Natalee Holloway's Father Asks For Her To Be Declared Dead - MyFox Washington DC

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MOUNTAIN BROOK, Ala. - The father of missing Alabama woman Natalee Holloway has asked a court to declare her legally dead, TMZ reported Wednesday.

Holloway, from Mountain Brook, Ala., was 18 when she went missing six years ago on a high school trip to the Caribbean holiday island of Aruba. Dutchman Joran van der Sloot remains the prime suspect in her disappearance.

Dave Holloway filed papers at an Alabama court in June for a "petition for presumption of death for persons missing for more than five years."

Despite an "exhaustive investigation," he claims that he is no closer to finding his daughter, adding, "It is my firm, however painful, belief that my daughter Natalee is deceased, and not a runaway."

A hearing later this month will decide whether the petition will be granted.

Van der Sloot is also accused of robbing and murdering 21-year-old Peruvian Stephany Flores, who was found dead in his Lima hotel room on May 30, 2010 -- the fifth anniversary of Natalee Holloway's disappearance.

The 24-year-old was arrested after fleeing over the border to Chile and has been held in Lima's notorious Castro Castro prison ever since.

He was arrested twice in connection with Holloway's disappearance and held in custody for three months, but never charged.

A grand jury in Alabama indicted van der Sloot last June for wire fraud and extortion after he allegedly asked Holloway's mother for $250,000 to tell her where to find her missing daughter's remains.

Read more: tmz.com