Before Natalee Holloway went missing during an unofficial school trip to Aruba in 2005, she had her whole life ahead of her. Beth, her mother, had been searching for answers to her daughter’s location for years. Beth then moved to the Caribbean island for a very significant cause almost a decade and a half after the girl vanished.
10 Years After Natalee Holloway Went Missing, Her Mother Revealed A Gruesome Truth On An Interview
Natalee Was The Eldest
Dave and Beth Holloway, who lived in Tennessee, had two daughters, Natalee being the eldest. Following the couple’s divorce in 1993, Beth married George “Jug” Twitty, a prosperous Alabama businessman, and Natalee and her younger brother, Matthew, moved to Mountain Brook, AL, with their mother.
Natalee Was The Eldest
Outstanding In Academic
Natalee was also an outstanding academic, graduating with distinction from Mountain Brook High School. However, the teenager wasn’t always lost in the story. She had, after all, crammed her calendar with a myriad of extracurricular events, such as dance team and National Honor Society participation. She was also scheduled to continue her studies at the University of Alabama after earning an outstanding university scholarship.
Outstanding In Academic
Glamorous Graduation Party
Natalee and her classmates, on the other side, had organized a glamorous graduation party before they entered college. As a result, a party of 125 former Mountain Brook High School students flew to Aruba for a short vacation in May 2005. Natalee was just 18 at the time, but seven chaperones supported her and the other children.
Glamorous Graduation Party
Not A Party Animal
On the other hand, Natalee’s mother said that her daughter wasn’t much of a party animal. Instead, in a 2006 interview with Vanity Fair, Beth said that the teen was driven and well-behaved and that she was not one for boyfriends or raunchy behavior. As a consequence, she had concerns about encouraging Natalee to go to Aruba on an indulgent holiday.
Not A Party Animal
Both Clever And Naive
“Natalee was very clever but very naive,” Beth would later inform the publication. Nonetheless, for graduates of the academy, the Aruba holiday was treated as a rite of passage, and the teen’s stepbrother George had done it years before. The mother of two finally decided to let her daughter go.
Both Clever And Naive
Going To Aruba
Consequently, Beth brought Natalee to a friend’s house in the early hours of May 26, 2005, in preparation for the journey to Aruba. Before she left, the mother made plans to meet her daughter at the airport when she returned from her Caribbean vacation. Sadly, the adolescent would never come alive, and her relatives would never meet her.
Going To Aruba
Last Moments
On ABC’s 20/20 in November 2019, Beth reminisced about her last moments with Natalee, saying, “I helped her bring her bag out of the car and just kissed her farewell, said, “I love you, have a nice day.” Then she walked through the entrance, which was then locked. Never in a million years did I expect it to be the last time.”
Last Moments
Best Party Ever
The Mountain Brook High students are claimed to have welcomed Aruba’s popular party environment until they arrived. “I don’t want to demonize them,” said Police Commissioner Gerold Dompig to Vanity Fair later. However, despite enjoying an excellent time, the party went beyond and beyond.”
Best Party Ever
Crazy Parties
The students had engaged in “crazy partying, a lot of drinking, and plenty of bar hopping every night,” according to Dompig, who was in charge of the inquiry into Natalee’s eventual disappearance until 2006. “We know the Holiday Inn told them they wouldn’t be invited next year,” he said.
Crazy Parties
She Doesn’t Drink
Despite Beth’s assertion that drinking was not in her daughter’s character, the girl is said to have had a good time. “Natalee, we remember – she drank every day, every day,” Dompig said in his Vanity Fair interview. We have commented that she began each morning with drinks and that she drank so often that she missed breakfast two days in a row.”
She Doesn’t Drink
Chaperones
It’s normal for teens on their first trip away from home to push the limits of their newfound independence. That’s why, in the first instance, a party of chaperones accompanied the graduates to Aruba. Parents could have felt comfortable ensuring that their children will be protected with responsible adults present.
Chaperones
Daily Check
According to Mountain Brook High instructor Bob Plummer, the adults checked in with the teenagers every day, who accompanied the graduates to Aruba. “The chaperones were not meant to keep up with their every move,” according to trip coordinator Jodi Bearman, who informed Fox News in 2005. The children were then granted some leeway to have fun.
Daily Check
Secure And Safe
Aruba was often known as a secure, scenic destination where tourists could relax and unwind. Many Americans are unlikely to be surprised by the island. For starters, it’s well-developed, with famous food franchises such as McDonald’s and Taco Bell providing a taste of home for visitors.
