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

[The Farm]

How about there are ALL countries where people shouldn't kill someone. I, and many, many other women, refuse to live timidly because of what might happen if we venture out without a body guard, a chaperone or a concealed weapon. I would rather die violently at the hands of another while fulfilling my dreams than in my sleep at 92 having never pursued them.

"Everybody dies but not everyone lives."

In my opinion that is not true. It is not a matter of being timid, it is a matter of being smart. I have been around but know enough to know where NOT to go.

 

[katydid23]

Where is her ipad and phone?

Can't the i-pads be traced when lost? Like with GPS?

 

[necco]

In my opinion that is not true. It is not a matter of being timid, it is a matter of being smart. I have been around but know enough to know where NOT to go.

I can assure you, I am quite smart.
And, check out the State Department link I posted. The State Dept is extremely cautious about telling people where they can go, and they say it is safe.

That kind of thinking is nothing short of victim blaming.

JMO

 

[LJKaust]

The murder rate is higher in the United States than it is in Turkey...

List of countries by intentional homicide rate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Certainly isn't an alarming number and it probably felt (and was) quite safe for her to travel there. Wrong place, wrong person, wrong time IMO

 

[frenchvixen]

Can't the i-pads be traced when lost? Like with GPS?

You need 3G to trace and the 3G service does not work internationally (although the wifi component does).

 

[ToutCa]

Sigh...it only gets sadder and weirder...

-- they're saying preliminary investigation on body shows no traces of rape.

-- she was found with the same clothes she wore on Jan. 21

-- Turkish media is publishing more drug mule speculation, and posting unattributed claims she spent $15,000 while in Istanbul...

 

[KivaSupporter]

Sigh...it only gets sadder and weirder...

-- they're saying preliminary investigation on body shows no traces of rape.

-- she was found with the same clothes she wore on Jan. 21

-- Turkish media is publishing more drug mule speculation, and posting unattributed claims she spent $15,000 while in Istanbul...

Would you post the link, please. Thanks.

 

[The Farm]

Yes necco I did check out the link and thanks for posting it. Do I believe it? No.

I did not mean by what I said that you were not smart and sorry you took it that way.
But I will stand by my guns on this one, there are countries I would not visit beautiful or not. That is just my opinion.

I knew a woman once that used to go to many of those countries to buy beautiful items from jewelry to clothing and bring it back here to the U.S. to sell in her import store.
All I will say is it is a whole different world and she no longer does it.

 

[lavy]

Can a local (or someone who understands Turkish) translate any of what she is saying? The small bit of text at the bottom is below - and the best I can get out of Google and BabelXL is that she saw a car stop between 11:00 and 11:30 after meeting her brother for supper, and a middle-aged man got out of the backseat - and that she saw a hand.

She says "Tuesday night I went to my brother/sister's house for dinner. On the way back 23:00 to 23:30 there was a car parked under the city walls. I saw a man either putting in or taking out something from the back seat. When it moved I saw a hand. Tuesday night.

-Why you haven't reported?

My daughter had stopped me. She said mum you must have seen it wrong. I was the one were driving so ...

-Did you take the car plate?

No we didn't.
It was something like a sahin or dogan. It wasn't a new car, it was old.

When I saw the news I called my daughter. I told her that I've seen a body...

There was only 1 man. He was above middle age. That's it."

 

[Moxie Vi]

Ok, sorry to harp on the phones... but from what I'm reading, the two phones consensus is a working theory, and not yet confirmed as fact?

It's probably nothing- but this bothers me, and every scenario I'm coming up with changes depending on whether there was one phone or two, and if only one, whether it was left in her room or not.

It bothers me too because she would take her US phone to take pictures with and her Turkish phone to communicate with whoever she was meeting up with IMO. so what phone was reportedly in her room?

 

[ToutCa]

Yes necco I did check out the link and thanks for posting it. Do I believe it? No.

I did not mean by what I said that you were not smart and sorry you took it that way.
But I will stand by my guns on this one, there are countries I would not visit beautiful or not. That is just my opinion.

I knew a woman once that used to go to many of those countries to buy beautiful items from jewelry to clothing and bring it back here to the U.S. to sell in her import store.
All I will say is it is a whole different world and she no longer does it.

<modsnip>.

I've been repeatedly to Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey, among other countries. After 9/11.

I've never had the slightest problem. I'm street-smart everywhere. Where have I been the most cautious? In my home stomping grounds of Brooklyn (though I've never had a problem here either).

<modsnip>.

 

[lavy]

It bothers me too because she would take her US phone to take pictures with and her Turkish phone to communicate with whoever she was meeting up with IMO. so what phone was reportedly in her room?

