. >> joran van der sloot. >> joran van der sloot. >> joran van der sloot. >> it was memorial dayn 2005, and my phone rang from a number that i didn't recognize. they tell me that my daughter natalee is missing and that no one has seen her. >> natalee and her class were doing a senior trip to aruba. of course as a parent you worry, sending your child out into the world for the first time alone. but they were promised chaperones, so you expect that your child is going to be watched. >> it was a way to celebrate the fact that they'd made it through high school, and had their lives in front of them. >> aruba is considered to be a very safe, beautiful caribbean island. >> for a lot of americans, aruba does not feel that foreign, and that's part of its appeal. when you go down the strip there's a carlos 'n charlie's. there's a marriott. there's a holiday inn. i mean, blink and you can really feel like you are in ft. lauderdale. >> she mentioned that they were planning a senior graduation trip to aruba. i've never heard of aruba. you're only gonna be gone four days. okay. i remember tha

a judge in aruba is releasing prime suspect, joran van der sloot from jail. >> they do have rules in uba about how long you can detain a suspect without a charge. they didn't feel they were able to charge him with anything. >> joran van der sloot is back in the netherlands after being released from custody in aruba. >> i think joran missed the media attention and the focus, even though the focus was not in a way moest peopst people would. he decided to do an interview with abc news. >> how do you think you've been portrayed in all this? >> i think i've been portrayed unfairly. i think it's about time that people will get to see the other side of the story. >> are you ready to tell the floout. >> yeah. >> did you kill natalee holloway? >> no. did you harm natalee holloway? >> no. >> why should you be believed? >> there's absolutely no reason to believe. >> nearly after five years, he reaches out. >> reporter: he sends an e-mail using a pseudonym. and when he contacts them out of the blue it's mind blowing. >> he engaged in a series of e-mails. >> john q kelly says joran has a proposal.

van der sloot never faced charges for natalee holloway's disappearance, yet five years to the day an a different young woman goes missing, and then -- >> joran van der sloot, once suspected in the disappearance of natalee holloway in aruba is being sought as a suspect in the death of a woman in peru. >> reporter: stephany flores had been found dead in his hotel room. his fingerprints all over. the two of them seen on surveillance tape. joran pleads guilty and is sentenced to 28 years. oddly, he seems to be thriving there marrying and even having a daughter. with joran behind bars beth seems to have found some peace. back in aruba this summer she goes back to joran's house to see if she can talk to his mother. >> i met with anita early on in 2005. i just wondered what her take on him is now. >> reporter: before long, police show up. >> just trying to find out -- just kind of circling back. well, just respect that. >> reporter: beth was desperately hoping for healing mother to mother. her heartbreak spans the globe. tonight on "20/20," we're going to take you inside that prison where th