Joran van der Sloot's transfer to Peru delayed after confession in Natalee Holloway's death
Joran van der Sloot, who confessed to killing Alabama teen Natalee Holloway and recently pleaded guilty to extortion and wire fraud charges in the U.S., was set to return to a South American prison this week but his plane was delayed, according to multiple reports.
Van der Sloot, 36, was scheduled to arrive in Peru on Monday, but the transfer has been pushed back to Tuesday, the head of Interpol for the Andean country, Col. Aldo Avila, told The Associated Press.
He is being sent back to the country where he will serve out the rest of a sentence after being convicted of killing a Peruvian woman there.
Van der Sloot, temporarily extradited to the U.S. to face federal charges linked to Holloway's disappearance, was released from the Shelby County Jail Monday morning, escorted by U.S. Marshals, Alabama Media Group reported. His release, according to the outlet, took place just after midnight.
Previously: Joran van der Sloot confesses to 2005 murder of Natalee Holloway in Aruba
Northern District of Alabama U.S. Marshal Marty Keely told the outlet van der Sloot was taken from the jail to the Birmingham International Airport but the Peru-bound plane experienced "some type of mechanical issue".
USA TODAY has reached out to Keely's office.
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US federal extortion and wire fraud sentencing
Van der Sloot, a Dutch national, has never been charged in Holloway's assumed death in Aruba.
On Oct. 18. Van der Sloot pleaded guilty to extortion and wire fraud in federal court in Alabama. The charges were the only ones to have ever been linked to Van der Sloot in the disappearance of Holloway, who was last seen in May 2005 and later declared dead.
Under a plea deal, van der Sloot agreed to reveal how the teen died and how her body was disposed of, according to a federal sentencing memorandum. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison, but under the plea agreement, that sentence will run concurrently with his sentence in Peru on the murder case, court records show.
Van der Sloot's Peruvian sentence
Van der Sloot is serving a 28-year sentence for killing 21-year-old Peruvian business student, Stephany Flores, in his hotel room in 2010 after meeting her in a casino.
Investigators said he was angry Flores had apparently seen information on his computer about the Holloway case. He also stole her money and credit cards and briefly fled the country.
Van der Sloot has been arrested twice in Aruba, but never charged, in connection the disappearance of Holloway, USA TODAY previously reported.
What happened to Natalee Holloway?
Holloway, who lived in suburban Birmingham, Alabama, was last seen during a high school graduation trip to Aruba with classmates.
The teen vanished after a night with friends at a nightclub, leaving a mystery that sparked years of news coverage and countless true-crime shows and podcasts. She was last seen leaving a bar with van der Sloot, then 18 years old, outside a restaurant and nightclub in Oranjestad.
Holloway was set to fly home from the Caribbean island on May 30, 2005. She failed to appear for her flight.
She was in a car with van der Sloot and two other men − Deepak Kalpoe and Satish Kalpoe, according to the FBI.
Her body has not been found.
Contributing: Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY; Associated Press
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Joran van der Sloot transfer to Peru delayed after killing confession
