee. I’ve heard some of their stories through true crime podcasts and think it’s really great that there is a medium that can get their stories out there, as well.
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Photos via social media, Getty and Holloway family
This monster has already been rotting in a prison for years now. He no longer looks handsome like he did 15 years ago. He looks puffy and suffered. I am pretty sure Peruvian prisons are pretty rough and they don’t feed you good nutritious food. Now he is in American prison and who knows what is going to happen to him. I predict another monster in prison will hurt him. I am getting Jeffrey Dahmer vibes here.
I’m honestly surprised he’s still alive. When he was sentenced to Peruvian prison for murdering a Peruvian woman, I didn’t think he’d be around much longer. But I’m glad for Natalee’s family that he’s lasted long enough for them to get closure.
Actually, he will not be in a US prison unless he doesn’t serve the rest of his sentence in Peru. So he is to stay in Peru for the time being. If he doesn’t serve the rest there, he will come to the US to serve the rest here. He’s staying there for a long time
This. THIS is why women don’t say ‘no’ when men are behaving badly or pushing too far — because there is always a risk of the guy turning aggressive, violent, or even homicidal. We don’t stay quiet because we love being grabbed by the pussy, or pressured into a blowjob. We stay quiet to not die.
It’s the harsh reality of the Margaret Atwood quote
“Men are afraid women will laugh at them; women are afraid men will kill them”
And women are right to be afraid.
🎯
A female friend of my son was assaulted in NYC because she didn’t respond to the catcalls from randos on the street. She was wearing the noise cancelling earbuds and didn’t hear anything. She now only wears corded headphones to prevent this from happening again.
The fact that women have to change their behavior because of the fragile egos of men is absolutely appalling.
“Men are afraid women will laugh at them; women are afraid men will kill them”
This is true, except when you are 17 you are so naive and trusting. I look back at situations I put myself in as a teenager. And it’s by the grace of god nothing bad happened. I thought people were good and kind since I lived in a nice town where nothing bad happened.
Then I got older and saw the world isn’t such a nice place.
Flamingo, on one hand I’m glad for kids to still be kids well into their teens.
On the other hand, this is the world we live in and some people yeah including predatory men absolutely target young girls. (And young boys too)
5 th and 6 th grade me and my classmates were catcalled going to and from elementary, subject to sleezy comments and from the med sitting at the counter at our local convenience store, coffee shop … full on lick lipping, self touching, groping attempts by our 30, 40, 50 year old neighbors in our suburban neighborhood (we all learned to always go to and fro in that store by hanging along the far wall by the milk cooler, instead of passing by the counter)
And the there was the guy, every one of us could describe him, pick him out of a line up* who would follow us in his car, driving slowly as we walked, who once tried to snatch 6th grade me off the street… fortunately I was able to wriggle my arm away from him, run down the sidewalk and through backyards, periodically hiding on back porches, all the way to school.
* I told my principal what happened, but they never had any one of us kids give a description or talk to police so someone could find him and arrest him. But they made sure to curtail what girls could do, when and where we could walk to/from school etc
@squiddusmaximus and north of boston – you have said it all.
I agree with what you said. But need to ask a question also. Natalie voluntarily went off with him. Yes she was 18 and a legal adult. But she was in a foreign country. And went off with a stranger. This doesn’t make what the guy did better. But come on. This girl didn’t use any common sense at all. Please to all the other young women out there. Be careful. And don’t put yourselves into situations you can’t come back from. That means watching where you are and who is around you. Also watch what you drink and don’t get to a point you drink to much and can be manipulated.
Use that energy to encourage men to see women as fellow humans.
Wow-please have several seats and stop victim blaming!
Or, and this is a crazy idea, instead of teaching girls and women to alter their behaviors to avoid being assaulted and murdered by boys and men, what if you just teach boys and men that women owe them nothing and to stop assaulting and killing women. I know… I said it was a crazy idea.
🙄🙄🙄🙄😬🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️🤡🤡🤡🤡
Oh ffs-she was a young girl with a bunch of her friends on a high school graduation trip. She thought he was cute, and they were having a make-out session as most teens have done. She certainly could not have ever foreseen he was a psychopath. I’m sure you never had a lapse of judgement as a teenager.
I have said this since the minute she went missing. For a long time, I believe she was sold into white slavery. At least with her death, she isn’t suffering that fate.
@Robert Do you go on predominantly male forums and tell them to quit assaulting, raping, and killing girls/women? I know you’ll probably say yes but we all know you aren’t doing squat to change the predators, just their innocent prey.
