A jawbone found on a beach in Aruba may belong to missing Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway, and forensic experts from the Netherlands are testing whether it does indeed match, according to the Associated Press.
Holloway, who was 18 at the time, was last seen in Aruba in 2005. Her remains have never been discovered.
Dutch forensic experts are analyzing whether the jawbone is human before comparing Holloway’s DNA with the bone, Netherlands Forensic Institute spokesperson Inge Oevering told AP.
“The prosecutor’s office of Aruba sent us some bone material,” Oevering said, according to CNN. She noted that the DNA forensics will probably take about a week.
The bone was found near the Phoenix hotel, a place that was referenced by Joran Van der Sloot, who was arrested for her disappearance but says he is innocent.
The 23-year-old Dutch citizen is currently detained in Lima, Peru, and is set to be tried for the murder of a Peruvian woman last May.
Van der Sloot and two other men were spotted with Holloway in 2005.
He extorted around $10,000 from the mother of Holloway, saying that he knew where her body was located in Aruba. He then took the money and went to Peru.
Holloway, who was 18 at the time, was last seen in Aruba in 2005. Her remains have never been discovered.
Dutch forensic experts are analyzing whether the jawbone is human before comparing Holloway’s DNA with the bone, Netherlands Forensic Institute spokesperson Inge Oevering told AP.
“The prosecutor’s office of Aruba sent us some bone material,” Oevering said, according to CNN. She noted that the DNA forensics will probably take about a week.
The bone was found near the Phoenix hotel, a place that was referenced by Joran Van der Sloot, who was arrested for her disappearance but says he is innocent.
The 23-year-old Dutch citizen is currently detained in Lima, Peru, and is set to be tried for the murder of a Peruvian woman last May.
Van der Sloot and two other men were spotted with Holloway in 2005.
He extorted around $10,000 from the mother of Holloway, saying that he knew where her body was located in Aruba. He then took the money and went to Peru.