When the American student Natalee Holloway went on a vacation to the island of Aruba, she had no idea that she would never make it back home. Natalee disappeared on May 30, 2005, and her disappearance made it to international news. Her case is interesting and has stirred up quite a lot of drama—from false information being supplied to false claims and even a TV series based on the case. Keep reading to find out how this mysterious case began, how it ended, and everything else in between.
How It All Began
It was in 1986 that Natalee was born to Beth and David Holloway. In May 2005, on the 30th day of the month, the Holloways received a life-changing phone call that brought on bad news. They were informed over the phone that their beloved daughter had vanished while on a trip to Aruba, a Dutch island in the Caribbean. It was shared with them that she had not returned to her hotel room. This news shocked not only her parents but also thousands of people as it spread like wildfire over the media.
An Ambitious, High Achiever
Natalee excelled at her studies. She was ambitious and participated in a range of school activities like sports and cheerleading. She was a model student and her grades were excellent. In addition to all her other achievements, she enjoyed dancing and was really good at it, too. Whatever Natalee put her mind to or had a passion for, she put her heart into it and became great at it. Natalee had a younger brother named Matthew as well. Both of them lived with their mother since 1993 when their parents had gotten a divorce. In 2000, their mom married George Twitty.
Natalee’s Disappearance Was Strange
The development of Natalee's disappearance came as a shock to Beth, who had been in contact with her daughter regularly throughout her vacation to the paradise island. They had even shared several text messages. Not once during any of their communications did Beth ever suspect that there was anything wrong on the vacation or even with Natalee. For this reason, she did not believe that her daughter was alright, because she would have contacted them if she was. Of course, it was far too scary to consider the alternatives and to say what may have happened to their dear daughter.
So Many Questions, No Answers
The Aruba police department was on the case, and they had a whole lot of questions they wanted to be answered in order to help them track Natalee down. Of course, the first, most obvious question that needed an answer was what Natalee’s last known whereabouts were. The police investigated, looking into all the places she may have gone to on that fateful night, but there was nothing substantial that was found in their search—not even for a whole decade that the case has been open. But let us first understand why Natalee was in Aruba in the first place...
Natalee’s High School Graduation Celebration
Just six days before her disappearance, Natalee had graduated from Mountain Brook High School. She and a group of friends from her school in Alabama had gone to Aruba to celebrate the graduation. There was a total of 125 youths who ventured on the celebratory vacation, which was sort of like a farewell party before they each moved on to a different part of their lives. The Dutch island was considered a sort of tropical paradise, so it was an easy choice. Natalee was supposed to begin her pre-med studies at the University of Alabama after the trip.
A Well-Deserved Break After the Hard Work
As can be expected, Natalee, like every other young adult who is going to a tropical island, was deeply excited about the adventure. Natalee saw the vacation as her last chance to party with all her high school friends before she headed off to university. Sadly, it later turned out that it would be her last vacation. When Natalee’s friends and the staff of the school searched for her, her luggage was neatly packed. It seemed like Natalee was ready to begin her adventure at the University of Alabama back home.
The Teens Weren’t Left Unsupervised
The group of high school graduates did not go on the tropical vacation on their own, of course. There were also seven adults from the school staff to serve as chaperones for the adventure. Indeed, no responsible organization would have allowed 125 teenagers to roam freely on an island without supervision. The group of chaperones ensured that they met with all the teens each day of the vacation to keep them all safe and sound. But it seemed that even with their best efforts, nothing could prevent whatever it was that happened to Natalee.
Party Fever
Naturally, this trip was all about letting loose and having fun. It was for the sole purpose of unwinding after the stressful final exams; just letting their hair loose before they went out to make a life for themselves. The teenagers were supposed to simply have a tropical break after all the hard work they invested in their final semester of high school education. Of course, the drinking did begin practically immediately upon their arrival. In fact, the island locals even suspected the teens were doing drugs. But none of this was known by the seven chaperones.
