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

[ToutCa]

I wonder where in serkeci she was seen? Oh how that place relates to where she was found. She was kind of found in no mans land. Lots of cars driving by. But the other side of the wall is topkapi sarayi. And if I'm seeing the map right it would have been behind the buildings that house artifacts. There is a cafe just before this part. But there would have been no houses no people, as the museum can't be accessed except by the front entrance, so there would have been nothing in between topkapi and the well accept trees.

She was on her way to meet someone OR she was going to photograph graffiti (as she has in NYC and Amsterdam) because she heard, read, or was told it was there.

Given her interests, her presence in the area is understandable.

 

[ToutCa]

New information has been released:

-She resisted to the attacker. They found DNA in her nails which will be used to identify the murderer.

Be careful with the DNA stuff -- it has been up for hours on a site that started with just general information about DNA. Later updates they got more adventurous and started throwing out specifics. Wait for confirmation.

 

[ami]

I'd definitely have an attorney by now if I were the landlord. And so far, there is zero to show he had any involvement. Some guy who never met him in a city thousands of miles away thought he seemed a little sketchy -- so what? That means nothing.

While I don't really think the landlord had anything to do with it at this point, to be fair the only reason the guy in Amsterdam would have thought someone Sarai met in Istanbul was sketchy would have to have been based on something she told him.

 

[michellemarls]

It s now beng reported that Sarai was covered all over in cuts and may have been dragged into the place she was found. Also it seems to say that Sarai was covered in wooden planks from railtrack nearby in order to conceal her body.
This info has been obtain through translation however, so the accuracy is questionable.

http://translate.google.co.uk/trans...&sa=X&ei=ap0PUeevIYfI0QW4UA&ved=0CEMQ7gEwAzgK

According to the information received from police sources, the body's location, at the foot of the ramparts input 40 inches, the size of a small room in a corridor. Although jeans and underwear reduced to the directory where the corpse of a deep wound to the head has reached the Sierras. Where the majority of his body beaten and almost all over the scratches and bruises as a result of the cuts were determined. Due to the size of 40 inches from the entrance vestibule Sarai focuses on the Sierra can be brought here after being killed by dragging.

THERE WAS A WOODEN BLOCKS on the body

In addition, the body is found, the blocks of wood to be used on the train tracks, this thesis attempted to conceal the body of the person or persons who committed the murder reveals.

 

[ThinkHard]

Those of you who have been to Istanbul recently, how widespread are wi-fi networks open to the public? Could Sarai have used them as she wandered through tourist areas thus not needing her turkish phone?

The last time I was there was just this past summer June-August. I had an iPad and an iPhone as well as a simple Turkish phone for texting and calling. Wifi is NOT readily available. Places like cafes, restaurants, Starbucks have it but you usually have to ask the for their pass code. You would NOT just have access to it wondering around.

 

[ThinkHard]

I don't.

I walked further than that every day when I was visiting Istanbul.

She was adventurous and loved exploring cities and taking photos.

They have her on video doing roughly 3/4 of that walk at different points.

What's so hard to believe about her completing the last 1/4?

Perhaps that she had a plane to catch?

 

[necco]

The last time I was there was just this past summer June-August. I had an iPad and an iPhone as well as a simple Turkish phone for texting and calling. Wifi is NOT readily available. Places like cafes, restaurants, Starbucks have it but you usually have to ask the for their pass code. You would NOT just have access to it wondering around.

Thanks, ThinkHard. This just adds to the confusing details that have emerged.

 

[blossomfish]

Here is a link to an article which says that the investigation continues, there was found some evidence that her body may have been moved to the location where it was found and that a possibility is that she may have been attacked/assaulted by a homeless person in this area while photographing.

http://english.sabah.com.tr/national/2013/02/03/police-find-body-of-missing-american-photographer

I hope that there can be some form of justice in this case. There really is no completely safe place, and anything can happen whether it is the US, European country, or wherever. We can only do our best in this imperfect world to try to balance the pursuit of our dreams and personal safety.

 

[belimom]

She was on her way to meet someone OR she was going to photograph graffiti (as she has in NYC and Amsterdam) because she heard, read, or was told it was there.

Given her interests, her presence in the area is understandable.

Also, the castle looks way cool and would've been a place a photographer might have gone - especially on a peninsula like that with great views.

 

[ThinkHard]

Here is a link to an article which says that the investigation continues, there was found some evidence that her body may have been moved to the location where it was found and that a possibility is that she may have been attacked/assaulted by a homeless person in this area while photographing.

http://english.sabah.com.tr/national/2013/02/03/police-find-body-of-missing-american-photographer

I hope that there can be some form of justice in this case. There really is no completely safe place, and anything can happen whether it is the US, European country, or wherever. We can only do our best in this imperfect world to try to balance the pursuit of our dreams and personal safety.

It also says in that article, granted we do not know its accuracy, that sperm was found on her body.

I find it interesting that the rape test came back negative, yet sperm was found on her body. Does this mean that no sperm was found inside her body?

Also looking at a lot of the pictures through a link posted by a previous poster, I just have a really hard time believing that she was rapped, murdered, and concealed in broad daylight. I guess it's possible this was just a completely random act, and she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. But if it was a location homeless people hung out, how come no one discovered her body for two weeks? How come her attacker didn't take her jewelry? Why do the police still think her iPad could hold the key to her attacker? If she had DNA under her nails because of a fight, she would have had time to scream. No one heard her?