JFY
Where’s the question? You said you needed to ask a question.
Was it “why are so many men predatory monsters?” Because I would like an answer to that too.
“I just think it’s important to also acknowledge that young BIWOC also deserve to have the same level of attention and desire for justice that the world gave to Natalee. ”
👏🏽 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
So can we now get accountability for the Indigenous women who were victims of Ezra Miller?
I see more and more True Crime Youtubers focus on POC victims and talking about how they often don’t get enough attention. More than most mainstream media channels. I hope more people will do a good look around Youtube to find one they like. The good ones (the ones who don’t just do it for clicks) often have links to petitions/special FB pages or tips on how to increase awareness
I recommend Georgia Marie. She is not that famous amongst True Crime Youtubers, but she talks a lot about Native American women disappearing (including referencing this in videos about other cases) and seems to genuinely want to spread awareness on these often forgotten disappearances/murders.
Thanks for the rec. I tend to get my true crime fix on podcasts but will check her out on YouTube.
You’re welcome 🙂
If you have anyone to recommend, let me know.
There’s a few good CBC ones about indigenous women victims as well.
I recently listened to Freeway Phantom, unsolved serial killer case with black female victims in DC in the 70s- I had never even heard that story before.
Agreed
I feel so sorry for her and how scared she must have been before she died, and my heart breaks for her family who were strung along for 18 years by that murdering asshole. I hope his family’s name is tainted and I hope he suffers the rest of his life.
No parents should ever have to bury their child.
And thank you for noting that women of color would not have received the same press attention. That’s such a shitty part of life and I hope our younger generations will change that.
On the family name front…his father was a powerful judge which goes a long way in explaining why it has taken this long to see any kind of justice. So the family that protected him can go to hell too.
This idiot lied so many times, that it wouldn’t surprise me if he lied again in parts of his new story.
So yes, he admitted that he killed her, but the how and the exact situation might change again in future statements.
ITA! It sounds so over the top what he described. Like where is there a beach where you would randomly just happen to be next to a cinder block at the precise moment a tiny short woman supposedly knees you in the groin? And if he pushed her body in the water only as far out as he could walk, would she not have washed ashore? I believe he killed her but not as described, and I also believe he knows where her body is and is getting a sick pleasure that no one else will ever know.
The FBI verified it through a polygraph. I like to think the tools they have are far superior to local law enforcement.
Other true crime YT channels have talked about the cinder block. At the time there was construction going on near the resort. So he may be telling the truth. Others have said the tide would have taken her out to sea.
I think he was telling the truth about how he killed her. He did act alone. But to me what he is withholding is the fact his Father helped him cover it up after the fact. He knew, but God took care of him on a Tennis Court.
Back when it happened there was a construction boom up by the high-rise hotel area, which I believed her group was staying,so it’s not that far fetched. I have been going there since the 80’s and was there that December.In fact back then you could look in the phone book and see his family’s address and phone number. There was a dark cloud hanging over the island for many years after that.
Yeah I came here to say-how do we know he’s telling the truth?
In Peru, he was convicted of murder, but here, in the U.S., only for wire fraud and extortion charges, not murder. And it appears his sentences are running concurrently. So he finishes out whatever time he has left in Peru, he’s free to go? He’s also supposed to pay back Beth Holloway all the money he extorted from her. I can’t imagine her grief, having lost her daughter, paying this a**hole money just to find out the truth on what happened to Natalee, and then finding out he disposed of her body in the ocean. Beth can’t even give her daughter a proper burial and good-bye.
I was at a training and the instructor said, “Men, how many of you have gone out on a date and thought, “I could die here”. They all kinda laughed and looked around like, “What a weird question”. She then said, “Women, how many of you have gone on a date and thought, “I could die here”. All the women raised their hands immediately. The men were dumbfounded and shocked. The ways we navigate the world would blow their minds if they could live in our bodies.
“The ways we navigate the world would blow their minds if they could live in our bodies.”
Well said @nutella toast.
I remember the first time I thought that on a date. I was 17. That’s when I learned…
Say no, but not too forcefully, but seriously enough so he understands, but make sure not to offend him or hurt his ego. Laughing is good, but don’t laugh at him so he’s pissed off.
And kills you.
I learned how quickly it can turn in a dorm room 20 years ago. Told him it was time to leave and he went ballistic. I was good friends with the Resident Assistant, who thank God was working that weekend. I sternly told him that if he did not leave I would scream my head off. Yeah, I learned how quickly boys/men go from sugary sweet nothings to red angry monsters with the word NO. May she rest in peace and may her family find some peace of mind with closure.