The Students Went Wild
Perhaps, realistically speaking, one cannot possibly imagine that a group of 125 teenagers who had just graduated from high school would be anything short of wild. Indeed, it was simply just as would be expected. The high school students behaved wildly and upset other hotel guests with their antics. For their accommodation, they spent four nights at a hotel resort called the Holiday Inn. The adults chaperoning were even warned that the students were unwelcome after their terrible behavior during the stay. What with all the complaints from other guests, it seemed that the chaperones couldn’t handle the students after all.
Drinking Like a Fish
It was reported by the Holiday Inn staff that Natalee wasn’t ever seen without a beverage in her hand—of course, one with alcohol is what they were referring to. The staff commented that Natalee’s drinking started in the early morning and continued throughout the day right until the late hours of the night. It was even said that Natalee had missed a number of breakfasts due to being completely hungover from the previous day’s drinking. Natalee’s friends named Liz and Claire also confirmed the statements made by the hotel staff.
The Trip Was A Whole Lot of Fun
This is not to say that the holiday was not going well. The first three days of the vacation were supposedly great fun and the graduates all had a blast by simply partying away without a care in the world. It was on the fourth and last night of their stay that the group of students decided to dive into a place called Carlos’ n’ Charlie’s, a local drinking hole. It was at this local bar that Natalee met a guy by the name of Joran Van der Sloot. Van der Sloot was a 17-year-old Aruba high school student of Dutch nationality.
The Last Time She Was Seen
Van der Sloot went into the bar with Deepak and Satish Kalpoe, two of his friends who were actually older classmates of his. Van der Sloot struck up a conversation with Natalee and she was actually rather taken by him, thanks to his good looks and his charming personality. People saw Natalee leave with Van der Sloot at around 1:30 in the morning. Of course, Natalee’s friends just figured she was keen on spending the night with the new hottie she had just picked up and assumed they would meet up with her the following morning for all the gossip and the details of her night as they left Aruba. They were wrong.
The Search Began
When the chaperones got down to looking for Natalee and realized that they could not find her, they were very alarmed. All calls that were made to Natalee’s phone went to her voicemail service and she was totally unreachable. Her possessions, including her passport, were all in her hotel room, ready for her to leave Aruba. This meant she hadn’t fled on her own, else she wouldn’t have left all her stuff and wouldn’t get anywhere without a passport. Also, her bed was made, so nobody had slept in it the night before. The police and hotel management were promptly contacted.
An Extensive Search
The police of Aruba searched high and low for Natalee, and they even searched the waters around the island and the hotel as the island is actually quite small. From the lighthouse, the entire island can be seen. It was difficult to overlook her if they were searching so thoroughly. Natalee’s parents went to the island themselves once they heard of her disappearance, and they too did all they could to find her. All searches came up fruitless. Eventually, Beth decided she wanted to learn more concerning the three boys her daughter was with on her last night.
The Holloways Want to Know More
George and Beth went to the Aruba police and the policemen informed them of everything they could about what they had learned about Natalee’s last night on Aruba. They spoke about the last night Natalee spent there, the local bar she was at, the three boys she was with, the time she was seen leaving the bar, and also who she left with. Beth and George stayed in Natalee’s hotel room for the night and continued their own investigation over their missing daughter. The hotel manager was familiar with Van der Sloot and set the police out looking for him.
Questioning Van der Sloot
The police took Beth and George Twitty with them when they went to question Van der Sloot about Natalee and her whereabouts. Natalee’s parents somewhat believed they would even find their daughter in his home, kidnapped by him perhaps. Upon arriving at Van der Sloot’s home, they only found Deepak, his friend, there—not Natalee as they had hoped. Both boys insisted they knew nothing about where she could be and they claimed that Natalee was perfectly fine when they took her back to the hotel. They simply denied knowing anything else.
Raising Funds For the Search
The Aruba island locals were willing to help in whatever way they could. Natalee’s parents stayed at the Holiday Inn free of charge, and the banks in the area helped raise money in order to assist the parents in their search. A few volunteer organizations stepped in as well. The Holloways offered a reward for her safe return, which began at $175K—with donors offering $50,000—climbing to $200K to $1 million after two months and then an additional $100,000 for info about her remains. The $100K grew to $250K for info on her remains by August 2005.
