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

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Shlock Homes said:
Here's a larger version of the photo. It's clear that whoever colorized the image accidentally colorized the girl on the left skin as purple. In the original black and white, it's apparent that it's skin, not a jacket as she's wearing a tank top. I'm not sure what the furry part is, perhaps its the strap of a handbag? Or just an artifact in the photo.
Click to expand...

I think we're driving ourselves crazy with these pics. I've just spent some time playing around with the 2 photos. There are many ways of colouring a b&w photo and they involve selecting layers and trying out the various colours and shades. Considering this is a selfie, this all seems very extreme to me, and why would you do it. However it only takes 2 seconds to change a coloured one to b&w. I still think the girl on the left is wearing a jacket, not a tank top, and the fuzzy bit is perhaps a faux fur-like trim around the collar.

In any event, looking at the 3 sets of images, they look like different people in each set. As far as the sketches are concerned I'd be throwing them in the bin. They look nothing like Saudi or Pakistani women ... nothing. I hope a family member identified them.
 
JudgeJudi said:
I think we're driving ourselves crazy with these pics. I've just spent some time playing around with the 2 photos. There are many ways of colouring a b&w photo and they involve selecting layers and trying out the various colours and shades. Considering this is a selfie, this all seems very extreme to me, and why would you do it. However it only takes 2 seconds to change a coloured one to b&w. I still think the girl on the left is wearing a jacket, not a tank top, and the fuzzy bit is perhaps a faux fur-like trim around the collar.

In any event, looking at the 3 sets of images, they look like different people in each set. As far as the sketches are concerned I'd be throwing them in the bin. They look nothing like Saudi or Pakistani women ... nothing. I hope a family member identified them.
Click to expand...

The mirror selfie pic is not them. The google cache source info has the twitter handle of the creator of the pic, and it is a different person with the same last name. Also, twitpic shut down in 2014, before Tala and Rotana came to the US (and I doubt they'd be dressed like that in SA).

Eta - You can also put the link in the wayback machine and see that the pic was posted 1085 days before dec 3, 2014 (so it's from 2011)
 
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https://www.westsiderag.com/2018/11...gives-update-on-two-sisters-found-near-hudson

"Prompted by a community board member, [during November’s full Community Board 7 meeting, 20th Precinct Commanding Officer Captain Timothy] Malin also provided an update on the two sisters found dead on the shore of the Hudson in October. While the investigation is still ongoing, Malin said the NYPD is “99.9 percent sure” that their deaths were not homicides, but rather suicides – likely a “suicide pact.”

"This weekend, the NYPD recovered a purse and passports from Riverside Park, belonging to Rotana Farea, 22, and her younger sister, 16-year-old Tala Farea. But they are still working to piece together what happened between the time the sisters were declared missing from their home in Fairfax, Virginia, in August, and found dead in New York. “There is no reason to believe it’s a homicide … we still have to account for their whereabouts for two months,” said Malin."
 
musicaljoke said:
https://www.westsiderag.com/2018/11...gives-update-on-two-sisters-found-near-hudson

"Prompted by a community board member, [during November’s full Community Board 7 meeting, 20th Precinct Commanding Officer Captain Timothy] Malin also provided an update on the two sisters found dead on the shore of the Hudson in October. While the investigation is still ongoing, Malin said the NYPD is “99.9 percent sure” that their deaths were not homicides, but rather suicides – likely a “suicide pact.”

"This weekend, the NYPD recovered a purse and passports from Riverside Park, belonging to Rotana Farea, 22, and her younger sister, 16-year-old Tala Farea. But they are still working to piece together what happened between the time the sisters were declared missing from their home in Fairfax, Virginia, in August, and found dead in New York. “There is no reason to believe it’s a homicide … we still have to account for their whereabouts for two months,” said Malin."
Click to expand...
I wonder where in the park the purse was found.

jmo
 
musicaljoke said:
Did they say it was found this past weekend? Wasn't it Oct 24th that the witness claimed he saw the sisters?

The purse and passports(!) must have been well hidden.
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I'd also be curious to find out where this purse was hidden. Time of death in the autopsy report will be very important as well, I hope they release that soon. I'm betting on them being dead for a number of days, because their bodies were buoyant enough to stay afloat even with full clothing on. Drowning victims don't do that. And if they drowned near shore in a shallow area, then their bodies would have been impeded by many obstacles along the way from that park they were allegedly seen, including a long pier that extends out quite far into the river just north of where the bodies were eventually found. Not to mention, if their taped bodies were floating out in the river, they would have been spotted a lot sooner by passing boats, or people along the waterfront. That silver colored duct tape would have stood out.
 
JudgeJudi said:
In any event, looking at the 3 sets of images, they look like different people in each set. As far as the sketches are concerned I'd be throwing them in the bin. They look nothing like Saudi or Pakistani women ... nothing. I hope a family member identified them.
Click to expand...

