Disappearance of Natalee Holloway
On May 30, 2005, Natalee Ann Holloway, an 18‑year‑old recent high‑school graduate from Mountain Brook, Alabama, disappeared while on a trip to Aruba. She was last seen outside the Oranjestad nightclub Carlos’n Charlie's, entering a car with Joran van der Sloot and brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe. Despite extensive searches involving Aruban authorities, FBI agents, Dutch military personnel, and volunteer teams, her remains have never been found.
Her disappearance generated intense international media attention, particularly in the United States. Van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers were arrested multiple times on suspicion of involvement, but all were released without charge due to insufficient evidence. Aruban prosecutors closed the case in December 2007, and Holloway was declared legally dead in January 2012 at her father's request.
Over the years, van der Sloot has made numerous conflicting statements about Holloway's fate, including claims that she died on the morning of her disappearance and that her body was disposed of by an associate. He later denied or retracted many of these statements. In 2023, after being extradited to the United States on extortion and wire‑fraud charges linked to the case, he pleaded guilty and confessed to killing Holloway by blunt‑force trauma. He subsequently returned to Peru to continue serving his sentence for the 2010 murder of Stephany Flores Ramírez.
Background
Natalee Ann Holloway was born on October 21, 1986, in Memphis, Tennessee, the first of two children born to Dave and Beth Holloway. Following her parents' divorce in 1993, Holloway and her younger brother Matthew were raised by their mother in Clinton, Mississippi. In 2000, following Beth's marriage to George "Jug" Twitty, a prominent Alabama businessman, the family moved to Mountain Brook, Alabama, a wealthy suburb of Birmingham. Holloway graduated with honors in May 2005 from Mountain Brook High School, where she was a member of the National Honor Society and the school dance squad, and participated in other extracurricular activities. She was scheduled to attend the University of Alabama on a full scholarship, where she planned to pursue a pre-med track. At the time of their daughter's disappearance, Dave Holloway was an insurance agent for State Farm in Meridian, Mississippi, while Beth Twitty was employed by the Mountain Brook School System.Disappearance in Aruba
On May 26, 2005, Holloway and 124 fellow graduates of Mountain Brook High School arrived in Aruba for a five-day, unofficial graduation trip. The teenagers were accompanied by seven chaperones. According to teacher and chaperone Bob Plummer, the chaperones met with the students each day to make sure everything was fine. Jodi Bearman, who organized the trip, stated, "he chaperones were not supposed to keep up with their every move." Aruban police commissioner Gerold Dompig, who headed the investigation from mid-2005 until 2006, stated that the Mountain Brook students engaged in "wild partying, a lot of drinking, lots of room switching every night. We know the Holiday Inn told them they weren't welcome next year. Natalee, we know, she drank all day every day. We have statements she started every morning with cocktails—so much drinking that Natalee didn't show up for breakfast two mornings." Two of Holloway's classmates, Liz Cain and Claire Fierman, agreed that the drinking on the trip was "kind of excessive".Holloway was last seen by her classmates around 1:30 a.m. on Monday, May 30, as she was leaving the Oranjestad bar and nightclub Carlos'n Charlie's. She left in a car with 17-year-old Joran van der Sloot — a Dutch honors student who was living in Aruba and attending the International School of Aruba — and his two Surinamese friends, brothers 21-year-old Deepak Kalpoe and 18-year-old Satish Kalpoe. Holloway was scheduled to fly home later that day, but she did not appear for her return flight. Her packed luggage and her passport were found in her room at the Holiday Inn. Aruban authorities initiated searches for Holloway throughout the island and surrounding waters but did not find her.
Investigation
Early investigation
Immediately following Holloway's missed flight, her mother and stepfather flew with friends to Aruba by private jet. Within four hours of landing on the island, the Twittys presented Aruban police with the name and address of van der Sloot, who was the person with whom Holloway left the nightclub. Beth stated that van der Sloot's full name was given to her by the night manager at the Holiday Inn, who supposedly recognized him on a videotape. The Twittys and their friends went to the van der Sloot residence with two Aruban policemen to look for Holloway. Van der Sloot initially denied knowing Holloway's name, but then told a story corroborated by Deepak Kalpoe, who was present in the house: van der Sloot stated that they drove Holloway to the California Lighthouse area of Arashi Beach because she wanted to see sharks; they later dropped Holloway off at her hotel at around 2:00 a.m. According to van der Sloot, Holloway fell down as she exited the car but refused his help. He stated that as he and Deepak were driving away, Holloway was approached by a dark man in a black shirt similar to those worn by security guards.File:CarlosnCharlies Oranjestad, Aruba.jpg|thumb|Carlos'n Charlie's in Oranjestad, Aruba. The restaurant was the last place Holloway was seen by her classmates.
