SOLVED NY - Tala Farea, 16, Rotana Farea, 22, Hudson River, 24 Oct 2018- COD released: suicide/drowning

[musicaljoke]

They were tied together by at least one other person and dumped in the water. I believe they were deceased first. I also believe LE is being tight-lipped about cause of death because they've realized this was not a suicide and they don't want to mess up the investigation.

I would like to know if these lovely girls were able to swim? And, if not; who knew this?

Even if they could swim, the fact that they were taped together, facing one another, would mean that unless they were extremely skilled, one would essentially drown the other by swimming.

 

[Brubeck]

The taping together was done to assure mutual reciprocation. The two wanted - for whatever reason - to drown, and drown they did. The rest is socio-cultural speculation.

 

[musicaljoke]

Suicide. IMO. The sisters had run away in Dec. 2017, returned to a shelter (with or without their mother??). Day before they were found deceased, their mother, who appears to not have been with them, called them (spoke with them) and told them that she was ordered by Saudi Consulate to return home to Saudi Arabia. The sisters did not want to return, and we know this from their asylum request.

News reports tell us that the sisters were alive when they went into the water, so the cause of death will be found to be drowning.

Taped themselves together at the waist and feet to prevent being able to get out of water alive.

The Shafia sisters' murder, which has been mentioned here a couple of times already, really resonates me as I think about this case of the Farea sisters. In the Shafia murders, the sisters also reached out for help prior to their murder, and they too were betrayed by a system that didn't protect them. The family was wealthy. They had been in Canada for two years.

In the Shafia murders, the young women and wife #1, were drown by their brother, with support from their father and his wife #2, apparently for wearing makeup and flirting with boys. Their autopsy reports showed no signs of drugs that might have sedated them. The only injury to their bodies was that three had rather insignificant bruises on the back of their heads, which may or may not have been caused when their car was pushed into the canal, and which the coroner didn't believe would knock them out.

It was a month later before we heard that this wasn't a suicide pact. There was a huge trail of evidence left behind that lead to convictions for first degree murder.

I realise that the Farea sisters death isn't the same situation, but so much about the this case conjures up memories of the Shafia murders, that I can't help but feeling that the Farea sisters' death was planned.

These links are for the Shafia murders:

DiManno: Women’s bodies yielded few clues in Kingston drowning | The Star

Canal victims' home laptop used for murder info | CBC News

Canal victims killed by family: police | CBC News

 

[OneEye]

The taping together was done to assure mutual reciprocation. The two wanted - for whatever reason - to drown, and drown they did. The rest is socio-cultural speculation.

Possibly, but I am questioning whether 2 people could tape themselves up the way these sisters were taped and then maneuver into the water without leaving evidence on the shore. We don't know what NYPD found on the shore but the early video showed little disturbance on the shore in the area where they were found.

 

[musicaljoke]

Possibly, but I am questioning whether 2 people could tape themselves up the way these sisters were taped and then maneuver into the water without leaving evidence on the shore. We don't know what NYPD found on the shore but the early video showed little disturbance on the shore in the area where they were found.

Part of the evidence in a suicide situation, would be that there would be evidence of transportation to the site, perhaps a car left behind, or a rented vehicle, or a taxi perhaps or a witness who comes forward saying that s/he offered them a ride.

And .. they probably would have left the duct tape onshore.

 

[Brubeck]

Possibly, but I am questioning whether 2 people could tape themselves up the way these sisters were taped and then maneuver into the water without leaving evidence on the shore. We don't know what NYPD found on the shore but the early video showed little disturbance on the shore in the area where they were found.

I think it would have been rather easy to maneuver themselves in. (Awkward, true.)

 

[bears10]

Rotana was specializing in computer and information technology at college and recently moved to New York, where she changed schools and her major.

Tala was reported missing when she went to see Rotana in New York this summer without her mother’s knowledge, the family member explained. “Tala was upset for quite some time after her sister decided to continue her studies in NYC. Yes, it did cause a problem for the family as the mother had to file a missing case report to the police over her daughter’s disappearance, but the search was called off later when they found Tala was with her sister, Rotana”.

‘They were a happy family,’ says relative of Saudi sisters found dead in New York

I've only seen the info about a college in NYC from the Arab News, which seems to have a totally different account of some details than the press over here.

ETA - the NY post article posted upthread uses the Arab News as their source for the NYC college information.

Tala was reported missing again by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in August, but the English-language ArabNews.com, citing unnamed family members, reported that the mother called off the search when it was discovered the teen was visiting her older sister at an unspecified college in New York.

https://nypost.com/2018/10/30/sisters-found-dead-duct-taped-together-had-applied-for-asylum/

 

[Brubeck]

If they were murdered, why go to the extreme of taping them together, which was bound to draw questions? Many other ways to eliminate two persons, and to disappear them for good.

 

[bears10]

If it was a suicide, then the duct tape roll, and the scissors to cut them, should be found on the shore, or the tape roll should have still been attached to them. But I'm assuming they were duct taped together in another location and brought to the water and dropped in, which is why I don't buy the suicide theory.

The duct tape could be in the water since their hands weren't bound. I was pretty sure this was a suicide at first but I no longer think so after reading that in depth article posted a couple days ago about the Shafia murders.

