Sarai Sierra Missing: Police seek "suspect" in Turkey in case of missing New York City mother, official says

By: Crimesider Staff
Topics: Daily Blotter

Undated photo of Sarai Sierra

/ CBS New York

(CBS/AP) ANKARA, Turkey - Police are trying to trace a person who allegedly corresponded with Sarai Sierra through social networking sites before the New York mother went missing while vacationing alone in Istanbul, a Turkish official said Wednesday.

Pictures: N.Y. mom missing in Turkey

Sierra, a 33-year-old mother of two, was reported missing Jan. 21 when she was supposed to begin her trip home to New York City. She arrived on Istanbul on Jan. 7 with plans to practice her hobby of photography on her first trip outside of the United States. Police have set up a special unit to look for her.

A senior police official told The Associated Press under condition of anonymity that Sierra exchanged messages with a person before she disappeared and police were trying to trace the man or woman as a possible suspect in her disappearance.

The official said Sierra "presumably met" the person after she arrived in Istanbul.

Police released security camera footage that showed Sierra eating alone in the food court of a shopping mall near the hostel where she was staying and walking around the mall, dressed in jeans, a brown leather jacket and a winter hat, her hands in her pockets. Another image showed her walking along a main shopping street, wearing earphones. Police did not say when the images were recorded, but Turkey's Hurriyet newspaper said the images were from Jan. 20.

Sierra was in regular contact with her family and friends prior to her disappearance, and told relatives she planned to take photographs at the Galata Bridge - a tourist landmark that spans the Golden Horn waterway and is lined with fishermen.

Sierra's husband, Steven, and brother David Jimenez arrived in Istanbul late Monday. The state-run Anadolu Agency said U.S. consulate officials accompanied the two to the police station where Steven Sierra made a deposition to police who specialize in missing persons.

Complete coverage of the Sarai Sierra disappearance case on Crimesider

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by opinionated24 January 31, 2013 1:49 AM EST

There is so much wrong with this story - or not the story as reported, but the story of what this woman has done. Why go to Istanbul BEFORE Amsterdam when it is faster and easier to fly first to Amsterdam? Why spend three days in Istanbul and then one day in Amsterdam and one in Munich? What could possibly cost $10,000 a day, and where did this woman come up with that kind of money? Why was she staying in a terrible neighborhood in a run-down hostel-style room when she could obviously afford something better? why in the world did she not take her phone with her when she left? Some reports say that she took her photos with an iphone, which would make claims that she was an "amateur photographer" a bit exaggerated, though I suppose "amateur" is the key word here. But if she did, and if she specifically claimed to have gone out to take photographs.then there's another thing wrong. Somehow, while I hope for the best for this woman, I suspect there's a lot of backstory that would explain a great deal of what really happened.

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by PrincessKalia2013 January 31, 2013 12:24 PM EST: I don't find the arrangement of her travel odd as I do the disappearance. I'd feel safer in Turkey than many parts of the USA. I am not sure I understand how you came up with the monetary figure regarding her trip.I do agree that there is a very large portion of this story not being reported and a back story bigger than the black hole. As much as her beloved husband loves her, she was doing things behind his back. A lot of people stay in youth hostels, it's not uncommon and the area isn't a bad or dangerous area. Just because you're used to a certain way things should look, doesn't necessarily mean danger in other parts of the world. Anyone that has traveled knows this. Especially given that youth hostels aren't going to be placed in the centre of an area where pitfalls happen. She was safe and secure, it's what she did after that seems to be the broken story. Her husband only knows what she told him, not the other bits and pieces that he is unaware of. I feel badly for him, as he really has no clue. The stranger she met, has made it tough for the authorities to catch him. Also, they need to look at the records on her phones before the trip was made, check her emails, there you will see it all unfold. RIP Sarai!