Beth Holloway, mother of Natalee Holloway, sues National Enquirer for false reporting about daughter's disappearance

(CBS/AP) BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The mother of Natalee Holloway is suing The National Enquirer, alleging the tabloid knowingly published false stories to profit from her daughter's 2005 disappearance in Aruba.

Pictures: Joran van der Sloot, Natalee Holloway and Stephany Flores

Beth Holloway said in a lawsuit filed Wednesday that the Enquirer and its publisher, American Media Inc., published "false headlines, articles and statements" for nearly seven years.

Natalee was 18 years old when she vanished during a high school graduation trip to the Caribbean island of Aruba on May 2005, and her body was never found. A judge declared her dead last January.

Jordan van der Sloot, a Dutchman who was raised in Aruba, remains the prime suspect in the case. Natalee was last seen leaving a bar with van der Sloot on the morning of May 30, 2005. He faces extortion and wire fraud charges in Alabama in connection with Natalee's disappearance in Aruba, exactly five years to the day before he killed Peruvian college student Stephany Flores.

Van der Sloot pleaded guilty in January in Peru to killing the 21-year-old Flores, whom he met in a Lima casino.

Beth Holloway's lawsuit against the Enquirer mentions several articles, including one that claimed van der Sloot had a "secret hand-drawn" map to Holloway's grave. The lawsuit also claimed the magazine knew statements used in stories were false when they were published.

"They keep on doing it," said Lin Wood, Beth Holloway's attorney. "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."

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.

Complete coverage of Natalee Holloway on Crimesider