Natalee Holloway Case
January 12th, 2012
Natalee Holloway has officially been declared dead by an Alabama judge. Months after her father requested the declaration, and years after her disappearance, this pronouncement hardly comes as a shock. To deny the request would require some evidence that Natalee was still alive, and in its absence Judge Alan King made the pronouncement during a hearing this afternoon.
October 5th, 2011
On September 23rd, a judge in Jefferson county ruled that Dave Holloway’s request met the legal presumption for Natalee’s death, and the petition can proceed. This means that now it is up to someone else to prove she is still alive. The next step is to run legal notices in the newspaper for two weeks asking anyone with information to about Natalee’s whereabouts to come forward. If no information comes to light in 12 weeks after the newspaper notices stop running, she will be declared dead.
For more information go here
September 19, 2011
Dave Holloway requests Natalee be declared dead
Natalee Holloway’s father has served papers on the mother to have the teenager declared legally dead. On April 19, 2011, Dave Holloway signed papers seeking a “petition for presumption of death for persons missing for more than five years.” Natalee Holloway has been missing more than six years now. A hearing concerning the father’s request is scheduled for September 23rd. Beth Holloway, Natalee’s mother, states that she had no idea these papers were being filed and does not plan to agree to have her daughter declared dead.
September 2, 2011
Van der Sloot Formally Charged with Murder
After his arrest over a year ago, Joran van der Sloot was finally formally charged yesterday for the murder of Stephany Flores Ramirez. Prosecutors were running low on time–Peruvian law states that a suspect’s trial must begin within 18 months of his arrest, and that deadline will come up this December. The date for the trial has not been set, but a hearing is set to take place on September 12th to present the charges to van der Sloot’s defense attorneys.
At this point, van der Sloot remains a suspect in the Natalee Holloway disappearance, though those particular charges have not been filed.
July 7, 2011
Van der Sloot’s Trial Postponed
Last month Joran van der Sloot’s trial for the murder of Stephany Flores Ramirez was postponed because of the resignation of his defense attorney. He has since acquired a new lawyer, and proceedings have begun, starting with a closed-door preliminary hearing last month.
Van der Sloot confessed to killing Ramirez initially, but has attempted to have the confession thrown out since. He’s being charged with first degree murder in Lima, Peru. Stay tuned for updates as proceedings continue.
At this point, van der Sloot remains a suspect in the Natalee Holloway disappearance, though those particular charges have not been filed.
August 25, 2010
Van der Sloot’s Confession under Review…Again
Almost two months ago, a judge denied Joran van der Sloot’s allegations that his constitutional rights were violated during a murder interrogation. This action upheld van der Sloot’s confession to the May 2010 murder of Stephany Flores Ramirez in Lima, Peru. Reports indicate that van der Sloot still wants the “alleged” confession thrown out due to his claims of improper representation and a non-official translator. His lawyer has now taken the case to a three-judge appellate panel, which could put his current murder trial on hold while the panel considers whether or not to uphold the confession. A decision is expected within the week.
At this point, van der Sloot remains a suspect in the Natalee Holloway disappearance, though charges have not yet been filed.
For additional information, see the following articles: Appeals panel considers confession or Murder trial comes to screeching halt.
June 28, 2010
Van der Sloot to See More Jail Time for Peru Murder
In Lima, Peru, a judge declared Joran van der Sloot’s claim that his rights were violated as “unfounded”. Van der Sloot’s confession and subsequent incarceration were therefore upheld in connection with the murder of Stephany Florez Ramirez. In addition, van der Sloot remains a suspect in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, though no charges have been filed by Aruban authorities to date.
For more information, please click here.
June 23, 2010
A Violation of Rights?
According to Joran van der Sloot and his attorney, Maximo Altez—who has decided to continue representing the Dutchman for now—van der Sloot’s rights and due process were violated after his arrest in Peru. Van der Sloot is raising claims that he was tricked into giving his confession to the murder of Stephany Flores Ramirez. Peruvian authorities maintain that everything was obtained justly. Today, a judge is expected to rule on the legality of van der Sloot’s imprisonment.
