Suspect in Natalee Holloway’s 2005 Disappearance in Aruba Revealed Her Fate as Part of Plea Deal

Dutch citizen Joran van der Sloot is driven in a police vehicle from a maximum-security prison to an airport to be extradited to the U.S., on the outskirts of Lima, Peru, on June 8, 2023. Martin Mejia/AP Photo

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—The chief suspect in the 2005 disappearance of Natalee Holloway had to say what happened to her as part of a plea deal on charges he tried to extort money from Holloway’s mother years later, a judge said Wednesday.

The disclosure came during a plea and sentencing hearing for Joran van der Sloot, who is accused of trying to get money from Holloway’s mother in exchange for revealing the location of her daughter’s body.