GUILTY Turkey - Sarai Sierra, 33, NY woman murdered, Istanbul, 21 Jan 2013 - #2

[KuriousKev]

Me - I know women who do this regularly. I am a woman who has done this myself, minus photography (I have a different hobby) and I have met many, many women, mothers, wives who do this as well. There are thousands of us. We have forums for this. Look up "solo female travel" and read the hundreds of blogs with thousands of followers specifically geared toward just this exact thing. Mothers, wives, single women in their 20's - 60's all doing this, all the time.

It is NOT rare. I don't know how many other ways to say this. I do it and I belong to facebook groups and blogs of other women who do as well.

It IS rare and uncommon for a wife with two young children at home to take a 3 week trip without her children and husband.

 

[CMac2]

Me - I know women who do this regularly. I am a woman who has done this myself, minus photography (I have a different hobby) and I have met many, many women, mothers, wives who do this as well. There are thousands of us. We have forums for this. Look up "solo female travel" and read the hundreds of blogs with thousands of followers specifically geared toward just this exact thing. Mothers, wives, single women in their 20's - 60's all doing this, all the time.

It is NOT rare. I don't know how many other ways to say this. I do it and I belong to facebook groups and blogs of other women who do as well.

I have never been to Disney with my children in my life. It costs more than an overseas trip.

I know that this case might be the first time some people have looked into the world of solo female travel, but that does not mean it's weird, or rare, or dangerous, or sketchy, or that it defies belief.

It is very normal and very, very common.

What I find less common- not impossible, but less common- is that this is something she is only now beginning to do. I, like you, know of many women (and yes, mothers) who travel alone for any number of reasons.

In my experience (and please- I am not saying your experience is less valid than mine is) most of the women who are married with young children and regularly travel abroad alone are women who have done so their entire adult lives. They were jetsetters from the beginning, and didn't stop being that person simply because they got married and had children. Or, they'd always wanted to be that person, and had a financial windfall- huge promotion at work, came into an inheritance- something that altered their financial situation substantially enough to make these trips possible without massive strain on the family budget.

I also know several women who began travelling- again, alone- for the first time after their children were grown and out of the house. I know several women who have no children who began travelling along after a divorce- rediscovering themselves, that sort of thing.

In MY OWN EXPERIENCE (mine- just mine), however, I don't know anyone who fits the scenario we have with Sarai. She has never been outside of the US, she is not financially well off, and she has small children (I don't even care that she was married- that's the least of the weirdness for me).

It is unique. Actually, it's a shame that is so rare- but no, it is not common- to suddenly develop the hobby of world traveler under those circumstances.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the fact that she DID travel outside of the US. I don't think there's a thing wrong with it. In fact, what's wrong is that it isn't more acceptable, but regardless, in THESE circumstances, it isn't as common a thing to do.

 

[ThinkHard]

But the cameras did not see her walking with Taylan either. Maybe the cameras did not capture her w the killer.

If there was another suitor, perhaps she went to that area to phot graffiti and this other person followed her and killed her there.

If not Taylan, there are only 3 choices: another person from Internet OR someone she met organically in istanbul like someone at hostel OR a completely random person who decided to kill her for perhaps her ipad but not her jewelry which would be weird. If a random person, and assuming she was not raped, robbery would have to be the motive. Do we know whether she had any cash on her when they found the body?

Actually, there is a fourth scenario, highly unlikely I think:she was a drug mule or involved in some criminals element and someone killed her fearing that she was going to report them

Given that she was engaging in risky behavior meeting up w strange men, I still think the most likely scenario is someone she met online...

I was just thinking too..how many of you know a married women (or man for that matter) with small children who packs up and goes overseas for 3 weeks leaving family behind to photograph pictures and to meet up w random people on the Internet? And add to that, the person is not an experienced traveler and this is first time overseas?

Maybe one does that at age 22 after college but it is extremely rare someone w a family would do that. The whole thing is just strange, that is what makes this case so fascinating. She might have been just a naive woman on an adventure (i think she had home problems and she just wanted time alone) but still, the whole scenario is just odd...most people w families go w their families, they take their kids to Disney world, they do not go off on trips to foreign countries alone, especially when they do not have money to throw around, when they are married w small children and when they are inexperienced travelers. Maybe you might go off for a few days to an island or las vegas for a girls weekend but not 3 weeks....and not to turkey..

The oddness of the trip may or may not have anything to do w her death...in any event, there had to have been a reason she wanted to go on the trip, spending so much of her hard earned money and leaving her kids for 3 weeks. Why so long? It was not just for photos...

