Fifteen years ago, high school senior Natalee Holloway disappeared while on a graduation trip to Aruba with her classmates.
Now, her mother, Beth, is revisiting the island for the first time since 2005 as she takes ABC’s 20/20 camera crews to the places where she searched for the 18-year-old.
Beth tells of the moment she met Joran van der Sloot, the Dutch national who is the prime suspect in Natalee’s disappearance but who has never been charged, just 24 hours after the teen disappeared.
‘I thought: “You’re it,”‘ she said, elaborating that there was no doubt he killed her daughter.
‘Did I know what was to come? No. But I knew that I was gonna hang onto him ’til my last breath.’
Natalee Holloway’s mother, Beth (pictured), is revisiting Aruba 15 years after her daughter disappeared in a 20/20 special
Natalee, 18 (left), was on a graduation trip to Aruba in May 2005 when she went missing. Her mother met Natelee’s alleged killer Joran van der Sloot (right) just 24 hours and was convinced of his guilt
Natalee, from Mountain, Brook, Alabama, graduated with honors from Mountain Brook High School in May 2005.
She was set to attend the University of Alabama on a full scholarship for pre-med when she went to Aruba on a five-day, unofficial graduation trip along with 124 other graduates and seven chaperones.
Natalee was last seen at 1.30am on Monday, May 30, at a bar and restaurant called Carlos ‘N Charlie’s.
Video captured her leaving in a car with Joran van der Sloot – a Dutch honors student attending the International School of Aruba and whom she’d met earlier at a hotel casino – and two of his friends.
She was set to fly back home later that day, but she didn’t show up at the airport, and her luggage and passport were found in her hotel room.
When Beth learned that her daughter never showed up, she flew to Aruba and got Van der Sloot’s full name from the hotel manager where Natalee was staying.
She eventually met with him face-to-face, and was immediately convinced of his guilt.
Aruban police eventually arrested van der Sloot, his friends and at least three other suspects, but no charges were ever brought against them.
Van der Sloot was eventually arrested but he was never charged by Aruban police. Pictured: Natalee at a hotel casino (center), wher she met van der Sloot (bottom left corner)
The Dutch man later extorted Beth for $25,000 by telling her he knew where Natalee’s remains were. Pictured: Natalee, left, with Beth in 2005
‘He’s a monster. I know that he was responsible for the demise of Natalee and I’ll never, never not believe that,’ Beth said.
‘I made a pledge that I will share everything that I have learned. So, that’s what I did.’
Van der Sloot’s story changed several times. He first claimed that he dropped Natalee off back at her hotel, then that he left her at the beach, then that he sold her into sexual slavery.
Then, in a desperate final attempt, Beth sent van der Sloot a $25,000 down payment on a $250,000 total amount in exchange for information on where Natalee’s remains were.
After she sent him the money, he fled.
‘I did not tell you the truth so the information you have is worthless…’ he wrote in an email to Beth’s attorney, John Q Kelly.
‘I’m sorry for making a fool out of you if that is why [sic] you think. I think you are a nice man and a man of your word and I am most definitely not.’
Five years to the day that Natalee disappeared, on May 30, 2010, Stephany Flores was reported missing missing in Lima, Peru.
She was found dead in a hotel room registered to van der Sloot’s name.
Five years to the day that Natalee disappeared, on May 30, 2010, Stephany Flores was reported missing missing in Lima, Peru. She was later found dead in a hotel room in van der Sloot’s name and he was found guilty of her murder. Pictured: Flores at a casino with van der Sloot, left, and right
When visiting Aruba again, Beth (pictured) said: ‘This place doesn’t control me anymore’
‘Some people have said, ‘Well, you know, Beth, if you hadn’t sent him that $25,000 he probably wouldn’t have had the money to go to Peru and then kill Stephany,” Beth told 20/20.
‘Well, hell no…Whoever was responsible for letting Joran leave that island, Aruba – they are the ones that have to sleep at night over Stephany Flores’ death. Not me.’
Van der Sloot was convicted of murder and is currently serving a 28-year prison sentence.
When his sentence is up in 2038, he may be extradited back to the US to face charges of extortion.
Beth traveled with 20/20 camera crews to Aruba and walked through the streets where she conducted her search for Natalee years ago.
‘So, 14 years later, Aruba has become a lot less significant to me,’ she said.
‘It’s interesting how all these landmarks that were such a driving force in our search for Natalee are just – I mean, they’re gone.
‘Carlos ‘N Charlie’s is gone. This whole area is gone. This place doesn’t control me anymore.’
20/20 airs on Friday at 9pm ET on ABC