I still don't believe that she had two phones. Can somebody show me a link where they mentioned a second phone? It just doesn't make sense that she got another line and a phone for the 2 weeks that she will spend in Turkey. Her family mentioned they were only in contact via internet and Taylan said they were only emailing - messaging at google talk.

So if there is a second phone that would lead up to a lot of new info but I just haven't read about the second phone from a direct source.

 

[necco]

This anti-foreigner stuff is really getting tiresome.

I've been repeatedly to Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey, among other countries. After 9/11.

I've never had the slightest problem. I'm street-smart everywhere. Where have I been the most cautious? In my home stomping grounds of Brooklyn (though I've never had a problem here either).

So, buddy, if you're terrified of the "others" and feel that it's best to avoid them, good for you, but please stop trying to force everyone to imbibe your ignorance as if it were some sort of xenophobic wisdom. It ain't.

Yep. The world is a beautiful place full of amazing, caring and kind people. The minute we let the microscopic portion of the population that is evil rob us of this knowledge, they win and we lose the opportunity to bask in the beautiful quilt that is our world of varying cultures.

 

[CMac2]

Has anyone else heard about the case of missing Nicole Vinneaux? An American woman, traveling alone in Syria, vanishes the day she was supposed to visit Turkey. Not saying saying the cases are related, but they do seem similar in nature and circumstances, to some extent. Violent crime in Turkey seems much lower than a lot of US cities can boast, but like anywhere else, isn't unheard of.

http://xthespot.blogspot.com/2010/04/criminal-mind-tracing-disappearance-of.html


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[KivaSupporter]

So he is changing his story now. He first told LE that he never got her message, of meeting at the Bridge, because his voicemail was full. Therefore, he never went. Now he says he did go, but did not see her. He must be involved.

I am confused.
That sure does not match what the police found analyzing the messages:


On the day of her return, Jan 21st at 11:00 AM, Sarai messages to a Turk named Taylan, "I am almost across the Galata Tower. Will you come?" After waiting at a cafe until 11:33 AM, she message him again, "I'm leaving, if you want to reach me, call me". At 12:45 PM, she receives a message from Taylan, "I'll come over there. I'm assuming that you have wireless."

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-...ing-in-turkey/

 

[belimom]

I still don't believe that she had two phones. Can somebody show me a link where they mentioned a second phone? It just doesn't make sense that she got another line and a phone for the 2 weeks that she will spend in Turkey. Her family mentioned they were only in contact via internet and Taylan said they were only emailing - messaging at google talk.

So if there is a second phone that would lead up to a lot of new info but I just haven't read about the second phone from a direct source.

I haven't seen anything about two phones, but I've repeatedly seen the term "her American phone". If she only had one, would they just say "her phone"? Just thinking out loud here.

 

[The Farm]

This anti-foreigner stuff is really getting tiresome.

I've been repeatedly to Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey, among other countries. After 9/11.

I've never had the slightest problem. I'm street-smart everywhere. Where have I been the most cautious? In my home stomping grounds of Brooklyn (though I've never had a problem here either).

So, buddy, if you're terrified of the "others" and feel that it's best to avoid them, good for you, but please stop trying to force everyone to imbibe your ignorance as if it were some sort of xenophobic wisdom. It ain't.

We all have a right to our own opinions and the last thing I am trying to do is to "force" anything on anyone.
Terrified I am not, I just choose to follow my own path thank you.

 

[ToutCa]

It bothers me too because she would take her US phone to take pictures with and her Turkish phone to communicate with whoever she was meeting up with IMO. so what phone was reportedly in her room?

The Turkish phone was allegedly left in the room, and the American phone had been taken with her (to take pictures alone, allegedly).

 

[lavy]

The Turkish phone was allegedly left in the room, and the American phone had been taken with her (to take pictures alone, allegedly).

Can you please show a link with the information that the turkish phone was left in the room? I am sure that everything I read about this case was saying only her clothes, passport and chargers were in the room, no mention of a phone left behind.

 

[CMac2]

I haven't seen anything about two phones, but I've repeatedly seen the term "her American phone". If she only had one, would they just say "her phone"? Just thinking out loud here.

I'm not convinced either way about how many phones she had, but notice updated articles simply list her passport and medical cards among the items left in her room. Seems she either had one phone that she took with her, had two phones, one of which she left behind or had one phone that she left in the room. Of the three options, leaving her only phone- that she used to take pictures (which was the sole purpose of her trip to begin with) while leaving to sight-see seems least likely. It's frustrating not to know for sure though. Between the language barrier and Taylan's stories, it's hard to know.

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