Beth Holloway addresses missing American college student, urges 'full circle' safety plan
FIRST ON FOX – PUNTA CANA, Dominican Republic – The mother of an American teenager who was murdered while on vacation in Aruba in 2005 is speaking out on the search for missing American college student Sudiksha Konanki.
"The family is so fortunate to have an American embassy there to work with. I did not have that in Aruba," Beth Holloway, mother of Natalee Holloway, told Fox News Digital exclusively about the search for Konanki in the Dominican Republic.
"Surely they are checking cameras from hotel, gas stations, traffic lights, store fronts and wherever they had dinner, any casinos they visited, the beach areas," Holloway continued.
Natalee Holloway, 18, was murdered during a Mountain Brook High School, Alabama, senior trip in Aruba in 2005.
American College Student Sudiksha Konanki's Disappearance In Dominican Republic: Timeline
Natalee Holloway's body was never found. Joran van der Sloot is the prime suspect in her disappearance. In January 2012 he pleaded guilty to killing a different woman, Stephany Flores, and Natalee Holloway was legally declared dead that month.
Read On The Fox News App
Since her daughter's murder, Beth Holloway has been advocating on her behalf and said that the disappearance of Konanki, 20, should be a warning for travelers.
"I have created the full-circle safety plan for travelers and citizens of all ages to remind them to spend as much time planning the end of their outing as they do planning where to go, what to wear and who they are going with," Holloway said.
Missing American College Student's Spring Break Disappearance 'Too Early' To Rule Drowning: Virginia Sheriff
"By planning the end of the outing, this brings everything full circle. They can decide where and what time to meet, how to leave together and make a conscious and deliberate plan to stay safe."
Natalee Holloway was last seen alive on May 30, 2005, leaving a bar with van der Sloot. He was the prime suspect in her disappearance for the following 18 years and finally admitted to killing her in an Oct. 3, 2023 confession made public after he pleaded guilty to the extortion case.
The plea deal required van der Sloot to submit to a polygraph test – which he did.
He accepted the deal, confessed to killing Holloway on the beach after she refused his sexual advances, and later passed a polygraph test. And he might have got away with it if the Holloway family, supporters, the FBI and an international team of investigators didn't doggedly pursue the case for nearly two decades.
Van der Sloot has also offered shifting explanations over the years for Holloway's final hours over the years, including that he shoved her into a rock, causing a head injury. He has also claimed that his father, a prominent judge who died in 2010, helped hide the body.
"After 18 years, Natalee's case has been solved," Holloway's mother previously told reporters outside the courthouse immediately following the 2023 hearing. "Joran van der Sloot is the killer."
Decades later, another family is going through what could potentially be an eerily similar situation to the Holloway's.
Konanki, a University of Pittsburgh student from Loudoun County, Virginia, was last seen walking on a beach outside the five-star RIU Republica Resort in the early morning hours of March 6. She has yet to be located.
Konanki was seen for the last time after 4 a.m. walking on the beach outside the RIU Republica Resort, according to a flyer being circulated online.
Sudiksha Konanki Disappearance: Dominican Republic Traveler Claims Resort Didn't Give Info On Beach Safety
La Policia Nacional, the country's national police force, said a male friend who was with Konanki around the time of her disappearance is under investigation.
It is unclear who the "young man" is, but police said he was in the water at the same beach, and they are questioning him in an attempt to corroborate his version of events, according to a translation of a Spanish-language statement.
When asked about a Monday report that Konanki may have drowned, a spokesperson for the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office told Fox News Digital authorities "have heard this and have seen no evidence presented at this time."
"As of last night, investigators were still actively interviewing persons who may have seen or been with her last Wednesday evening and Thursday morning, as well as reviewing surveillance video and phone records to help ascertain what happened and why," spokesperson Thomas Julia said.