To be honest, in the Netherlands we’ve known this for years but there was no “legal” proof. Joran confessed to a friend (someone working undercover for a high profile private investigator ) that he did precisely that, but because he was smoking weed and unaware of being filmed at that time, it couldn’t be used as evidence in court. He is a first class psychopath and had absolutely no remorse for killing Natalee.
I watched that video, and it wasn’t the same story. He claimed she just died on the beach. And a friend helped him dispose of her. The only consistent part is she was put into the ocean.
The truth was much more brutal.
Here is a link to the video with English subtitles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmNyRMUYCNo&ab_channel=jorandidit
I think the only reason he admitted at this point is he knows he can never be prosecuted now
for her murder in Aruba. The statute of limitations for murder in Aruba is 12 years. So he is untouchable now. It’s awful when governments have to make a deal with the devil for the truth. Which may be all the Holloway family wanted. Was for Joran to admit what he did publicly. I fear the day he gets out, he’s an animal and will kill again.
And a correction to @Rosie, Beth Holloway did pay Joran the $25,000. But he never gave her any information. He wanted an additional $250,000 which he did not get.
In a terrible twist, he used that money to go to Peru where he killed Stephany Flores.
I don’t think he was 100% honest either. Though his father is long dead now. Joran claims he acted alone. But it’s obvious to me his Father was an accessory after the fact and helped him cover it up.
@Flamingo, thank you for the clarification! It’s fixed now!
I’m sure his father told him to keep obfuscating for 12 years until he ran the clock on the murder in Aruba. He will return to Aruba still a relatively young psychopath, now with untold wealth (he comes from a wealthy family) and better able to cover up the crimes that he will continue to commit. I hate the ending of this story. 🙁
I don’t want something like this to happen to any woman and I am glad tbat Natalie Holloway’s family has answers and that a killer is off the streets. But Rosie is right that the epidemic of missing and murdered BIWOC women is largely ignored by the mainstream media. Incidentally, the new season of Dexter addressed this in a meaningful way (a weird venue considering that it’s about a serial killer, I know).
He’s lying. His father reportedly told him, “no body, no crime”. The only way they could be sure she never washed up was to take her out to sea in his friends boat and dump her there with a weight. He did not act alone imo.
I was thinking the same thing. How did her body not wash up ashore? He did pass a lie detector test where he stated he did it alone, but who knows.
@Rosie the extortion was for $250,000, not $25k. And thank you for the statement about BIPOC women.
I was horrified by what happened to Natalie and while it’s been a long time coming, I’m glad Natalie’s family finally got justice for her.It’s good to know that this monster’s wealthy father couldn’t buy/bully the justice system for that second poor woman’s murder. Extortion, wire fraud and dealing coke in prison seem par for the course for this evil criminal. Part of me is glad he won’t serve time on U.S. soil and the other part of me thinks he still got off too easy since he will be released in 2045. But I’m glad Natalie’s family got some answers but…What about his co-conspirators? Anyway, I doubt that he will ever stop committing crimes…
@Chantal, thank you for the correction! I fixed it.
Til there is equal justice for all of us there is no justice for any of us. This monster didn’t act alone. As far as I am concerned those 2 brothers helped him as did his father. Men have given themselves a mandate. Please vote indigenous / BIWOC and LGBTQ persons into offices. I feel like that is one of the best ways to change things and defend ourselves.
100% this!
I remember the insane coverage back when she disappeared.
Nancy Grace had some disgraceful racist moments about Aruba and Joran’s Indian friends in particular.
I am so glad her family finally got answers. Leaving with the uncertainty must be unbearable.
Nancy Grace is a nasty piece of work.
Who knows if Joran is finally telling the truth this time around, but we knew all along he was the guilty party. My guess is the horrible details he revealed about trying to sexually assault Natalee and bashing her head in with a cinderblock when she refused his advances are probably not far off the mark. My question is if he just walked into the water and dumped her body not far from shore, wouldn’t her body have turned up the following day? Dead bodies float. He probably did dump her body in the ocean, but he had to have help to dispose of the body. He was only 17 at the time. He was initially arrested with two other guys and those two other guys definitely know what happened but they’ll never tell the truth.
