Van der Sloot arrested in Chile

SANTIAGO, Chile, June 3 (UPI) -- Joran van der Sloot, a suspect in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway in Aruba and a killing in Peru, was arrested Thursday in Chile, Interpol said.

Van der Sloot, 23, is a Dutch citizen. Peruvian Interior Minister Octavio Salazar Miranda said discussions with Interpol on his extradition were underway Thursday, CNN reported. He was transferred to national police headquarters in Santiago after his arrest.

Authorities say he entered Chile on Wednesday, the same day the body of Stephany Flores Ramirez, 21, was found at a Lima hotel. She had been beaten, showing signs of blunt force trauma.

Holloway, 18, vanished in May 2005 while on her Alabama high school's senior class trip to Aruba. She was last seen leaving a bar with van der Sloot, who was detained several times but never charged because of lack of evidence.

Searches from the air, on the ground and underwater turned up no sign of Holloway or her body. Van der Sloot made one video, which he later said was made up, admitting disposing of the body, and gave an interview in which he claimed he had sold Holloway into the sex trade, which he also retracted.