Netflix’s “Taken: Natalee Holloway” revisits the 2005 disappearance of 18-year-old Natalee Holloway in Aruba through interviews with her mother, Beth, her friends, FBI agents and Gerold Dompig, the island’s police chief at the time. The series recounts the investigation and the events that eventually led Joran van der Sloot to confess to killing her.

Natalee was last seen on May 30, 2005, leaving a bar and getting into a car with van der Sloot and brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe. Her friend Madison Greer said the group was not alarmed when Natalee left with them, partly because taxis on the island could be ordinary, unmarked cars. Greer recalled that van der Sloot had presented himself as a college student from the Netherlands.

After learning that her daughter was missing, Beth went to Aruba and confronted van der Sloot at his home. He reportedly told her he had kissed Natalee on a beach, then dropped her at her hotel after she hit her head and was helped inside by security guards. Beth said she believed he knew what had happened, despite not knowing which parts of his account were true.

Van der Sloot was not arrested until 10 days after Natalee disappeared. Police also arrested the Kalpoe brothers, who were never charged in connection with the case and maintain their innocence. Dompig said investigators lacked forensic evidence and faced intense public pressure. Police first arrested two hotel security guards as they examined van der Sloot’s account; footage later showed he had not dropped Natalee off at her hotel as he claimed.

Dompig said van der Sloot gave investigators conflicting accounts and changed his story repeatedly. He also described complications arising from van der Sloot’s father, Paulus, who was an attorney on track to become a judge in Aruba. Van der Sloot was released from custody on September 3, 2005, because of insufficient evidence. Investigators never found Natalee’s body.

The documentary also reflects on how the case was covered in Aruba. Journalist Dilma Arends Geerman said some locals were disappointed by American coverage that gave the impression the island was doing nothing. Businessman Charles Croes, who helped Beth search, said the community valued treating visitors kindly, given the importance of tourism to its economy.

In 2010, Beth’s lawyer, John Q. Kelly, received an email from van der Sloot offering to take him to Natalee in exchange for $250,000. Kelly said he suspected the claim was false but saw an opportunity to pursue extortion and wire-fraud charges. After Kelly met van der Sloot in Aruba and paid him part of the money, van der Sloot claimed Natalee’s body had been placed in the foundation of a house under construction. FBI investigators and Kelly found the story was not true because the house had not been under construction at the time.

Before authorities could act on those charges, van der Sloot was convicted of murdering another young woman, Stephany Flores Ramírez, and imprisoned in Peru. Greer and Beth said they were angry and devastated by the killing. Dompig said he was shocked and believed the lack of a resolution in Natalee’s case had left van der Sloot more dangerous.

In 2023, FBI agents extradited van der Sloot to Alabama on extortion and wire-fraud charges. Retired agent Alexandra Montilla, who accompanied him on the flight, recalled that he described killing a rabbit after it scratched his daughter. She said the account contributed to her view that he was dangerous.

While in Alabama, van der Sloot confessed under a polygraph to bludgeoning Natalee to death on an Aruba beach and disposing of her body in the ocean. Retired FBI agent Michael Leverock said he initially questioned the claim that the body would not have washed back ashore. He said a trip to Aruba had shown him that offshore winds in the relevant area could carry something out to sea. Beth described hearing the confession as horrible but said that not knowing what happened had been the most torturous part.

Van der Sloot is serving his sentence in Peru. “Taken: Natalee Holloway” is streaming on Netflix.

Sources: Page Six.