Disappearance of Natalee Holloway
| Natalee Holloway | |
|---|---|
Senior portrait of Natalee Holloway in 2004
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| Born |
Natalee Ann Holloway October 21, 1986 Clinton, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Disappeared | May 30, 2005 (aged 18) Oranjestad, Aruba, Kingdom of the Netherlands |
| Status | Declared dead in absentia January 12, 2012 |
| Residence | Mountain Brook, Alabama |
| Education | Mountain Brook High School |
| Height | 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m) |
| Weight | 110 lb (50 kg) |
| Parent(s) |
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Natalee Ann Holloway (born October 21, 1986) was an American teenager who made international news after she vanished on May 30, 2005, while on a high school graduation trip to Aruba, a Dutch island in the Caribbean. At the time of her disappearance, Holloway lived in Mountain Brook, Alabama; she graduated from Mountain Brook High School on May 24, 2005, shortly before the trip. Her disappearance caused a media sensation in the United States and the crime remains unsolved.
Holloway was scheduled to fly home on May 30, but failed to appear for her flight. She was last seen by her classmates outside of Carlos'n Charlie's, a restaurant and nightclub in Oranjestad, in a car with local residents Joran van der Sloot and brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe. When questioned, the three men said they dropped Holloway off at her hotel and denied knowing what became 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.
With the help of hundreds of volunteers, Aruban investigators conducted an extensive search and rescue/recovery operation for Holloway. Special Agents from the FBI, fifty 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 floor for Holloway's body. Her remains were never found. On December 18, 2007, Aruban prosecutors announced that the case would be closed without any charges made against the former suspects. 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 May 30, 2005, and that a friend had disposed of her body. Van der Sloot later denied that what he said was true, and in an interview with Greta Van Susteren (the contents of which he later retracted) said that he sold Holloway into slavery.
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