(Newser)
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Six years after teenager Natalee Holloway went missing in Aruba, an Alabama judge has declared her dead. The move, announced in court today, follows a September request by Holloway's father; he wants to stop paying for her health insurance and give her college fund money to her brother, the AP reports. Her mother had opposed the request, but no longer does, her lawyer says.
Amid all the searches and media coverage, "no evidence has been found Natalee Holloway is alive," said a lawyer for her father. Dave Holloway said he wasn't surprised by the decision. "We've been dealing with her death for the last six and a half years," he said. Today's hearing was planned before suspect Joran van der Sloot pleaded guilty to the murder of Stephany Flores.
