Joran van der Sloot Eyed for Murder in Peru; Previously Detained in Natalee Holloway Case
NEW YORK (CBS) Joran van der Sloot, the Dutch national who has been detained several times in the Natalee Holloway case, has now been named the prime suspect in the murder of a Peruvian girl, according to local reports.
Crimesider has been told that an Aruban prosecutor described van der Sloot as being on the run, but we have been unable to independently confirm it.
Early Wednesday morning, Stephany Flores Ramirez, 21, was found dead in a hotel room in Peru located on the avenue Miraflores district of Lima, Peruvian newspaper El Comercio reports. According to police reports, the girl was brutally stabbed and was found wrapped in a blanket in a pool of blood.
Ramirez was the daughter of racecar driver and well-known businessman Ricardo Flores.
According to Peruvian police, she was last seen with van der Sloot, who has not been located.
According to the Peruvian newspaper, the hotel room where Ramirez's body was found was registered under van der Sloot's name. Hotel employees also told police that they saw him with the girl over the weekend.
Five years ago, in May 2005, Alabama high school student Natalee Holloway disappeared during a senior class trip to Aruba. She was 18 when she was last seen leaving a bar with Joran van der Sloot, who was 17 at the time. He was detained in the case several times but Aruban authorities have said they don't have enough evidence to charge him.
MEDIAPICTURES: Natalee Holloway, Paradise Lost
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