For the last two decades, Natalee Holloway's 2005 disappearance has captured the attention of international news broadcasts and has become the subject of numerous documentaries.
"Taken: Natalee Holloway,"
a three-part Netflix documentary (now streaming), is the latest project to hit screens − but this one features something that hasn't been seen before: an unreleased sit-down conversation with Joran van der Sloot, the man who confessed to Holloway's murder in 2023.Holloway, an 18-year-old honor roll student and avid dancer, was on a post-graduation trip in Aruba when she was reported missing in May 2005. The Birmingham, Alabama, teen was last seen leaving an Oranjestad nightclub with van der Sloot and brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe, and never
showed up for her return flight on May 30, 2005. Because van der Sloot was one of the last people to have seen Holloway alive, he became a prime suspect in the case.
The third episode of "Taken" features a recorded FBI-led sting operation, conducted in conjunction with Aruban authorities. In the video, van der Sloot agrees to a $250,000 payout in exchange for accurately locating Holloway's remains.
The hazy May 2010 video shows van der Sloot sitting on a yellow sectional across from John Q. Kelly, the then-attorney for Natalee Holloway's mom Beth Holloway, in a hotel in Aruba. At the time, van der Sloot agreed to a $25,000 deal: $10,000 up front and $15,000 wired to him, in exchange for information on Holloway's death and whereabouts.
"Are you ready to be really specific about where Natalee is," Kelly asks van der Sloot, to which he responds, "I can't believe I'm doing it, but I'm ready."
Van der Sloot makes small talk, complaining about the island's scorching temperatures before cracking open a Coke bottle. When Kelly asks if the location is close by, van der Sloot says, "It's not more than five minutes from here."
Once settled, Kelly proceeds to remove $10,000 from a briefcase and counts out the money by the thousands on a coffee table. After van der Sloot signed the contract, Beth Holloway wired the remaining $15,000 from a bank in Birmingham. According to the contract, van der Sloot would be paid hundreds of thousands of dollars on the condition he accurately located her remains.
"To be completely honest, for me, the biggest deal is the 225 afterwards," Van der Sloot says. "Did you put in the contract that that would be paid within a month?"
In the footage, Kelly agrees to the contract terms and they later get into a car and arrive at a home. Van der Sloot points to the house and alleges that Holloway's body is located in its foundation, noting the property was under construction in 2005.
Law enforcement later determined there was no construction at the house on the day of Holloway's death. Van der Sloot also told FBI agents he lied about the location in an email, according to an FBI affidavit. Holloway's remains have never been found.
Who killed Natalee Holloway? Joran van Der Sloot never charged for her murder
In 2010, an Alabama grand jury indicted van der Sloot on wire fraud and extortion charges, accusing the Dutch national of attempting to extort hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Holloway family.
In June 2023, FBI agents transported van der Sloot from South America to the United States to finally face those charges. During the transfer, van der Sloot was serving a 28-year sentence for the 2010 murder of Peruvian businesswoman Stephany Flores.
By October 2023, van der Sloot confessed to killing Holloway and pleaded guilty to extortion and wire fraud charges in the U.S. He was not convicted of Holloway’s murder in the United States.
As part of his plea deal, van der Sloot agreed to reveal how the Alabama teen died and how her body was disposed of. He said he killed Holloway with a cinder block after she rejected his sexual advances on the beach, according to a transcript of an interview with his attorney. He then walked into the ocean up to his knees to “push her off” into the sea, per the transcript.
Van der Sloot was sentenced to 20 years for the financial crimes, under the plea agreement, which is running concurrently with his 28-year sentence for the Peru murder case. He is serving time at Challapalca prison in Peru, as of August 2026. Although he requested a transfer due to threats from inmates, NL Times reported, it is unknown if his request was approved.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: New video shows Joran van der Sloot taking $25K for false Natalee Holloway lead