Fox News' Michael Dorgan, Greg Norman, Lorraine Taylor and Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.Original article source: Beth Holloway addresses missing American college student, urges 'full circle' safety plan
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
14 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Old robbery footage misrepresented amid LA anti-deportation protests
"Horrifying. LA shop owner attacked and tased by lawless rioters who destroy his store during LA's anti-American sovereignty riots," says a June 8, 2025 post on X. The post comes from Brandon Straka, one of more than 1,500 people who was convicted in relation to the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol and later pardoned by President Donald Trump. Similar posts spread across X amid several days of protests that Los Angeles officials said were initially peaceful but punctuated by scattered violence, with demonstrators torching cars and security forces firing tear gas. The tensions in Los Angeles, home to a large Latino population, were triggered by raids and dozens of arrests of what authorities say are undocumented migrants and gang members. They continued to escalate over several days, with Trump clashing with California leaders as he went over their heads to deploy the state's National Guard and active-duty US Marines to the city. The upheaval has seen some stores ransacked, according to local media reports and the Los Angeles Police Department, which urged downtown businesses and residents in a June 9 post on X to report any vandalism, damage or looting they observed (archived here and here). But the video shared by Straka and others online is several months old and unrelated to the anti-deportation protests. A reverse image search surfaced the same video in local news articles and posts dated to October 2024 (archived here, here and here). Those reports, and others covering the incident, described a street takeover during the early morning hours of October 6 in which a mob of people violently pushed their way inside a 7-Eleven in Anaheim and pillaged it, assaulting the clerk who tried to keep them out in the process (archived here). The video was credited to an Instagram user, "@carlos_kickback_3" (archived here). AFP reached out to the account for a comment, but no response was forthcoming. According to reports, the incident took place at a 7-Eleven on Knott Avenue in Anaheim (archived here). Geolocation of the footage confirms the location (archived here). The location is several miles away from the complex of federal and municipal buildings near the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, where the protests have centered -- and also from other protest sites in Paramount and Compton. AFP has debunked other misinformation about the tumult in Los Angeles here.
San Francisco Chronicle
20 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
LA protests far different from '92 Rodney King riots
The images of cars set ablaze, protesters tossing rocks at police and officers firing nonlethal rounds and tear gas at protesters hearkens back to the last time a president sent the National Guard to respond to violence on Los Angeles streets. But the unrest during several days of protests over immigration enforcement is far different in scale from the 1992 riots that followed the acquittal of white police officers who were videotaped beating Black motorist Rodney King. President George H.W. Bush used the Insurrection Act to call in the National Guard after requests from Mayor Tom Bradley and Gov. Pete Wilson. After the current protests began Friday over Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids, President Donald Trump ordered the deployment of 4,100 National Guard troops and 700 Marines despite strident opposition from Mayor Karen Bass and Gov. Gavin Newsom. Trump cited a legal provision to mobilize federal service members when there is 'a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States.' California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit Monday saying Trump had overstepped his authority. On Tuesday, Newsom filed an emergency motion in federal court to block the troops from assisting with immigration raids in Los Angeles. Unlike the 1992 riots, protests have mainly been peaceful and been confined to a roughly five-block stretch of downtown LA, a tiny patch in the sprawling city of nearly 4 million people. No one has died. There's been vandalism and some cars set on fire but no homes or buildings have burned. More than 100 people have been arrested over the past several days of protests. The vast majority of arrests were for failing to disperse, while a few others were for assault with a deadly weapon, looting, vandalism and attempted murder for tossing a Molotov cocktail. Several officers have had minor injuries and protesters and some journalists have been struck by some of the more than 600 rubber bullets and other 'less-lethal' munitions fired by police. Outrage over the verdicts on April 29, 1992 led to nearly a week of widespread violence that was one of the deadliest riots in American history. Hundreds of businesses were looted. Entire blocks of homes and stores were torched. More than 60 people died in shootings and other violence, mostly in South Los Angeles, an area with a heavily Black population at the time. The 1992 uprising took many by surprise, including the Los Angeles Police Department, but the King verdict was a catalyst for racial tensions that had been building in the city for years. In addition to frustration with their treatment by police, some directed their anger at Korean merchants who owned many of the local stores. Black residents felt the owners treated them more like shoplifters than shoppers. As looting and fires spread toward Koreatown, some merchants protected their stores with shotguns and rifles.
