ThinkHard
Former Member
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2013
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This is my first post on websleuths but I've been following the discussion from the beginning.
I am an American female below the age of 30 who lived in Istanbul for a year, with a Turkish family, so I'm quite familiar with Turkish culture and the safety of Istanbul. I didn't just visit the place but I lived the culture. I think immersing yourself in a culture gives you a much different perspective of a place then just visiting it.
First of all, I just have to say one thing about the comments on her clothing. She was dressed far more conservatively then most Turkish girls you see out and about. They do wear bikinis in Istanbul, there are even swimsuit billboards all over Istanbul. It is not a place where you have to worry that your clothes are going to make you stand out as a tourist, if your wearing the same things you would in the states. Go to any mall and Istanbul, and there are MANY, I've never seen so many in one city, and the stores are the same stores we have in The US, the same stores they have in Europe, and even some of their own. But the styles are the same as here. So I absolutely do not believe she was targeted for being an American or being a tourist.
I also have a hard time believing she fell. Two main reasons; 1. she was found in a hole /nook in the wall. I seriously doubt she would have fallen in that place herself. So even if she fell, someone still had to move her, if it was an accident why would they move her? 2. She had no other marks on her. If she fell there would have been other evidence of that. Injuries would not have healed because when you die, you no longer produce new cells, thus injuries would not have had a chance to heal.
I also have a hard time believing she was up climbing on those walls in the first place. Also if she fell there is a very high likelyhood her electronics would have been damaged, so why take them.
Additionally, here flight home was a united flight to Newark. Monday nights the only united flight btw Istanbul and Newark that leaves on Monday and arrives on a Tuesday is a 745 pm flight that arrives in Newark at noon. She would have had to head to the airport around 5pm, and thus be back at her room to pack up her final things by 430. We know she never made it back to her room. The last camera spotting was at 115 in serkeci. It would have taken her almost 45 min to get back to her hostel from serkeci. So she would have known to head back to her hostel sometime around 345pm. No camera sighting ever saw her heading back. So at best guess she became a missing person btw 1:15 and 3:45pm.
This would have been broad daylight. That road is busy. You can tell the walls are not far from the road in that location. How in broad daylight could she have been dragged to that hole without a single person noticing?
I also have a hard time believing that her body has been there since the day she went missing. With the homeless people who sometimes sleep in those nooks, she would have been discovered sooner. I can see how a homeless person might not report the sighting to police, but would he also not have taken her jewelry?
It's quite easy to sell gold in instanbul for a profit, you just have to take it to the grand bizarre.
I think the placement of the body is strategic. I think that whoever took her, new where the security cameras surveillance ended, and that if her body was found there, it would be easy for it to look like a mugging over electronics. And that way perhaps the police would focus in that direction. Or perhaps turn their attention back to Taylan.
Which brings me to him. I think his story is suspicious and my gut instinct tells me its not just a coincidence. I don't neccasarily think he did it, but perhaps he acted as bait. There are some groups in Turkey who take advantage of naive tourist with scams. They befriend someone either in person or on the Internet, gain their trust and take advantage of them, either for sex or money. There was no evidence that she was raped, so I'm guessing money. (Regardless of her income level, an American who can afford to fly to Turkey, and has an iPad and a smart phone is going to be perceived as wealthy). I think she became a victim when she let her guard down and trusted the wrong person she met online.
I think it's possible Taylan was hired to play bait, I think he never saw her that day, but told someone else exactly where she would be. I think they probably tried to get money out of her, and between having none, and causing a media sensation, they felt they had to get rid of her (sorry if that is too much of a vulgar way to say it).
Perhaps Taylan was released early because he agreed to be a police informant. Maybes that's why it was a special location, and why they don't use his real name. That did confiscate his phone and laptop, perhaps they were tracing his actions and conversations that way. Perhaps he had no idea. I think it's a bit of a coincidence that she was found soon after he was released.
Anyway that's just some of the stuff I've been pondering.
Btw I'm not saying turkey is dangerous, I think people gaining trust to take advantage of someone through online sites takes place everywhere, that's why we worn are kids about it right here in the US. I think these scams are pretty easy to avoid in Turkey too, as long as you don't fall for a sweet talking Turkish man who seems to good to be true. But your going to find those people everywhere. Istanbul is beautiful and quite safe. This is a very rare occurrence, and its horrible that posters in message bored are using it as an opportunity to spread hate and highly inaccurate information. When I read that stuff, I feel embarrassed to be American.