 

[Elainera]

I believe it would have been absolutely impossible for them to commit suicide by jumping off that bridge. They had duct tape around their waists and ankles and were facing each other.

There’s now a new tool intended to prevent suicides from the bridge, an 11-foot-high fence connected to netting that forms a canopy over the pathway beyond the traffic lanes. Until now, the only barrier along the pathway was a barricade-high railing.

The officers who monitor cameras trained on the pathway can dispatch other officers, even a fully equipped emergency unit, if they see someone who arouses their suspicions.

The chain-link fence is too tall to scale quickly, and getting around the canopy would require unusual strength and agility.

There is no pedestrian walkway on the lower level, only a maintenance catwalk and a barricade-height railing.

View attachment 153629

At George Washington Bridge, a Fence Rises to Deter Suicides

An article posted yesterday iirc had LE say they ruled out the GW bridge because the girls were not seen on any footage from cameras up there.

 

[bears10]

An article posted yesterday iirc had LE say they ruled out the GW bridge because the girls were not seen on any footage from cameras up there.

I think they also said that they would have had signs of trauma if the fall was from the GWB

 

[JudgeJudi]

I'm anxiously waiting for the autopsy results.

 

[3llecia]

If they were murdered, why go to the extreme of taping them together, which was bound to draw questions? Many other ways to eliminate two persons, and to disappear them for good.

The duct tape would mean they’d be unable to save themselves when placed into the water. If they were both put in the water alive, it would help the person responsible from technically doing much of the murder; just bind them, drop them in and let the water do its job. Not a crime of passion, it feels like a crime of heartlessness or apathy.

 

[katydid23]

If they were murdered, why go to the extreme of taping them together, which was bound to draw questions? Many other ways to eliminate two persons, and to disappear them for good.

What if the murderers wanted to make a statement? What if they wanted it to be known the sisters were killed?

 

[katydid23]

The taping together was done to assure mutual reciprocation. The two wanted - for whatever reason - to drown, and drown they did. The rest is socio-cultural speculation.

How do you know they 'wanted' to drown? Is there any evidence for that?

At least with the socio-cultural speculation, there is a vast history of similar deaths to compare these to.

 

[The 13th]

If they were murdered, why go to the extreme of taping them together, which was bound to draw questions? Many other ways to eliminate two persons, and to disappear them for good.

I'm thinking it could have been a statement like "You two wanted to be together, so here you are!" I think there's a decent chance they were being "punished" for being rebellious. I hope that's wrong. Poor young women.

 

[OneEye]

The BBC is reairing the multipart programme, "House of Saud: A Family at War". I'd seen the programme previously but for those that are interested in a bit of history, some discussion of issues raised in JK case as well as this case and current events in the KSA its worth a watch IMO. I didn't check to see if the programme is on Netflix or Amazon for US viewers but also check BBCAmerica as it might air there or possibly PBS.
BBC iPlayer - House of Saud: A Family at War - Series 1: Episode 1

 

[OneEye]

NBC News article and video. Video footage is best I've seen of what the shoreline area around W. 68th-69th Street looks like and my guess is that they got the footage shooting from either a boat or helicopter.
Saudi sisters found dead along Hudson River likely entered water alive, police say

 

[Inthedetails]

NBC News article and video. Video footage is best I've seen of what the shoreline area around W. 68th-69th Street looks like and my guess is that they got the footage shooting from either a boat or helicopter.
Saudi sisters found dead along Hudson River likely entered water alive, police say

I haven't kept up with the case for a few days, so this may have been discussed already, but this jumped out at me from the link above:

"Police said their mother told detectives she had received a call from an official at the Saudi Arabian Embassy the day before the bodies were discovered. The embassy was ordering the family to leave the U.S. because her daughters had applied for political asylum, the mother said."

That seems odd, doesn't it?? (If you guys already discussed this, let me know and I'll backtrack on the thread to read the posts.)

jmo

 

[OneEye]

I haven't kept up with the case for a few days, so this may have been discussed already, but this jumped out at me from the link above:

"Police said their mother told detectives she had received a call from an official at the Saudi Arabian Embassy the day before the bodies were discovered. The embassy was ordering the family to leave the U.S. because her daughters had applied for political asylum, the mother said."

That seems odd, doesn't it?? (If you guys already discussed this, let me know and I'll backtrack on the thread to read the posts.)

jmo

I think many of us are confused with the different stories that are coming out about statements from the mother depending on the news source. My guess is that there might be translation issues and the mother might not feel empowered to speak on behalf of her family as she is not the head of household. One of the recent news reports said the father is heading to NYC so he should be there by now so hopefully some of the confusion in the statements about the two sisters might be cleared up. Also, NYPD did head down to VA and the Detective that spoke in the NBC interview said that they are making progress in piecing together the story of what the sisters have been doing the past few months since the younger sister was reported missing by her mother. The cultural/sociological issues are real in this case and its made it challenging to understand what has happened with the sisters since last year when the older sister left George Mason University. I guess we will have to wait for NYPD to respond. It was very disappointing that Homeland Security declined to answer the NBC questions for the story as the entire issue of asylum looms large in this case IMO.