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

[lavy]

I italicized a portion of the quote that is confusing me (not that this whole case isn't confusing enough.) But I'm not sure why they think cuts/scratches/bruises mean that she was moved. If she was deceased, then bruising wouldn't happen, right? Cuts & scratches, sure, but unless I'm wrong (totally possible), bruising would have to happen while she was alive.

No they are clearly saying that she was beaten.

Turkish media is annoying though. One of those credible sources said her body was hidden with wooden blocks. And more up to date article from the same source says " its been also said that she might have hidden wooden blocks". WTH you are the one who said that dear newspaper.

 

[ami]

So currently EVERY news article- both Turkish and American MSM (HuffPo, ABC, CBS, etc) state she was due to fly back on 1/21.

That takes me back to my original question. Her timeline was tight as it is. Why wasn't she packed?

First, I don't understand why she couldn't have been flying out on the evening Turkish Airlines flight - which partners with United (in other words, you can be flying "united" and paying United your money, and one of your legs can be flown by a regional partner airline. That makes sense to me, but I get that others think she had to fly both/all legs on a United airlines owned plane. Maybe she did. But since so many sources have her flying overnight, and that particular flight regularly leaves in the evening and arrives in NJ in the morning, that part of the story doesn't bother me at all.

As far as packing - it's interesting but in every pic we've seen of her from her travels, she was wearing more or less the same thing. Jeans, boots, bomber jacket, hat. Maybe she just didn't have that much stuff with her. Since we don't know what was packed and what wasn't when she disappeared (I presuming that the landlord/someone could see some of her stuff out of her bags, and that prompted the "she hadn't packed"), it could be that she just needed 15 minutes to get her chargers into her carry on and stuff her laundry in. I never worry about packing on the way home, since it can all get wrinkled and dirty and who cares, wrapping shirts around souvenirs and whatnot.

If she did meet Taylan, maybe he told her he'd drive her back to her place in time to pack, or find her a cab, etc. ? And she wanted to spend every last minute possible taking in the sights. ?

 

[ToutCa]

I've read that. Seems too long for me, is that normal?

They claimed 2.5 months was normal, but this would be a longer delay for a more extensive battery of complicated tests, etc.

So they claimed.

 

[KivaSupporter]

Staten Island Rep. Michael Grimm's office announced Sunday night that he along with Sierra's family will be meeting with the media at the Stapleton home of a Sierra family friend at 11 a.m. on Monday.

http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2013/02/staten_island_rep_michael_grim_7.html

 

[looking4answers]

Well, MSM has mis-reported other details in the case.

(If you want to open up another impossible can of worms, we could try re-launching the whole how many phones did she have, how many SIM-cards, did she have a "Turkish phone" or a "European phone", etc....we could go around in circles forever on that alone).

No one official has ever said what flight she was supposed to leave Istanbul on.

And, since her flight was changed at the last minute, she may have taken multiple airlines with multiple stops back from Istanbul.

Saying she was to leave IST the 21st (if true) and arrived Newark on United at 4:50pm leaves the possibilities very wide open.

My own opinion (and JMO!) is that she knew what she was doing. She probably had enough time for her trek over to at least Sirkeci to make whatever flight she was on, whenever it was. I bet she had left enough time to ready her bags too.

Looking at the times she was on video, she was strolling over, in no rush.

If she was in a hurry, the times would have been closer together, or she could have taken the tram, which covers the same route fast-fast-fast.

She didn't.

All of this JMO JMO JMO...so take it for what it's worth.

I keep wondering if she was convinced or decided on her own, to get into a friends car, a strangers car, or just a taxi. Then, this would explain her not being seen immediately after, and then maybe her body being brought back here by the culprit as one witness account stated as possible. For whatever reason(s), maybe just because it seemed like they could hide the body well.

I could be wrong, but it ties up some loose ends, especially if it was a taxi being something she would trust, something to bring her back to her room in time, plus the over middle aged man that was supposedly seen i.e. a taxi driver. Maybe there was more than one person in the car involved too.

 

[necco]

News...

Court asked for blood, saliva samples and fingerprints from 21 people.

Police believes there is a high possibility that she was there to meet with someone, they are checking the surveillance for possible suspects.



I've read that. Seems too long for me, is that normal?

