Authorities discovered human remains behind a house in Aruba, a grisly find that may finally crack the mystery surrounding a young woman’s disappearance 12 years ago.
The remains, discovered following a renewed 18-month probe, are being tested to see if they’re a DNA match with Natalee Holloway, the Alabama teenager who went missing while on a graduation trip in 2005, her father, Dave Holloway, and investigator T.J. Ward revealed on “Today” on Wednesday.
“I know there’s a possibility this could be someone else, and I’m just trying to wait and see,” Holloway said. “It would finally be the end.”
In 2012, an Alabama judge granted Holloway’s request to have his daughter declared dead but no one has ever been charged in her disappearance.
Joran van der Sloot, a Dutch man the teen was last seen with outside a bar, is serving a 28-year sentence in a Peru jail for killing business student Stephany Flores — a killing that came five years to the day after Natalee’s disappearance.
In March 2016, van der Sloot appeared to have made a shocking confession to an undercover reporter about having murdered Natalee.
The dad said the investigation led them to an informant known as “Gabriel,” who lived with a friend of van der Sloot, and eventually, to the remains.
“[He] had information that took us to a spot where remains were found. And we took those remains and had those remains tested,” Holloway said. “We’ve chased a lot of leads and this one is by far the most credible lead I’ve seen in the last 12 years.”
The DNA tests will take several months.