Natalee Holloway Mom Beth Twitty Sneaks Into Jail, Confronts Joran van der Sloot

(Sept. 17) -- The mother of missing American teen Natalee Holloway sneaked into a Peruvian jail and confronted Joran van der Sloot about her daughter's fate.

Van der Sloot is being held in a maximum security prison in Peru on charges that he murdered another young woman, 21-year-old Stephany Flores, in his Lima hotel room in May. But the 22-year-old Dutchman is also the prime suspect in Holloway's disappearance. She vanished in 2005 during a high school graduation trip to the tropical island of Aruba, and her body has never been found.

Holloway's mother, Beth Twitty, is visiting Peru this week with a Dutch documentary filmmaker who's investigating Natalee's disappearance. On Wednesday, the two managed to sneak into Castro Castro Prison, where van der Sloot is being held, and even reached his cell. Twitty spoke with him for about five minutes before authorities removed her.

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2 Cases, 1 Suspect

Joran van der Sloot, who has been jailed in Peru since June, has long been a suspect in the disappearance of Alabama teen Natalee Holloway in 2005. He was arrested in Peru after the May 30 killing of a 21-year-old Peruvian woman in his Lima hotel room.

2 Cases, 1 Suspect

On Wednesday, Holloway's mother, Beth Twitty, here in June, and a Dutch filmmaker managed to sneak into Castro Castro Prison, where van der Sloot is being held, and reach his cell. Twitty spoke with him for a few minutes before authorities removed her.

2 Cases, 1 Suspect

Stephany Flores was seen with van der Sloot on May 29 at a Lima casino, where he was said to have been playing in a poker tournament, and on May 30 at the hotel, where her body was found. Reports say the suspect became enraged after Flores used his laptop and found he was connected to Holloway's disappearance.

2 Cases, 1 Suspect

Hotel security camera footage released by Peruvian police showed van der Sloot leaving his hotel room alone on May 30. Earlier footage showed him arriving at the hotel with Flores. Van der Sloot faces charges of first-degree murder and robbery in Flores' death. He is currently being held in Miguel Castro Castro, a maximum-security prison on the outskirts of Lima.

2 Cases, 1 Suspect

Van der Sloot said he took cash from Flores' wallet and went south to Chile, where he was later arrested. Here, Chilean police escort him out of a police station to be flown back to Peru on June 4. Police said he confessed to killing Flores, but van der Sloot later said he made that statement because of intimidation. He has tried to have the confession retracted, but so far Peruvian courts have refused.

2 Cases, 1 Suspect

Holloway was 18 when she disappeared while vacationing with friends in Aruba. She was last seen with van der Sloot, who made multiple, varying confessions in the case that prosecutors said were a mixture of "lies and fantasy." Authorities believe Holloway is dead, but her body has not been found.

2 Cases, 1 Suspect

Van der Sloot, center, and brothers Satish Kalpoe, left, and Deepak Kalpoe, right, were seen leaving a nightclub with Holloway. All three were arrested but not charged in the case. Van der Sloot reportedly told Peruvian authorities he would discuss the location of Holloway's body with Aruban officials, but only if he gets a transfer to a prison in the Caribbean island.

2 Cases, 1 Suspect

Holloway, left, poses with friends on May 29, 2005, just hours before her disappearance. The young women were on the trip to celebrate their high school graduation and were due to return to the U.S. the next day. In an interview published Sept. 6 in a Dutch newspaper, van der Sloot said he extorted money from Holloway's parents because he wanted to get even with them for "making my life tough" since her disappearance. U.S. prosecutors said Natalee's mother sent him $25,000 earlier this year in exchange for information on where Natalee's body was. He used that money to fly to Latin America. (Sources: AP, ABC News, CNN)

2 Cases, 1 Suspect

Their meeting was first reported by Peruvian TV and then picked up by many foreign media. Some Dutch media are also reporting that Twitty was arrested for the security breach.

Her lawyer, John Kelly, confirmed that Twitty had met with van der Sloot, saying it was their first face-to-face meeting since the night after her 18-year-old daughter disappeared.

He said it was done without violating any laws or breaking any regulations.

"This was just a mother acting on her instincts," Kelly told NBC's "Today" show this morning. "I don't think that was her purpose -- of thinking she was going to get answers out of him. I think it was more to deliver the message that he might be in Peru, but she hasn't gone away. She's determined to get answers and, you know, she wants to bring Natalee home."

Kelly said Twitty didn't tell him ahead of time about her plans. He said he would have "asked her to exercise a little more caution."

Van der Sloot's lawyer, Maximo Altez, also confirmed the meeting to NBC but said it lasted "less than one minute." He said Twitty disguised her identity to sneak into the jail, where she told van der Sloot that she has "no hate in her soul" for him, Altez was quoted as saying. At that point, van der Sloot handed her Altez's business card and told her he couldn't talk to her without his lawyer present.