My guess would be that's how long it takes for toxicology results.

 

[ToutCa]

However there is a ferry port with boats that go to the Asian side along the same road she would have walked to get to the wall.

That's a brilliant catch, ThinkHard.

If she was intending to explore the Asian side AFTER Galata, clearly she had loads and loads of time on her hands. That would take hours and hours.

Therefore, her flight must have been (a) multiple stops leaving quite late at some point on the 21st or (b) on the 22nd.

And she most likely was not under any time constraint to rush things in the Galata/Sirkeci area.

 

[CMac2]

Staten Island Rep. Michael Grimm's office announced Sunday night that he along with Sierra's family will be meeting with the media at the Stapleton home of a Sierra family friend at 11 a.m. on Monday.

http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2013/02/staten_island_rep_michael_grim_7.html

I've been looking... so far can't find anything. Maybe it just got off to a late start or something.

 

[looking4answers]

That's a brilliant catch, ThinkHard.

If she was intending to explore the Asian side AFTER Galata, clearly she had loads and loads of time on her hands. That would take hours and hours.

Therefore, her flight must have been (a) multiple stops leaving quite late at some point on the 21st or (b) on the 22nd.

And she most likely was not under any time constraint to rush things in the Galata/Sirkeci area.

Maybe she took a boat to the asian side, and then something happened there, and then a car took her to this remote area and tried hiding her body. I could see this possibility too. There should be camera footage they could review in one of these areas. I hope we get more info soon.

 

[ThinkHard]

Could the discrepancy in the flight information be a result of the time differences? If her family said she was leaving on the 21st, could that have been the 21st EST?

Just a thought.

I guess that's possible. If her flight left before 7am Istanbul time, it still would have been the 21st in NY.

Which makes me wonder if we were misled when the last spoke to her. We know she was at the tower at 1130 am. And that she was seen in camera at the bridge at 1:15. Presumably she told her family of her plans for that day prior to being there.

At 1130 a.m. Istanbul time, it would have only been 430 in the morning in New York, at the time she was last seen it would have only been 615 am.....unless her family was extremely early risers, I doubt she spoke to them at all on the 21st. My guess is it was the 20th she last spoke to them, to tell them of her plans and remind them of her flight.

And I'm pretty sure it was mentioned it was the day before her flight they last spoke to her, putting her departure on the 21st.

Not that we know for sure.

 

[KivaSupporter]

American Sarai Sierra’s family collected her body today from the Forensic Medicine Institute following the post-mortem.

It was taken to the Armenian Catolic Church, Surp Yerrortutyun, for a funeral ceremony.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/sierras-body-taken-to-armenian-catolic-church-for-funeral.aspx?pageID=238&nID=40453&NewsCatID=341

 

[ThinkHard]

News...

Court asked for blood, saliva samples and fingerprints from 21 people.

Police believes there is a high possibility that she was there to meet with someone, they are checking the surveillance for possible suspects.



I've read that. Seems too long for me, is that normal?

In a Turkish article its said that normal autopsy is 2 a 2.5 months, but because of the "special circumstances" ( not sure what that means) they expected hers to be up to 3 months.

 

[ToutCa]

Maybe she took a boat to the asian side, and then something happened there, and then a car took her to this remote area and tried hiding her body. I could see this possibility too. There should be camera footage they could review in one of these areas. I hope we get more info soon.

I now doubt she ever left the Sirkeci/Sarayburnu area. She walked almost in a straight line miles across town and is last seen on video a few hundred meters (continuing in a straight-ish line) from where her body is found.

She's never seen on any footage after that.

MOO... something happened right there -- at the hands of Taylan or an unknown party or parties.

 

[CMac2]

Maybe she took a boat to the asian side, and then something happened there, and then a car took her to this remote area and tried hiding her body. I could see this possibility too. There should be camera footage they could review in one of these areas. I hope we get more info soon.

Maybe Taylan offered to meet her on the Asian side, and that's why we don't have a ton of information about his being there at Galata Bridge. Then again, I guess we'd have him on surveillance going over to the Asian side if that's what happened, right?

I don't know... but still not thinking this thing was random.

