After more than 18 years since Natalee Ann Holloway vanished on May 30, 2005 in Aruba her family now knows what happened.

Joran Van der sloot, who was the main suspect in the disappearance of the 18-year-old Natalee, finally admitted that he killed Natalee.

Van der Sloot, a 36-year-old Dutch citizen who was inn federal court on Wednesday, revealed he was the killer. He was in court for sentencing on a 2010 scheme to extort money from Halloway’s mother in exchange for information about her daughter’s death and the location of her remains. He was sentenced to 240 months in prison for the 2010 extortion plot.

During the hearing, prosecutors announced that Van der sloot confessed to killing Natalee Holloway. Claiming he was born-again he spoke:

“I would like to take this chance to apologize to the Holloway family, to apologize to my own family, to say I hope the statement I provided brings some kind of closure to everyone involved,” van der Sloot said in court, according to AL.com. He added that he has “opened his heart” to Jesus Christ. “I am no longer that person I was back then.”

Van der Sloot stated Holloway kneed him in the crotch after he tried “feeling her up,” and responded by kicking her in the face and bludgeoning her with the cinder block. He then pushed her into the ocean. Unfortunately, Natalee’s body will never be found for a proper burial.

On Thursday, May 26, 2005, Holloway and 124 fellow graduates of Mountain Brook High School arrived in Aruba for a five-day, unofficial graduation trip. The teenagers were accompanied by seven chaperones.

Judge Anna Manasco sentenced Van der sloot to 20 years on federal charges. The judge stated:

“I have considered your confession to the brutal murder of Natalee Holloway,” Manasco said Wednesday.

“You have brutally murdered, in separate incidents years apart, two beautiful women who refused your sexual advances.”

Joran Van der sloot is currently serving a 28-year prison sentence in Peru for the 2010 murder of another women.

Holloway was last seen by her classmates around 1:30 a.m. on Monday, May 30, as she was leaving the Oranjestad bar and nightclub.

The story became a national sensation in the United States.

We hope this confession can bring some closure her for Natalee’s family and friends.