Beth Holloway did pay Joran by the way, all of the $25,000 for info he promised about Natalee’s murder. After she paid him, he told her the info he had was worthless and went off to Peru with her money. It was her money he was using while he bopped around South America. His desire for hedonism is what led to his downfall. In a way, Beth paying him led to his eventual arrest but it’s tragic another woman had to be murdered in order for that to happen. I’m glad at least Stephany Flores’s family got justice, as Natalee’s family will never get it in the way of a trial.
Thank you True Crime community. Not all heroes wear capes.
What I am about to share is traumatic so please be aware before reading this comment.
It will be a decade next year that a high school friend of mine was raped and murdered for fighting back. The details are absolutely brutal and I won’t share them here. Knowing the details does help a part of me because, and maybe it’s a hard for all to understand, it makes me feel like the pain I now know she suffered I get to suffer too so that she didn’t suffer alone. I know that’s difficult to understand, but Knowing is helpful for many. Not for all though and I totally get that.
Also, our community came together to look for her when she went missing. We have all been traumatized and grieve the horror and outcome of that night AND coming together as a community, also helps a part of us.
I will also share that me, and my beautiful friend who did deserve a search party and does deserve honour and does deserve a whole community grieving her traumatic murder and NONE of this should have happened, are white people.
BIWOC women who are missing or murdered should not only have this level of media attention, BIWOC women should have all of us communities coming together to search, rally, support and grieve. NOBODY should have to go through this. Depressingly these traumas are very real for many folks and we need to come together as communities the same way. We DO have power together and we don’t have to rely on media to change things in terms of taking out white supremacy and its dangers to everyone. We can all do better.
“the pain I now know she suffered I get to suffer too so that she didn’t suffer alone.”
I’ve been a victim of abuse and I’ve been a sympathizer to other people’s suffering and this is really just it, isn’t it? I don’t tell people about my assault unless they really want to know, and all that goes through my mind as I hear other people’s stories is how much they must have suffered. Framing this in terms of sharing the suffering is actually really healing, so thank you.
Thank you for sharing your story.
Tim Miller with Texas EquuSearch helped find my daughter’s body in 2016 (he didn’t, her ex abuser and husband actually stashed her body in his garage) but he kept the heat on the corrupt League City Police Department (see the Netflix drama about how they botched the investigation into his own daughter’s disappearance), forcing them to go in and actually do their jobs. During my two-week stint at his office in Dickinson he told me he had personally seen Natalee’s body floating in the ocean but that other rescue helicopters that swooped in actually caused it to submerge under water.
I am from League City and remember the search for your daughter. It really hit home for me because my children were only two years younger than hers. I hope her ex-husband dies in jail. And I hope that your grandchildren know how much their mother loved them.
Equusearch is such a great organization. I graduated in 97, same as Jessica Cain, and they also dedicated thousands of hours searching for her. Too many women die at the hands of these monsters.
I’ve lived in Houston all my life and I remember the Tiki Island and League City murders so vividly. I was just about the same age as some of those girls and it was terrifying to hear about their disappearances and to see the heartbreak when they were found.
Tim Miller is a saint. When we watched the Texas Killing Fields documentary (I recommend it highly, although it’s devastating to realize how the police DGAF when women are hurt and killed) I was in awe of how he harnessed his grief to help others get the answers he was denied for so many years, and filled with sadness for him and all of the families who lost women and girls who were so loved. I’m so sorry for everyone who has been abused or has lost a loved one to violence and abuse.
I remembered this case so many years ago. I think most people already knew he was guilty back then but since his family is wealthy was able to get away with it.
But Karma always gets back to people esp if they did something bad. If it doesn’t catch up to them when they’re living(most of the time karma does) it will catch up to them when they leave this earth.
Murder should never have less than a life sentence. I am a bleeding heart liberal, but my main conservative streak is violent crimes. I cannot stand seeing murderers being allowed to leave prison and continue on with their lives while their victims remain dead for all eternity. If that was my child, I would take justice into my own hands. And yes, I would be willing to spend the rest of my life in prison for it.
I thought he got a life sentence. Does this mean that if he survives the 20 years he will be released?
He got a 28-year sentence in 2012. His scheduled release date in Peru is June 10, 2038 (with time already served). The maximum sentence in Peru is 30 years.
So there is a chance he may go to the US to serve the partial sentence. Which would be a step up in living conditions for him in the US.
He’ll be somewhere in his mid-50s when he gets out of prison, ready to kill more women.
I always wonder if there were other women he killed and got away with. He’s a monster.
The mother always knew….. Her worst nightmare as reality…
My heart go out to her…….