Natalee Is Officially Missing

The next day, Natalee never showed up with the rest of students to make the trip to the airport to head home. In fact, she was nowhere to be found. They checked the hotel room where she was staying, and they found her packed bags and her passport, but she was missing. So while the rest of the group was put on the flight home, Natalee’s parents were making the 1700-mile flight from Alabama to Aruba so they could begin their immediate search for Natalee’s whereabouts.

The Main Suspect

While police searched the island for any sign of Natalee, Joran van der Sloot became the main suspect in the case after witnesses had reported the two had been seen together. Police questioned van der Sloot and his two friends about Natalee, if they knew where she was, as well as what had happened during the night they were said to be together. All 3 boys said that they had dropped Natalee off at her hotel and that was the last they saw of her.