What happened to Natalee Holloway?

Natalee Holloway was just beginning her life; successful high school graduate, soon to be undergraduate on a full ride scholarship to University of Alabama and most devastating of all; innocent, trusting, and cherished by so many. The disappearance of Natalee Holloway still remains unsolved.

"Woo-hoo! I'm in Aruba!" Natalee's roomates recall her excitement as she rides off into the warm, aruban sea air with three young local men that would be the last to see her alive. One must wonder: Did Natalee have the best night of her life dancing, visiting the local casino and enjoying her recent high school graduation with friends?

Natalee Holloway, born on October 21, 1986 was a recent graduate from Mountain Brook High School in Mountain Brook, Alabama. Natalee was everything you would expect in a well rounded, responsible, and determined young woman. Through hard work and dedication Natalee earned a full ride scholarship to University of Alabama. To celebrate her newfound successes, Natalee went on a trip with more than 100 other students to Aruba in the Caribbean islands. The trip was a success: all of the students who attended had a wonderful time celebrating their coming into adulthood. However, on May 30, 2005 Natalee failed to appear for her flight home.

When Natalee Holloway was determined to be missing, Aruban police questioned the three men that were last to see Natalee alive: a dutch man, Joran van der Sloot and local aruban brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe. Leading up to Natalee's disappearance, it was concluded that she began the night of her disappearance in the Holiday Inn casino that her and her friends purchased all inclusive stays.

While at the tables, Natalee spots a man who catches her eye; Joran Van Der Sloot and he is accompanied by the Kalpoe brothers, Satish and Deepak. After Natalee approaches Joran, she proceeds to invite him out to eat and dancing at a local club called Carlos'n Charlie's. It has not been concluded whether or not Natalee was drinking that night, but her family claims that she was never a partier and always had her head on right.

Once Ms. Holloway and the three men arrive at the club they remain there until the bar closes. The men decide that they want to go for a cruise around in their car and Natalee asks if she can come along. Joran, Deepak, Satish and Natalee drive away from the club and Natalee is never seen again.

When Joran is interviewed by the police, he initially claims the he took Natalee to the beach and left her by a local fishermen's shack. However, when police interview the fishermen it is determined that the men were at the shack the time Joran claimed her took Natalee there. The men were at the shack from midnight to 4:30 a.m. and claim they would have to be "blind and deaf" in order to have missed Natalee and Joran being by the shack that night. Once police confront Joran about the inconsistencies in his story, it changes: he then states that he brought Natalee back to his house and wanted to have sexual relations with her, then called her a cab to bring her back to her hotel. Once Natalee left Carlos'n Charlie's on May 29, 2005 her whereabouts leading up to her disappearance are completely unknown.

There are four major theories that have been concluded by authorities. The first theory is that Joran was involved with a local porn king, Mr. Pink. Findings from chats involving Joran claiming to purchase hotel rooms for the sole act of recording vulnerable young women having sec with him makes the possibility of him being affiliated with the local business owner/porn king, Mr. Pink is very likely. However, Mr. Pink was never fully investigated. After an initial interview with him it was never proven that the two were associated.

Theory number two involves a local Aruban Dj: Deejay Diablo or 'Steve'. Steve worked on a party boat called "The Tattoo." Steve approached authorities as a voluntary witness claiming he saw Natalee being dropped off by Joran and the Kalpoe brothers but security footage shows no sign of Natalee anywhere in the hotel that night. Why would an innocent man come forward as a witness just to lie about where and when she was last seen? When asked for his alibi, Steve claimed that he picked his friend Terry up around 11:30 p.m. on May 29, 2005 and went to a club called 'Choose a Name' and does not recall ever going to Carlos'n Charlie's. However, staff from Carlos'n Charlie's claim Steve was definitely there, and much earlier than he claims- around 10:00 p.m. Steve claims he partied until about 4:30 a.m. Bars close at 2:00 a.m. so where was Steve in between the hours of 2:00 and 4:30?

Authorities claim it is possible that due to him having access to a boat in the time period Natalee went missing, he could have been assisting Joran and the Kalpoe brothers dispose of Natalee's body in the ocean.

Theory number three comes from a woman who was assaulted at the very same fishermen's shack nine days prior to where Joran claims to have dropped Natalee off on May 29, 2005. Tracey Allen was walking past the fishermen's shack on May 20, 2005 when a nude man pulls up his vehicle, blocks her path to her hotel and tried to kidnap and sexually assault her. A composite sketch was made and Allen was able to identify her perpetrator from a line up. He was arrested and because of a prior conviction being appealed and miscommunication with the justice department, he was released. By the time authorities realize the mistake, he had already fled the country and has not been seen since.

The final theory is that Aruban authorities are trying to cover up for a shoddy investigation. Hotel records recorded that Natalee's room key was used several times between the hours of 2:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m., about two hours after Natalee's trail went cold. Police never questioned the four other roommates to see if they happened to switch room keys with Natalee and maybe caused it to register to her using the key.

Due to authorities waiting until weeks after Natalee disappeared to pull the security footage, all of it was erased and there was no way to validate Joran van der Sloot's claims of dropping her off at the beach. Joran was later convicted in 2010 for the murder of a peruvian business student. To this day, no one has been charged in the disappearance of Natalie.

The disappearance of Natalee Holloway still remains unsolved.