Was Natalee Holloway's Bone Found in Aruba?

Authorities in Aruba are performing DNA testing on a bone that was found on the island this week. They have already verified that the bone is human and it is the bone from a young woman. The bone found is part of a jaw bone with a tooth attached.

Natalee Holloway disappeared over five years ago after travelling to Aruba from Alabama on a high school senior trip. Chaperones failed to do a visual check of each hotel room on the night Natalee went missing and her close friends dutifully covered for the girl because they though she was out partying late.

When Natalee failed to show up the next morning for her flight home, the authorities were notified along with her parents. Her mother Beth Holloway Twitty, rushed down to the island and began searching for her eighteen year old daughter, Natalee. She was soon joined by Natalee's dad, Dave Holloway. One of the first people that the parents questioned was a young man named Joran Van Der Sloot.

Eventually Joran became a suspect in the case because it was believed that he was the last person to see Natalee. He was jailed briefly along with two other men, the Kalpoe brothers. The prosectors in Aruba have never been able to make a case against any of the men.

Over the years Joran has given many accounts of the evening. In some of his stories, he dropped Natalee off at her hotel. In other stories she accidentally died or passed out or had some type of seizure. He has also given different scenarios on where the body may be, in a swamp or dumped in the ocean. Many observers believe that his father may have helped him cover up the crime because his wife was out of town the night that Natalee disappeared. No physical clues were found such as blood, hair or other body parts.

Five years to the day after Natalee went missing, Joran killed again. While visiting Peru, he killed Stefany Flores in his hotel room. Some say it was because she was questioning him about Natalee.

Joran is now in jail in Peru, he faces 15 to 35 years in prison if convicted. What about life in prison or the death penalty?

He is also being investigated for extorting money from Beth Holloway Twitty. It is believed that Beth paid him $10,000 to tell her where Natalee's body could be found. Joran took the money and then led Beth's search time on a wild goose chase without giving them the exact location of the body.

Joran then used the money to travel to Peru.

The bone found on Aruba is definitely human and from a young woman which brings the real possibility that Natalee has been found after more than five years.

Source:

Aol 11/17/10