Joran van der Sloot, the infamous suspect in the 2005 disappearance of Natalee Holloway, an American teen who went missing during her high school trip in Aruba, will be extradited to the United States from Peru.
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Holloway’s family made an announcement on Wednesday stating Van der Sloot’s extradition to the U.S. is exactly 18 years after the teen’s disappearance. “Almost exactly eighteen years later, her perpetrator, Joran van der Sloot, has been extradited to Birmingham to answer for his crimes,” Beth Holloway said.
According to Fox News, Peruvian authorities agreed to extradite Van der Sloot as he is serving a 28-year prison sentence for the 2010 murder of 21-year-old Stephany Flores. Peruvian government officials approved to hand over Van der Sloot temporarily “for his prosecution in the United States for the alleged commission of the crimes of extortion and fraud, to the grievance of Elizabeth Ann Holloway”, said Minister of Justice and Human Rights, Daniel Maurate Romero.
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Van der Sloot made headlines as he was the last person to be seen with Natalee Holloway in 2005. Natalee was an 18-year-old from Mountain Brook, Alabama, and was looking forward to graduating high school and attending the University of Alabama. She had traveled to Aruba with a group of her classmates for a post-graduation vacation, and was due to fly back home on June 5th.
On the night of May 30th, Natalee went out to a popular nightclub in Aruba with her classmates. She was last seen leaving the nightclub with three local men: Joran van der Sloot, Deepak Kalpoe, and Satish Kalpoe. The three men were later arrested and detained by authorities, but were ultimately released due to a lack of evidence.
Despite extensive searches, Natalee’s body has never been found. There have been numerous theories and rumors about what happened to her, but to this day, the case remains unsolved.
In 2010, van der Sloot was arrested in Peru and charged with the murder of another young woman, Stephany Flores Ramirez. He was later convicted and sentenced to 28 years in prison. While in prison, he reportedly confessed to the murder of Natalee Holloway, but the validity of this confession is still under question. He said he committed Ramirez’s murder in a fit of rage after she discovered on his laptop concerning his involvement in Holloway’s disappearance.
Beth Holloway said her daughter would’ve been 36-year-old today: “It has been a very long and painful journey, but the persistence of many is going to pay off. Together, we are finally getting justice for Natalee.”