Beth Holloway lost her daughter but never her fighting spirit

It was supposed to be a senior girls trip. Natalee Holloway and her besties were going to celebrate life at an all-inclusive resort in Aruba. It would be the last time they were together in this capacity before everyone would scatter to study elsewhere. “What we didn’t know then was that it would really be the last time we were together,” a friend says in the new docuseries. Taken, which is available on Netflix starting today.

What happened to Natalee Holloway?

I still remember the disappearance of Natalee Holloway well. It hit extra hard because there was a Dutch angle to it. The main suspect, who was quickly in the spotlight, was the Dutch Joran van der Sloot, son of Paul, who worked as a lawyer in Aruba and was training to be a judge, and Anita, a loving expat mother who supported her family abroad. Only in 2023, eighteen years later, did Joran confess that he had murdered Natalee.

What happened at Pauw & Witteman?

I still remember the broadcast of Pauw & Witteman in January 2008, in which Joran sat at the table with his parents, along with crime reporter Peter R. de Vries. As we were used to from him, Peter R. de Vries had taken off the gloves of politeness and went straight for his target. He repeatedly questioned Joran's honesty, and shortly after the broadcast ended, Joran threw a glass of red wine in Peter R.'s face. If Zomergasten still existed and I had ever been a guest there, this would have been one of my clips. I found it unbelievable that you could show your true nature in a TV studio like that, while knowing that this was absolutely not a smart move.

What role did Joran van der Sloot's father play?

The entire police investigation was sloppy and rough. Father Paul van der Sloot had many connections on the island. Police chief Jan van der Straten was a friend of his, and Paul allegedly tried to influence the investigation. He also allegedly advised Joran to remain silent during the interrogations. Joran claimed years ago that his father had helped him dispose of the body, but in his confession in 2023, he stated that he had done everything alone. Paul van der Sloot passed away in 2010 at the age of 57 from a heart attack. Joran reportedly cried for two days after his father's death and said at the coffin that it was his fault, that he had caused his father's heart attack.

How did Joran van der Sloot extort the Holloway family?

Meanwhile, Joran was playing dirty games. He asked Beth Holloway for money in exchange for the truth. For $250,000, he would tell what happened to Natalee and where her body was. He received an advance of $25,000, partly in cash and partly transferred, and provided a location. When a search was conducted there, it turned out that the body was (of course, I would almost say) not there at all. Joran left with the money to Peru, and shortly thereafter murdered 21-year-old Stephany Flores. “I knew he would kill someone else,” Beth Holloway says in the documentary. “He was a ticking time bomb.”

Why is Joran van der Sloot in prison?

For the murder of Stephany Flores, Joran received 28 years in prison in Peru in 2012. For the extortion of Beth Holloway, another twenty years were added in 2023 in the United States, which he is serving concurrently with his Peruvian sentence. According to psychologists, he has an antisocial personality disorder, and they describe him as cold, calculating, and indifferent to human life.

He did not feel remorse in prison. No, he just continued with his criminal hobbies and tried to smuggle cocaine and marijuana into prison. And if you think that all women would keep a wide berth from Joran, you are mistaken. In prison, he met a Peruvian woman who sold items to the inmates. He married her and even had a daughter, Dushi Trudie. Dushi because it means “sweet,” and Trudie after his grandmother. The marriage did not last, and in 2023 they separated. In 2025, Joran reportedly attempted suicide. He will be released in 2045.

How is Joran van der Sloot's mother doing now?

Then we are all curious about how Joran's mother Anita is doing. She leads a reclusive life in Aruba and continued to support and believe in her son until 2023. She even believed that Joran had become so mentally adrift due to all the commotion surrounding Natalee that he had completely lost his way and Peru had left and murdered Stephany Flores there. After his confession, she told in a rare interview with De Telegraaf that she hardly has time to grieve, but that Joran remains her son.

Taken is available on Netflix starting November 4.

Are you thinking about suicide? Talk about it with 113 Suicide Prevention at 0800-0113 or 113.nl.