Secure And Safe
Gone Missing
Perhaps this is why Natalee’s absence on the last day of her trip sent shockwaves across the world. On May 30, at 1:30 a.m., a witness reported they last saw the teen. She was standing outside of Carlos ‘N Charlie’s, an Oranjestad location, at the time. She did not show up for her return flight home, though, later that day.
Gone Missing
Nowhere To Be Found
On the morning of their trip, the graduates assembled in the hotel lobby. Bearman then called Beth to inform her of the troubling condition when Natalee failed to appear. “They tell me that my daughter Natalee is missing and that no one has seen her,” the mother of two later told 20/20 about this life-altering conversation.
Nowhere To Be Found
Private Jet To Aruba
Beth boarded a private jet to Aruba with her husband, Jug, and two of his friends a few hours later, even without seeing Natalee. At around 10:00 p.m. that evening, the party arrived on the island. Although it was late, the squad got the right to find the missing adolescent. They started by going to the last location where she was seen.
Private Jet To Aruba
Last Seen In A Car
Beth learned Natalee had been last seen in a car with Dutch teen Joran van der Sloot and his two friends Deepak and Satish Kalpoe, on their first night in Aruba. Van der Sloot, who was 17 at the time, was a pupil at Aruba’s International School. He seemed to be a reasonably harmless character, according to witnesses.
Last Seen In A Car
Joran Van Der Sloot
On the other hand, Beth had a different reaction when she discussed van der Sloot to a Holiday Inn employee. “[The woman] understood just who he was: Joran van der Sloot,” the mother later said to Vanity Fair magazine. ‘He continues to prey upon young female visitors,’ she continued.
Joran Van Der Sloot
A Hotel Casino
On the evening of her death, Natalee has encountered van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers at a hotel-casino. Surveillance video also reveals the young American woman and the Dutch teen seated at a blackjack game. Later that evening, she was seen leaving Carlos ‘N Charlie’s in a car with the three guys, according to an additional CCTV video.
A Hotel Casino
Cop Visit
Given the possibility that van der Sloot may know more about her daughter’s whereabouts, Beth’s party visited him at his house, along with two local cops. After first claiming to know little about Natalee, the student subsequently confessed to spending time with the American teen on the night of her disappearance.
Cop Visit
In Deepak’s Car
Van der Sloot said he and the Kalpoe brothers drove Natalee to Arashi Beach to see the sharks. He also reported that he and Natalee had sex in Deepak’s car near a nearby lighthouse before the trio dropped the American off at the Holiday Inn at 2:00 a.m.
In Deepak’s Car
Her And Deepak
Van der Sloot also said that Natalee tripped when exiting the vehicle but that she refused to let him assist her. He then said that he had continued to watch Natalee as he and Deepak sped away and that he had seen the teenager being confronted by a man in a black shirt at that stage. And his associate Deepak, who was with him when police interviewed him at his residence, backed up the Dutch student’s version of events.
Her And Deepak
Search And Rescue
Meanwhile, on the island, a search and rescue effort was ongoing. Thousands of civil servants were granted days off by the island’s government to assist in the quest for Natalee, which attracted a large number of local and foreign volunteers. Dutch Marines also conducted a thorough study of the island’s coastline.
Search And Rescue
Initial Charges And Arrest
Initial charges were reported in the days after Natalee’s disappearance. Van der Sloot believed he saw a dark-shirted man approaching the boy, causing police to arrest two Aruban men who had previously served in hotel defense.
Initial Charges And Arrest
Wrong People?
And at this point of the investigation, Beth suspected the police were pursuing the wrong people. In reality, she had always suspected van der Sloot of being interested in Natalee’s disappearance. “I said, ‘You’re it,’” Beth told 20/20 about the night she saw the Dutch national for the first time.
Wrong People?
No Bail
And it didn’t take long for the Aruban authorities to express Beth’s reservations regarding van der Sloot. Yeah, the two detained suspects were subsequently released without penalty, and van der Sloot, along with both Kalpoes, was held on suspicion of Natalee’s abduction and murder.
No Bail
Stories Changed
However, once in custody, the three offenders changed their stories, claiming that they had not abandoned the American teen at the Holiday Inn. Instead, van der Sloot said that the Kalpoes had left him and Natalee near the Marriott Hotel’s sand. Even though Natalee was reportedly unable to remain awake, he seemingly split ways with her there.
Stories Changed
Blaming Him
While the Kalpoes initially endorsed van der Sloot’s new affidavit, the brothers gradually began to blame their comrade. As a result, van der Sloot modified his story a second time instead of saying that the siblings had escorted Natalee away.
