A private investigator working for the the father of Natalee Holloway said remains have been discovered in the case.
Holloway, who is from Alabama, disappeared in 2005 while on a post-high school trip to Aruba. Her disappearance has remained a mystery for 12 years as no one has been charged.
Speculation has swirled around Joran van der Sloot, a Dutch man who Holloway was last seen with at a bar. Van der Sloot is currently serving a 28-year sentence in Peru for killing a student in 2010.
Natalee Holloway, 18, from Alabama disappeared on May 30, 2005 while on a trip to Aruba to celebrate her high school graduation. @wsbtv pic.twitter.com/ggEYnXcqo8
— Nefertiti Jáquez (@NefertitiWSB) August 19, 2017
Private investigator T.J. Ward said he and Holloway's father, Dave, were contacted by an informant named Gabriel who helped lead them to human remains. Gabriel is an associate of Van der Sloot.
"Dave was approached in 2015 by a guy named Gabriel who claimed there was an individual who was rooming with him and claimed he had a relationship with Joran Van der Sloot," Ward said. "He started telling me things that aren't public."
Ward said Gabriel told them Van der Sloot may have stashed Natalee Holloway's body after allegedly killing her.
WSB-TV asked Ward if he could say where the remains were found.
"I can tell you they were found in an area we had under investigation," he said.
TJ Ward says they were led to the remains after an informant put them in touch with someone who allegedly has direct knowledge of the case. pic.twitter.com/B4xhu3dmbz
— Nefertiti Jáquez (@NefertitiWSB) August 19, 2017
Ward said the discovery was the result of an 18-month investigation, but it's not the only information the informant provided.
"He told us Joran Van der Sloot's father went out there on the night Natalee went missing in 2005 and removed the body and helped dispose of it," he said.
Van der Sloot has never been charged in Natalee's disappearance + is currently serving time for killing Peruvian student Stephany Flores. pic.twitter.com/bPueU5tdAX
— Nefertiti Jáquez (@NefertitiWSB) August 19, 2017
The remains are being tested for DNA to determine if they are Natalee's. It could take two to four weeks for the results to come back.
Cox Media Group