Holloway suspect sought in Peru murder

LIMA, Peru (AP) - Peruvian police said Wednesday that a young Dutchman previously arrested in the 2005 disappearance in Aruba of Alabama teen Natalee Holloway is being sought as a suspect in a weekend murder of a Peruvian woman.

Chief of detectives Col. Miguel Canlla told The Associated Press that Joran Van Der Sloot was being sought in the Sunday killing in a Lima hotel of 21-year-old Stephany Flores.

The girl's father, Ricardo Flores, told reporters that Van Der Sloot appears with her in video taken at a Lima casino early Sunday. He said she was killed about 8 a.m. Sunday in a hotel room that was splattered with blood, indicating a struggle.

Van der Sloot left Peru on Monday, immigration authorities told the AP, though they did not disclose his destination though Flores said it was Chile.

Canlla said that Peru was asking authorities in neighboring Chile for help in the case. He did not elaborate.

He also said police were seeking to confirm Van Der Sloot's identity with the Dutch Embassy. The embassy's head of consular affairs, Angela Lowe, said she could not comment on the case for privacy reasons.

Van der Sloot was twice arrested but later released for lack of evidence in the May 2005 disappearance in Aruba of the 18-year-old Holloway, who was on a high school graduation trip to the Caribbean island.

No trace of her had been found.

The mystery of her disappearance has frustrated authorities and garnered wide attention on television and in newspapers in Europe and the United States.