Since having been incarcerated, van der Sloot has been subjected to a psychological evaluation. The results indicate that he is perfectly capable of understanding reality. However, he demonstrated a low tolerance for frustration, especially when being contradicted. His emotional immaturity in dealing with such situations elicits a challenging attitude that seems to send him out of control. There was also evidence that van der Sloot does not value the female role. These findings, when combined with the evidence the Peruvian authorities already have, appear to only further substantiate the case against van der Sloot. Should new evidence come to light regarding the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, the psychological evaluation may also provide further insight into that case as well.
Click here for more information.
June 17, 2010
Van der Sloot to face Judge on Monday
News reports indicate that a hearing is to take place on Monday, June 21, 2010, in which Joran van der Sloot is expected to give his first statements before a judge. Judge Cordova noted that should any information pertaining to Natalee Holloway’s disappearance come to light during the hearing, the proper authorities would be informed.
More information can be found here.
June 16, 2010
International Cooperation and More Legal Troubles for van der Sloot
During Joran van der Sloot’s confession about the murder of Stephany Flores Ramirez, he indicated that he knew the location of Natalee Holloway’s body. However, van der Sloot refused to speak to anyone but the Aruban police regarding this information. Updated reports have now confirmed that Aruban and Peruvian authorities are going to “work together” to try and solve both cases. Aruban investigators will be allowed to submit a formal request to Peruvian authorities to interview van der Sloot once the Peruvian investigation has finished its probe into the recent murder. This interview may allow Aruban authorities to gain new information in the Holloway case. Unfortunately, given the formalities of Peruvian law, the interview may not be able to take place until the end of August. In the meantime, it has been said that the FBI hopes coordinate with Peruvian authorities to obtain any relevant information from the laptop computer that was confiscated from van der Sloot, and then share that information with Aruban investigators.
As this international cooperation has begun, reports indicate that van der Sloot’s original private attorney, Maximo Altez, has quit after having received numerous death threats. As updates regarding new representation and the trial are awaited, van der Sloot has been ordered to be jailed in the maximum security Castro Castro prison in Peru.
For further information about the content of this post, click here, here, or here.
June 11, 2010
Van der Sloot Claims to know location of Natalee Holloway’s body
According to recent news reports, during his interrogation in connection with the Stephany Flores Ramirez murder, Joran van der Sloot revealed that he knows the location of Natalee’s body. Unfortunately, van der Sloot refused to give any further details concerning her disappearance. A statement from the head of the homicide division of the Peruvian national police investigative unit explained that van der Sloot was going to explain everything to Aruban police. At this point, there is no indication as to how Aruban and Peruvian authorities are responding to this new development in the case.
Click here to learn more about this story.
June 8, 2010
Joran van der Sloot confesses to the murder of Stephany Flores Ramirez
On the night of Monday, June 7, 2010, Joran van der Sloot gave a tearful confession to the investigators in charge of the Stephany Flores Ramirez case. Stephany’s body had been found on June 2nd in a hotel room rented to van der Sloot. According to the confession, van der Sloot had stepped out of his hotel room on the morning of May 30th for coffee, and upon arriving back had found Stephany reading information on his laptop that had connected him to the disappearance of Natalee Holloway. This invasion of privacy enraged van der Sloot, who said he then beat Stephany to death. According to reports, Sephany’s neck had been broken. Today, Peruvian authorities are taking van der Sloot back to his hotel room for a re-enactment of the crime to corroborate his statement. Once formal charges have been filed, Joran van der Sloot may face 15 to 35 years in prison for the slaying of Stephany Flores Ramirez.
To read more about this, please click here.
June 6, 2010
Joran van der Sloot charged with extortion and wire fraud in Natalee’s case
The FBI has filed two criminal complaints against Joran van der Sloot in regards to the Natalee Holloway case for wire fraud and extortion. The complaints were in regards to his soliciting money in return for revealing the location of Natalee Holloway’s remains and the circumstances of her death. According to the complaint, Joran extorted $15,000 as a partial payment of a total $250,000 deal to reveal the location of Natalee’s remains. Since the $15,000 was wired, van der Sloot is also being charged with wire fraud because he was wiring funds in furtherance of a scheme to defraud. The maximum sentence for the extortion is 20 years in prison and the maximum sentence for the wire fraud is 30 years.
