Joran Van Der Sloot’s Confession in Natalee Holloway Case Provides Long-Sought Answers, Mother Says

Beth Holloway speaks to media with her son Matt Holloway after the appearance of Joran van der Sloot outside the Hugo L. Black Federal Courthouse in Birmingham, Ala., on Oct. 18, 2023. Butch Dill/AP Photo

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—Beth Holloway was after one thing for 18 years: answers about what happened to her missing daughter.

She got them Wednesday when Joran van der Sloot, long considered the chief suspect in her daughter’s 2005 disappearance in Aruba, admitted in submitted court filings to bludgeoning Natalee Holloway to death on a beach and dragging her body out to sea.