NEW YORK – A Dutch youth questioned in the case of missing Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway has been served with a summons, according to a lawyer for the missing teen's family.
In a story first reported by FOXNews' Greta Van Susteren, Joran van der Sloot and his father Paulus were served with papers in connection with a wrongful death suit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court after they arrived in New York to take part in a television interview on Thursday.
The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified monetary damages, was filed by the parents of Natalee — Elizabeth Ann Twitty and Dave Edward Holloway.
Click here to read the summons and the complaint (pdf).
Natalee, 18, was last seen May 30 leaving a bar with van der Sloot and two other residents of the Dutch Island of Aruba. Her body has not been found and no one has been charged.
Van der Sloot and his father could not be reached for comment. Holloway family lawyer Scott Balber would not say where he believes they are staying in New York. He said he believed that as of Thursday, when they were served, they had not retained a lawyer.
Van der Sloot and Surinamese brothers Deepak Kalpoe, 21, and Satish Kalpoe, 18 were arrested June 9 on suspicion of involvement in Natalee's disappearance. Van der Sloot admitted he was with the teen but denied any wrongdoing. All were released.
Natalee's family argues the Aruban authorities botched the investigation and have continued to maintain that Van der Sloot knows more than he told authorities about the missing teen's whereabouts.
Referring to van der Sloot as "the predator," the lawsuit claims that on at least three occasions young Aruban women have complained they were the victims of date rape by him and accomplices.
Van der Sloot left Aruba, where his father still lives, and currently lives in Arnhem, the Netherlands, court papers say.
The lawsuit alleges the father, Paulus van der Sloot, was an enabler of his son's "violent and anti-social lifestyle." Court papers say that on the night of May 29, 2005, he went with his underage son to a casino to play poker. It was at that casino that the younger van der Sloot met Natalee, the lawsuit claims.
The court papers present a partly speculative version of what happened after the young people left the casino and went to a bar in the early hours of May 30.
At about 1:30 a.m., court papers say, an intoxicated Natalee left with van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers. Several of Natalee's friends saw her in the car with the youths and asked her to get out, court papers say, but she did not.
The court papers go on to allege she was sexually assaulted.
Balber said when a defendant is served with a summons for a lawsuit in New York state, but neither party lives in the county where the summons is served, then the plaintiff gets to decide the county in which the lawsuit is filed. Manhattan is New York County.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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