Blaming Him
On Trial
On July 4, 2005, all three men appeared in front of a court, but the Kalpoe brothers were eventually released. On the other side, Van der Sloot was detained for a further 60 days before being released. Although the trio was subsequently re-arrested – twice for the Kalpoes – there was no substantive case against them due to a lack of proof.
On Trial
Dismissed And Unresolved
The investigation was then dismissed by the Aruban authorities in 2007, leaving Natalee’s disappearance unresolved. Her kin, too, had no remains to bury and no one to blame. Beth, on the other side, was persuaded van der Sloot was interested. “He’s a monster,” she can say 20/20. I realize he was the one who killed Natalee, and I’ll never, ever doubt it.”
Dismissed And Unresolved
Still Blamed
But, even though it seemed that van der Sloot was no longer on the run, Beth made it her task to show that he was responsible for Natalee’s disappearance. “Did I foresee what was to come?” she asked on 20/20. No, it’s not real. Yet I realized I was going to keep on to him before I died.”
Still Blamed
Different Stories
Van der Sloot offered contradictory stories of what happened to Natalee over the years. He claimed in 2008 that she had died the morning of her death and that a neighbor had dumped her corpse. He also alleged to have sold the American adolescent as a sex slave. However, the Dutch student later withdrew all of these statements.
Different Stories
Last Attempt
Despite this, Beth remained stubborn about accusing van der Sloot’s role in her daughter’s disappearance. She then gave the Dutch student $25,000 in a last-ditch desperation attempt. The money served as a down payment since Beth had promised van der Sloot a total of $250,000 if he could include some information about Natalee’s whereabouts.
Last Attempt
Fled The Country
Van der Sloot, on the other hand, left the country after Beth sent him the money. “I did not tell you the facts because the details you have are worthless,” he wrote to the mom’s counsel, John Q. Kelly, in a note. If that’s what you say, I’m sorry for making a fool of you. I assume you are a nice guy and a man of your word, although I am neither.”
Fled The Country
Not The End
That might or may not have been the end of the plot. Then, on May 30, 2010, precisely five years after Natalee vanished, a 21-year-old woman was reported missing in Lima, Peru’s capital. Stephany Flores Ramrez was the woman in question. Ramrez, like Natalie, had been caught on camera at the same casino as van der Sloot in the hours leading up to her disappearance.
Not The End
Under His Signature
Authorities in Lima then searched a hotel room booked under van der Sloot’s signature, where they discovered Ramirez’s corpse. The Dutchman had moved to Chile at that time, but he eventually returned to Peru to face charges in the murder of the young woman. On June 7, he admitted to the assassination, and in January 2012, he was sentenced to 28 years in jail for the crime.
Under His Signature
New Reports
Since then, Beth has been plagued by the possibility that van der Sloot traveled to Peru with the money she submitted in return for intelligence on Natalee. On the other side, the mother of two claims that she is to blame for Ramrez’s murder. “Whoever was liable for allowing Joran to flee the island, Aruba – they are the ones who must [lose] sleep at night over Stephany Flores’ death,” she told 20/20. “Not me,” says the voice.
New Reports
2038
Van der Sloot’s sentence is due to expire in 2038, after which he may be extradited to the United States on bribery allegations. Beth and her relatives are now working to bring their life back together amid Natalee’s disappearance. In 2019, Natalee’s mother visited Aruba to reconcile with the country.
2038
Vanished
“14 years back, Aruba has been a lot less important to me,” Beth said on 20/20. It’s curious how all these icons that were so important in our quest for Natalee have simply vanished. Carlos ‘N Charlie’s is no longer in business. This whole city has vanished. This position no longer has power over me.”
Vanished
The Abduction Of Jonelle Matthews
Meanwhile, the abduction of Jonelle Matthews has captivated America for decades. In 1984, a 12-year-old Colorado child went missing just days before Christmas and never returned. However, the puzzle was eventually answered in 2019, thanks to an unexpected finding.
The Abduction Of Jonelle Matthews
Colorado And Pipelines
Colorado ranks fifth in the United States in terms of natural gas output. So it seems that the team drilling a pipeline in Weld County was doing nothing out of the norm. However, as they begin to pass soil in the rural area, they notice something concerning underneath the surface. It’s also not a leak. In reality, it seems to be human remains at first sight.
Colorado And Pipelines
Their Findings
Furthermore, the fateful finding will prove crucial for Jonelle Matthews’ family, who had gone missing. Terri Vierra-Martinez gave birth to her daughter, Jonelle, on February 9, 1972, at the Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in California. Terri was just 13 years old at the moment, and it seems that after only a month of caring for the infant, she found she couldn’t go on. Terri, maybe predictably, placed her infant for adoption in March of the same year.
Their Findings