ORANJESTAD, Aruba, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- Paul van der Sloot, the father of a man questioned in the disappearance of teenager Natalee Holloway on the island of Aruba, has died, officials say. He was 57.
The father of Joran van der Sloot was at the Tierra del Sol estate playing tennis Wednesday when he collapsed and could not be resuscitated by emergency service staff, Expatica reported.
Paul van der Sloot, an Aruba lawyer training to be a judge, had been repeatedly questioned by media about the alleged involvement of his son Joran in the disappearance and presumed slaying of Natalie Holloway in May 2005, the newspaper said.
When Dutch crime reporter Peter R. de Vries spoke to Paul van der Sloot about Joran's possible involvement in the case, he said he thought the father helped cover up parts of the truth.
"My intuition as a researcher told me that Mr. Van der Sloot knew more about it, but wanted to protect his son, which is natural. His attitude struck me as tense, for instance when I referred to Natalee being dead. His response was, 'Who says she's dead? There is no evidence.'"
Peter de Vries said the Holloway case will be harder to solve now that the main suspect's father has died, Radio Netherlands reported.
