Man Who Claimed He Cremated Natalee Holloway's Remains Is Fatally Stabbed During Fla. Kidnapping Attempt
A 32-year-old man who said he allegedly helped Joran van der Sloot get rid of Natalee Holloway’s body was stabbed to death on Tuesday by a Florida woman he was trying to kidnap, PEOPLE confirms.
John Christopher Ludwick was featured prominently in the six-part true-crime series The Disappearance of Natalee Holloway, which aired on the Oxygen network in 2017.
On the show, Ludwick alleged van der Sloot paid him $1,500 to dig up Holloway’s remains five years after the Alabama teen went missing in Aruba, and then cremate them. His claims were investigated but never proven to be true.
Ludwick’s ever-changing explanation of what happened to the teenager’s remains led Aruban Police Chief Dolfi Richardson to say on the Oxygen series, “What he was saying was not possible. And then he changes his story, ‘No, no, I wasn’t there.’ I mean, there were so many holes we could shoot in his story that we knew that he was not really a credible witness.”
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According to a statement from North Port, Florida, police, Ludwick was stabbed several times as he tried to abduct a woman with whom he formerly had a romantic relationship.
The kidnapping attempt happened “as she exited her vehicle in her driveway,” reads the statement. “A struggle ensued and he is the one who ended up stabbed.”
Ludwick, who lives in Port Charlotte, Florida, wanted to resurrect his failed relationship with the woman, but she rebuffed him.
During the struggle, the woman — whose name has not been released — managed to take the knife from Ludwick’s hands.
He was stabbed in the abdomen, the statement says.
After he was wounded, Ludwick fled on foot, and “was found nearby suffering from stab wounds.”
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He was airlifted to a nearby hospital where doctors pronounced him dead.
The woman will not face criminal charges, according to authorities.
Natalee Holloway vanished in 2005 during a high school graduation trip to Aruba. She was last seen with Joran van der Sloot, who has never been charged with her death or disappearance.
