Joran van der Sloot — Holloway & Flores Murders

Joran Andreas Petrus van der Sloot was born on August 6, 1987, in Arnhem, Netherlands, to Paulus van der Sloot, a Dutch legal official assigned to Aruba, and Anita van der Sloot. He grew up on the island of Aruba and attended the International School. In 2005, at age 17, he became the primary suspect in the disappearance of American teenager Natalee Holloway. Five years later, he committed a second murder in Peru. His path from suspect to convicted killer — and ultimately to a U.S. guilty plea confessing to Holloway's death — spans two decades and multiple jurisdictions. [NBC News](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/natalee-holloway-case-timeline-rcna120742)

On the night of May 29–30, 2005, van der Sloot was one of three men last seen with Natalee Holloway, an 18-year-old Alabama student, when she disappeared from the island of Aruba during a senior class graduation trip. He and brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe left Carlos'n Charlie's nightclub with Holloway around 1:30 a.m. She was never seen again. Van der Sloot was detained by Aruban authorities in June 2005 and again in November 2005, but was released both times due to insufficient evidence. Despite multiple police interviews, he gave contradictory accounts of where he had left her — ranging from a beach to a friend's house. No charges were ever filed in Aruba. [AP News](https://apnews.com/article/joran-van-der-sloot-natalee-holloway-aruba-missing-52fa9a0cda13e6cf1a1cf4e07e0e1c6e)

In the years following Holloway's disappearance, van der Sloot was the subject of hidden-camera recordings in which he made incriminating statements. In one 2008 recording obtained by Dutch television journalist Peter R. de Vries, van der Sloot told an acquaintance that Holloway had died in his presence after going limp and that he had called a friend to dispose of the body. A Dutch court later ruled this evidence inadmissible due to entrapment concerns. Van der Sloot denied the statements. He left Aruba and enrolled at a Thai university while continuing to gamble at poker tournaments internationally.

On May 30, 2010 — the five-year anniversary of Natalee Holloway's disappearance — van der Sloot murdered Stephany Flores Ramirez, 21, a Peruvian businesswoman, in his room at the Hotel Tac in Miraflores, Lima, Peru. Security cameras recorded Flores entering his room. The following morning, hotel staff discovered her body. Van der Sloot had fled to Chile, where he was arrested and extradited to Peru. He confessed to the killing, claiming he had found Flores reading his laptop and that he had acted in a rage. [BBC News](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-13336072)

In January 2012, a Peruvian court convicted van der Sloot of aggravated homicide in the death of Stephany Flores and sentenced him to 28 years in prison. He was incarcerated at the Castro Castro prison and later transferred to Piedras Gordas penitentiary. During his Peruvian imprisonment, he fathered a child with a Peruvian woman and later married another woman while in prison. [BBC News](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-13336072)

Separately, in May 2010, van der Sloot had contacted Beth Holloway Twitty (Natalee's mother) through intermediaries and offered to reveal the location of Natalee's remains in exchange for $250,000. He received approximately $25,000 in wire transfers before providing a false address in Aruba. A U.S. federal grand jury in Birmingham, Alabama indicted him on extortion and wire fraud charges in November 2010. [U.S. Department of Justice](https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndal/pr/joran-van-der-sloot-pleads-guilty-extortion-charges-connection-disappearance-natalee)

On October 18, 2023, van der Sloot appeared via video conference from Peru in U.S. District Court in Birmingham, Alabama and pleaded guilty to the federal extortion charges. In the same proceeding, he admitted under oath that he had killed Natalee Holloway — describing striking her in the head with a cinder block and throwing her body in the ocean. This was the first time he had made a legally binding admission of guilt regarding Holloway's death. He was transported to the United States in 2024 for formal sentencing. [U.S. Department of Justice](https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndal/pr/joran-van-der-sloot-pleads-guilty-extortion-charges-connection-disappearance-natalee)

Despite the 2023 confession, no murder charge has been filed regarding Natalee Holloway in any jurisdiction. Aruban law requires corroborating physical evidence or a body to prosecute, and U.S. prosecutors have no jurisdiction over crimes committed on Aruban soil. The Holloway case therefore remains officially classified as an open missing-person investigation in Aruba. Natalee was declared legally dead in 2012 at her father's request.

Aruba — No Charges Filed

Joran van der Sloot was detained twice by Aruban police — in June and November 2005 — in connection with the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, but was released both times due to insufficient evidence. Aruban prosecutors formally closed their investigation in December 2007. Van der Sloot was never charged in Aruba.

Peru — Conviction for Murder of Stephany Flores

Van der Sloot confessed to murdering Stephany Flores Ramirez, 21, in Lima, Peru on May 30, 2010. He was arrested in Chile and extradited to Peru. In January 2012, the Third Criminal Court of Lima convicted him of aggravated homicide (premeditated murder under aggravated circumstances) and sentenced him to 28 years in prison. He is currently serving this sentence at Piedras Gordas penitentiary near Lima. [BBC News](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-13336072)

United States — Federal Extortion Conviction

In November 2010, a federal grand jury in the Northern District of Alabama indicted van der Sloot on one count of extortion affecting interstate and foreign commerce and one count of travel act fraud. The charges arose from his 2010 scheme to extort $250,000 from Beth Holloway Twitty in exchange for false information about Natalee's remains.

On October 18, 2023, van der Sloot pleaded guilty to both counts via video conference from Peru before U.S. District Judge R. David Proctor in the Northern District of Alabama. In his plea allocution, he admitted to killing Natalee Holloway. He was sentenced in 2024 to serve an additional term of imprisonment to run consecutive to his Peruvian sentence. [U.S. Department of Justice](https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndal/pr/joran-van-der-sloot-pleads-guilty-extortion-charges-connection-disappearance-natalee)

No Murder Charges — Holloway Case

Despite the 2023 confession, no murder charge has been filed regarding Natalee Holloway in any jurisdiction. Aruban authorities lack jurisdiction to proceed without physical evidence or remains. U.S. prosecutors have no jurisdiction over crimes committed in Aruba. The Holloway case remains an open missing-person investigation.