Natalee Holloway’s mother is suing Oxygen, claiming the NBC-owned network produced a ‘fake’ show and got samples of her DNA under false pretenses.
Beth Holloway is asking for at least $35million from the producers of Oxygen’s The Disappearance of Natalee Holloway, who she says lied to her so they could get samples of her DNA.
According to the long-missing teenager’s mom, she was told by Oxygen that people associated with the docu-series had discovered human, female remains that they believed could be her daughter’s, the lawsuit obtained by TMZ shows.
Beth Holloway filed a lawsuit against the producers of The disappearance of Natalee Holloway, claiming they knowingly lied to her about her daughter’s remains(June 8, 2010, file photo)
Beth claims she was told by Oxygen that people associated with the docu-series had discovered human, female remains that they believed could be her daughter’s
In reality, Beth claims, producers knew the remains found in Aruba weren’t Natalee’s when they contacted her to request the DNA sample.
She is seeking $10 million in compensation and $25million in punitive damages against Oxygen Media and Los Angeles-based Brian Graden Media, which produced the show.
The suit, filed in Natalee’s hometown of Birmingham, Alabama, adds that Beth was subjected to ‘agonizing weeks’ of uncertainty that ‘completely and utterly destroyed’ her.
In the six-episode docuseries , Natalee’s father Dave digs back into his daughter’s 2005 disappearance with the help of private investigator T.J. Ward
In the six-episode docuseries, Natalee’s father Dave digs back into his daughter’s 2005 disappearance with the help of private investigator T.J. Ward (pictured)
Only one out of the four bone samples tested turned out to even be human remains (Image courtesy of Oxygen)
It goes on to say the show was a ‘scripted, pre-planned farce calculated to give the impression of real-time events.’
In the six-episode docuseries , Natalee’s father Dave digs back into his daughter’s 2005 disappearance with the help of private investigator T.J. Ward. After meeting an informant who claimed to know someone with information on the murder, the two traveled back to Aruba to search for Natalee’s body.
They did in fact find remains, but they turned out to not be Natalee’s – and only one out of the four bone samples tested turned out to even be human remains.
Natalee, 18, was last seen during a night out while in Aruba for her senior trip. The case was never solved, and it has sparked the public’s curiosity for over a decade
Joran Van der Sloot has long been the lead suspect in the case but has never been charged
Beth says she would have never willingly provided a sample of her DNA if she had known the remains weren’t her daughter’s.
Natalee’s parents divorced in 1993, long before her disappearance, and Beth wasn’t involved with the show.
NBC and Oxygen have yet to comment on the lawsuit.
The 18-year-old was last seen during a night out while in Aruba for her senior trip. The case was never solved, and it has sparked the public’s curiosity for over a decade.
Joran Van der Sloot, a Dutch citizen, has long been the lead suspect in the case but has never been charged.
He is currently serving a 29-year jail sentence in Peru for killing business student Stephany Flores in 2010.