The complete timeline of the Natalee Holloway case

The prime suspect in the 2005 disappearance of Alabama teen Natalee Holloway has confessed to her murder, per The Associated Press.

Joran van der Sloot, now 36, was in court for an extortion case related to Holloway’s death and admitted he killed her while she was on a class trip in Aruba. It’s been more than 18 years since Holloway’s disappearance, so here’s an overview of the key players and a timeline of the important events in the case.

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Who was Natalee Holloway?

Natalee Holloway was an 18-year-old woman from Alabama who graduated high school days before she disappeared in Aruba. She was an honors student and had received a scholarship to study pre-med at the University of Alabama, per ABC. She loved to travel and was a member of several volunteer organizations, Court TV News reported.

Who is Joran van der Sloot?

Joran van der Sloot is a Dutch citizen who grew up in Aruba and was attending an international school on the island at the time of Holloway’s disappearance, per The Associated Press. He was convicted of the murder of Peruvian woman Stephany Flores Ramirez in 2012, per CNN, and is currently serving 28 years in a Peruvian prison for the crime.

Timeline of the Natalee Holloway case

May 26, 2005: Holloway and a large group from her high school arrive in Aruba for a graduation trip.

May 30, 2005: Holloway’s classmates last see her alive around 1:30 a.m. leaving a restaurant and bar, per CNN. She is seen getting into a car with 17-year-old Joran van der Sloot and two of his friends, 21-year-old Deepak Kalpoe and 18-year old Satish Kalpoe. When she does not appear for her scheduled flight home later that day, her friends alert local police.

June 9, 2005: Van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers are arrested and questioned in connection with Holloway’s disappearance. They claim they drove away from the restaurant together but dropped her off at her hotel around 2 a.m., per NBC.

July 2005: The Kalpoe brothers are released, although van der Sloot remains in custody, per The Associated Press.

August 2005: The Kalpoe brothers are arrested again, per CNN.

September 2005: Van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers are released from custody, although the Aruban prosecutor’s office states the three will remain under investigation, CNN reports.

November 2007: Van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers are arrested once more, per CNN. This is the last time any of the three are arrested in connection with the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.

Dec. 1, 2007: CNN reports that the brothers are again released due to insufficient evidence.

Dec. 7, 2007: Van der Sloot is also released, per CNN.

Dec. 18, 2007: Aruba prosecutors dismiss the case against van der Sloot and the Kalpoes, per CNN.

March 29–May 17, 2010: Van der Sloot contacts Beth Holloway, Natalee Holloway’s mother, and offers to tell her the location of her daughter’s body in exchange for $250,000, according to a later indictment from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. Van der Sloot tells Holloway’s lawyer that Natalee died after hitting her head on a rock, but he is unable to locate her body, per ABC. Van der Sloot leaves Aruba before he can be prosecuted for extortion and moves to Peru.

May 30, 2010: Van der Sloot murders 21-year-old Stephany Flores Ramirez in Lima, Peru, per CBS. He flees to Chile but is later arrested.

June 30, 2010: Van der Sloot is indicted for extortion and wire fraud in Alabama.

Jan. 11, 2012: Van der Sloot pleads guilty to Flores’ murder, per CNN. He is later sentenced to 28 years in prison for the crime.

Jan 12, 2012: CNN reports that Natalee Holloway is legally declared dead after her father files a petition to do so.

June 8, 2023: Van der Sloot is transferred from prison in Lima to a jail in Birmingham, Alabama. He appears in court the next day and pleads not guilty to extortion, per CNN.

Oct. 18, 2023: Van der Sloot appears in court and pleads guilty to counts of extortion and wire fraud. As part of a plea deal, he also confesses to killing Natalee Holloway on May 30, 2005, after she rejected his sexual advances, per CNN.

He is sentenced to 20 years in prison, but the time will be served concurrently with his Peruvian sentence, which means that he will be released from prison in Peru in 2045 and will not have to face additional jail time.

CNN reports van der Sloot will likely not be prosecuted for Holloway’s murder because the statute of limitations has expired.

Beth Holloway delivered a victim impact statement in court and spoke of her grief.

“It’s over,” she said. “Joran van der Sloot is no longer the suspect in my daughter’s murder. He is the killer.”