Agreed, I've also stated I believed the drawings and photos are inconsistent, we have not gotten a definitive image of what these women looked like. And the selfie photo apparently is from 2014, so it isn't relevant anymore.
I am also curious if they identified the women using fingerprints. The police hasn't said. The sketches were the best representation of the bodies at the time, even though they look completely false when put against what we are to believe are Rotana and Tala Farea's passport photos. If they weren't decomposed, they could have just released touched up photos of the bodies. I've seen it done before.
 
I found another picture, this time showing both bodies on the rocks, in this article, but doing a yahoo search.
Two dead women bound with duct tape found in Riverside Park on the Upper West Side - NY Daily News

The photo is clearer in this link.
*****Warning in case you are squeamish, the two photo links below show the bodies. This will give you a better idea of what was found and seen on that day. They appear to be resting on the rocks in a 'cross pattern' as described in the media. But that could have been just caused by the receding waters, and their position was twisting and turning. But also note that they are not 'face to face'. The body on the bottom appears to be face down, as is the body on top.
https://www.nydailynews.com/resizer...d/turbine/ny-1540414560-pui3h7vjx8-snap-image

You can see the other body in this image after the top one was removed, from the radaronline article I have been referencing in previous posts.
https://i0.heartyhosting.com/radaro.../2018/10/two-sisters-dead-hudson-river-pp.jpg

What's really strange is that their feet have duct tape on them, but they were duct tape together. Were they duct taped to something to keep them down in the water? Or did they come apart after rigor mortis set in. And the duct tape around the waists look like perhaps one was wrapped, then without cutting the tape, the other was wrapped
 
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bears10 said:
The mirror selfie pic is not them. The google cache source info has the twitter handle of the creator of the pic, and it is a different person with the same last name. Also, twitpic shut down in 2014, before Tala and Rotana came to the US (and I doubt they'd be dressed like that in SA).
Click to expand...

Thank you so much for this.
 
Shlock Homes said:
I found another picture, this time showing both bodies on the rocks, in this article, but doing a yahoo search.
Two dead women bound with duct tape found in Riverside Park on the Upper West Side - NY Daily News

The photo is clearer in this link.
*****Warning in case you are squeamish, the two photo links below show the bodies. This will give you a better idea of what was found and seen on that day. They appear to be resting on the rocks in a 'cross pattern' as described in the media. But that could have been just caused by the receding waters, and their position was twisting and turning. But also note that they are not 'face to face'. The body on the bottom appears to be face down, as is the body on top.
https://www.nydailynews.com/resizer...d/turbine/ny-1540414560-pui3h7vjx8-snap-image

You can see the other body in this image after the top one was removed, from the radaronline article I have been referencing in previous posts.
https://i0.heartyhosting.com/radaro.../2018/10/two-sisters-dead-hudson-river-pp.jpg

What's really strange is that their feet have duct tape on them, but they were duct tape together. Were they duct taped to something to keep them down in the water? Or did they come apart after rigor mortis set in. And the duct tape around the waists look like perhaps one was wrapped, then without cutting the tape, the other was wrapped
Click to expand...

Thank you for the photos. #13 said their feet were duct taped but not to each other.
Bodies of 2 Women Bound Together with Duct Tape Found Washed Up on the Rocks of the Hudson River
So it would seem that the girls were only bound to each other at the waist.

Then this surfaced: "Their bodies were found Wednesday afternoon near the river off West 68th St. in Riverside Park. One woman was on top of the other in a macabre cross-like configuration."
▷Cops ID sisters found dead, bound with duct tape in Riverside Park ▷New York Daily News

#626 said: "they were NOT found in a cross formation, that is false per the video"

And yet your pic shows them clearly crossed.
https://www.nydailynews.com/resizer...d/turbine/ny-1540414560-pui3h7vjx8-snap-image

This case rather reminds me of that recent quote, "Don't believe what you hear and don't believe what you see". ;)
 
JudgeJudi said:
Getting back to the dreaded photos. The first video includes a presser and the 'passport photos' with the name of each girl underneath. I believe these are the actual passport photos.

NYPD: Saudi Sisters Found Bound Together In Hudson River ‘A Tragedy All The Way Around’

It's nice to see a few of us are still hanging in here. Once the initial momentum dies, so many always leave.
Click to expand...

I just hope that the police don't simply brush this one off. I consol myself by remembering that it was a month before the Shafia sisters' apparent suicide was revealed ss murder.
 
musicaljoke said:
I just hope that the police don't simply brush this one off. I consol myself by remembering that it was a month before the Shafia sisters' apparent suicide was revealed ss murder.
Click to expand...

I've seen nothing new for 6 days now. I'm beginning to wonder if we'll hear anything else. The only thing, if anything, would be toxicology results.

Once the bridge was ruled out, I thought it might have been an honor killing, but now I do think it was a double suicide based on the fact that:

1) neither of the girls wanted to return to their mother's home whether because of abuse or the fact that she may have been ordered home, or
2) that they said they'd rather die than return to SA.

No matter the reason, I think is a very tragic ending for two young girls.
 
