Natalee Holloway’s dad wants daughter declared legally dead

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LONDON, ENGLAND - FILE: Sister of the bride and Maid of Honour Pippa Middleton arrives to attend the Royal Wedding of Prince William to Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 in London, England. The marriage of the second in line to the British throne is to be led by the Archbishop of Canterbury and will be attended by 1900 guests, including foreign Royal family members and heads of state. Thousands of well-wishers from around the world have also flocked to London to witness the spectacle and pageantry of the Royal Wedding. According to reports on June 13, 2011, Pippa and cricker star turned banker boyfriend Alex Loudon have split. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

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Updated: February 13, 2012 9:24AM

The Murder File ...

A cruel twist: The sensational Natalee Holloway disappearance from Aruba in 2005 just got a new footnote.

To wit: David Holloway, Natalee’s father, was awaiting a court date Thursday in Alabama to legally declare his daughter dead, while the chief suspect in her disappearance pleaded guilty Wednesday to the murder of another young woman.

◆ Explanation: Joran van der Sloot, who has been imprisoned in Peru for the murder of 21-year-old Stephany Flores in 2010, pleaded guilty Wednesday in hopes of a lighter sentence.

◆ Holloway was teary-eyed when asking the court to declare his daughter dead, so he could access funds set aside for her education. (Natalee went missing while on a school trip when she was 18 years old.) Holloway wanted the money to help pay for Natalee’s 23-year-old brother’s senior year in college.

$$$$ ...

It appears Fred Eychaner , a frugal mega mega millionaire who hosted a $35,800 per couple fund-raiser for President Barack Obama Wednesday night, has finally upgraded from his 1999 Ford Escort.

◆To wit: Eychaner now owns a 2002 Ford Escape and a 2006 Mini Cooper.

$$$$ ...

Tip Tap twaddle: In case you missed it, the Lanvin designer sneakers worn by First Lady Michelle Obama, which caused an uproar when seen on her feet while loading groceries at a food bank, cost $515.

The Daley Diary ...

Power bower: The return of outgoing White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley, who will be heading into the private consulting sector when his boots hit Chicago turf, netted this response from a political wag: “If I were Rahm, I’d be a little nervous about it.”

The Ax Man ...

Hmmmmm: Obama’s top political strategist David Axelrod, a former reporter, contends that New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor, whose new book The Obamas claims first lady Michelle Obama clashed with the president’s advisers, did not talk to the “best” sources.

◆The kicker: Kantor credits Axelrod and Valerie Jarrett, Robert Gibbs, Susan Sher, Eric Whitaker and Marty Nesbitt with giving her hours of interview time.

The Ax Man II ...

Huh?

Is Axelrod, the architect of Obama’s rise to the presidency, now defending Obama’s former longtime pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright — whose incendiary sermons sidetracked Obama’s presidential bid in 2008?

◆Translation: According to a report published in Andrew Breitbart’s Big Government website, Axelrod claims Rev. Wright was a victim of an editing knife.

◆Quoth Axelrod at a Distinguished Speakers Series of Southern California Tuesday night, the Wright sermons that made the news in 2008 were “90 seconds of vitriol plucked from 30 years of sermons by some enterprising opposition researcher.”

Pippa pix …

Click. Click. Snap. Snap. Pippa Middleton, sister of Prince William’s wife, Kate, is so hot — she’s become a hot shot.

◆Translation: London’s Daily Mail, one of more than a dozen London newspapers, receives up to 400 pictures a day of Pippa from freelancers and picture agencies.

Sneedlings ...

Today’s birthdays: Kirstie Alley, 61; Howard Stern, 58, and Rush Limbaugh, 61.