For more information see this article.
June 3, 2010
Joran van der Sloot captured for murder of Peruvian girl
Joran van der Sloot was captured in Santiago, Chile June 3rd by authorities. Joran entered Chile on June 2nd, paperwork showed. Arrangements have been made by Peru with Interpol for the extradition of van der Sloot upon capture.
June 2, 2010
Natalee Holloway Case Suspect Accused of Murder in Peru
Joran van der Sloot, the prime suspect in the 5 year long search for Natalee Holloway’s killer, is once again under the suspicion of murder. Stephany Tatiana Flores Ramirez, the 21 year old daughter of race car driver Ricardo Flores, was found dead in a hotel room in the early hours of June 2, 2010. Stephany was last seen exiting a casino with van der Sloot on May 31st and had not been seen again until her body was discovered in the hotel room,which was rented to van der Sloot. Stephany was stabbed to death.
Joran was the last person Stephany was seen with alive and the last person she was seen with before she was reported missing, this makes van der Sloot the prime suspect. Adding to the appearance of Joran’s guilt is the fact that he fled Peru on May 31st, the same day Stephany went missing, and has not made his whereabouts known since. Joran is thought to have fled to Argentina or Chile; Peruvian police and Interpol are searching for him in regards to this murder.
For more on this topic please see this article
April 1, 2010
UPDATE: Aruba chose not to continue the search for this location.
March 19, 2010
Possible photo of Natalee’s remains
A couple of SCUBA divers have come forward with this underwater photo they took while diving in Aruba. The couple believes that the photo depicts not only human remains, but may in fact be Natalee Holloways’ remains. Natalee’s mother Beth say that she is still waiting on first confirmation of the photo’s authenticity as well as confirmation that the item in the photo is actually a human skeleton.
Investigators are analyzing the photo. Click here to read more.
February 25, 2010
Joran van der Sloot’s confession
Recently the case of Natalee Holloway has resurfaced due to yet another confession from Joran van der Sloot, the prime suspect in the Natalee Holloway disappearance. Natalee Holloway made headline news in 2005 when she failed to catch her flight back to the USA from Aruba at the end of a school trip. She was last seen getting into a car with Joran van der Sloot and two of his friends; Natalee was never seen again. Since 2005 Joran van der Sloot has remained the prime suspect. Joran has told many different stories in regards to what happened to Natalee; he has said he and his friends dropped her off at her hotel, that he left her on the beach alone, that he sold her to a man in a boat for $10,000, that he had a friend dispose of her body after she died from a seizure during a romantic interlude on the beach, and now that he dumped her body in a swamp. In fact, Joran van der Sloot’s story has changed over 20 times. So why is Joran van der Sloot not in jail? Why have charges never stuck?
The case, unfortunately, lacks any forensic evidence. There is no body and there is no physical forensic evidence. This complete lack of physical forensic evidence means that police have to rely on witness testimony and cell phone and computer trails alone. And although there is evidence showing communications between suspects, there is nothing substantial for the prosecution to hang their hats on due to the lack of physical evidence. This leaves testimonial evidence, such as Jordan’s confessions.
Confessions cannot be taken at face value without corroboration, if Joran confesses to the crime revealing an act that could not have actually taken place then the police cannot accept the confession as true. Prosecutors claim that his stories have never made total sense and could not have taken place as he has said. So why would Joran van der Sloot confess to the crime and not tell the truth? Perhaps he does not want to get caught, and having had a lawyer/judge for a father he knows how to confess without giving police the details needed to able to charge him. So why should he talk at all? Joran confessed not only the crime to a friend of his (a confession he later claimed was fictitious and was told solely for bragging rights) but he also confessed he planned to file a lawsuit and make lots of money off his multiple arrests and releases. Van der Sloot has already written a book titled The Natalee Holloway Case, and most likely plans to profit off of the Holloways’ tragedy as long as he can.
All future updates to this case will appear on this page.
Beth Holloway and the museum have partnered in forming the Natalee Holloway Resource center to raise awareness and help find missing people; click here to read more.
