Natalee Holloway's dad having human remains found in Aruba DNA tested

Eighteen-year-old Holloway, an Alabama native, went missing in 2005 during a trip to Aruba with classmates celebrating their graduation.

Her father, Dave Holloway, and private investigator T.J. Ward announced on Wednesday's episode of "TODAY" that an 18-month investigation, which was documented for an Oxygen show that airs Sunday, led them to discover the remains, which are now being DNA tested to confirm if they are indeed Holloway's.

Holloway, 18, was with friends on a post-high school trip to Aruba in 2005 when she vanished, leaving her loved ones wondering for years what happened to her. Van der Sloot and Surinamese brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe, reportedly the last people to see Natalee alive, were arrested multiple times in her disappearance, but were always released without being charged.

Van der Sloot is serving a sentence of almost 30 years in a Peruvian prison for the murder of a young woman there. Then, in 2015, Dave received a promising lead from a man who claimed to be roommates with a co-conspirator who helped prime suspect Joran van der Sloot dispose of Natalee's remains. "This is the most credible lead I've ever seen".

"It may be coming to a close because we have found human remains and we had those tested", he said.

Holloway was last seen outside an island bar with van der Sloot. "I thought, you know, there may be something to this".

He added that now that there is confirmation that the remains are human, the next step is to use DNA to confirm that the body is his daughter's.

It could take several months to complete DNA testing, but the father says all he wants is closure.

At the time of Holloway's disappearance, her grandmother Ann Reynolds was living in Arkansas (Pine Bluff), where Holloway's mother (Beth Holloway-Twitty) also grew up. They were tested, and it turned out they were positive for human remains, but they don't know who they belong to. "It would finally be the end".