Joran van der Sloot, the main suspect in the unsolved 2005 disappearance of American teenager Natalee Holloway, has arrived in Alabama to face federal extortion and wire fraud charges.
The Dutch citizen was handed over to the FBI on Thursday morning to be extradited from Peru, where he had been serving a 28-year sentence for the 2010 murder of 21-year-old Stephany Flores.
Dutch citizen Joran van der Sloot stands with security forces previous to his extradition to the U.S., in Lima, Peru June 8, 2023.
Interpol via Reuters
Van der Sloot's plane took off for the U.S. Thursday morning from a military base in Lima. He landed in Birmingham Thursday afternoon.
In Alabama, van der Sloot faces federal extortion and wire fraud charges stemming from an accusation that he tried to profit from his connection to the Holloway case.
"For 18 years, I have lived with the unbearable pain of Natalee’s loss," Holloway's mom, Beth Holloway, said in a statement Thursday. "Each day has been filled with unanswered questions and a longing for justice that has eluded us at every turn. But today, with her perpetrator’s extradition to the United States, I am hopeful that some small semblance of justice may finally be realized, even though no act of justice will heal the pain we’ve endured."
Mark White, attorney for Holloway's father, Dave Holloway, told ABC News on Thursday that "federal defendants awaiting trial are typically housed in one of the state county jails that has a contract with the federal government. And so they will pick one that has absolute security because the defendant is a flight risk."
Dutch national Joran Van der Sloot is pictured during a hearing at the Lurigancho prison in Lima, Jan. 11, 2011.
AFP via Getty Images, FILE
"The defendant has already been convicted of one violent crime, and so he will be in very tight custody," White said. "He will be arraigned as the earliest opportunity."
Holloway, an 18-year-old from Alabama, went missing in May 2005 on a high school graduation trip in Aruba. She was last seen with a group of young men, including van der Sloot, then 17.
Beth Holloway participates in the launch of the Natalee Holloway Resource Center, June 8, 2010 in Washington, DC.
Mark Wilson/Getty Images, FILE
Van der Sloot, who was detained as a suspect in Holloway's disappearance and later released, was indicted by an Alabama federal grand jury in 2010 for allegedly trying to extort Holloway's family.
Federal prosecutors alleged that in March 2010 van der Sloot contacted Beth Holloway through her lawyer and claimed he would reveal the location of the teen's body in exchange for $250,000, with $25,000 paid upfront. During a recorded sting operation, Beth Holloway's attorney, John Q. Kelly, met with van der Sloot at an Aruba hotel, giving him $10,000 in cash as Beth Holloway wired $15,000 to van der Sloot's bank account, according to prosecutors.
Dutch national Joran Van der Sloot during his preliminary hearing in court in the Lurigancho prison in Lima, Jan. 6, 2012.
AFP via Getty Images, FILE
Then, van der Sloot allegedly changed his story about the night he was with Natalee Holloway, prosecutors said. Van der Sloot claimed he had picked Natalee Holloway up, but she demanded to be put down, so he threw her to the ground. Van der Sloot said her head hit a rock and he claimed she died instantly from the impact, according to prosecutors.
Van der Sloot then took Kelly to a house and claimed that his father, who had since died, buried Natalee Holloway in the building's foundation, prosecutors said.
Kelly later emailed van der Sloot, saying the information he had provided was "worthless," according to prosecutors. Within days, van der Sloot left Aruba for Peru.
Peru releases new footage of Joran van der Sloot's transfer to Lima, Peru, ahead of his extradition to the U.S.
National Penitentiary Institute of Peru via Reuters
White called the extortion and wire fraud case "some form of accountability," but "not accountability for the ultimate transgression of what a lot of people think this person did to their child."
White said he feels "more than 100%" certain that van der Sloot knows where Natalee Holloway's body is located.
"Beth and Dave Holloway, they have been living every parent's worst nightmare," he said. "We all hope ... that somehow the truth will come out."
Peru releases new footage of Joran van der Sloot's transfer to Lima, Peru, ahead of his extradition to the U.S.
National Penitentiary Institute of Peru via Reuters
ABC News' Amanda McMaster contributed to this report.
