The mother of missing Alabama woman Natalee Holloway, whose disappearance has been the subject of international intrigue and numerous TV specials for more than a decade, has sued TV channel Oxygen.
Elizabeth Ann Holloway, in a lawsuit, said that Oxygen Media tricked her into providing a sample of her DNA under a false claim that they found her daughter’s remains, TMZ reported. She said that when Oxygen went to do a six-part series on Natalee’s 2005 disappearance in Aruba, she said she was told that they had found remains that might belong to Natalee.
No such remains were ever found, she said, adding that Oxygen lied to her, the report said. Elizabeth Holloway said she would not have provided the sample of her DNA if the channel hadn’t allegedly misled her into thinking the remains were discovered.
The mother is suing on behalf of Natalee using a legal theory called “outrage,” the TMZ report said, adding that she believes the six-part series---called the “The Disappearance of Natalee Holloway” and aired last year---was a “pre-planned farce.”
Joran van der Sloot is escorted by Peruvian police as he arrives at the Criminal Investigation Direction office in Lima on June 5.(Marcel Antonisse/Getty Images)
Facade of the Hotel where Dutch citizen Joran Van Der Sloot allegedly killed Peruvian citizen Stephany Flores Ramirez, in Lima on June 2, 2010. (Ernesto Benavides/AFP/Getty Images)
In October, Dr. Jason Kolowski, who is a forensic scientist who led testing of the bone fragments that were found in connection with the case, said that they don’t belong to her.
“The mitochondrial DNA bone sample was not a match to [mother] Beth Holloway,” he told Oxygen at the time. “And so it was ruled out as being Natalee Holloway.”
Natalee, who was 18, disappeared while on a high school graduation trip to Aruba on May 30, 2005. She was supposed to appear on a flight home on that day, but she never appeared.
The teen was last seen by classmates with Dutch national Joran van der Sloot and two local residents in a car. Van der Sloot was convicted in the murder of Stephany Flores Ramírez in Lima, Peru in 2010, CNN reported, and he still remains the prime suspect in the Holloway disappearance.
Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter with 15 years experience who started as a local New York City reporter. Having joined The Epoch Times' news team in 2009, Jack was born and raised near Modesto in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
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