Beth Holloway alleges that the magazine knowingly published false stories
Natalee Holloway is in the headlines seven years after her infamous disappearance as now her mother, Beth Holloway, has filed a lawsuit against The National Enquirer alleging the magazine knowingly published untrue stories about her daughter in order to generate revenue.
The mother of Natalee Holloway is suing The National Enquirer and its publisher, American Media Inc., alleging that the magazine knowingly published “false headlines, articles and statements” for nearly seven years.
“They keep on doing it,” said Lin Wood, the attorney representing Beth Holloway. “We had no choice but to file this lawsuit. This is a mother who has exercised every effort to make sure her daughter is alive.”
Natalee Holloway disappeared during a high school graduation trip to the Caribbean island of Aruba at the age of 18. She was last seen alive leaving a bar with Joran van der Sloot the morning of May 30, 2005.
No remains have ever been found of Natalee Holloway despite months of intense media coverage and searches of the island. Natalee Holloway was declared dead by a judge earlier this year.
Van der Sloot is the primary suspect in the 18-year-old’s disappearance. Van der Sloot faces extortion and wire fraud charges in Alabama stemming from Holloway’s disappearance.
Van der Sloot pled guilty to the murder of Peruvian college student Stephany Flores in a Peruvian court in January of this year. The 21-year-old was killed after leaving a Lima casino with Van der Sloot exactly five years after the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.
According to Beth Holloway, the “evidence is overwhelming” that Van der Sloot is responsible for her daughter’s death.
There are several National Enquirer articles mentioned in the lawsuit including one that claimed Van der Sloot possessed a “secret hand-drawn” map to the burial site of Natalee Holloway.
According to the lawsuit, the magazine knowingly published false stories. The lawsuit states that the “defendants purposely avoided learning the truth by, among other things, failing to attempt to interview many individuals who could confirm or deny the things stated in the headlines, articles, and statements and captured in the photographs.”
The lawsuit is seeking unspecified damages.
The National Enquirer and the Florida-based American Media Inc. have not yet commented on the lawsuit.
