(NewsNation) — The key suspect in the Natalee Holloway case will be extradited to the U.S. on Thursday, the Superior Court of Justice of Lima said.
Joran van der Sloot is the main suspect in the unsolved 2005 disappearance of American student Holloway. The 18-year-old from Birmingham, Alabama, was last seen leaving a bar in Aruba with van der Sloot.
A judge declared Holloway dead, but her body has never been recovered. No charges have been filed in her death.
Van der Sloot faces federal extortion and wire fraud charges out of Alabama. He is accused of trying to extort the Holloway family in 2010, promising to lead them to Natalee’s body in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Natalee’s mother, Beth Holloway, shared a statement after authorities agreed to extradition, saying the Holloway family is “finally getting justice for Natalee.”
“It has been a very long and painful journey, but the persistence of many is going to pay off,” Beth Holloway said.
Van der Sloot lost his extradition appeal after his lawyer challenged it, arguing that van der Sloot was never informed of an open extradition process.
The head of Peru’s prison system said van der Sloot will be taken into Interpol custody Thursday morning, then transferred to an airport in Lima, where he will board a plane to the U.S.
In 2010, van der Sloot was arrested for the murder of 21-year-old business student Stephany Flores. She died five years to the day after Holloway’s disappearance. Van der Sloot entered a guilty plea in that case.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.