By saying the whole thing is odd/strange I don't mean to pass judgement on anything. I think most people would agree w me though that the fact situation here is just really odd...which is why I think everyone wants to know who did it!!

I meant if he had met her at the bridge like you had theororized in your previous post, then presumably they would have walked together, and thus the cameras would have seen it.

Also I don't think it's that crazy of an idea for a woman with a family to want to travel alone. I think lots of women would LOVE to do this. Also I don't think her children are that young, 9 and 11 is very different then 2 and 4. I think we just don't hear about women doing this because most who do do not end up murdered.

Perhaps sarai had dreamed if traveling for so long, but the family could only afford expenses for her and not for her husband and children, or perhaps he could not get the time off work.

 

[Yashim]

I just heard the news. It said I was about to be proven right. Well, implicitly.

LE believed a druggie (thinner addict) killed her. Alone, I think. He, then, ran away towards Sirkeci destination and blended in the crowd in the train station.

If he has to run away, how did he have the time to place those wooden blocks on her?

Yet, I don't get how did iPad disappear? Perhaps he came back later to get the iPad and hide her.

 

[Gio]

Me - I know women who do this regularly. I am a woman who has done this myself, minus photography (I have a different hobby) and I have met many, many women, mothers, wives who do this as well. There are thousands of us. We have forums for this. Look up "solo female travel" and read the hundreds of blogs with thousands of followers specifically geared toward just this exact thing. Mothers, wives, single women in their 20's - 60's all doing this, all the time.

It is NOT rare. I don't know how many other ways to say this. I do it and I belong to facebook groups and blogs of other women who do as well.

I have never been to Disney with my children in my life. It costs more than an overseas trip.

I know that this case might be the first time some people have looked into the world of solo female travel, but that does not mean it's weird, or rare, or dangerous, or sketchy, or that it defies belief.

It is very normal and very, very common.

How many of those wives and mothers, during their travels, are sleeping on the couch of a total stranger they met on the internet? Not many, I would guess.

 

[necco]

It IS rare and uncommon for a wife with two young children at home to take a 3 week trip without her children and husband.

Respectfully, her children aren't "young." She didn't leave a breastfeeding infant or a toddler behind, she left intermediate school aged children.

Women, wives and mothers DO go on walkabouts. And frankly, more should. It's healthy to maintain yourself. It's healthy to exist momentarily as simply yourself and not someone's wife, mother and/or daughter. The kids were with family.

 

[ThinkHard]

Do we know she had not been to the peninsula before her last day?

(about the food, one can eat the native food for so long and then you can start to crave some 'home cooking' which in our case would be some nice fast food! lol)

Also plenty of the fast food at malls in turkey is Turkish fast food, so who's to say which kind she picked.

And yes I believ she had been to the golden horn before because she has pictures of it.

 

[Yashim]

Oh, I didn't mean to say Turkey is a bad place to go (i have been there myself) but it is an odd place to go for your first trip overseas, especially for an American. Maybe odd is not the right word, but it is definitely different. Like I bet if you surveyed all Americans on their first trip overseas, 99.9% would say somewhere other than Turkey, w majority saying Canada, Mexico, islands, and the rest saying France, England, etc.

And that is mostly due to proximity. turkey is pretty far away and it is definitely a "different" place to go for a first trip overseas. As a factual matter, unless you have family in Turkey, most Americans do not go to Turkey as their first trip overseas. I could say the same thing about South Africa, Greece, Japan, etc:most Americans go to places that are closer for their first overseas trip.

Add to that the media portrayals of Turkey (many false) & the fact that we often hear of bombings, etc. results in many Americans having an inaccurate image of Turkey as being in the Middle East, resulting in lowered tourism for Turkey as opposed to France or Italy.

Her going to Turkey as her trip trip overseas is definitely....different than the norm..Maybe more exciting than the norm, but definitely different than the norm

I agree with you. I think we're saying the same thing. If she came to Turkey after corresponding with Turkish online friend/penpal for 20 years, we wouldn't question. Or just went to the UK and hung around, that'd be OK too.

 

[ThinkHard]

Oh, I didn't mean to say Turkey is a bad place to go (i have been there myself) but it is an odd place to go for your first trip overseas, especially for an American. Maybe odd is not the right word, but it is definitely different. Like I bet if you surveyed all Americans on their first trip overseas, 99.9% would say somewhere other than Turkey, w majority saying Canada, Mexico, islands, and the rest saying France, England, etc.

