Natalee Holloway Suspect Joran van der Sloot Sought in Peru Murder; Victim's Father Calls Dutchman "Assassin"
NEW YORK (CBS/AP) A grieving father told Peruvian reporters Wednesday he is certain Dutch national Joran van der Sloot killed his daughter, 21-year-old Stephany Flores Ramirez.
Van der Sloot is also the prime suspect in the case of Natalee Holloway, the American teen who vanished during a high school trip to Aruba five years ago.
Ricardo Flores, a racecar driver and well-known businessman in Peru, told reporters, "This is my daughter's assassin."
Early Wednesday morning, Ramirez was found dead in a hotel room in Peru's capital, Lima, the newspaper El Comercio reports. According to police reports, Ramirez was brutally stabbed and was found wrapped in a blanket in a pool of blood.
Chief of detectives Col. Miguel Canlla says that Ramirez was murdered on Sunday. The victim's father, Flores, says van der Sloot appears with his daughter in video taken at a Lima casino early Sunday.
Hotel employees also told police that they saw van der Sloot with Stephany over the weekend. The hotel room where Ramirez's body was found was registered under van der Sloot's name, says the paper.
According to Peruvian immigration officials, van der Sloot departed Peru on Monday. Canlla says Peru is asking Chilean authorities for help in the case. Crimesider has been told that an Aruban prosecutor described van der Sloot as being on the run, but we have been unable to independently confirm it.
The Dutch government said Interpol has issued an international arrest warrant for van der Sloot.
Five years ago, in May 2005, Alabama high school student Natalee Holloway disappeared during a senior class trip to Aruba. She was 18 when she was last seen leaving a bar with Joran van der Sloot, who was 17 at the time. He was detained in the case several times, but Aruban authorities have said they don't have enough evidence to charge him, although he is still considered the prime suspect in that case as well.
PICTURES: Natalee Holloway, Paradise Lost
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March 25, 2010 - Natalee Holloway's Father Thinks Aruba Photo Shows Rocks, Not Daughter's Remains; Police Seem to Agree
March 25, 2010 - Natalee Holloway Disappointment, Police Call Off Search Spurred by Photograph of "Remains"
March 22, 2010 - Natalee Holloway's Body Found? Picture Leads Divers to Renew Search
March 18, 2010 Natalee Holloway's Skeleton: Did Vacationer Snap Photo of Missing Girl's Remains?
February 23, 2010 - Joran van der Sloot Confession: I Killed Natalee Holloway, But Prosecutors Don't Believe Me
March 19, 2010 - Natalee Holloway's Remains Found? Aruban Police Look into Underwater Photo
