Where Joran van der Sloot’s mother is in 2026, 21 years after Natalee went missing

Netflix latest true crime series focuses on the story of Natalee Holloway. Here’s a look at where Joran van der Sloot’s mother is now, 21 years after her disappearance. 

18-year-old Natalee went missing on the final night of a high school graduation trip in Aruba, on 30th May, 2005. She was last seen at the nightclub Carlos ‘n Charlie’s and left with Dutchman Joran van der Sloot, who was one of the last people to see her alive.

He was long a suspect in her disappearance, and was arrested and relased numerous times at the start of the investigation. Van der Sloot then confessed to her murder in 2023, 18 years after Natalee disappeared, as part of a plea deal in a separate extortion and wire fraud case. 

Joran’s father, Paul, and mother, Anita, feature a lot in the Netflix documentary. Paul passed away suddenly from a heart attack in 2010, while Anita still lives in Aruba. 

Credit: Netflix

Where Joran van der Sloot’s mother Anita is now

Anita moved from the Netherlands to Aruba when Joran and his two brothers were young. She became an art teacher at the International School of Aruba in August 1991, where she worked for over three decades. 

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After Paul died in 2010 and Joran went to jail in Peru in the same year, Anita remained at the International School of Aruba for 33 years before retiring in June 2024. 

In 2026, she still lives in Aruba and has a huge love for art. She describes herself as a “nature and animal lover, mixed media artist, visual arts teacher, motivator, inspirator who loves good people”. 

She does lots of painting, puts on art classes for adults and kids, and travels across the world to different art fairs, including Miami Art Week. 

It’s not clear if Anita is still in contact with her son in jail, but she famously called her son “sick in the head” in a 2010 interview with De Telegraaf.

“He was a sweet boy who loved animals and his grandmother. Funny, open. He has gradually lost its way. It was insidious,” she said. “I can’t cry for Joran like I did for Paul.”

Anita hasn’t done any public interviews since then and keeps her life private. 

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