A convicted killer imprisoned in Peru will be handed over to U.S. authorities to face extortion and fraud charges there stemming from the unsolved 2005 disappearance and presumed murder of an Alabama teenager, the Lima government said on Wednesday.
The executive order from Peru's Council of Ministers allowing the temporary extradition of Joran van der Sloot marked the latest twist in nearly 20 years of the mystery surrounding the fate of Natalee Holloway.
The 18-year-old suburban Birmingham resident vanished during a high school graduation trip to the Caribbean island of Aruba in May 2005, prompting an exhaustive investigation and intense media attention. Authorities have said she was last seen with Van der Sloot and another man.