GUILTY Turkey - Sarai Sierra, 33, NY woman murdered, Istanbul, 21 Jan 2013 - #1

[vesa]

It can, but in this day and age, it's very common. Heck, I married someone I met on the internet

I too travelled by myself and met up with people I initially 'met' on a hockey message board (that's where I met my husband). A group of us became friends online through that forum, and many of us have met up in New York through our associations on that website.

BUT, would I have stayed with one of them on a first trip over? Heck no. All our meetings took place in busy bars / restaurants and hockey arenas.

I also met people from the Internet .. but to go abroad, to meet several men from Internet, that isn't very smart, it's naive and can be dangerous.

 

[nursebeeme]

Police in Istanbul on Friday detained a man who exchanged online messages with a missing New York City woman after questioning him over her disappearance.

Sarai Sierra, a 33-year-old mother of two, went missing while vacationing alone in Istanbul. She was last heard from on Jan. 21, the day she was due back home.

A police official in Istanbul said police had questioned a man who had been in contact with Sierra during her stay in in the city. The official refused to identify him or provide further details on the arrest. He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government rules that bar civil servants from speaking to reporters without authorization.

Turkish news reports said Sierra had arranged to meet her contact on a bridge she planned to photograph on the day she went missing. It was not known if the meeting had taken place.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/report-police-question-man-missing-woman-18373343

 

[ToutCa]

MEETING POINT LAST SEEN BY PLACE OF RECORDING CAMERA

On the other hand, the new results of investigations being camera. One of them was an American woman images on the Galata Bridge. 12:10 hours these images' u shows the American woman is seen alone on the bridge.

http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gundem/22496831.asp

She was there waiting to meet "Taylan" -- latest "sighting" of her that day is now 12:10pm on the bridge itself rather than on land by the Tower.

 

[belimom]

http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gundem/22496831.asp

She was there waiting to meet "Taylan" -- latest "sighting" of her that day is now 12:10pm on the bridge itself rather than on land by the Tower.

Wow. Okay. So there was also a video of a man 30-35 yrs old following her in the area near by bridge, wasn't there? I wonder if this afterwards? I don't have the link handy.

 

[belimom]

Here is a previous post about a man following her but that was before the bridge - at the mall the day before? I swear I saw something about the busy intersection near Galata Bridge. (ETA - gotta take DS to the doctor but will look for the link later, unless someone else saw it also)

Footage from two security cameras released on Wednesday shows a man thought to be 30-35 years old following Sierra from a shopping mall in the high-traffic area of Taksim to Tarlabaşı Street, the shadier side of Beyoğlu, the district where she was staying. That was the evening of Jan. 20, hours before she disappeared.

According to the passport police found in her room, Sierra left İstanbul on Jan. 15 for Amsterdam and then hopped a plane to Munich the following day.

While the exact amount has not been verified, police and media reports say Sierra spent thousands of dollars in four days in these two cities.

http://www.todayszaman.com/news-305747-tracing-missing-new-yorkers-steps-online.html

 

[ToutCa]

Here is a previous post about a man following her but that was before the bridge - at the mall the day before? I swear I saw something about the busy intersection near Galata Bridge. (ETA - gotta take DS to the doctor but will look for the link later, unless someone else saw it also)

Yup, that was from the day before.

I didn't see anyone following her in any releasedvideo, including the two from in/near the mall. There were rumors of videos showing a follower, but only rumors as far as I know.

There WAS a (unreleased) video of her earlier the day of the Galata Bridge video, at 11:33am (if memory serves), walking past a store on Istiklal Av. in the direction of Galata. No one was said to be following in that.

 

[looking4answers]

Hey, someone help me translate this please? Thought it sais something about "women's corpse in the sea".

http://www.haberler.com/denizdeki-kadin-cesedine-abd-li-kayip-sarai-4296899-haberi/

Nevermind, it said a woman about 40, and is not Sarai.

This is what it said:

"In the meantime, bringing to mind the possibility that the body of missing U.S. Sarai Sierra Sierra over the internet pictures of the police examined. The police completed their investigations, the body does not belong to Sierra Sarai set."

 

[SurfieTX]

Hey, someone help me translate this please? Thought it sais something about "women's corpse in the sea".

http://www.haberler.com/denizdeki-kadin-cesedine-abd-li-kayip-sarai-4296899-haberi/

It basically says it's not her. This is another woman found at sea with no identification - about 40 years old.

 

[looking4answers]

It basically says it's not her. This is another woman found at sea with no identification - about 40 years old.

Yeah, I figured that out too, thank you though. Either way that is really sad, some 40 year old woman with no ID found dead in the sea? Not exactly the most uplifting sign towards the investigation into Sarai's wheareabouts. Here is hoping it was Sarai who turned on her phone, and not some random who has it after finding it or from the people who may have caused her harm, going through her possessions.

 

[SurfieTX]

At this point, since TK is in custody, I think it is pretty safe to assume that he lied to the police when he said he never met her at the bridge. Since they have video evidence of her being there, I'm thinking they also have unreleased video of them together at or near the bridge.

 

[LivingJuicy]

Missing American woman uses her US phone after disappearing





http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/mi...ring-.aspx?pageID=238&nID=40232&NewsCatID=341

Just catching up but I hope this is true! I've been really worried about this girl!