The search and rescue efforts for Holloway began immediately. Hundreds of volunteers from Aruba and the United States joined in the effort. During the first days of the search, the Aruban government gave thousands of civil servants the day off to participate in the rescue effort. Fifty Dutch marines conducted an extensive search of the shoreline. Aruban banks raised $20,000 and provided other support to aid volunteer search teams. Beth Twitty was provided with housing, initially at the Holiday Inn, where she coincidentally stayed in the same room her daughter had occupied. She subsequently stayed at the presidential suite of the nearby Wyndham Hotel.
Reports indicated that Holloway did not appear on any nighttime security camera footage of the Holiday Inn lobby; however, Twitty has made varying statements as to whether the cameras were operational that night. According to an April 19, 2006, statement made by Twitty, the video cameras at the hotel were not functioning the night Holloway vanished. Twitty has made other statements indicating that they were working and stated so in her book. Police Commissioner Jan van der the initial head of the investigation until his 2005 said that Holloway did not have to go through the lobby to return to her room.
The search for physical evidence was extensive and subject to occasional false leads; for example, a possible blood sample taken from Deepak's car was tested but determined not to be blood.
American law enforcement cooperated substantially with Aruban authorities from the early days of the investigation. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stated to reporters that the U.S. was in constant contact with Aruban authorities. Another State Department official indicated, "Substantial resources are being applied to this as they
2005 arrests of multiple suspects
On June 5, Aruban police detained Nick John and Abraham Jones, former security guards from the nearby Allegro Hotel on suspicion of murder and kidnapping. Authorities have never officially disclosed the reason for their arrests, but, according to news accounts, statements made by van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers may have been a factor in their arrests. Reports also indicated that the two former guards were known for cruising hotels to pick up women, and at least one of them had a prior incident with law enforcement. John and Jones were released on June 13 without being charged.On June 9, van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers were arrested on suspicion of the kidnapping and murder of Holloway. Aruban law allows for investigators to make an arrest based on serious suspicion. In order to continue holding the suspect in custody, an increasing evidential burden must be met at periodic reviews. According to Dompig, the focus of the investigation centered on these three suspects from the "get-go". He stated that close observation of the three men began three days after Holloway was reported missing, and the investigation included surveillance, telephone wiretaps and even monitoring of their e-mail. Dompig indicated that pressure from Holloway's family caused police to prematurely stop their surveillance and detain the three suspects.
As the investigation continued, David spokesman for the Aruban Minister of falsely indicated on June 11 that Holloway was dead and that authorities knew the location of her body. Cruz later retracted the statement, saying he was a victim of a "misinformation campaign". That evening, Dompig alleged to the Associated Press that one of the detained young men admitted "something bad happened" to Holloway after the suspects took her to the beach and that the suspect was leading police to the scene. The next morning, prosecution spokeswoman Vivian van der Biezen refused to confirm or deny the allegation, simply stating that the investigation was at a "very crucial, very important moment".
On June 17, a sixth person later identified as disc jockey Steve Gregory Croes was also arrested. Van der Straaten told the media that "Croes was detained based on information from one of the other three detainees." On June 22, Aruban police detained van der Sloot's father, Paulus van der Sloot, for questioning; he was arrested that same day. Both Paulus and Croes were ordered to be released on June 26.
During this period, the suspects who had been detained changed their stories. All three indicated that van der Sloot and Holloway were dropped off at the beach near the Marriott Hotel. Van der Sloot stated that he did not harm Holloway but left her on the beach. According to Satish's attorney, David Kock, van der Sloot called Deepak to tell the latter that he was walking home and sent him a text message forty minutes later. At some time during the interrogation, van der Sloot detailed a third account that he was dropped off at home and Holloway was driven off by the Kalpoe brothers. Dompig discounted the story, stating:
This latest story when saw the other guys, the Kalpoes, were kind of finger-pointing in his direction, and he wanted to screw them also, by saying he was dropped off. But that story doesn't check out at all. He just wanted to screw Deepak. They had great arguments about this in front of the judge. Because their stories didn't match. This girl, she was from Alabama, she's not going to stay in the car with two black kids. We believe the second story, that they were dropped off by the Marriott.
Following hearings before a judge, the Kalpoe brothers were released on Monday, July 4, but van der Sloot was detained for an additional sixty days.