Latest news with #MountainBrookHighSchool
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Yahoo
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 article source: Beth Holloway addresses missing American college student, urges 'full circle' safety plan
Fox News
11-03-2025
- Fox News
Beth Holloway addresses missing American college student, urges 'full circle' safety plan
FIRST ON FOX – 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. 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. 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. "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." 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. 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. Stepheny Price is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. She covers topics including missing persons, homicides, national crime cases, illegal immigration, and more. Story tips and ideas can be sent to
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Shark attack survivor Lulu Gribbin shares her story with Monday Morning Quarterback Club
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — It's been almost nine months since Lulu Gribbin was attacked by a shark in Walton County, Florida. On June 9, 2024, her mother Ann Blair Gribbin wrote on the Caring Bridge website that the shark had bitten off her daughter's left hand, and they had to amputate her right leg from her knee to her hip. The Mountain Brook High School student shared her story with the Monday Morning Quarterback Club and with local news outlets for the first time on Thursday. Gribbin had been invited to appear as the keynote speaker as the Club announced $2.4 million in grants to 34 nonprofits during their Next Level Impact luncheon. The 16-year-old told reporters she is excited to have just gotten her driver's license after taking an adaptive driving class. Gribbin shared about what happened on June 7, and how she hopes to use her experience to help other amputees. 'Imagine looking down at your hand and there's nothing there, just flesh and bone,' she stated. Gribbin explained that she and her friends had been in the water diving for sand dollars when life changed in an instant. 'As we were riding the waves in,' she noted, 'I turned around and heard my best friend scream, 'shark'.' Gribbin said her hand was bitten off, and the shark latched onto her leg. She was rescued and flown to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola where her mom said the first words she spoke after the breathing tube was removed were 'I made it.' Gribbin shared with the audience what she meant by that expression during her keynote address: 'Through the pain, agony, sorrow and grief I made it,' she said. 'I pushed myself, because I wanted to do it for those who didn't make it; I chose to fight.' Now the young woman said she's utilizing the facilities at Children's of Alabama. She's also launching the Lulu Strong Foundation. 'Through my foundation I would love to have kids be able to experience what I've experienced and have just an amazing life an amputee,' she said. Still standing by her man, Richard Scrushy's wife insinuates Satanic conspiracy in prosecution of former HealthSouth CEO Gribbin wants to figure out a way to help amputees get prosthetics faster, and to make them lighter weight. She demonstrated the use of her new prosthetic hand for reporters: 'So I can turn it in circles, and I can close it and open it,' Gribbin said. The technology has different modes which allows her to pick up different items. On Thursday we also heard from 17-year-old McCray Faust who was with Gribbin in the water that day: 'I was bit on my lower leg in the arch of my foot,' Faust explained. 'It severed all the ligaments and nerves in the bottom of my foot.' She said she also had to be taken to the same hospital in Panama City as Gribbin and had surgery on her foot. Faust added that she's worked hard to learn how to walk again. She and Lulu's twin sister Ellie Gribbin plan to form a junior board to host events for the foundation, along with other friends who were with them on that fateful day. Their first event will involve golf, now that Lulu has fallen in love with the sport. When she was asked what message she would like to share with the world she had this to say: 'Never give up and stay positive, even in the most challenging times.' The last thing Lulu told reporters was she would not change things for the better: 'I've had so many amazing opportunities and I'm just so glad to be blessed by the Lord, and all my family and friends behind me.' Ellie Gribbin talked about the role of faith in this journey: 'It's all a part of God's plan,' she said. 'God put every person there for a reason and he just worked in so many ways that day, and still works in ways today.' For more information on her foundation, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
