Human remains have been found in the search for Natalee Holloway, the 18-year-old woman who disappeared over 12 years ago in Aruba.

Natalee’s father Dave Holloway and private investigator T.J. Ward appeared on the Today show Wednesday morning, where they made the bombshell announcement.

Holloway and Ward said they had been working with an informant who is acquainted with Jordan van der Sloot, a convicted murderer who was seen at a bar with Natalee that night she disappeared while on a trip with girlfriends celebrating their high school graduation. He has not been charged in connection to Holloway’s disappearance, but was found guilty of murdering a woman exactly five years to the day after Natalee went missing.

“We have a person who states he was directly involved with Joran van der Sloot in disposing of Natalee’s remains,” Holloway said. “I thought, you know, there may be something to this.”

The informant, known as “Gabriel,” reportedly led Mr. Holloway and the private investigator to a set of remains found behind a house. Ward said on Today that the remains had been sent out for testing, and were recently confirmed to be human remains.

Further DNA testing will determine if the remains are Natalee’s.

“When we determined these remains were human, I was shocked,” Mr. Holloway said. “I know there’s a possibility this could be someone else, and I’m just trying to wait and see.”

The news of the discovery comes just ahead of the premiere of an Oxygen miniseries, The Disappearance of Natalee Holloway, which will air on August 19.

Feature photo: Facebook