Questionable Security Footage
Beth knew that the surveillance cameras were not functioning when she arrived on the island, so she believed that perhaps they weren’t working during Natalee’s stay either—or at least not on the night she disappeared. She pointed out that the camera footage showed no sign of Natalee returning to her hotel room that night, as Van der Sloot and his friends had recounted. However, Beth believed that the lack of evidence didn’t necessarily mean Natalee didn’t return to her room. There were other ways Natalee could have gone to her room without the cameras picking her up. As such, the lack of evidence on the footage was not actually proof of anything.
A Fruitless Investigation
There were still no leads. The hotel staff spent hours poring over security camera footage searching for some sort of clue or evidence of Natalee returning to her hotel room. Each person gave different accounts of what was in the footage. Even Van der Sloot’s car was taken for inspection by the police. There was a moment when the law enforcement officials saw something that they suspected was blood on the seat of the car, but it later turned out to be something else and there were still no leads. Condoleezza Rice, the U.S. Secretary of State at that time, assured that the U.S government was supporting the government of Aruba in the search.
One Month After the Disappearance
Upon the assessment of evidence gathered by the police and the officials after a month of intense search, it came to light that there was conflicting evidence suggesting very different outcomes. Two security guards of the hotel, Abraham Jones and Nick John, were brought into custody for the suspected assault and murder of Natalee as they were seen interfering with a girl. However, when no real links to the crimes could be found, they had to be released. According to Aruba locals, the guards had a reputation for picking up girls at the bars in the area. Van der Sloot was then taken into custody, as well as his two friends, the Kalpoe brothers.
Two New Witnesses
Two other people eventually grew the courage to come forward and supply new evidence for the case. One was a gardener who claimed that he saw Van der Sloot between two in the morning and three in the morning that night and that he was still with his friends leaving the Marriott Hotel beach. One other person, who was jogging on that night, revealed interesting information—that they had witnessed several men actually burying the body of a woman in what seemed like a landfill. These two areas were searched by the police. But still, nothing turned up.
Van der Sloot’s Story
Van der Sloot revealed that Natalee wanted to see Arashi Beach and the sharks around there. Because of this, they planned to go to the California Lighthouse. Natalee then changed her mind and wanted to go back to her hotel to get ready to leave for home as her flight was scheduled quite early in the morning. Joran described Natalee as rather inebriated as she had supposedly had a lot to drink at the bar and she could barely even walk. They also said that they saw what they thought was a security guard walk up to her, but they didn’t know anything about what happened after that.
Natalee’s Parents Didn’t Buy It
Natalee parents didn’t accept Van der Sloot’s statement, and they believed he wasn’t telling the truth. Unfortunately, even if it was suspected that they were lying, the police had no evidence against either of the boys. And so, they could not actually tie the Dutch student to Natalee’s disappearance. Natalee’s parents then urged the local authorities to proceed with the search and it was then treated as a rescue mission. There were thousands searching for Natalee on the small island. In fact, it was the largest search the island had ever seen. Even the Dutch government helped by sending military personnel to participate in the search.
The Stories Changed
Meanwhile, all the participants in Natalee’s search were growing desperate and a number of people who were suspected to have been involved in her disappearance were under arrest. Then, all suspects supplied a different account of the events that took place the night Natalee vanished. The Kalpoe brothers claimed that they left both Van der Sloot and Natalee together at the hotel when they left for home. Then, Van der Sloot said he did nothing to harm Natalee on that night and that he left her on the beach at 3 am. On July 4, 2005, the Kalpoes were released. Van de Sloot was scheduled for release sixty days later.
Van Der Sloot Was Not in the Clear
Van der Sloot may have thought that he was in the clear when he was first released by the police after being detained on June 9, 2005. But what he didn’t know was that the police had never taken their eyes off of him and his friends as suspects of Natalee’s disappearance. Their movements remained under constant surveillance. Even their phones were tapped by law enforcement officers and their emails were read. The Kalpoe brothers were released on July 4, 2005, but were rearrested on August 26, 2005. They were to be released along with Van der Sloot on September 3, 2005, on condition that they were all available to police.
