On May 30, 2005, Natalee Holloway disappeared. Seven years later, she was declared dead...even though there was no body. As what would be her 31st birthday approaches, let's take a look at all the facts, theories, and potential suspects in Natalee Holloway's disappearance and murder.

2005

In May of 2005, Natalee Holloway was on a high school graduation trip in Aruba. The 17-year-old from Moutain Brook, Alabama was on her last day of vacation when she didn't return to her hotel on May 30. On June 1, Fox News took the disappearance nationwide with a less-than-one-minute report on Holloway's case. People everywhere wanted to know what happened to the teenager.

On June 5th, Nick John and Abraham Jones, former hotel security guards, were arrested for suspicion of murder and kidnapping. They were released a week later with no charges. Joran van der Sloot, Satish Kalpoe and Deepak Kalpoe were also arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and murder.

By September 2005, Van Der Sloot and the two brothers were all released without charges, as well. Police began to get desperate for any information regarding Holloway's disappearance. The reward for Natalee's safe return is increased from $200,000 to $1 million.

2006

Dave Holloway, Natalee's father, publishes a book about the struggles he's dealt with since his daughter's disappearance.

Two more suspects were arrested in 2006 with alleged connections to Holloway's disappearance. Geoffrey von Cromvoirt was arrested due to his drug dealing history, and officials believed this connected to Holloway's case. Von Cromvoirt was released 10 days after his arrest. Less than a month after that arrest,  Guido Wever (the son of a former Aruban politician), was detained on suspicion of assisting in the abducting, battering, and killing of Holloway. He was also released.

At request of Aruba, the Netherlands took over investigation in Holloway's case.  

2007

In November of 2007, original suspects Joran van der Sloot and the Kalpo brothers were re-arrested. They were, once again, released without charges.

The case was declared closed.

2008

Aruban officials re-opened the case in February of 2008. However, a judge refuses to grant permission to re-arrest Joran van der Sloot.

2010

In 2010, van der Sloot extorted $25,000 from the Holloway's after claiming that he could lead them to her remains, but as we all know, that was a lie. As a result, he was charged with fraud and extortion.

The suspect is currently serving a 28-year prison sentence in Peru for the murder of a different woman, 5 years after Natalee went missing. Van der Sloot claims he killed the other woman as a result from the psychological trauma he suffered after being accused in the Holloway case.

2012

Seven years after her disappearance, with no leads in the case at all, Dave Holloway petitions the court to legally presume his daughter dead. Jefferson County Probate Jude Alan King rules in his favor, and Natalee Holloway is legally declared dead.

Beth Holloway, Natalee's mother, vehemently opposed her husband's desire to have their daughter declared dead.

But the declaration of death didn't mean people stopped trying to solve Natalee Holloway's murder.

2017

In August 2017, investigator TJ Ward, along with Dave Holloway, announced they had uncovered human remains in Aruba. The duo believed they belonged to Natalee, as the tip came from one of van der Sloot's old roommates, John Ludwick. Ludwick says he was paid $1,500 by van der Sloot to dig up Natalee's remains and crush them.

"The idea was to crush everything to the point where it wasn't recognizable as her bones or skull or anything like that," Ludwick said. "The only thing that got burned was the skull to burn the hair fibers," he continued. "It was doused in gasoline in a fire pit in a cave."

"We've chased a lot of leads and this one is by far the most credible lead I've seen in the last 12 years," said her father on Today. "Twelve years and we still have nothing "” until now."

"This lead, we have a person who states that he was directly involved in disposing of Natalee's remains," he added.

However, despite this glimmer of hope, Dr. Jason Kolowski confirmed the remains did not belong to Holloway.

"Out of the four individual bone samples only one was found to be human. The mitochodrial DNA bone sample was not a match to [mother] Beth Holloway, and so it was ruled out as being Natalee Holloway," Dr. Kolowski told Oxygen.com.

As of right now, there are still no new leads on Holloway's case, but her family will never stop looking.

What do you think happened to Natalee Holloway?