By Aaron Miller-
The primary suspect in the disappearance of American tourist Natalee Holloway will be brought to the U.S. to face fraud charges, it has been revealed.
Dutch citizen Joran van der Sloot, 35, will be extradited from Peru after the country’s government issued an executive order permitting the transfer on Wednesday.
Joran van der Sloot, 28, will face fraud charges in the U.S. after he allegedly scammed Holloway’s family out of $25,000 after promising to lead them to her bodyCredit: MSNBC News
Van der Sloot was in Aruba in 2005 when Holloway, 18, went missing while on a high school graduation trip to the island.
The Alabama woman’s body has never been found but a judge later declared her dead.
Van der Sloot has long been the primary suspect in her death but has never faced charges.
Still, the fraud case he’s now being extradited for is connected to Holloway’s disappearance, the Associated Press reported.
Van der Sloot allegedly accepted $25,000 from the missing woman’s family in 2010 after promising to lead them to her body.
The suspect then promptly fled to Peru after he allegedly lied to the family’s lawyer.
Van der Sloot allegedly told the attorney that his father had buried Holloway’s body in the foundation of a house but authorities later said the claim was not true.
JoranVan der Sloot has been in prison in Peru since 2010, when he was convicted of the murder of a young woman in a Lima hotel room.
Natalie Holloway disappeared in Aruba in 2005, while on a high school graduation trip. Van der Sloot was one of the last people to see her alive, and was arrested twice in connection with her disappearance, but was never charged. He later confessed to the murder of the woman in Lima, but has never admitted to any involvement in Holloway’s disappearance.
Despite extensive searches and investigations, Holloway’s body has never been found, and her case has remained unsolved for nearly two decades. However, her family has continued to pursue justice, and Van der Sloot’s extradition to the United States is seen as a major step in that effort.
The charges that Van der Sloot will face in the United States relate to allegations that he extorted money from Holloway’s mother, Beth Twitty. According to reports, Van der Sloot promised to provide information about Holloway’s disappearance in exchange for a payment of $250,000. However, he allegedly took the money and never provided the promised information.
Van der Sloot’s extradition was approved by a court in Peru in April 2021, and he is expected to be transferred to the United States in the coming months. If convicted on the extortion charges, he could face up to 20 years in prison.
The extradition is seen as a major victory for Holloway’s family, who have long sought justice in her case. In a statement, Beth Twitty expressed hope that the extradition would lead to new information about her daughter’s disappearance.
“We are grateful to the Peruvian authorities for their cooperation in this matter,” she said. “We have waited a long time for justice, and we hope that this will be a step towards finding out what happened to our daughter.”
The case has been the subject of intense media scrutiny, and has brought attention to the issue of missing persons and the challenges faced by families seeking justice in such cases. The Holloway family has been particularly vocal in their efforts to keep the case in the public eye, and has used their platform to advocate for changes in how missing persons cases are handled.
The extradition of Van der Sloot is likely to keep the case in the spotlight, and could lead to renewed interest and attention from the media and the public. It remains to be seen whether the move will lead to new information about Holloway’s disappearance, but for her family, the extradition represents a significant step towards closure and justice.
“It has been a very long and painful journey, but the persistence of many is going to pay off,” she said.
“Together, we are finally getting justice for Natalee.”
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Edgar Alfredo Rebaza, the director of Peru’s Office of International Judicial Cooperation and Extraditions, also addressed the transfer in a statement obtained by AP.
“At a time when there is increasingly greater cross-border transit of people, our institutions are keeping up to ensure that criminals are brought to justice,” he said.
“We will continue to collaborate on legal issues with allies such as the United States, and many others with which we have extradition treaties.”
Holloway’s disappearance is not the only case Van der Sloot has been involved with.
After fleeing to Peru, he killed a college student named Stephany Flores on the fifth anniversary of Holloway’s disappearance.
Van der Sloot met her in a casino and learned that she came from a wealthy family.
Van der Sloot pleaded guilty in 2012 and was handed a 28-year sentence which he’s still serving.