The Disappearance of Natalee Holloway
Since my post was about Stephany Flores and Joran van der Sloot yesterday, I thought I would write about Natalee Hollaway, since she was mentioned quite a lot in the other case. I was very young when Natalee disappeared and was most likely murdered, but this case is what peaked my interest for true crime. I remember watching her case being discussed on Nancy Grace, and I remember seeing how heartbroken her family was that they couldn’t find her.
Background
Natalee Holloway was born on October 21, 1986. When Natalee disappeared, she was living in Birmingham, Alabama.
Natalee
She was a popular student, and involved in many activities. She was also an National Honors student, and was planning to attend University of Alabama after high school. This would all change of course when she went on her class trip to Aruba.
Disappearance
On May 26, 2005, a Thursday, Natalee and her classmates from Mountain Brook High School finally got to Aruba. There were also seven chaperones on this trip, but they were not with the students every single minute.
There was apparently a lot of heavy drinking, partying, room switching and noise issues when the group was staying at the Holiday Inn in Aruba. I can see why the noise issue thing would be a problem, considering I work in hotels, but it’s rude that the police are blaming these kids for being partiers and alcoholics, when they were just having fun.
According to several classmates, Natalee would drink everyday. She would drink so much that she didn't make it down to their scheduled breakfasts more than once.
She was last seen on May 30, around 1:30am at a nightclub called Carlos n Charlie’s. She left with Joran van der Sloot, who was 17 at the time. There were also two other men in the car, 21 year old, Deepak Kolpoe and his brother Satish, who was 18.
This was the night before Natalee was supposed to leave Aruba. She never made it back to the Holiday Inn, and her luggage and passport were found at the hotel.
Holiday Inn Aruba
Investigation
Natalee’s disappearance was investigated by the Aruban authorities. Natalee’s parents and stepfather were flown to Aruba the same day they learned she disappeared. They had already learned that Natalee was with Joran van der Sloot, and that he was the last person to see her alive. They told the police that this was their suspect.
Natalee with Dave and Beth, her parents
Natalee’s mom, Beth and her stepfather, drove to Joran’s home. Joran said he didn’t know Natalee when her parents mentioned her. Joran then changed his story and said they went to Arshai Beach because Natalee wanted to see sharks. Joran also said Natalee was super intoxicated, so he and his friends drove her back to the hotel around 2am. He said they dropped her off, and she immediately talked to another man who might have been a hotel security guard.
The next few days, all of Aruba appeared to be searching for Natalee. People were given permission to have days off from work to search, searchers from the United States came to help and banks were raising money, around $20,000 to be exact.
Natalee’s mom, Beth, stayed at the Holiday Inn and in the same room Natalee was in. She conducted searches from that hotel. She said in a statement that the cameras from the hotel weren't working when Natalee went missing.
Arrests
Joran was in fact still the prime suspect, and was eventually arrested. But before that, the police had two other suspects: Nick John and Abraham Jones. They were arrested on June 5, and were security guards from a hotel nearby called the Allegro Hotel. They were arrested on suspicion of murder and kidnapping. They were released on June 13.
On June 9, Joran was arrested, as well as the Kalpoe brothers. They were arrested for suspicion of murder and kidnapping. They were arrested because there was evidence that these three men were involved, including surveillance, phone calls that were wiretapped and emails.
When the police were interviewing Joran, his story once again changed. He said that he left Natalee on the beach, instead of taking her back to the hotel like he said. He then had a third story, and said he was dropped off at home and Natalee was taken home by the Kalpoe brothers.
Joran and the Kalpoe brothers were all released.
Where is Natalee?
There were many witnesses that came forward and said that they remember Joran and the Kalpoe brothers burying a “blonde girl” in a landfill on May 30. The police brought in cadaver dogs, and no evidence was found to suggest that Natalee was there.
On August 26, the Kalpoe brothers were arrested again. They also arrested a 21 year old named Freddy Arambatzis, who the police also believe was involved. He was also accused of an incident of taking pictures of an underage girl, before Natalee died. What a piece of shit.
They were all released again, as long as the police could talk to them whenever they wanted.
Joran Talks
Joran did several interviews and once again told another story. He said that night he was with Natalee, she wanted to have sex with him but he didn’t have a condom. He said Satish Kalpoe picked Natalee up around 3am, and he left because he had to be up early the next day. His interview aired in March 2006.
The police said in an interview that they believed Natalee was not murdered, but died from alcohol or drug poisoning and that someone hid her body. This a load of crap, wouldn’t someone want her body to be found if she had just died from alcohol poisoning?
The police clearly didn't give two shits about Natalee because they complained that they had spent $3 million on police searches and investigation. Natalee’s family denies that she ever used drugs.
Later Developments
On November 21, 2007, Joran and the Kalpoe brothers were arrested again, on suspicion of manslaughter and causing bodily harm to Natalee. Joran was arrested in the Netherlands by this point, and the brothers were still in Aruba.
They were again released because of a lack of evidence. On December 18, unfortunately the case was closed. They said:
“Unless [Mos] finds a body in the bathroom of one of these kids, there’s no way in hell they can arrest them anymore.”
On March 29, 2010, Joran contacted Beth Holloway through her attorney and said he would reveal where Natalee’s body was, only if he was given $25,000.
On May 10, $15,000 was transferred to Joran’s account in the Netherlands. He provided false information, yet again. He said they had buried her body near a house that wasn’t even built when Natalee disappeared. According to Dave Holloway on the Disappearance of Natalee Holloway documentary on Oxygen, Joran used the money that he was paid to go to Peru, where he eventually killed Stephany Flores.
On June 3, Joran was charged in the U.S. District of Northern Alabama with extortion and wire fraud. He was indicted on June 30.
Other
In June 2011, Dave Holloway, Natalee’s dad, filed a petition in Alabama to have his daughter declared legally dead. Beth, Natalee’s mom, wanted to oppose this. Eventually on January 12, 2012, the order declaring Natalee dead was signed. MY HEART BREAKS FOR THIS FAMILY.
On an Oxygen documentary, a man named John Ludwick, said he had helped Joran dig up and cremate Natalee’s body in 2010.
John Ludwick was stabbed by a woman he tried to kidnap in March 2018.
Both of Natalee’s parents have written books about Natalee and her disappearance. Beth’s book is called Loving Natalee: A Mother’s Testament of Hope and Faith and Dave’s book is called Aruba: The Tragic Untold Story of Natalee Holloway and Corruption in Paradise.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I hate Joran van der Sloot and I hate what he did to this family and Stephany Flores. He should have never been out to kill another person. He’s a monster, and I’m happy he’s so hated in the prison he's in today.
I also don’t like how this case was handled. The police didn’t give one shit about Natalee or her family. All they did was victim blame and complain about how much money their investigation was. There was no evidence that Natalee was an alcoholic or a drug user, so why is it still brought up that she was? Ugh, I hate talking so badly about police but come on, this is still one of the worst police investigations to date.
I truly hope that Joran one day admits to what happened to Natalee. He makes me sick, have fun rotting in prison, you monster!
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Natalee_Holloway
https://heavy.com/entertainment/2020/05/john-ludwick-natalee-holloway-body-disappearance/
