Joran van der Sloot, Natalee Holloway Suspect, Sought for Stephany Flores Ramirez Murder
NEW YORK (CBS/AP) Joran van der Sloot, the Dutch national who is the prime suspect in the Natalee Holloway case, has now been named as the prime suspect in a recent murder: that of young Peruvian woman Stephany Flores Ramirez.
Early Wednesday morning, the 21-year-old was found dead in a hotel room located in the avenue Miraflores district of Lima, Peruvian newspaper El Comercio reports. According to police reports, Ramirez was brutally stabbed and was found wrapped in a blanket in a pool of blood.
Chief of detectives Col. Miguel Canlla says that Stephany was murdered on Sunday, and the girl's father, Ricardo Flores, says van der Sloot appears with his daughter in video taken at a Lima casino early Sunday. Hotel employees also told police that they saw van der Sloot with Stephany over the weekend. The hotel room where Ramirez's body was found was registered under van der Sloot's name, says the paper.
According to Peruvian immigration officials, van der Sloot departed Peru on Monday. Canlla says Peru is asking Chilean authorities for help in the case. 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.
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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March 22, 2010 - Natalee Holloway's Body Found? Picture Leads Divers to Renew Search
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February 23, 2010 - Joran van der Sloot Confession: I Killed Natalee Holloway, But Prosecutors Don't Believe Me
March 19, 2010 - Natalee Holloway's Remains Found? Aruban Police Look into Underwater Photo