I am an American female below the age of 30 who lived in Istanbul for a year, with a Turkish family, so I'm quite familiar with Turkish culture and the safety of Istanbul. I didn't just visit the place but I lived the culture. I think immersing yourself in a culture gives you a much different perspective of a place then just visiting it.
First of all, I just have to say one thing about the comments on her clothing. She was dressed far more conservatively then most Turkish girls you see out and about. They do wear bikinis in Istanbul, there are even swimsuit billboards all over Istanbul. It is not a place where you have to worry that your clothes are going to make you stand out as a tourist, if your wearing the same things you would in the states. Go to any mall and Istanbul, and there are MANY, I've never seen so many in one city, and the stores are the same stores we have in The US, the same stores they have in Europe, and even some of their own. But the styles are the same as here. So I absolutely do not believe she was targeted for being an American or being a tourist.
I also have a hard time believing she fell. Two main reasons; 1. she was found in a hole /nook in the wall. I seriously doubt she would have fallen in that place herself. So even if she fell, someone still had to move her, if it was an accident why would they move her? 2. She had no other marks on her. If she fell there would have been other evidence of that. Injuries would not have healed because when you die, you no longer produce new cells, thus injuries would not have had a chance to heal.
I also have a hard time believing she was up climbing on those walls in the first place. Also if she fell there is a very high likelyhood her electronics would have been damaged, so why take them.
Additionally, here flight home was a united flight to Newark. Monday nights the only united flight btw Istanbul and Newark that leaves on Monday and arrives on a Tuesday is a 745 pm flight that arrives in Newark at noon. She would have had to head to the airport around 5pm, and thus be back at her room to pack up her final things by 430. We know she never made it back to her room. The last camera spotting was at 115 in serkeci. It would have taken her almost 45 min to get back to her hostel from serkeci. So she would have known to head back to her hostel sometime around 345pm. No camera sighting ever saw her heading back. So at best guess she became a missing person btw 1:15 and 3:45pm.
This would have been broad daylight. That road is busy. You can tell the walls are not far from the road in that location. How in broad daylight could she have been dragged to that hole without a single person noticing?
I also have a hard time believing that her body has been there since the day she went missing. With the homeless people who sometimes sleep in those nooks, she would have been discovered sooner. I can see how a homeless person might not report the sighting to police, but would he also not have taken her jewelry?
It's quite easy to sell gold in instanbul for a profit, you just have to take it to the grand bizarre.
I think the placement of the body is strategic. I think that whoever took her, new where the security cameras surveillance ended, and that if her body was found there, it would be easy for it to look like a mugging over electronics. And that way perhaps the police would focus in that direction. Or perhaps turn their attention back to Taylan.
Which brings me to him. I think his story is suspicious and my gut instinct tells me its not just a coincidence. I don't neccasarily think he did it, but perhaps he acted as bait. There are some groups in Turkey who take advantage of naive tourist with scams. They befriend someone either in person or on the Internet, gain their trust and take advantage of them, either for sex or money. There was no evidence that she was raped, so I'm guessing money. (Regardless of her income level, an American who can afford to fly to Turkey, and has an iPad and a smart phone is going to be perceived as wealthy). I think she became a victim when she let her guard down and trusted the wrong person she met online.
I think it's possible Taylan was hired to play bait, I think he never saw her that day, but told someone else exactly where she would be. I think they probably tried to get money out of her, and between having none, and causing a media sensation, they felt they had to get rid of her (sorry if that is too much of a vulgar way to say it).
Perhaps Taylan was released early because he agreed to be a police informant. Maybes that's why it was a special location, and why they don't use his real name. That did confiscate his phone and laptop, perhaps they were tracing his actions and conversations that way. Perhaps he had no idea. I think it's a bit of a coincidence that she was found soon after he was released.
Anyway that's just some of the stuff I've been pondering.
Btw I'm not saying turkey is dangerous, I think people gaining trust to take advantage of someone through online sites takes place everywhere, that's why we worn are kids about it right here in the US. I think these scams are pretty easy to avoid in Turkey too, as long as you don't fall for a sweet talking Turkish man who seems to good to be true. But your going to find those people everywhere. Istanbul is beautiful and quite safe. This is a very rare occurrence, and its horrible that posters in message bored are using it as an opportunity to spread hate and highly inaccurate information. When I read that stuff, I feel embarrassed to be American.
