6 &1/2 years later, Jefferson County judge signs order declaring missing Mountain Brook teen Natalee Holloway dead

BIRMINGHAM, Al.
Dave Holloway said the 6½ years since his daughter Natalee Holloway's disappearance has been "tough," but it may be days before the full impact hits from a Jefferson County probate judge's ruling today officially declaring his daughter to be dead.

Lawyer Mark White and Dave Holloway talk to the media

"I have been preparing myself for this day for the last 6½ years," Dave Holloway said after the hearing in which Probate Judge Alan King issued an order on legal presumption of death. "We hope that today will bring some closure."
Natalee Holloway was 18 when she disappeared during a post-graduation trip to Aruba with students from Mountain Brook High School.
She was last seen leaving a nightclub with three men including Joran van der Sloot, now 24. He is the prime suspect in Natalee's disappearance, which the FBI is treating as a homicide, but has not been charged in connection with her case.
Dave Holloway said he found a sense of justice in van der Sloot's guilty plea Wednesday to killing 21-year-old Stephany Flores in Lima Peru, five years to the day after Natalee disappeared. He said he hopes van der Sloot gets the 30-year term prosecutors seek.
"I hope the Flores family will finally get justice," he said. "He committed a very heinous crime. The guy needs to be taken off the streets."
Van der Sloot also faces federal charges in Birmingham that he tried to extort $250,000 for information about Natalee's whereabouts. Dave Holloway said he thinks there is "more than a 50 percent chance" he will one day see van der Sloot in a Birmingham courtroom.
The father said the petition he filed in June to have his daughter officially declared dead was needed to handle several lingering issues. It also might eventually help the criminal probe in her case, he said.
"We really didn't want to do it, but it came down to taking care of some needs," he said after the hearing.
During the September hearing, the father said his daughter's estate was worth less than $5,000. He had continued to pay her insurance premiums, and had invested money for Natalee's college that he now needs for his son's senior year in college -- all of which requires a death certificate.
Thursday's brief hearing focused on whether any evidence had been found that Natalee is alive. Beth Holloway, Natalee's mother, was present and did not object.
Mark White, one of Dave Holloway's lawyers said the search for evidence she is alive was exhaustive.
"I can't imagine any person or any place that remains unaware of the tragic circumstance that brings us here," he said. "No evidence has been found that Natalee Holloway is alive."