Aruba authorities seek to discuss Holloway disappearance case with Joran van der Sloot in Peru

Aruba police seek discussion with Van der Sloot

ORANJESTAD, Aruba — Prosecutors in Aruba said Wednesday they want to take Joran van der Sloot up on his offer to discuss the unsolved disappearance of American teenager Natalee Holloway.

Judicial authorities in Peru are willing to arrange a conversation between island police and Van der Sloot, Attorney General Robert Pietersz said. The Dutchman is awaiting trial in Peru in the slaying of a 21-year-old woman in his Lima hotel room.

Van der Sloot told his jailers he is ready to clarify the Holloway case, but only to Aruba authorities. He is the only remaining suspect in the 2005 disappearance.

An Aruba policeman and a prosecutor could travel to Peru as early as August, said Peter Blanken, the island’s chief prosecutor.

Van der Sloot has said he fears for his life in the Peruvian prison. But regardless of what information the suspect might provide in the Holloway case, it is unlikely he would be brought to this Caribbean island before completing any sentence if convicted in the South American country, Blanken said.

“I think it’s out of question because the case in Peru is a very severe case and the Peruvian authorities have said they do not want to do that,” Blanken said.

Dave Holloway, the missing teen’s father, met with Aruba police Tuesday, Blanken said. He said authorities did not have any new information in the case to discuss.

Natalee Holloway, an 18-year-old from Mountain Brook, Alabama, was last seen leaving a bar with Van der Sloot on May 30, 2005, the final night of a high school graduation trip to Aruba.