 

[vesa]

At this point, since TK is in custody, I think it is pretty safe to assume that he lied to the police when he said he never met her at the bridge. Since they have video evidence of her being there, I'm thinking they also have unreleased video of them together at or near the bridge.

If he didn't lie, why didn't he come to the police voluntarily? And why is he in custody? I think that he is somehow suspicious...

 

[Orgona]

At this point, since TK is in custody, I think it is pretty safe to assume that he lied to the police when he said he never met her at the bridge. Since they have video evidence of her being there, I'm thinking they also have unreleased video of them together at or near the bridge.

I agree. LE suspects or can proof he is lying, why otherwise would he be in custody?

Why would he lie?
1; He could be responsible for/involved in her disappearance.
2; He could know who is responsible for her disappearance.
3; He could be just helping Sarai to go underground out of loyalty/love/for money, but in that case I can't see him doing it for to long. Why would he take a blame for a crime when there wasn't one committed at all?

 

[belimom]

Yup, that was from the day before.

I didn't see anyone following her in any releasedvideo, including the two from in/near the mall. There were rumors of videos showing a follower, but only rumors as far as I know.

There WAS a (unreleased) video of her earlier the day of the Galata Bridge video, at 11:33am (if memory serves), walking past a store on Istiklal Av. in the direction of Galata. No one was said to be following in that.

The blurb I read said that they did not want to release it because the person following her may be innocent. I'm in the waiting room at the doctor with DS and can't research it right now. I'll look more when I return home.

 

[vesa]

“We did not meet that day, but we had met before,” Taylan, reportedly said, adding that he had first met Sierra online four months ago.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/missing-american-woman-uses-her-us-phone-after-disappearing-.aspx?pageID=238&nID=40232&NewsCatID=341

 

[jessieann]

Could they detain him if he were to say "i know where she is but im not telling"?
I have this weird feeling that shes still alive and well, and could have voluntarily left?
IDK just MOO
This is such a strange case to me.

 

[prima.facie]

According to the quality/speed of the connection the network has to offer, people use Skype with or without video on a cell phone. When you place a call you can decide if you want to call with video or not. The same when you're answering a call. Sometimes if one uses it with video the sound becomes poor quality. You can chat with Skype too, you don't need to talk at all if that's what you want to do.

If in fact her phone was powered on twice, it could mean someone stole it/found it and was testing it to see if they were able to use it.
If Sarai was using it, it could be she was talking to her new friends to arrange a meeting or something.
If she would have called her family we would know it already, I think.
It could have been used for ransom request too, but who would do that through Skype?

By any means, I hope the pings will tell where approximately LE should look for her.

As an avid Skype user, I want to make it clear (to those who know nothing of Skype) that Skype does not need to be used to TALK (like a phone) or VIDEO. It is also just an instant messenger like Yahoo messenger....where you just TYPE like texting on your phone. People automatically equate Skype with talking or video...that is not the case. It has multiple uses. Just an FYI.

 

[Hexe]

Totally agree. Her friend has said that is a street smart New Yorker. This is not street smart at all. If I didn't know how old she was I would be guessing that she is a teenager. I was quite alarmed when I read that she slept on the couch of a man that she met in Amsterdam. That is beyond reckless. I think everyone should be forced to see the movie "Hostel" before travelling abroad. It will knock some senses into them.

"Hostel" is just a dumb slasher movie without anything close to reality in it. Seriously.

 

[Orgona]

As an avid Skype user, I want to make it clear (to those who know nothing of Skype) that Skype does not need to be used to TALK (like a phone) or VIDEO. It is also just an instant messenger like Yahoo messenger....where you just TYPE like texting on your phone. People automatically equate Skype with talking or video...that is not the case. It has multiple uses. Just an FYI.

Yes. Maybe what I wrote:

You can chat with Skype too, you don't need to talk at all if that's what you want to do.

wasn't clear enough for others who doesn't use Skype, so thanks for highlighting it further.

 

[prima.facie]

This may not be a popular opinion, but it is my opinion that she was having an "online affair" with this person and went there to meet him under the guise of being adventurous and wanting to take pictures. There are way too many things that do not add up (to me) as being normal behavior of a married mom, yet there are many things that add up (to me) as pointing to an affair. I have been weighing ALL possibilities of what could have happened here.

I am an experienced traveler - having traveled to other countries. However, I am also a pretty responsible adult woman and know that traveling even alone in the US is not safe without proper protection (I have a CCW and am always armed).

I get it that others here have done some alone trips to other countries.............BUT..........a married mom who has never stepped foot outside her own country going to a place that is NOT the same as the US (the US AF base located there is often on lockdown as I have known many people stationed there)....who by all accounts (nobody has said anything) knows not a damn thing about customs and crime, etc....AND meeting up with a man (she didn't even know if it was truly a man (er, men) - hello T'EO!!) in said foreign country is NOT NORMAL!!

I understand internet dating - I have done it myself - but I abide by some damn strict rules and I would never go meet some unknown dude in some other country ALONE - especially if married!

The husband sounds very naïve and maybe a bit in denial.

I just don't think that she is innocent in all of this. And really, wouldn't that be the best conclusion in all of this....much better than the alternative

....hoping truth comes out soon!