Where is Joran van der Sloot now? His life and marriage beyond Netflix’s Natalee Holloway doc

Warning: This article contains references to murder, violence, and disturbing details surrounding a real-life disappearance. Viewer discretion advised.

Natalee Holloway was supposed to return from a graduation trip to Aruba in May 2005. She had traveled with classmates from Alabama to celebrate finishing high school. Instead, her disappearance at 18 began a search that stretched across nearly two decades.

Netflix’s three-part ‘Taken: Natalee Holloway’ revisits that search through her mother, Beth Holloway, and those who helped her seek answers. Joran van der Sloot’s 2023 admission that he killed Natalee forms part of the story, but he has never been charged with her murder. Questions also remain about his life in prison.

Van der Sloot remains imprisoned in Peru, serving a 28-year sentence for murdering 21-year-old student Stephany Flores Ramírez in 2010. He received that sentence in January 2012. According to Cosmopolitan’s report, he was being held at Challapalca prison in southern Peru as of August 2026.

Sloot had requested a transfer, alleging threats from other inmates, but that report did not confirm that a move had taken place. Swoon also reported that an additional 18-year sentence was added in 2023 after his conviction for drug trafficking in prison.

His US conviction concerns a separate crime: demanding money from Beth in exchange for information about Natalee’s remains. Temporarily extradited to the US in 2023, he pleaded guilty to extortion and wire fraud and received a 20-year sentence, which runs concurrently with his Peruvian sentence. As part of a separate 2023 proffer agreement, he admitted killing Natalee. Natalee’s body has never been recovered. However, he has not been charged with her killing, Netflix’s Tudum confirms.

Van der Sloot married Peruvian accountant Leidy Figueroa in a prison ceremony in July 2014. His attorney confirmed the wedding at the time. Figueroa already had a son when they met while she was visiting another inmate. Their daughter was born on September 30, 2014, roughly three months after the wedding. The outlet reports that it is unclear whether van der Sloot maintains a relationship with her.

In May 2023, van der Sloot’s lawyer said he was divorcing Figueroa amid his relationship with Eva Pacohuanaco. The couple reportedly divorced that year. In February 2024, the New York Post reported that three women, including Pacohuanaco, were on his approved list for conjugal visits. “Joran had a bunch of girlfriends,” his lawyer told the Daily Mail in 2023. “Lots of girls used to visit him.” He described Figueroa as the “most loyal.”

Beth’s efforts have continued since the confession. Speaking to Tudum, she said she had spent two years working with Dutch attorneys Royce de Vries and Annemiek van Spanje on a murder complaint against van der Sloot. According to Beth, a Dutch prosecutor was gathering Natalee’s case files, but murder charges remain a goal rather than a confirmed development. “The nightmare’s over, right? But I’m not done yet,” she said. ‘Taken: Natalee Holloway’ is streaming on Netflix.