If it was just a random crime why go through so much trouble to conceal her?

I know it seems like it could be written off as a deranged homeless man, but I guess I just hope its the truth that comes out. And that someone doesn't just take the blame for it because they seem sketchy.

I hope they are able to make a much more concrete analysis of how long she had been deceased for. That would be critical to explaining possible scenarios or ruling out others.

Btw does anyone else find it a creepy (most likely coincidence) that she was found so close to topkapi palace, and in Turkish palace is "Sarayi"

 

[ThinkHard]

Also, the castle looks way cool and would've been a place a photographer might have gone - especially on a peninsula like that with great views.

I'm not sure how great the views would have been of Topkapi from up on the wall. There would have been a lot of woods, and even train tracks in here way.

 

[ThinkHard]

Also Sarayburnu saray (palace) burnu (point) .... It's weird she was found at Saray Point.

 

[CMac2]

She's a photographer.....where is her camera?

This was answered upthread. According to MSM, it is not believed she used a camera in the traditional sense. Rather, she took pics using her phone and uploaded them to IG.

 

[ToutCa]

Perhaps that she had a plane to catch?

Upthread we all said it was somewhat weird in general that she was out on the 21st if she was leaving that day. But so it was.

We still don't know for sure what flight she was on and when. Reports have been conflicting and ambiguous from the start.

 

[CMac2]

Question about rape kits: is semen on the body enough of a reason to say her rape kit was positive? Or does there also have to be some sort of trauma to the vaginal area? By all accounts she was a very happily married woman, and wasn't in any way promiscuous. I would think semen on her body would be enough to say she was sexually assaulted. For that reason, I'm going to take the semen reports with a grain of salt until I get some sort of confirmation.

As little tidbits are released, it really looks less and less like a random attack. Takes me right back to where we were before. I hope they find that ipad and it isn't destroyed beyond the ability to be useful.

 

[CMac2]

Sounds like reports of DNA under her nails are accurate. LE is also analyzing hair found on the blanket near the body. No mention yet of semen. From CBS:

The Milliyet newspaper said a forensic medicine lab will examine samples from Sierra's fingernails as well as hair and other samples from a blanket found near her body. It said some nail scrapings suggest she may have tried to fight off her attacker.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_...city-mother-found-dead-in-turkey-reports-say/

 

[ThinkHard]

Upthread we all said it was somewhat weird in general that she was out on the 21st if she was leaving that day. But so it was.

We still don't know for sure what flight she was on and when. Reports have been conflicting and ambiguous from the start.

True we don't know for sure. But early on in the investigation it came out that it was a United flight to Newark, leaving on a Monday and arriving on a Tuesday. Overnight flights from Istanbul to Newark are rare. There are basically only 2 options, one that left at 610 and one that left at 745.

She would need to be at Ataturk airport two hours before her flight. From her hostel to the airport it could take anywhere from 30-45 min to get there. There is a bus from Taksim that goes to the airport. So she would have had to head there either by 330 or 515 depending on which flight she was on.

From where cameras last saw her it would have taken her at least 30 (more like 45) minutes to get back to her hostel.

So within some kind of reason we can guess she would have had to start heading back there by either 3 or 445 (again depending on the flight)

And even that time line would be cutting it close. I think, at least from my experience it would have been more realistic for her to be heading back to her hostel either around 2 or 4 (depending on which flight)

I believe she was last seen by surveillance at 115.

The walk to the point of the wall she was found would have taken her at least 30-45 min, that's an hr to an hr and a half round trip (walking) just btw Sarayburnu and Galata bridge.

 

[ToutCa]

Multiple sources, including "mainstream" and most respectable Turkish media:

SS murdered with blunt object to head, body shows cuts and scratches and bruises all over in addition to signs that it was moved at least a few feet from where she was killed. Body found with pants and underwear lowered. Preliminary rape test negative. Body found with pieces of wood placed on it in some attempt to hide.
Multiple DNA tests ongoing (on blanket found near her, on fingernail scrapings, etc.).

Unscrupulous and untrustworthy news sources:

Anything beyond the above. Any talk of rape. Any specific talk of what DNA tests might show.

Be careful and consider the sources as you speculate.

 

[ToutCa]

True we don't know for sure. But early on in the investigation it came out that it was a United flight to Newark, leaving on a Monday and arriving on a Tuesday. Overnight flights from Istanbul to Newark are rare. There are basically only 2 options, one that left at 610 and one that left at 745.

This did not come out in the investigation.

We don't know what flight she was on. Since she changed it, she might have had stopovers rather than a direct flight. We just don't know.

All we know is she walked all the way over to Sirkeci and was found further on by Sarayburnu. We don't have a clue what time she intended to turn back. Maybe that info will come out in future, we'll see.

 

[CMac2]

From USA Today article:

Except when Sierra's flight from Turkey on United Airlines landed Tuesday night at 4:55 p.m. in Newark, Sierra wasn't on the plane. She had not shown up to take the flight in Turkey.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/01/26/new-york-woman-missing-turkey/1867125/