And that is mostly due to proximity. turkey is pretty far away and it is definitely a "different" place to go for a first trip overseas. As a factual matter, unless you have family in Turkey, most Americans do not go to Turkey as their first trip overseas. I could say the same thing about South Africa, Greece, Japan, etc:most Americans go to places that are closer for their first overseas trip.

Add to that the media portrayals of Turkey (many false) & the fact that we often hear of bombings, etc. results in many Americans having an inaccurate image of Turkey as being in the Middle East, resulting in lowered tourism for Turkey as opposed to France or Italy.

Her going to Turkey as her trip trip overseas is definitely....different than the norm..Maybe more exciting than the norm, but definitely different than the norm

I agree. It's kind of funny though because the French probably dislike Americans more then the Turks!

 

[KuriousKev]

Respectfully, her children aren't "young." She didn't leave a breastfeeding infant or a toddler behind, she left intermediate school aged children.

Women, wives and mothers DO go on walkabouts. And frankly, more should. It's healthy to maintain yourself. It's healthy to exist momentarily as simply yourself and not someone's wife, mother and/or daughter. The kids were with family.

I consider a 9 and 11 year old young children. This was not a walkabout this was thousands of miles across the Atlantic *and may I add to visit people she met online who could present themselves to be anyone...that scenario to me is ridiculous when you add the young children and shall I say husband.

 

[Yashim]

BBM

Agreed. That's not possible at all. I can't believe she didn't go to that part. If not where has she been? Doesn't make sense. Maybe she took the tram directly to sultanahmet but she haven't walked in eminonu and sirkeci? Thats the only explanation I can come up with.

If her mobility was limited by her low funds and her not enjoying Istanbul to the full limited by her lack of local friends, then I do understand. And I feel awful for questioning how she spent time in Istanbul.

 

[CMac2]

Respectfully, her children aren't "young." She didn't leave a breastfeeding infant or a toddler behind, she left intermediate school aged children.

Women, wives and mothers DO go on walkabouts. And frankly, more should. It's healthy to maintain yourself. It's healthy to exist momentarily as simply yourself and not someone's wife, mother and/or daughter. The kids were with family.

Her children are "young". They aren't infants, but then, no one said they were. They hadn't exactly graduated from high school, either. Elementary school aged children are young.

That said, it is a shame that's it's so uncommon for mothers to do what SS did, and travel overseas without her children or husband. Fact remains, women who leave their elementary school aged children and husbands behind to travel abroad are not commonplace. No matter how big of a shame that is.

 

[Yellow]

Me - I know women who do this regularly. I am a woman who has done this myself, minus photography (I have a different hobby) and I have met many, many women, mothers, wives who do this as well. There are thousands of us. We have forums for this. Look up "solo female travel" and read the hundreds of blogs with thousands of followers specifically geared toward just this exact thing. Mothers, wives, single women in their 20's - 60's all doing this, all the time.

It is NOT rare. I don't know how many other ways to say this. I do it and I belong to facebook groups and blogs of other women who do as well.

I have never been to Disney with my children in my life. It costs more than an overseas trip.

I know that this case might be the first time some people have looked into the world of solo female travel, but that does not mean it's weird, or rare, or dangerous, or sketchy, or that it defies belief.

It is very normal and very, very common.

Of course people do it, but just because some people do it does not make it "very, very common." People who travel solo may be more active in the blogosphere because they want to learn info, etc. whereas the millions of people who travel w their kids on vacation every year may not all write about their experiences..single travelers might be more active in joining groups etc

I never said it was weird or sketchy, etc to travel alone. Saying something is outside the norm of what the majority does is not the same thing as passing judgement. But her travel plans were definitely different than what most married women w small Children do.

If you asked 1000 women w small children, do you go on vacation alone or do you go w your family, more people would say they go w their families (either husband or w husband/kids) than go alone. In fact I would suspect a majority go w family. I personally have never heard of anyone w small children and husband who goes alone overseas for almost a month but if there are blogs of people who do that, I take your word for it. But I don't think it is what the majority of people who are married w small children do.

Further, I note this w regard to only women w small children, not all female solo travelers. I have no doubt that female solo travelers are "very, very common." but I don't think it is common for women w small children to travel away for 3 weeks simply bc I think it would be very difficult to find child care for that long. Does that mean no one does it? No, but I don't think it is "very, very common" for someone to leave small children at home for 3 weeks.

As I noted, I am not passing judgement on what she did, I was just noting that her travel plans were definitely different than what the norm is. Sometimes different can be better, but it does not distract from the fact that they are different from what most women who are married w small children do. It is only relevant now bc she got killed and we do not know whether her doing something other side the norm led directly or indirectly to her death.

