��������

Video above: Listen to Beth Holloway on finding closure in Joran van der Sloot's confessionYears of unanswered questions about Natalee Holloway’s disappearance were finally answered in a Birmingham courtroom on Wednesday.Joran van der Sloot pleaded guilty to extortion and wire fraud charges. He also told the FBI about what happened during the last night of Natalee Holloway’s trip to Aruba in 2005- the full audio was released.Natalee Holloway’s disappearance captured the attention of people everywhere, especially in Mountain Brook, her hometown. Almost two decades later, people who live in the community are finally feeling some closure, especially those who worked at Smith’s Variety, a store in Mountain Brook, at the time.Joran van der Sloot's confession is just the start of closure for Natalee’s family and the community she called home.All these years later, the world finally knows what happened to her, but that still doesn’t bring her back.“I can’t imagine what they’ve gone through,�� an unidentified Smith’s Variety employee said, “but I think finally just getting that truth out there is going to help them.”This longtime employee who didn’t want to go on camera said the community rallied around the Holloway family as if Natalee was their own relative.“It started off with just a few, and the next day it was 20, and the next day it was 40,�� the 33-year-old employee said. “Then, it just kind of it was all throughout our community, but it spread into Homewood and everywhere else.”She was talking about yellow ribbons inspired by the song "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round an Oak Tree" as a plea for Natalee’s safe return. Natalee’s friends with the then-owner of Smith’s Variety led the effort.“Just a small show of support and a physical representation that, ‘Hey, we’re here for you,’�� current owner of Smith’s Variety Brad Simpson said. “Whatever you need, we’re going to be there for you. We’re praying for you or we’re thinking about you.”Although Natalee never made it home, Thursday brought some much-needed closure to her family’s years-long search for answers. Simpson has an 18-year-old daughter and said he can’t imagine the pain her parents felt not knowing what happened to her.“You hear things about this in the movies,�� he said. “You hear horror stories, but to have it hit so close to home, it doesn’t seem real and still doesn’t seem real that something like that could happen.”Simpson told �������� 13 the yellow ribbons they made for Natalee have become a tradition. Now, they make ribbons to show support for the community in any way they can—cementing Natalee’s legacy.