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Natalee Ann Holloway, an 18-year-old honors graduate of Mountain Brook High School in Alabama, disappeared on May 30, 2005, during an unofficial graduation trip to Aruba with 124 classmates. She was last seen by classmates around 1:30 a.m. leaving the Oranjestad nightclub Carlos'n Charlie's in a car with 17-year-old Joran van der Sloot, a Dutch honors student living in Aruba, and two acquaintances. Holloway did not board her scheduled return flight later that day, and her packed luggage and passport were found in her hotel room. Extensive searches by Aruban authorities, Dutch marines, FBI agents, and hundreds of volunteers covered the island and surrounding waters, but her remains have never been recovered.
Van der Sloot initially denied knowing Holloway, then gave investigators an account of dropping her at her hotel; over the following years he repeatedly changed his account, including making claims he later retracted. Aruban police arrested and released van der Sloot and his two companions multiple times between 2005 and 2007 on suspicion of kidnapping and involvement in Holloway's death, but all were released without charge. Aruban police commissioner Gerold Dompig, who led the investigation from mid-2005 to 2006, said the inquiry focused on the three men from the outset and involved surveillance and wiretaps. The Netherlands took over the investigation in 2006, and on December 18, 2007, Aruban prosecutors officially closed the case, stating no charges would be filed for lack of evidence.
A February 2008 Dutch television broadcast aired covertly recorded footage in which van der Sloot described Holloway's death and the disposal of her body; he later said he had not been truthful and had been under the influence of marijuana at the time, and an Aruban court declined to issue an arrest warrant based on the recording. In 2010, van der Sloot contacted an attorney for Holloway's mother, offering to disclose the location of Holloway's remains in exchange for $250,000. The FBI arranged a monitored payment, and authorities found that the house he identified as the location did not yet exist at the time of Holloway's disappearance.
On June 3, 2010, van der Sloot was charged in U.S. federal court in Alabama with extortion and wire fraud, and was separately arrested that day in Chile in connection with the killing of Stephany Flores Ramírez, a 21-year-old business student found dead days earlier in a Lima hotel room registered in his name. He was extradited to Peru, charged with first-degree murder and robbery, pleaded guilty in January 2012, and was sentenced to 28 years in prison. Separately, an Alabama probate judge signed an order on January 12, 2012, declaring Natalee Holloway legally dead at her father's request. Van der Sloot remained incarcerated in Peru until June 8, 2023, when he was extradited to the United States on the outstanding extortion and wire-fraud charges.
He was arraigned the next day on the extortion and wire-fraud charges, which named Holloway's mother, Beth Holloway, as the victim, and initially pleaded not guilty. On October 18, 2023, in a proffer letter, van der Sloot confessed to killing Holloway, writing that he kicked and struck her with a cinder block after she refused his sexual advances and disposed of her body in the ocean; he went on to plead guilty to the U.S. extortion and wire-fraud charges and has never been charged with Holloway's killing. On March 17, 2026, Beth Holloway filed a complaint against him with the Dutch Public Prosecutor's Office, seeking a new prosecution over her daughter's death.
Stephany Flores Ramírez, Beth Holloway, Natalee Ann Holloway
Date
2005
Location
Oranjestad, Aruba
Case status
unsolved
Case timeline
1986-10-21
Natalee Ann Holloway was born in Memphis, Tennessee.
2005-05-26
Holloway and 124 fellow Mountain Brook High School graduates arrived in Aruba for an unofficial graduation trip.
2005-05-30
Holloway was last seen leaving the Oranjestad nightclub Carlos'n Charlie's with Joran van der Sloot and two acquaintances; she did not board her scheduled return flight and was never found.
2005-06-09
Van der Sloot and his two companions were arrested in Aruba on suspicion of the kidnapping and murder of Holloway.
2007-12-18
Aruban prosecutors officially closed the investigation, stating no charges would be filed for lack of evidence.
2008-02-03
A Dutch television broadcast aired covertly recorded footage of van der Sloot describing Holloway's death; an Aruban court later declined to issue an arrest warrant based on the recording.
2010-06-03
Van der Sloot was charged in U.S. federal court in Alabama with extortion and wire fraud, and was separately arrested in Chile in connection with the killing of Stephany Flores Ramírez in Peru.
2012-01-11
Van der Sloot pleaded guilty to the murder of Stephany Flores Ramírez in Peru and was sentenced to 28 years in prison.
2012-01-12
An Alabama probate judge signed an order declaring Natalee Holloway legally dead at her father's request.
2023-06-08
Van der Sloot was extradited from Peru to the United States on the outstanding extortion and wire-fraud charges.
2023-10-18
In a proffer letter, van der Sloot confessed to killing Holloway, saying he kicked and struck her with a cinder block and disposed of her body in the ocean; he was never charged with her killing.
2026-03-17
Beth Holloway filed a complaint against van der Sloot with the Dutch Public Prosecutor's Office, seeking a new prosecution over her daughter's death.
Best coverage
Titles and descriptions are the creators’ own and may not reflect current legal status; see the dossier above for sourced case facts.
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People
Stephany Flores Ramírez
VICTIM
21-year-old business student murdered by van der Sloot in Lima, Peru, in May 2010, five years after Holloway's disappearance; he pleaded guilty to her murder in January 2012.
Joran van der Sloot
CONVICTED
Last seen with Holloway before her disappearance. Never charged in connection with her disappearance or death; Aruban prosecutors closed that investigation without charges in December 2007. In 2023 he pleaded guilty in U.S. federal court to extortion and wire fraud for soliciting payment with false information about Holloway's remains, and in a related proffer letter confessed to killing her, though he was not charged with her killing. He was separately convicted (guilty plea, January 2012) of the unrelated 2010 murder of Stephany Flores Ramírez in Peru.
Beth Holloway
VICTIM
Holloway's mother; named victim of the 2010 extortion and wire-fraud scheme for which van der Sloot was charged and to which he pleaded guilty after his 2023 extradition to the United States.
Natalee Ann Holloway
VICTIM
Victim; an 18-year-old high school graduate who disappeared in Aruba on May 30, 2005. Her remains have never been found, and she was declared legally dead in January 2012.
Gerold Dompig
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Aruban police commissioner who headed the Holloway investigation from mid-2005 until 2006.
Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.
Natalee Holloway, an 18-year-old Alabama high school graduate, disappeared during a graduation trip to Aruba on May 30, 2005, and has never been found; Joran van der Sloot, last seen with her that night, was never charged over her disappearance in Aruba but later pleaded guilty to related U.S. extortion and wire-fraud charges and confessed to killing her.
Where did the disappearance happen?
Oranjestad, Aruba.
Who was convicted?
Joran van der Sloot (Last seen with Holloway before her disappearance. Never charged in connection with her disappearance or death; Aruban prosecutors closed that investigation without charges in December 2007. In 2023 he pleaded guilty in U.S. federal court to extortion and wire fraud for soliciting payment with false information about Holloway's remains, and in a related proffer letter confessed to killing her, though he was not charged with her killing. He was separately convicted (guilty plea, January 2012) of the unrelated 2010 murder of Stephany Flores Ramírez in Peru.).