Van der Sloot's Release
Unfortunately for all those who were hanging onto the possibility of Van der Sloot offering key information and perhaps winding up to be the missing piece to the entire puzzle, he had to be released. There was no tangible evidence or strong links between Van der Sloot and Natalee’s disappearance, and there was no choice but for the authorities to release him on September 3, 2005. In the months afterward, Van der Sloot gave a number of interviews explaining his version of events. His interview on Fox News was the most notable one. He was out of jail, but not out of the woods just yet. There was still more trouble brewing for him.
The Rearrest
The judge who was overseeing Natalee’s case was also under the impression that there was certainly some information that Van der Sloot was not offering the officials. In light of the fact that it was suspected that he was holding back what may be vital information, the Kalpoe brothers and Van der Sloot were rearrested on November 21, 2007. The judge released the Kalpoe brothers on November 30, 2007, but Van der Sloot remained in custody until his release on December 7, 2007. The search and investigation by the police then narrowed down to where Natalie was supposedly left on the beach by Van der Sloot.
Van der Sloot's Fraud & Extortion
Five years passed after the mystery of Natalee’s case when something strange happened. In March 2010, Van der Sloot made contact with the Holloways and presented them with an offer. Van der Sloot offered the family the option of giving him $25,000 in exchange for his assistance in finding Natalee’s body. Of course, the Holloways contacted the police and law enforcement, and a monitored transfer of money into Van der Sloot’s account was made. The phones were tapped when he supplied the location info, but still, nothing was found. Van der Sloot was then charged with extortion and fraud when the information was found to be false.
Natalee Was Declared Dead
In 2010, tourists discovered a human jawbone, but dental records showed it didn’t belong to Natalee. In June 2011, six long years after Natalee vanished, her father Dave Holloway took to the courts of Alabama to file a petition to have his daughter declared legally dead. Her mother, Beth Twitty, announced her intentions to oppose the petition. But during the hearing, it was ruled that Dave Holloway’s petition met the legal requirements for the presumption of death. Upon the second hearing in January 2012, Judge King declared Natalee Holloway legally dead.
Finally, A Private Investigator Breaks Through
In 2016, Dave Holloway hired a private investigator named T.J Ward. The P.I. eventually made contact with an informant named Gabriel, who claimed to have new information regarding Natalee’s case. He was apparently the roommate of Van der Sloot's friend, John Ludwick, in 2005. Gabriel had to wear a wire while Ludwick shared the information so that PI Ward and David Halloway could hear. It was firmly believed that this new informant may hold crucial information leading them to some new discovery about Natalee’s fate. Of course, Ludwick, too, faced possible criminal charges for withholding this information.
Gabriel's Discovery
Back in 2005, Joran Van der Sloot and John Ludwick were roommates. According to Gabriel, Joran had shared with John during that time that Joran had tried to kiss Holloway and even tried to slip her some drug. Shortly afterward, Natalee began foaming on the mouth and then vomiting. Natalee choked to death on her vomit, and Joran panicked. Joran apparently contacted Paulus Van der Sloot, his father, for help. Gabriel then revealed the disturbing information that Van der Sloot and his father had apparently cut up Natalee and put her in a sack. They buried her in a park in Aruba and even put a cactus over her remains to eliminate suspicion.
The Mystery Remains
The new details led the search for her remains to the very park where Gabriel claimed Van der Sloot and his father had buried the sack containing Natalee’s body and planted a cactus plant over the freshly dug-up earth to eliminate suspicion. The remains that were found in the park were confirmed to be of a female of eastern European descent. However, the mystery is still not solved as, according to DNA test results revealed in October 2017, the remains did not belong to Natalee. And so, the mystery remains unsolved to this day…
Beth's Name Change
When Beth was married to George Twitty, she had changed her surname to his. After she published and released a book about her experience titled Loving Natalee: A Mother’s Testament of Hope and Faith, Beth divorced Twitty and she promptly had her surname changed back to Holloway. In April 2009, a TV film was aired based on this book called Natalee Holloway. She is still searching for the remains of her daughter and does find some solace in the knowledge that Van der Sloot is locked up and behind bars. She has shared that she takes comfort in knowing that Van der Sloot’s life is “a living hell”.