Photo: STR/AFP via Getty
The longtime suspect in the 2005 disappearance ofNatalee Hollowaywill be temporarily extradited to the U.S. in connection with charges that he tried to extort her mother, according to multiple reports.
The Peruvian government has approved the transfer ofJoran van der Sloot, who is the prime suspect in Holloway’s disappearance,according to the Associated Press.
Van der Sloot is currently serving a 28-year prison sentence for the 2010 killing of 21-year-old Stephany Flores in Peru. That killing took place exactly five years to the day — May 30, 2005 — that Holloway went missing, per the AP.
The 18-year-old Birmingham, Ala., high school senior was on a class trip to Aruba when she disappeared. Holloway was declared dead in 2012, but authorities have never found her body.
Van der Sloot, 35, has long been a suspect in the crime.
Family photo/AP Photo
Peru’s U.S. ambassador, Gustavo Meza-Cuadra said in a statement viaThe Timesthat he hopes the extradition brings “peace” to the Holloway family.
“We hope that this action will enable a process that will help to bring peace to Mrs. Holloway and to her family, who are grieving in the same way that the Flores family in Peru is grieving for the loss of their daughter, Stephany,” Meza-Cuadra said.
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Natalee’s mother also released a statement regarding van der Sloot’s extradition.
“She would be 36 years old now,” Beth Holloway said about her daughter. “It has been a very long and painful journey, but the persistence of many is going to pay off. Together, we are finally getting justice for Natalee.”
source: people.com
