What About Justice For Natalee?

Although van der Sloot didn’t get sentenced to jail for Natalee’s death, the fact that he was at least in jail, and sentenced to 28 years, was a bit of justice already in itself. The family finally felt that, in some ways, maybe they could try to move on knowing that who they believed was truly guilty for Natalee’s death, was at least rotting in a South American jail. But still, Natalee’s father felt they needed the courts to declare that Natalee was legally dead.

January 12, 2012

So on January 12, 2012, originally against her mother’s wishes, Natalee was declared legally dead by the courts. It would be difficult for any parent to have to admit to themselves that their child was officially gone, especially when there was no body to lay to rest, but that’s precisely what they had to do. Both Beth and Dave wrote books separately about Natalee’s story, and how they have tried to move on since then.