Victim's family wants van der Sloot trial speeded up

LIMA, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- A suspect in the death of a U.S. teenager could see charges dropped in the death of a Peruvian woman if prosecutors don't move quickly, the woman's family said.

Joran van der Sloot is a suspect in the death of Stephany Flores, whose body was found in his hotel room in Lima in May 2010. Charges against him could be dropped if prosecutors don't file their case by the end of the year, CNN reported.

"We are worried because Peruvian law says that if a suspect's trial doesn't begin within 18 months after his arrest, authorities are obligated to set the suspect free," Ricardo Flores, the dead woman's father, told CNN.

Prosecutors received the case from investigators in June. Flores said prosecutor Miriam Riveros Castellares is "not moving with the speed that a case of this magnitude merits."

"We're asking that either the prosecutor file charges or that authorities remove her from this case and name somebody else," Flores said.

Van der Sloot, 24, a Dutch national, was arrested twice but never charged in the death of U.S. citizen Natalee Holloway on Aruba. Holloway disappeared while on a school graduation trip to the Caribbean island. Her body was never found and the case remains unsolved.