It's been more than six years since teenager Natalee Holloway disappeared in Aruba, and her father says the time has come to finally confront a grim reality.
Dave Holloway is requesting that his daughter be declared legally dead.
The request came in papers signed last April, and just now uncovered, seeking a "petition for presumption of death for persons missing for more than five years."
Filed in probate court in Alabama, Holloway points to an "exhaustive investigation" in Aruba and abroad, including a $1 million reward, and the fact that authorities have a "primary suspect" identified.
"It is my firm, however painful, belief that my daughter Natalee is deceased, and not a runaway," writes her father.
Natalee was 18 years old when she vanished on May 30, 2005, during a trip to the Caribbean island with classmates to celebrate their high school graduation.
Joran van der Sloot, at the time a resident of Arbua and the last known person seen with Natalee, was briefly detained but has never been formally charged in her disappearance.
The Dutchman has since been charged with murdering a woman in Peru after she discovered his links to the Holloway case.
Natalee's mother, Beth Holloway, who is divorced from Dave, says she doesn't intend to support her ex-husband's effort.
"No, I want to get to the bottom of what's going on from Dave," she tells ABC News.
Reporting by JEFF TRUESDELL
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