JudgeJudi said:
Thank you for the photos. #13 said their feet were duct taped but not to each other.
Bodies of 2 Women Bound Together with Duct Tape Found Washed Up on the Rocks of the Hudson River
So it would seem that the girls were only bound to each other at the waist.

Then this surfaced: "Their bodies were found Wednesday afternoon near the river off West 68th St. in Riverside Park. One woman was on top of the other in a macabre cross-like configuration."
▷Cops ID sisters found dead, bound with duct tape in Riverside Park ▷New York Daily News

#626 said: "they were NOT found in a cross formation, that is false per the video"

And yet your pic shows them clearly crossed.
https://www.nydailynews.com/resizer...d/turbine/ny-1540414560-pui3h7vjx8-snap-image

This case rather reminds me of that recent quote, "Don't believe what you hear and don't believe what you see". ;)
Click to expand...

I don't know if the cross formation was present when they were floating in the water. By looking at the positioning of the bodies on the rocks, both women are face down, as opposed to face to face as described a number of times. Also, the one on top is almost at the calves of the one underneath, not perpendicular at the waist.
The tape may have been loose enough that when the water receded, the body on the bottom flipped over. It's too bad there weren't any images of them in the water, I'd like to see if they were both floating, or if just one was floating and the other was being carried along below the surface. One or both floating bodies would indicate some decomp had occurred.
I hope they release the autopsy results soon. I guess they want to see if the women had alcohol or sedatives in their body. They haven't said much about that found purse.
With regards to them saying 'would rather die than go back to saudi arabia' may have been said months ago, since the source was in Virginia. People sometimes say 'I'd rather die than...' all the time, a figure of speech. It doesn't necessarily mean they are suicidal.
 
musicaljoke said:
https://www.westsiderag.com/2018/11...gives-update-on-two-sisters-found-near-hudson

"Prompted by a community board member, [during November’s full Community Board 7 meeting, 20th Precinct Commanding Officer Captain Timothy] Malin also provided an update on the two sisters found dead on the shore of the Hudson in October. While the investigation is still ongoing, Malin said the NYPD is “99.9 percent sure” that their deaths were not homicides, but rather suicides – likely a “suicide pact.”

"This weekend, the NYPD recovered a purse and passports from Riverside Park, belonging to Rotana Farea, 22, and her younger sister, 16-year-old Tala Farea. But they are still working to piece together what happened between the time the sisters were declared missing from their home in Fairfax, Virginia, in August, and found dead in New York. “There is no reason to believe it’s a homicide … we still have to account for their whereabouts for two months,” said Malin."
Click to expand...

Chief Dermot F. Shea on Twitter
***“Did you know them? Meet them? See them?”
***“There is no reason to believe it’s a homicide...we still have to account for their whereabouts for two months.”

How genuine are these statements from the police if they are unwilling to release a single CCTV screen capture of Rotana and Tala during their alleged time in New York? I mean there is undoubtedly elevator security video of them if they stayed at the Knickerbocker, Hyatt, Hilton, etc as the police have claimed. Either the police or the family must be choosing not to have this released to the public, even though it presumably would be in the best interest of trying to unearth details about the sisters final months alive.

Does anyone know what typical police protocol is in this kind of circumstance (in terms of providing a legitimately recent photo to the public when they have one available)? Can the family unilaterally decide not to have photo(s) released or do police have discretion? It seems like it should be the latter since there are typically going to be numerous constituents involved (family, friends, boyfriend/girlfriend, etc) and family will not always be the one with the closest relationship to the victim.
 
Shlock Homes said:
With regards to them saying 'would rather die than go back to saudi arabia' may have been said months ago, since the source was in Virginia. People sometimes say 'I'd rather die than...' all the time, a figure of speech. It doesn't necessarily mean they are suicidal.
Click to expand...

After having lived in the US and having experienced the sort of freedom they knew they would never have back in SA, I really do believe they meant they'd rather die.
 
The VOA article linked above, while a rare criticism, is not the only U.S. media to "occasionally" level soft criticism at KSA and the plight of women there and here.

Here the NYT in 2016-- and note that several women who participated supported and approved of the guardianship system:

‘I Live in a Lie’: Saudi Women Speak Up

And the LA Times in 2017:

For some Saudi women facing strict male authority and even abuse, there's only one answer: Run - Los Angeles Times

The sorrowful and horrific plight of women in KSA nearly always seems to escape the attention of the most vocal U.S. media, celebrities, feminists, and activists for women's rights. Why is that? I'll never understand that.

Very sad for Tala and Rotana. It's hard to believe that being in the U.S., half a world away from KSA, still wasn't far enough away for them to keep on living. I'm still glad they got to live and be in the U.S., even for a little while. Most others won't get that chance. It was a small escape, however temporary. The depths of their despair must have been truly soul crushing.
 
More of these stories need to be published around the world. Something must be done to help these women escape to a country where they can live in safety. It's hard to imagine how dangerous their own family homes can be back in SA and it seems as though there's no-one they can turn to in order to escape. No-one should ever have to suffer abuse and depravity at anyone's hands let alone those we expect to protect us.
 
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