--- description: More than a decade after the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, her father may have broken the case open after discovering human remains title: Natalee Holloway's Remains May Have Been Discovered in Aruba image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7515055869e883c4/6988da0622fb8538bbe226ed/natalee-holloway.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Crime](/tag/crime/) ## Crime Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Natalee Holloway's Remains May Have Been Discovered in Aruba by [Aric Jenkins](/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 16, 2017 10:10 PM CUT  Beth Holloway, mother of Natalee Holloway, speaks during the opening of the Natalee Holloway Resource Center (NHRC) at the National Museum of Crime & Punishment in Washington on June 8, 2010. Beth Holloway, mother of Natalee Holloway, speaks during the opening of the Natalee Holloway Resource Center (NHRC) at the National Museum of Crime & Punishment in Washington on June 8, 2010.Pablo Martinez Monsivais—AP by [Aric Jenkins](/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 16, 2017 10:10 PM CUT More than a decade after the infamous disappearance of Natalee Holloway, an 18-year-old from Alabama who was vacationing in Aruba, her father may have broken the case wide open after discovering human remains on the Caribbean island. Dave Holloway, with the help of private investigator T.J. Ward, uncovered the remains in an unspecified location on the Dutch territory after an 18-month investigation, the men [announced Wednesday on _The Today Show_](https://www.today.com/news/natalee-holloway-s-father-discovers-human-remains-aruba-t115151 "undefined"). Now, they are awaiting the results of a DNA test to confirm whether or not the remains are Natalee’s. “When we determined these remains were human, I was shocked,” Holloway told Matt Lauer and Savannah Guthrie. “I know there’s a possibility this could be someone else, and I’m just trying to wait and see.” Natalee went [missing in May 2005](http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/28/world/natalee-holloway-new-tip/index.html "undefined") during the trip with her friends to celebrate their high school graduation. The case, which garnered widespread media attention, was never solved and no one to this day has ever been charged in her disappearance. Joran van der Sloot, the Dutch man Natalee was last seen with outside of a popular tourist restaurant, remains the prime suspect — particularly after he was convicted and sentenced to 28 years in prison for the [killing of Peruvian business student Stephany Flores Ramírez in 2010](http://time.com/17733/peru-agrees-to-extradite-holloway-murder-suspect-but-not-for-24-years/ "undefined"). Holloway said that an informant referred to as “Gabriel” tipped him and Ward off to a contact who claimed to have direct knowledge of Natalee’s disappearance. “We have a person who states he was directly involved with Joran van der Sloot in disposing of Natalee’s remains,” Holloway said. “I thought, you know, there may be something to this. “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,” he added. The results of the DNA test will be known within several weeks to a month, Holloway said. He told _Today_ that he hopes it will bring him and his family some closure. “It would finally be the end,” he said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4903844/natalee-holloway-disappearance-body-aruba/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4903844/natalee-holloway-disappearance-body-aruba/"},"headline":"Natalee Holloway's Remains May Have Been Discovered in Aruba","datePublished":"2017-08-16T22:10:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T17:01:30.332Z","description":"\"When we determined these remains were human, I was shocked\"","url":"https://time.com/4903844/natalee-holloway-disappearance-body-aruba/","keywords":["Crime","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7515055869e883c4/6988da0622fb8538bbe226ed/natalee-holloway.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Aric Jenkins","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7515055869e883c4/6988da0622fb8538bbe226ed/natalee-holloway.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Beth Holloway","caption":"Beth Holloway","creditText":"Pablo Martinez Monsivais—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/crime/","name":"Crime"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4903844/natalee-holloway-disappearance-body-aruba/","name":"Natalee Holloway's Remains May Have Been Discovered in Aruba"}}]}] ```