Private Investigators Take on the Case
Judicial Investigation into Natalee Holloway Case Still Ongoing
By a Special Correspondent
WILLEMSTAD/ORANJESTAD – Later this year marks 20 years since the disappearance of American student Natalee Holloway in Aruba. To this day, Aruban judicial authorities have been unable to close the investigation. This conclusion arises following the recent disclosure of a series of documents by the Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, made public through a successful appeal under the WOO (Public Access to Government Information Act). However, these documents do not provide much additional clarity on the matter.
In November of last year, the journalistic platform Dossier Koninkrijksrelaties reported on the release of documents related to this long-standing judicial investigation, which began in 2005. The case started on Monday, May 31 of that year, when 18-year-old Natalee failed to show up in the Holiday Inn lobby for transportation to the airport for her return flight to the U.S. She had been on vacation in Aruba with fellow students.
The last known sighting of Natalee was when she got into a car with three Aruban acquaintances: Joran van der Sloot and brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe, after leaving a restaurant/nightclub. Despite repeated and detailed interrogations of this trio, authorities have never been able to establish what truly happened on the night from Sunday to Monday. Initially, they insisted that they dropped Natalee off at her hotel. No evidence has ever been found to confirm their involvement in her disappearance, and complicating matters further, Natalee’s remains have never been discovered.
Extensive Media Attention
Thanks in part to her mother, Beth Holloway, the case has received widespread coverage in American and international media over the years. At one point, some groups in the U.S. even called for a boycott of Aruba as a tourist destination. While this boycott never materialized, the controversy did lead to a significant decline in the number of U.S. tourists visiting Aruba.
The uncertainty surrounding the case has fueled speculation about various aspects of both the incident and the investigation. This is precisely why it was of interest to see what information would be revealed after so many years, following a WOO request submitted to the Dutch and Aruban governments for more transparency. However, Aruban authorities denied the request, arguing that the investigation remains open.
The released documentation does not provide full transparency. The Dutch Ministry conducted an initial screening of the disclosed messages, minutes, emails, letters, and other written records related to the investigation. Furthermore, entire passages have been redacted from several documents. According to the Ministry of the Interior, these redactions pertain to “personal privacy” concerns or information that could lead to the identification of individuals. Additionally, for documents older than five years, privacy considerations were weighed to ensure the protection of those involved.
WOO Request
Among the redacted details is even the name of the individual or organization that, on April 4 of last year, submitted the WOO request for access to the extensive documentation. However, the accompanying cover letter reveals that this individual subsequently held discussions with the Ministry of Justice and Security on May 29. On June 13, they were given confidential preliminary access to some documents. Eventually, 23 documents were selected for public release. On November 13, the Ministry of the Interior finally made a batch of selected documents publicly available for anyone to access. It has since been revealed that former Chief Prosecutor of Aruba, Karin Janssen, was the one who requested the disclosure.
Minister Rudy Croes
One clear revelation from the released documents is that in 2006, then-Aruban Minister of Justice, the late Rudy Croes, transferred the entire investigative case to Dutch judicial authorities. In letters dated August 18 and August 26, 2006, Croes handed over all case materials to the Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, then under Minister Atzo Nicolaï. This led to Dutch investigators under the Oduber IV administration gaining full access to all relevant information and being granted the freedom to investigate the case thoroughly—though still under the authority of the Aruban Prosecutor General.
Two main reasons were cited for Aruba’s decision to transfer the case. First, Minister Croes claimed that serious errors (“irregularities”) had been made by Aruban law enforcement at the start of the investigation. Second, Aruba feared that ongoing negative media coverage of the case could have severe repercussions for the island’s tourism industry. It was even suggested that the Netherlands could leverage its influence with top U.S. officials in Washington to prevent a widespread American boycott of Aruba, as had been proposed by the Governor of Alabama, the home state of Natalee and her parents. The U.S. federal government consistently reassured Aruba that such a boycott would not happen.
Private Investigation
While the Aruban Public Prosecutor’s Office has yet to close the case, American authorities have already done so—largely due to Joran van der Sloot’s confession, which led to his conviction. However, others continue to pursue the case.
Back in October 2023, reports surfaced in De Limburger that Karin Janssen, the former Chief Prosecutor in Aruba in 2005 and 2006, had launched her own investigation. During her tenure, she led the investigation into Natalee’s disappearance for 24 months. Even after leaving Aruba, the case remained of great interest to her. Now retired, she has resumed work on the case in a personal capacity, assembling a team that includes the private investigative firm John Vullers Detectives from Roermond, Netherlands.
At the end of 2023, this team spent a week in Aruba conducting further investigations. Coincidentally, during that same period, Joran van der Sloot confessed during questioning in the U.S. that he had disposed of Natalee’s body at sea. Janssen, however, does not believe this account. Many Aruban fishermen and locals also doubt the story, arguing that a body would have eventually washed ashore.
Not only has Joran changed his story multiple times whenever it suited him, but this so-called confession also served his personal interest. His statement led to a form of sentence reduction, at least in the eyes of U.S. authorities. The years he is serving in a Peruvian prison for another murder are now effectively considered time served for what he did to the Holloway family.
Beth Holloway appears to have accepted this resolution, as it allows her to finally close her daughter’s case. However, former Chief Prosecutor Janssen refuses to let it go. While she has not yet disclosed details, she believes alternative scenarios for Natalee’s disappearance have not been thoroughly investigated. For her, the case is far from over. She remains determined to uncover the truth and believes that some people in Aruba may still know more about what happened. Perhaps they are now willing to come forward with crucial information.
Tips can be submitted—anonymously if necessary—via the website www.johnv-detectives.nl.
Even two decades later, the saga of Natalee Holloway is far from over.
