Joran van der Sloot Detained in Peru Murder
Updated at 6:47 p.m. ET
A Dutch man long suspected in the disappearance of an Alabama teen in Aruba was arrested Thursday in the murder of a young woman in Peru.
(Scroll down to watch video of van der Sloot being taken into custody)
Stephany Flores, 21, was killed in a Lima hotel Sunday, five years to the day after Natalee Holloway disappeared.
The suspect, Joran van der Sloot, was escorted by three police officers as he was taken from a dark vehicle into a police office in downtown Santiago, Chile. He made no comment as he entered, walking calmly and without handcuffs as journalists shouted his name.
Van der Sloot was detained while traveling in a taxi, about halfway to the coast on Route 68, said Prefect Alfredo Espinosa, chief national spokesman for Chile's investigative police. The suspect did not resist and has been calm in detention, Espinosa said.
Chilean police are awaiting instructions from their counterparts in Peru, Espinosa added.
In Lima, police Gen. Cesar Guardia said Flores, who had been seen with the suspect early Sunday, was found Wednesday lying face down on the floor of van der Sloot's hotel room. Her neck was broken, and she was fully clothed, with no signs of having been sexually abused, Guardia told The Associated Press.
Authorities found no potential murder weapons in the room, Garcia said.
Witnesses saw van der Sloot and Flores together in a casino over the weekend and again, entering the hotel room together around 5 a.m. Sunday, reports CBS News correspondent Elaine Quijano.
The victim's father, circus empresario and former race car driver Ricardo Flores, says his daughter dropped off some girlfriends at 2:35 a.m. then apparently returned to the casino. She and van der Sloot were seen entering the hotel room about 5 a.m., said Guardia, and the Dutchman departed alone about four hours later.
The U.S. Attorney in Birmingham, Ala. has charged van der Sloot with extortion and wire fraud, for reportedly offering information on Holloway's whereabouts in exchange for $250,000, reports WHNT in Huntsville, Ala.
More on Holloway case from "Crimesider":
Photos: Natalee Holloway, Paradise Lost
Holloway's Dad Thinks Photo Shows Rocks, Not Remains
Police Halt Search Sparked by "Remains" Photo
Photo Leads Divers to Renew Holloway Search
Did Vacationer Snap Photo of Holloway's Remains?
Joran van der Sloot Confession?
Asked if Flores had been asphyxiated, Guardia said he was awaiting autopsy results for the exact cause of death.
"I would expect that the killer left behind hair, fibers, bodily fluids that would give rise to good DNA tests, so this should be a much easier case to solve," CBS News legal analyst Lisa Bloom predicted on "The Early Show".
Van der Sloot left Peru on Monday by land, Guardia said, his exit registered at the Santa Rosa border crossing. He had been staying at the hotel since May 14, having entered on a flight from Colombia, the police general added.
The victim's father is a 48-year-old former president of the Peruvian Automobile Club who won the "Caminos del Inca" rally in 1991 and brings circuses and foreign entertainers to Peru. He ran for vice president in 2001 and for president five years later on fringe tickets.
An attorney for van der Sloot in New York City, Joe Tacopina, cautioned against a rush to judgment.
"Joran van der Sloot has been falsely accused of murder once before. The fact is he wears a bull's-eye on his back now and he is a quote-unquote usual suspect when it comes to allegations of foul play," Tacopina said.
Van der Sloot was twice arrested but later released for lack of evidence in the 2005 disappearance of Holloway, who was on a high school graduation trip to the Caribbean island.
No trace of her has been found and van der Sloot remains the main suspect in the case, said Ann Angela, spokeswoman for the Aruba prosecutor's office.
"What's happening now is incredible," she said. "At this moment we don't have anything to do with it, but we are following the case with great interest and if Peruvian authorities would need us, we are here."
Van der Sloot Taken into Custody
Van der Sloot's late father was a prominent judge in Aruba.
The mystery of Holloway's disappearance has garnered wide attention on television and in newspapers in Europe and the United States.
Two years ago, a Dutch television crime reporter captured hidden-camera footage of van der Sloot saying he was with Holloway when she collapsed on a beach, drunk.
He said believed she was dead and asked a friend to dump her body in the sea.
Judges subsequently refused to arrest van der Sloot on the basis of the tape.