Holloway's mother attends van der Sloot hearing

(9 Jun 2023)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Birmingham, Alabama - 9 June 2023
1. Wide of Beth Holloway, Natalee’s mother outside courthouse
2. SOUNDBITE (English) , spokesperson for Beth Holloway:
"Yeah, it's just surreal, you know, 18 years to the day almost, and to have Joran van der Sloot here in Natalee Holloway's hometown, finally to have justice served. It's just surreal.
(reporter: How is her mother feeling? I didn't see obvious emotion from her today.)
You know, she's an incredibly strong woman and just amazing person. I spent time yesterday evening discussing it all. And it's just overwhelming and unbelievable that we're here today and we're thankful."
++ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++
STORYLINE:
Joran van der Sloot, the chief suspect in the 2005 disappearance of Natalee Holloway, pleaded not guilty Friday to federal charges that he tried to extort money from the missing teen’s mother in exchange for revealing the location of her body.

Van der Sloot, 35, was extradited to the United States on Thursday from Peru, where he is serving a 28-year prison sentence after confessing to killing a Peruvian woman. He was arraigned in Birmingham, not far from the suburb where Holloway grew up, in his first court appearance in the case.

Natalee’s mother, Beth Holloway, watched the brief proceeding from the third row of the courtroom. She stared occasionally at van der Sloot but showed no obvious emotion.

Afterward, she hugged friends who had come to offer their support along with Natalee’s father and brother. She declined to comment to reporters outside the courthouse.

"It's just surreal," George Seymore, spokesperson for Beth Holloway, told The Associated Press outside the courthouse. "18 years to the day almost, and to have Joran van der Sloot here in Natalee Holloway's hometown, finally to have justice served. It's just surreal."

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