Paul van der Sloot died suddenly of a heart attack in February 2010, leaving his son alone. According to Holloway family attorney John Kelly, a distraught Joran emailed him in March, writing as Kelly told Dateline, “‘I want to come clean. My father is dead now. I have nothing to hide. I want to help Natalee’s family, but at a cost, you know, a quarter of a million dollars… I’m going to tell you what happened to Natalee and where she is now so you can help Beth get her home.'”
With Beth’s permission, John Kelly met Joran in Aruba and promised to start with $25,000. The young man said he knew where the body was; John asked what would happen if they didn’t pay him. Joran reportedly replied, “‘Beth can wait five more years.'” The family then contacted the FBI, who helped devise a plan to make Joran believe he was being paid to help him commit wire fraud catch, which would then be at least something to hold on to.
John and Joran met again and this time John wired him a total of $25,000. Joran, in turn, led John to a house near the Aruba Racquet Club, where he claimed he hid Natalee’s remains in a then-freshly poured foundation before the house was built. John said on Dateline Joran claimed he was at the beach with Natalee, he wanted to leave, she fought back, and then he “got mad and actually threw her.” He actually made that gesture in the car, on video, and showed me how to do it.” He angrily threw her away because she didn’t want to leave at the time. And according to him, she hit the back of her head, lots of blood and she was dead.
John said he was skeptical of Joran’s overall storyline, which involved him first hiding Natalee’s body on the beach with his father’s help and then burying it the next day. But he still hoped they had solved something.
“When I got on the plane on May 11th [2010]”I thought it was a done deal,” John said. “And he would eventually be arrested.” That eventually he would talk and eventually we would find closure.
But the house Joran pointed out was not under construction in 2010, according to authorities, who said they did not believe his story was credible enough to prompt an arrest.
John said Joran kept in touch with him up until May 25 and claimed he would turn himself in. Instead, he flew to Peru.
A federal grand jury indicted him on June 30, 2010, on charges of wire fraud and racketeering.
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