Natalee Holloway's Father Says He May Have Found Her Body

Natalee Holloway's Father Says He May Have Found Her Body

Senior year is supposed to be one of the most exciting chapters of a person's life, but this wasn't the case for Mountain Brook High School student Natalee Holloway.

In May 2005, the 18-year-old Alabama resident was on a senior class trip to Aruba when she suddenly vanished and never to be found.

Over the last 12 years, her parents Beth Twitty and Dave Holloway have lived through pain, glimmers of hope and multiple arrests while attempting to solve the mystery behind their daughter's disappearance.

The first major breakthrough in Natalee's haunting case took place just weeks after she went missing. Authorities revealed that there were at least 3 people who may have last seen Natalee alive: Joran van der Sloot, Satish and Deepak Kock.

Joran, the main suspect in the case never got to face trial and is notorious for constantly changing up his accounts of the fateful day. Shortly after the young girl's disappearance, Joran's father Paul, was also arrested in connection to the murder only to be released 3 days later.

Natalee's mom is convinced Paul and Joran know more than they've been letting on and it is devastating that no progress has been made despite having multiple suspects.

"I was just devastated," Beth told People back in 2005. "All the trust was just ripped out of me, just like Natalee was ripped out of her life."

Natalee and Beth

Beth believes that Natalee either died accidentally from a date-rape drug or was kidnapped and transported off the island, but since Aruba has a closed-door judicial system in place, authorities wouldn't share too many details with her at the time.

Dave Holloway thinks he has a promising new lead that might help answer many questions people have.

Now, with the help of a private investigator, Dave thinks he may have found his missing girl.

On Aug 16, Holloway and investigator TJ Ward revealed that they had found human remains in Aruba.

The pair were led there from a tip that came from one of van der Sloot's old roomates.

"We've chased a lot of leads and this one is by far the most credible lead I've seen in the last 12 years," said her father on Today.

A new probe has been launched and DNA testing will begin on the body, in an effort to prove that it is indeed Natalee. The tests are expected to take about a month to complete.

While no one has been charged, van der Sloot remains the prime suspect. He was convicted of murdering another girl, Stephany Flores, 5 years to the day after Natalee disappeared. He's serving a 28 year sentence in a Peruvian jail.

A new series on Oxygen was hoping to uncover what really happened to the teenager, starting with the hunt for her body.

The series titled The Disappearance of Natalee Holloway will follow the missing teen's dad as he pursues a lead from 2015 that could significantly change the case.

"Twelve years and we still have nothing "” until now," Dave said in an exclusive clip on People.com.

Natalee and DaveFox News

Dave claims that there is another person involved in his daughter's disappearance and the authorities might have missed him. There was supposedly a man who was roommates with a conspirator who allegedly assisted Joran in getting rid of Natalee's body.

"This lead, we have a person who states that he was directly involved in disposing of Natalee's remains," he added.

"This series gives viewers rare access to Dave Holloway's gut-wrenching search for answers," Oxygen executive Rod Aissa tells PEOPLE in a statement. "He embarks on an immersive journey full of twists, turns and, most considerably, a new lead that could deliver justice for Natalee once and for all."

As for Joran, he is currently locked on a different murder charge so it's unlikely that Dave will be able to get in touch with him but I guess we'll have to tune in to the documentary to find out.

The Disappearance of Natalee Holloway premieres Saturday, Aug. 19 at 9 p.m. ET, on Oxygen.

Blair isn't a bestselling author, but she has a knack for beautiful prose. When she isn't writing for Shared, she enjoys listening to podcasts.