Netflix to release three-part series on the disappearance of Natalee Holloway in Aruba

ORANJESTAD – Netflix is releasing a three-part documentary series about the disappearance of Natalee Holloway in Aruba. In Taken: Natalee Holloway, her mother Beth Holloway tells her story about the case that brought Aruba into the global spotlight in 2005. A premiere date has not yet been announced.

The eighteen-year-old American student disappeared on May 30, 2005, during a graduation trip to Aruba. She failed to appear for her return flight to the United States. The subsequent search and criminal investigation received years of intense international media attention.

According to Netflix, the new series contains previously unseen footage and audio recordings, and also features investigators and people close to Holloway. The makers say they will also address previously undisclosed elements of the investigation. The series is directed by Dani Sloane and Matthew Galkin. Story Syndicate is producing the series.

Van der Sloot

A key element will be the statement Joran van der Sloot made in 2023 in the United States about what he claims happened to Holloway. This took place as part of an American criminal case in which he pleaded guilty to extortion and wire fraud against Beth Holloway. He was sentenced to twenty years in prison. As part of the agreement, Van der Sloot was required to provide complete and truthful information about Natalee’s disappearance.

Van der Sloot was never convicted in Aruba for the death of Holloway. Her body has also never been found.

The Netflix series thus brings renewed international attention to Aruba — more than twenty years after the disappearance — and to the way the investigation was conducted on the island at the time.

Netflix originally announced the production in December 2025 and brought the series back into the spotlight this month. The Netflix page now shows the title Taken: Natalee Holloway, but still no release date.