GUILTY Turkey - Sarai Sierra, 33, NY woman murdered, Istanbul, 21 Jan 2013 - #3

[Miziree]

When taking a picture on her phone or Ipad does the picture automatically get saved on cloud or the service carriers website or is that a option you must set?

 

[Yashim]

When taking a picture on her phone or Ipad does the picture automatically get saved on cloud or the service carriers website or is that a option you must set?

wouldn't she have to be online/connected for that?

 

[alpmighty]

Yes att roaming charges are outrageous in turkey. However you do not need your phone unlocked to roam in turkey, you only need it unlocked if you want to use a Turkish sims card. It will automatically start roaming once you land and turn on your phone, and it will show roaming in the turkcell network. If you don't want to be charged for roaming you have to disable data roaming.

I see. So whether she was using roaming or not, we can be confident that Galaxy S3 can be accurately traced until the time of death. Even after the time of death, if the rumored Skype call on 30th or 31st is true and it was made from the Galaxy S3, it'll be geographically traced. Technically, LE will be able to, if they haven't already, learn where the alleged post mortem Skype call was made in.

What about the rumors that she had two cell phones? If I remember correctly, it was mentioned a cell phone was found in the room she was staying. Press reports iPad and cell phone as missing.

 

[Yashim]

Only once in all my travels was my safety ever in clear and present danger. And you know what, that was from someone I had known for 20 years.

Which country was that?

 

[alpmighty]

When taking a picture on her phone or Ipad does the picture automatically get saved on cloud or the service carriers website or is that a option you must set?

It doesn't come enabled by default. I do own multiple i devices, including an iPad. During the initial setup, you are asked if you'd like to automatically sync your pictures to the cloud.

 

[alpmighty]

wouldn't she have to be online/connected for that?

Certainly, either through a mobile operator or a wi-fi connection, if the option to automatically sync pictures with iCloud is enabled.

 

[ThinkHard]

The fact that she had her jewelry on makes me think is isn't a mugging. They did say it was clear her body had been moved. Seems pretty obvious to me that whoever put her body there was hoping that the cops would think that it was a random act of violence by a homeless person.



It seems like the IG angle was a cover to make it look like a "bunch of friends' IG type trip, but she only met the guy there right? Maybe he convinced her to come.

It's school season, if she needed a break I could see Florida maybe or California, but Istanbul? She definitely was there for more than a "trip" and site seeing.

Maybe she was not the type of person who would be interested in something as mundane as Florida or California. Maybe she was somebody who wanted to live outside a box of what other people considered normal. Maybe she wanted to see parts of the world that seemed distant and unique. That doesn't make her a criminal.

 

[Herat]

If I remember correctly, she was naked from the waist down.

Every report I have seen says that she had on a shirt and her underwear.

Her (long) pants, not underpants were either pulled down, on top of the body when found but not worn, or nearby. Depending on whom you read.

The pants are reported to have multiple rips in them.

There is no mention about socks. The shoes were reported to be in the area, but there is no more specifics about that.

Again, confusing information about the long pants, aberrant findings, difficult to be conclusive without more LE input.

 

[alpmighty]

If I remember correctly, she was naked from the waist down. An attempted rape does not always leave evidence if it is never completed. Perhaps the person attempting the rape killed her before he could complete the act, or he was physically unable to complete the act as intended.

Body being found waist down naked was what the Turkish press reported. I don't consider Turkish press reliable when it comes to how the body was found. In none of the articles including that tidbit there was a source attributed. Most likely speculation. And the detective involved in the case didn't answer the question, he just said that actual rape is ruled out. So I'd say local press reports are speculation.

 

[Yashim]

She was a woman on a budget, perhaps she was trying to both fulfill her desires and save money for her family, so she stayed somewhere as affordable as possible.

Maybe she connected on an emotional level with someone and they made her feel special so she wanted to visit them or maybe she wanted to challenge herself. Her brother and husband said she did a triathlon when it was a stretch, so she clearly liked a challenge and break from the norm.

Her friend bailed on her, so she decided when will I have this chance again or she had her ticket already and that was the largest expense, so she went. Sometimes if you wait for people to have the same vacation times, money, or perfect life circumstances you just end up waiting forever. I admire that she followed her heart.

Her marriage could be turbulent, it could be a lot of things, it doesn't matter what she did, even if it doesn't match the moral code of a lot of people. She was married at 19 and for nearly 15 years. There wasn't much time to get to know what she wanted out of life. Suddenly this new found passion was igniting a positive response and she appreciated the attention. There's nothing wrong with that. She doesn't need to be portrayed as a hussy or a saint. She's just human.

She left her children in the care of family who she clearly trusted. Again, nothing to be judged. It might not be the choice a lot of people would make, but she felt the big enough need to do it for herself for whatever reason.

This has nothing to do with having children or not, but more so with being compassionate to the fact we all live different lives with different struggles and different circumstances. Some days people decide to do one thing and 5 years later they are in a different place and wouldn't consider it.

Judging her or her situation and taking the moral high road isn't going to solve this case or help remember her for who she was and how she made those close to her feel.

This is also my latest understanding of her motive. Yet we have to decide:

Was she involved in anything illegal or not?

And if she did, is her murder related?

We don't have enough facts to judge how devoted a mother she was. And even if we had, it's not enough to draw any conclusions about her motives.

 

[CMac2]

I see. So whether she was using roaming or not, we can be confident that Galaxy S3 can be accurately traced until the time of death. Even after the time of death, if the rumored Skype call on 30th or 31st is true and it was made from the Galaxy S3, it'll be geographically traced. Technically, LE will be able to, if they haven't already, learn where the alleged post mortem Skype call was made in.

