More details about the school graduation trip Natalee Holloway was on when she disappeared

After Taken: Natalee Holloway on Netflix, there is some confusion over the school graduation trip she was on when she disappeared in 2005. 

The 18‑year‑old from Mountain Brook, Alabama, went missing in Aruba on 30th May, 2005. Dutchman Joran van der Sloot, who was 17 at the time, confessed to killing her in 2023, 18 years after her disappearance. He claimed they went to the beach after meeting at the nightclub Carlos’n Charlie’s, and he killed her and dumped her body in the ocean. 

Here are some more details about the holiday she was on, which were missed out of the documentary. 

Credit: Netflix

More details about the school graduation trip Natalee Holloway was on

124 seniors from Mountain Brook High School arrived in Aurba on 26th May 2005 for an unofficial five-day trip to celebrate their recent graduation. This trip wasn’t put on by the school and was organised by teacher Jodi Bearman, alongside parents. 

The students, all aged between 17 and 18, were accompanied by seven chaperones, who met with the students every day of the trip to check on them, teacher and chaperone Bob Plummer said. However, they didn’t monitor the students at all times, and they were free to go off independently. 

Aruban police commissioner Gerold Dompig said there was heavy partying and drinking. In Aruba, the legal drinking age is 18, so many of the students could legally drink, while they couldn’t at home due to America’s strict legal age of 21. Even two of Holloway’s classmates, Liz Cain and Claire Fierman, said the drinking on the trip was “kind of excessive”. 

Credit: Netflix

Most Read

Where Joran van der Sloot’s parents Paul and Anita are now, 21 years after Natalee disappeared

Natalee Holloway: What happened to brothers Satish and Deepak Kalpoe after their arrest

SKIMS issues statement after its £158 advent calendar sparks huge wave of complaints

The chaperones noticed she was missing at the hotel 

In Taken: Natalee Holloway, it’s said that they didn’t notice Natalee was missing until they were at the airport, but this isn’t actually true. 

The chaperones realised Natalee was missing at the hotel on the morning of 30th May, 2005, just before they were due to fly home. All 124 graduates met in the Holiday Inn lobby before going to the airport, and Natalee wasn’t there. 

The chaperones went to her hotel room and found that her bags were fully packed, ready for the flight. Her passport was also still there.

Credit: Netflix

They immediately called Natalee’s mother Beth, to inform her that Natalee was missing. However, as they had 123 other students who they had to get home to Alabama, they all went to the airport and boarded the flight without her. 

Natalee’s mother and stepfather rented a private jet and flew to Aruba that same day to search for Natalee, so there was only a small window where none of Natalee’s family or friends were in the country. 

Just four hours after arriving in the Caribbean, Beth had already given police the name and address of Joran van der Sloot after getting it from the night manager at the Holiday Inn. 

For all the latest Netflix news and drops, like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook. Featured image credit: Netflix