BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) - More than six years after Natalee Holloway disappeared, she's still making headlines.
The Mountain Brook teen disappeared on a graduation trip to Aruba in May 2005. Thousand of stories later, after multiple made for cable movies, what happened to her remains a mystery.
Friday, her father Dave goes to court here in Birmingham to have his daughter declared dead. Like many times in the past six years, Natalee's parents (who were divorced 1993) don't agree. Beth Holloway is opposing the death declaration.
"Beth intends to oppose Dave's inexplicable effort to have Natalee declared dead," attorney John Q. Kelly said in a statement. "Beth gave birth to and raised Natalee, and will always hope and pray for Natalee's safe return."
Last week, Dave Holloway's attorney said he filed the petition because he "is seeking closure for his family."
"This is a normal proceeding for families when a loved one has been missing for an extended period of time," attorney Karen Hennecy said in a statement. "Alabama law requires a waiting period of five years when a body has not recovered and no death certificate has been issued."
CBS42 will be at Probate Court Friday.
Meanwhile, in the Netherlands, a much discussed movie about the case made it's debut at the Netherlands Film Festival at Utrecht.
"Me and Mr. Jones on Natalee Island" was shown at the Utrecht Film Festival in The Netherlands. Director Paul Ruven's movie ends with "a" solution to the crime...but at this point only Joran van der Sloot knows if it's "the" answer to the mystery.
Natalee was last seen leaving Carlos and Charlies, an Oranjestad bar, with van der Sloot and two friends. She's not been seen since. Van der Sloot is facing murder charges in Peru. He's admitted killing 21 year old student Stephany Flores. He wants to plea to manslaughter claiming he killed Flores in a fit of rage after she found material about Natalee on his laptop.
Peruvian investigators say the Natalee material was accessed the day before Flores was killed. They claim van der Sloot was broke and desperate and murdered Stephany after robbing her. Prosecutors want a 30 year sentence. The Flores family is demanding charges be filed that would result in a life sentence.
In one of many flatly weird twists, Stephany Flores corpse was found in van der Sloot's Lima hotel room on the fifth anniversary of Natalee's disappearance.