What about the rumors that she had two cell phones? If I remember correctly, it was mentioned a cell phone was found in the room she was staying. Press reports iPad and cell phone as missing.

I believe it was said that her Turkish phone was found in her room/apartment, along with her medical cards and other belongings. LE stated early on (while she was still "missing") that because her Turkish phone was left in her room, they were unable to track her movements at the time. The Galaxy S3 and iPad are missing.

 

[Herat]

Once again, this is what is aberrant about her last day:

1. She has a different purse.
(It is such a pain having to change purses. You aren't used to the new one, where to place stuff, or how it fits. I have to think this was a brand new purse. Purchased where- Turkey, Amsterdam, Munich?) No photos released that have this purse in it.

2. She is wearing jewelry
(She is never seen wearing earrings or a bracelet in her NY or other photo ops.)

3. She is carrying a pair of extra shoes- high heels

To me this adds up to:

She was meeting someone she knew and liked for a social occasion. She wanted to look good (jewelry and high heels). She may have been planning to be out for some extended period of time- possibly into the evening.

That person is who must be found. Everything from Daily Mail account of LE information tells me it is an internet contact.

 

[CMac2]

I am soooo curious about this Skype call, made a week after she vanished. Was it a physical call that connected with another phone number, or did someone merely access/activate her Skype account? WHO WAS THE CALL MADE TO?!?! :banghead:

 

[english]

English,

Did you see this bit on the homeless people protesting a possible evacuation attempt by the authorities?

http://www.aktifhaber.com/evsizlerden-sarai-sierra-eylemi-733851h.htm

As I have tried to emphasize before, "Plain" homeless try to stay away from trouble. Unless they are extremely intoxicated. If this was the case, the attacked woman may have a higher chance of escaping.

Yes Yashim, I have seen this. And I agree with their sentiment of why would they do something to make themselves homeless on top of their already homeless state (if that makes sense!).

I agree that they would generally stay away from trouble.

 

[CMac2]

Once again, this is what is aberrant about her last day:

1. She has a different purse.
(It is such a pain having to change purses. You aren't used to the new one, where to place stuff, or how it fits. I have to think this was a brand new purse. Purchased where- Turkey, Amsterdam, Munich?) No photos released that have this purse in it.

2. She is wearing jewelry
(She is never seen wearing earrings or a bracelet in her NY or other photo ops.)

3. She is carrying a pair of extra shoes- high heels

To me this adds up to:

She was meeting someone she knew and liked for a social occasion. She wanted to look good (jewelry and high heels). She may have been planning to be out for some extended period of time- possibly into the evening.

That person is who must be found. Everything from Daily Mail account of LE information tells me it is an internet contact.

These are good points. To the 3rd, however, her best friend made a statement to the media before they found her body that she was carrying an extra pair of shoes. This, apparently, of all the weirdness from that fateful day, is the least strange of everything that occured.

 

[Yashim]

She definitely was there for more than a "trip" and site seeing.

No matter where you come from, Istanbul is always more than sightseeing.

 

[gregjrichards]

I think Sarai may have met someone in a bar and she rejected his advances and he went into a rage and killed her for rejecting him. It may be this simple I don't know.

It is extremely unlucky to go abroad for the first time to a reasonably safe country and end up murdered. I think the police will be under immense pressure to solve this case as having no arrest would further impact tourism.

I think we will get answers but we may need to be patient. There have been several cases here where things looked very bleak but the suspect was caught in the end. Keep praying for Sarai's family and that the suspect is caught.

 

[ThinkHard]

Personally I do not think she was involved in illegal activity, and I personally feel that a great deal of the speculation along those theories has more to do with prejudices and assumption about traveling as a single traveler without her husband or children, and her chosen country of Turkey. And has very little to do with anything else we have read about this case.

 

[NewYork625]

Maybe she was not the type of person who would be interested in something as mundane as Florida or California. Maybe she was somebody who wanted to live outside a box of what other people considered normal. Maybe she wanted to see parts of the world that seemed distant and unique. That doesn't make her a criminal.

I don't think what Chewy is saying what she did was criminal. Just that her choice of destinations, including the sofa of man in Amsterdam who she had only met online, seem unusual for a happily married woman.

 

[ThinkHard]

Once again, this is what is aberrant about her last day:

1. She has a different purse.
(It is such a pain having to change purses. You aren't used to the new one, where to place stuff, or how it fits. I have to think this was a brand new purse. Purchased where- Turkey, Amsterdam, Munich?) No photos released that have this purse in it.

2. She is wearing jewelry
(She is never seen wearing earrings or a bracelet in her NY or other photo ops.)

3. She is carrying a pair of extra shoes- high heels

To me this adds up to:

She was meeting someone she knew and liked for a social occasion. She wanted to look good (jewelry and high heels). She may have been planning to be out for some extended period of time- possibly into the evening.

That person is who must be found. Everything from Daily Mail account of LE information tells me it is an internet contact.

Interesting thoughts, but just because we cannot see her wearing other jewelry in pictures, she is quite covered up, so we cannot conclude that she was not.

I don't remember knowing for sure that the extra pair was high heels.

And as far as the purse. We do not know if she had a smaller purse with her the entire time in turkey. Can we make out what purse she was carrying on the mall survelliance video?

If those things are true, its an interesting theory for sure, I'm just not sure we know how true any of those things are.