After Nearly 18 Years Suspect Is Finally Being Extradited to the US

After 18 Years Suspect Is Finally Being Extradited to the US

(UnitedVoice.com) – The disappearance of Natalee Holloway has gripped the nation for almost 18 years. The high school graduate and dozens of her classmates at Mountain Brook High School in Alabama traveled to Aruba on May 26, 2005. Days later, Holloway vanished and has not been seen since.

One of the men suspected of playing a part in her disappearance is expected to be extradited to the United States to face charges soon.

Who Is Joran van der Sloot?

On May 29, 2005, Holloway and her friends when to Carlos’n Charlie’s nightclub on the island. The teens were able to drink at the club because they were over 18 years old. When the club closed around 1 a.m. on May 30, the group went back to the hotel, but Holloway was not with them.

Witnesses said she got into a vehicle with three males, 21-year-old Deepak Kalpoe, 17-year-old Satish Kalpoe, and 17-year-old Joran van der Sloot. According to reports, van der Sloot told the police that Holloway was intoxicated, so he wanted to give her a ride. He said that he bought her a shot of rum, and they went to a secluded part of the beach.

In 2008, an undercover documentary aired on ABC News. In footage taken without van der Sloot’s knowledge, he described to investigative journalist Peter R. De Vries that Holloway convulsed on the beach. He allegedly confessed to a friend and said he threw her body into the marsh. Police have said they don’t believe his confessions were credible.

Van der Sloot is currently serving time in a Peruvian prison. In 2012, he was convicted of murdering Stephany Flores in May 2010. He confessed to that murder to Peruvian police, saying it was an “impulsive act.” A court sentenced him to 28 years in prison.

Extradition to America

In 2010, the same year van der Sloot killed Flores, the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama announced a grand jury indicted him on wire fraud and extortion charges. More than a decade later, the Peruvian Embassy in Washington has announced he’s expected to be temporarily extradited to Birmingham to face trial for those charges finally.

A 2001 treaty between the two countries allows for the extradition, but the US will have to transport him back to Peru after the judicial proceedings conclude, which could include a potential appeals process.

The charges stem from a scheme van der Sloot allegedly ran on Beth Holloway, Natalee’s mom. He reportedly told the grieving mother that he would tell her where her daughter was if she sent him $250,000. Beth Holloway sent him the first transfer of $25,000, but he later admitted to her the information he gave her was “worthless.”

It’s unclear when van der Sloot will be sent to the US.

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