Joran van der Sloot, Natalee Holloway Case Suspect Extradited to US

Natalee Holloway, a teenager from Alabama who went missing 18 years ago in Aruba, was last seen with Dutchman Joran van der Sloot and two others.

Van der Sloot, now suspected of extorting money from Holloway's mother, has arrived in the United States from Peru and was accompanied by FBI investigators on a US Department of Justice plane to Birmingham, Alabama, CNN reports.

Van der Sloot was transferred to a prison in Birmingham, close to Mountain Brook, where Holloway grew up. His arraignment is scheduled for Friday at 11 am CT in federal court in Birmingham.

The US federal government indicted van der Sloot on extortion and wire fraud charges related to a scheme involving selling information about Holloway's remains for $250,000 in 2010.

The indictment, issued in the Northern District of Alabama, alleges that Holloway's mother transferred $15,000 to van der Sloot's bank account in the Netherlands and gave him an additional $10,000 in person through an attorney. However, after receiving the initial payment, van der Sloot allegedly provided false information about the location of Holloway's remains.

Since Holloway's body has never been found, a court in Alabama declared her legally dead in 2012.

Joran van der Sloot Extradition

Joran van der Sloot, the Dutch national known for his involvement in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, has boarded an FBI plane departing Peru and is en route to the United States.

His attorney, Maximo Altez, said the plane departed from Jorge Chavez International Airport in Lima on Thursday morning.

Altez had previously made multiple appeals to halt van der Sloot's temporary extradition, but Peruvian courts only heard the pleas after his client's departure, per Fox News.

The attorney claimed that his client was not informed about the pending "temporary extradition" proceedings, calling it a violation of constitutional rights.

Van der Sloot will arrive in Birmingham, Alabama, on Thursday afternoon. He had been imprisoned in Peru for the murder of Stephany Flores in 2010 and received an extended sentence after being arrested for drug smuggling while in prison.

Joran van der Sloot was temporarily transferred to the United States after Peruvian authorities agreed to extradite him to face federal charges in May.

Natalee Holloway's mother, Beth Holloway, released a statement expressing her hope for justice after the Peruvian court announced the transfer of van der Sloot.

Natalee Holloway Disappearance and Joran van der Sloot Cases

The high-profile case of Natalee Holloway's disappearance in Aruba during a school trip garnered global attention.

The 18-year-old was last seen entering a car with Joran van der Sloot, a 17-year-old Dutch national, and Surinamese brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe, according to BBC.

Following Holloway's disappearance, Van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers were arrested but released due to insufficient evidence. Tragically, Holloway's remains have never been found, leaving her fate unresolved.

Five years later, Van der Sloot encountered Stephany Flores, a Peruvian student, at a casino in Lima. After spending time together, Flores was found dead in Van der Sloot's hotel room the following morning.

Authorities eventually apprehended Van der Sloot in Chile, and upon being deported to Peru, he confessed to murdering Flores. He admitted to assaulting, strangling, and choking the young Peruvian, as she had reportedly discovered his connection to Holloway's disappearance.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Bert Hoover

WATCH: Joran van der Sloot arrives in U.S. to face extortion charges - From CBS Evening News