Indeed, in this economy, most women w small children are not traveling anywhere, so even the fact that one is traveling to begin w is outside the norm

 

[Yashim]

I agree. It's kind of funny though because the French probably dislike Americans more then the Turks!

Guest identity always beats national identity in Turkey. If you are a Tourist, your nationality is of little importance.

 

[CMac2]

If her mobility was limited by her low funds and her not enjoying Istanbul to the full limited by her lack of local friends, then I do understand. And I feel awful for questioning how she spent time in Istanbul.

We do know she had some limit to her funds... but if it was that tight, I don't know if she would have been able to afford Amsterdam. Why spend all your money going to one place for 3 days, and leave nothing to spend in the place you'd planned to spend the majority of your time?

 

[Yellow]

What I find less common- not impossible, but less common- is that this is something she is only now beginning to do. I, like you, know of many women (and yes, mothers) who travel alone for any number of reasons.

In my experience (and please- I am not saying your experience is less valid than mine is) most of the women who are married with young children and regularly travel abroad alone are women who have done so their entire adult lives. They were jetsetters from the beginning, and didn't stop being that person simply because they got married and had children. Or, they'd always wanted to be that person, and had a financial windfall- huge promotion at work, came into an inheritance- something that altered their financial situation substantially enough to make these trips possible without massive strain on the family budget.

I also know several women who began travelling- again, alone- for the first time after their children were grown and out of the house. I know several women who have no children who began travelling along after a divorce- rediscovering themselves, that sort of thing.

In MY OWN EXPERIENCE (mine- just mine), however, I don't know anyone who fits the scenario we have with Sarai. She has never been outside of the US, she is not financially well off, and she has small children (I don't even care that she was married- that's the least of the weirdness for me).

It is unique. Actually, it's a shame that is so rare- but no, it is not common- to suddenly develop the hobby of world traveler under those circumstances.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the fact that she DID travel outside of the US. I don't think there's a thing wrong with it. In fact, what's wrong is that it isn't more acceptable, but regardless, in THESE circumstances, it isn't as common a thing to do.

Yes, this is what I mean. While I still think it is uncommon for females w small children to travel alone ( WANTING to travel alone is a far cry from actually doing it; most women w small children do not travel alone as a factual matter), the whole situation gets weirder when you consider that she never traveled.

Like I bet of all these people apparently on blogs that travel alone without their kids, I bet a majority of them traveled before they had kids too so they were comfortable doing it. Further, I bet most of them are use to traveling for work so they know the ins and outs of travel.

But here, not only did she travel without her children, we know she was not an experienced traveler. In fact, do we know whether she even had been on an airplane before? Maybe not. In any event, it is just odd for someone w no prior traveling experience to decide to embark on a trip of this nature.

Further adding to the oddness of it is the fact that she was not rich. If you have limited funds, most women w small children would go on a trip w them. Now, if you had all the money in the world that would be a different story- you would do both. But most people w limited funds would go w the kids, if at all

 

[necco]

I guess there are two kinds of people in this world. Those who are normal and those who think normal is just a setting on the dryer. I clearly fall into the 2nd category.

 

[looking4answers]

http://pix11.com/2013/02/07/husband...ead-i-told-them-mommy-got-hurt/#axzz2KFTL4A5s

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Emotionally shell-shocked, the husband of the Staten Island mom brutally beaten to death in Turkey emerged from a local funeral home Thursday and told PIX 11 he’s finally broken the news to the couple’s 9- and 11-year-old sons.

“I told them Mommy got hurt, and she died,” a crestfallen Steven Sierra told PIX11 News outside the Matthew Funeral Home, where he had just made arrangements for Sarai Sierra’s wake next week. The body of the 33-year old amateur photographer was being flown to Kennedy Airport Thursday afternoon from Istanbul.

 

[cluciano63]

Do we know if she had any special interest in Turkey prior to recent months, or did the destination arise from those she met online? Sorry if I missed this, if already discussed.

For instance, my brother and I have exchanged books and book reviews on Asian and Middle Eastern culture for years, so if I went off to India, etc. it would be less startling than if I suddenly went to Australia, for example.

 

[CMac2]

I guess there are two kinds of people in this world. Those who are normal and those who think normal is just a setting on the dryer. I clearly fall into the 2nd category.

I fall into the 2nd category as well. That's why I prefer the term "norm". Normal is relative. I can understand that some things- regardless of whether or not they're "normal" for me- aren't necessarily the "norm".

If I ever go missing, God forbid, I fear you'll have a trail to follow that makes Sarai's look simple in contrast.