Boston Globe
21 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
US teacher seized by Russia is located in prison
Hubbard, 73, was accused of manning a checkpoint and fighting for Ukraine, and then convicted by Russia of being a mercenary in October and sentenced to almost seven years in a penal colony. After that, Hubbard's family was not able to find him in Russia's prison system. In a highly unusual move, the Russian judge removed his case file, including even basic information like his lawyer's name, from public view. Advertisement Documents reviewed by The New York Times show that Hubbard is being held in the IK-12 penal colony in Mordovia, the southwestern Russian region commonly referred to as 'prison land.' In addition, sentencing documents reviewed by the Times, which have not been previously reported, outline the Russian case against Hubbard and its contention that he was fighting for Ukraine. Recent interviews with one of Hubbard's sons and others, as well as text messages he exchanged with that son, contradict the Russian narrative. Advertisement Martin De Luca, a lawyer for Hubbard, said his team had talked to him three times since April. On May 28, Hubbard was allowed to call another son, who lives in Cyprus, according to De Luca and Hubbard's sister. 'He's had a rough 3½ years,' De Luca said. Ukrainian prisoners of war who were held with Hubbard told the Times that he had been repeatedly tortured because he was an American — beaten, forced to stand all day, given little food and poor medical care. In interviews after being released, the Ukrainians said they feared for his life. He is the only American known to have been taken from Ukraine and then jailed in Russia. Russia's Foreign Ministry did not respond to a request for comment. So far, the Russian government has made no official statement on Hubbard. US officials have raised Hubbard's imprisonment with Russian officials and asked that he be immediately released, a US official recently said. The US Embassy in Moscow has not been granted access to Hubbard, the official said, despite Russia's obligation under international law to do so. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations. In a May 19 phone call, President Trump and President Vladimir Putin of Russia discussed a new potential prisoner exchange, according to Russian news agencies citing Yuri Ushakov, a Kremlin aide. Ushakov told reporters that the two leaders had agreed to prepare a humanitarian prisoner exchange of nine people from each side, calling it 'an important humanitarian action.' The United States has accused Russia of inflating and inventing criminal charges against Americans so they can be traded for Russians held elsewhere or used as international bargaining chips. Advertisement Hubbard grew up in Michigan, served in the Air Force in California, married young, and later divorced. He then married a Japanese woman he met in Washington state and moved to Japan, where he taught English. Eventually, the couple divorced. In 2012, Hubbard retired to Cyprus, the home of Joseph Coleman, a son from his first marriage. That is where Hubbard met a Ukrainian woman named Inna, following her to the eastern city of Izium. He earned money by teaching English to a few Japanese students online. Hubbard was alone at home when the Russians launched their Feb. 24, 2022, full-scale invasion. 'He was, in hindsight, too optimistic, I suppose,' said Hisashi Tanaka, 36, Hubbard's son from his second marriage, in a recent interview. 'He was going to wait it out. He thought he wouldn't get into too much trouble considering his age and being a civilian.' The day the war started, Hubbard didn't seem to be initially aware of what was happening, his son said. 'Don't get caught in the crossfires!' Tanaka, who lives in Japan, wrote him on Skype. 'I suppose that I should read the news,' responded Hubbard, who had just celebrated his 70th birthday. 'It is peaceful here, so far.' The Russians say Hubbard signed up the next day for the regional territorial defense unit at a recruitment center at a kindergarten in Izium to earn at least $1,000 a month, according to the sentencing documents reviewed by the Times. The documents claim Hubbard told recruiters he felt healthier than many younger people. 'In fact, Hubbard looked sporty and very fit for his age,' the documents say. Advertisement The Russians said Hubbard was then trained in combat and how to handle weapons and explosive devices. The documents say he was given the call signs — nicknames — 'Samurai' and 'Ninja,' and that he manned a checkpoint on a bridge over a river. The Russians also contend that Hubbard stopped working for the territorial defense unit after a few weeks because he feared for his life and that they arrested him inside the home of an acquaintance in April 2022. But messages between Hubbard and Tanaka in Japan, first on Skype and then through texts on the phones of acquaintances of Hubbard, show no evidence of Hubbard signing up for the military. He repeatedly told his son that all was well.