 

[ThinkHard]

I italicized a portion of the quote that is confusing me (not that this whole case isn't confusing enough.) But I'm not sure why they think cuts/scratches/bruises mean that she was moved. If she was deceased, then bruising wouldn't happen, right? Cuts & scratches, sure, but unless I'm wrong (totally possible), bruising would have to happen while she was alive.

Not neccasarily, bruising is caused by ruptured blood vessels, if she was moved very shortly after she was killed, enough blood would still be flowing through her body to rupture blood vessels. It's also possible the bruise were caused by something prior to her death.

 

[CMac2]

And I'm pretty sure it was mentioned it was the day before her flight they last spoke to her, putting her departure on the 21st.QUOTE]

If memory serves, the earlier reports- prior to her body being found- all seemed to indicate her family last heard from her the day before she was scheduled to come home. Sometime later, for whatever reason, that has changed, and media outlets all seem to be reporting she was last heard from the day she was scheduled to depart.

I think that's why there is so much confusion on the topic. Another example of strange and sometimes inaccurate reporting by the media. :banghead:

 

[SophieRose]

I think she was leaving on the Jan 22. Some may take this that she was arriving in the US on the 22nd, but leaving on the 21st, but with the other United flight info posted, I think she was leaving Turkey on the 22nd.

http://wtvr.com/2013/02/03/sarai-sierra-found-dead-body-of-missing-ny-mother-found-in-turkey/

Sierra’s family and friends first sounded the alarm last week after she did not arrive on a return flight from Istanbul on January 22.

“The last we heard from my wife was Monday morning on the 21st. She had spoken with her sister and the last thing she said was, ‘I’m coming home tomorrow,’ and she was excited and put a little smiley face at the end of her statement,” said Steven Sierra in an interview with CNN earlier this week.

 

[ThinkHard]

Well, MSM has mis-reported other details in the case.

(If you want to open up another impossible can of worms, we could try re-launching the whole how many phones did she have, how many SIM-cards, did she have a "Turkish phone" or a "European phone", etc....we could go around in circles forever on that alone).

No one official has ever said what flight she was supposed to leave Istanbul on.

And, since her flight was changed at the last minute, she may have taken multiple airlines with multiple stops back from Istanbul.

Saying she was to leave IST the 21st (if true) and arrived Newark on United at 4:50pm leaves the possibilities very wide open.

My own opinion (and JMO!) is that she knew what she was doing. She probably had enough time for her trek over to at least Sirkeci to make whatever flight she was on, whenever it was. I bet she had left enough time to ready her bags too.

Looking at the times she was on video, she was strolling over, in no rush.

If she was in a hurry, the times would have been closer together, or she could have taken the tram, which covers the same route fast-fast-fast.

She didn't.

All of this JMO JMO JMO...so take it for what it's worth.

For one the tram does not cover the same route. The train tracks of from the train, the tram is different. The tram actually take a sharp turn away from where she would have been walking, so the tram would not have been an option to get to that spot.

Also I was trying to establish a time line more to figure out when she would have become a missing person, not to accuse her of cutting it close.

 

[ThinkHard]

That's a brilliant catch, ThinkHard.

If she was intending to explore the Asian side AFTER Galata, clearly she had loads and loads of time on her hands. That would take hours and hours.

Therefore, her flight must have been (a) multiple stops leaving quite late at some point on the 21st or (b) on the 22nd.

And she most likely was not under any time constraint to rush things in the Galata/Sirkeci area.

She wouldn't neccasarily need hrs and hrs. It's only about a 15-20 boat ride to the Asian side depending on what district your trying to get to.

 

[ThinkHard]

I now doubt she ever left the Sirkeci/Sarayburnu area. She walked almost in a straight line miles across town and is last seen on video a few hundred meters (continuing in a straight-ish line) from where her body is found.

She's never seen on any footage after that.

MOO... something happened right there -- at the hands of Taylan or an unknown party or parties.

She might not have ever made it to the Asian side, but the ferry boats are on that direct path too. Perhaps it was never be intention to go to that wall, perhaps it was her intention to get on a ferry and explore the Asian side. After all she did tell her family seeing the Asian side was part of her plan that day. She never said anything about exploring the walls.

If she did change her plans from visiting the Asian side to exploring the walls after she spoke with her family, I wonder what the reason was.