MONTGOMERY, Ala.
The mother of missing Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway is opposing efforts by her ex-husband to declare their daughter dead six years after she vanished during a graduation trip to Aruba.
Jefferson County Circuit Judge Alan King has scheduled a hearing Friday in Birmingham on the request by Dave Holloway.
"Beth intends to oppose Dave's inexplicable effort to have Natalee declared dead," John Q. Kelly, Beth Holloway's attorney, said Thursday.
One of Dave Holloway's attorneys, Mark White, said it is routine to seek a determination of death after a person has been missing for more than five years.
"This is one case where my client would sure like to be wrong. It's painful, but there has got to be legal closure," White said.
The Holloways divorced in 1993. Their daughter was 18 when she disappeared in Aruba in May 2005 while on a high school graduation trip with other students from Mountain Brook, an upscale suburb of Birmingham.
Dave Holloway, an insurance agent in Meridian, Miss., has filed court papers describing the extensive search for his daughter on the Caribbean island and said it "is my firm, however, painful, belief that my daughter Natalee is deceased, and not a runaway."
He described Joran van der Sloot as "the primary suspect" in her disappearance. Van der Sloot is not charged with Holloway's disappearance, but he is imprisoned in Peru, where he is accused of killing 21-year-old Stephany Flores in May 2010.
Beth Holloway's attorney said she doesn't want to give up hope.
"Beth gave birth to and raised Natalee and will always hope and pray for Natalee's safe return. If Dave seeks closure on such a personal and sensitive matter, it should be respected, but not imposed on Beth in such as adversarial and public manner," Kelly said.
The probate court hearing Friday is part of a multi-step process that could stretch into early 2012.
The probate judge said that after listening to testimony Friday, he could issue an order of presumption of death. Then legal notices would be run in a Jefferson County newspaper for two weeks. At least 12 weeks after that, he could hold a second hearing to declare her dead.
The probate judge said he holds five or six hearings a year over people presumed dead. He said some family members who file for a declaration want to have closure. In other cases, family members also want approval to handle the missing person's assets.
Dave Holloway's court filings listed his daughter's possessions as worth less than $500.
The mother of missing Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway is opposing efforts by her ex-husband to declare their daughter dead six years after she vanished during a graduation trip to Aruba.
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| Natalee Holloway |
"Beth intends to oppose Dave's inexplicable effort to have Natalee declared dead," John Q. Kelly, Beth Holloway's attorney, said Thursday.
One of Dave Holloway's attorneys, Mark White, said it is routine to seek a determination of death after a person has been missing for more than five years.
"This is one case where my client would sure like to be wrong. It's painful, but there has got to be legal closure," White said.
The Holloways divorced in 1993. Their daughter was 18 when she disappeared in Aruba in May 2005 while on a high school graduation trip with other students from Mountain Brook, an upscale suburb of Birmingham.
Dave Holloway, an insurance agent in Meridian, Miss., has filed court papers describing the extensive search for his daughter on the Caribbean island and said it "is my firm, however, painful, belief that my daughter Natalee is deceased, and not a runaway."
He described Joran van der Sloot as "the primary suspect" in her disappearance. Van der Sloot is not charged with Holloway's disappearance, but he is imprisoned in Peru, where he is accused of killing 21-year-old Stephany Flores in May 2010.
Beth Holloway's attorney said she doesn't want to give up hope.
"Beth gave birth to and raised Natalee and will always hope and pray for Natalee's safe return. If Dave seeks closure on such a personal and sensitive matter, it should be respected, but not imposed on Beth in such as adversarial and public manner," Kelly said.
The probate court hearing Friday is part of a multi-step process that could stretch into early 2012.
The probate judge said that after listening to testimony Friday, he could issue an order of presumption of death. Then legal notices would be run in a Jefferson County newspaper for two weeks. At least 12 weeks after that, he could hold a second hearing to declare her dead.
The probate judge said he holds five or six hearings a year over people presumed dead. He said some family members who file for a declaration want to have closure. In other cases, family members also want approval to handle the missing person's assets.
Dave Holloway's court filings listed his daughter's possessions as worth less than $500.
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