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Subscribe to RSSThe family of a 33-year-old Staten Island woman says she has disappeared while traveling alone in Turkey.
Sarai Sierra, a mother of two who enjoys photography, was looking forward to her trip and arrived in Istanbul on Jan. 7. She was supposed to return to New York on Jan. 21.
Her husband, Steven, says she was not on her flight home and has not been heard from since.
Sierra's passport and medical cards were still in her room in Turkey. Her worried family is launching a search with authorities to find her.
U.S. Rep. Michael Grimm said Saturday his office is working with officials in the U.S. and Istanbul to locate Sierra and bring her home safely.
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i had a friend who once got lost while hunting turkey..
A woman traveling alone outside of countries belonging to NATO, The European Union, or the Schengen Area are taking a huge risk.
Rich, Turkey is in the NATO alliance, and has been since 1952.
Turkey is in NATO! LOL!
I'm sure Rich knows Turkey is in NATO, he was just making a general point. Jeesh you guys.
That's nothing to grouse about.
people are probably not going to like this comment but it's the truth. even if it hurts. her husband should have never let her go alone in the first place. any country is an unsafe place to go lolly gagging around taking pictures in this time of social unrest. i don't care if we do have an american consulate there. people don't have respect for our consulates anymore. if youyr an american, your most likely not wanted in their country. besides that, terrorist are floating everywhere. an a beautifull woman like her all alone is just what the sex traders want. by the time anyone can do whatever they think they can do, it's going to be too late for her. i feel sorry for her family an her husband, but thats the way it is over there. i know what i'm talking about. i've been paid by some very wealthy people before to get back their loved ones. the truth is an ugly one, even when you get them back. sorry husband of the lady missing. i really do feel for you.
If you are an American woman do not travel alone in Turkey or any other country. There is only a few like Britain or Germany I would really travel too. I lived in turkey when I was a kid for a few years. My father was stationed there. When we lived off base my mother would get harassed a lot because she was a Blond American woman. It came to the point where she would have the shot gun loaded while my father was on base. This was 20 yrs ago but not much has changed. If anything Turkey has been reverting back to what it used to be. Also eastern Europe and any Arab country has been known for Human trafficking and American women are highly prized.
First, I work against sex trafficking - the vast majority of victims are in their 20s or younger. To suggest that this 33 year old woman has been trafficked is irresponsible and sensationalistic (sorry if that's not a word). 1. You don't know what happened. 2. While not impossible, it's unlikely. I do hope, truly, that isn't what happened to her, but either way, she's in danger.
Second, I'm a 40 year old American woman and started travelingalone when I was 21. I have been to 22 countries in Europe, South and Central America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Has there been danger? A few times. But you listen to your instincts. Take precautions. Don't go to a war zone (obviously). Women can travel alone in most countries. It comes down to doing research and understanding the pulse of the place you're going to. If I had traveled only in America, I would have faced many of the same risks. And yes, I know what I'm talking about, as I was assaulted in America. That hasn't happened to me abroad (thankfully).
ron castillo,
Why don't you see what you can do to help this family if you have experience in this area. You may possibly be more help then they are receiving now. Wouldn't hurt to try to get in touch w/ the Husband and see what they already know and don't know.
Actually, Tim, most of Europe is safe to travel alone, including some countries in Eastern Europe, like Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia.
You just have to exercise some caution, but the same goes for a lone woman traveling in the USA.
The problem is, people think they're invincible and immune to the treachery that exists in many countries. A woman travelling alone- not smart at all. Where was her family with this? Nobody protested her going there alone? And now she may never be heard from again.
Turkey, the country that entices Russian women into moving there for a job, but in reality, they are enslaved and forced into drugs and prostitution. Or sometimes they are sold to some Arab country to live out their life as someones slave. The police are no help because most times they are on the payroll. I wonder why a woman would choose to travel alone in such a country? Don't people take the time to study up on the country they are going to visit?
She is a 'photographer'- allegedly wanting to take photos from the Galata Bridge spanning the Golden Horn in Istanbul (Constantinople to learn of various historic al facts). She was always in contact with her family and the last 'link' to her sister was departing Turkey on the 21st (she arrived January 7th)- earlier and husband Steven went to airport for the flight from Turkey. Now he and her brother David Jimenez are on their way to Turkey in order to find her. In Istanbul- and near the old town one must remember to be in a different culture when dining alone or a woman 'drinking a glass of vine' alone in a cafe/bistro. Hopefully they find Sarai Sierra soon- Turkish authorities are involved in her search (Hurriyet Daily News). Staying in a hostel in Turkey is not the same as staying in a hostel in Switzerland.
What woman in her right mind would travel alone in Turkey ?
I have traveled world wide alone fairly extensively and Turkey is the only country I was ever harassed or bothered in. Would not at all recommend for single female traveler.
Istanbul-Turkey is not the place for a woman to travel alone. A friend and I traveled to Istanbul last summer and we were there for 1 week. The men were like leeches! At moments it was extremely uncomfortable. A man attempted to lure me to a location away from my friend. Of course I said no, but it was just plan weird. Also, the men in that area remembered our faces as we walked the streets daily (that was strange as well). Since leaving Istanbul, I have often joked about being sold into sex slavery while being there, but it was a feeling I truly had. Yes Istanbul is a beautiful country, but women PLEASE do not travel there alone. It is extremely unsafe! I pray this lady is found safe and sound.
Went to Istanbul with a few galpals a number of years ago. A fascinating place, but as soon as we got off the beaten path, the men were pretty piggy. I would not recommend a single woman to travel alone there.
I can't find any of her photographs anywhere on the internet. If she was a "photographer" why is none of her work out there? She was in Turkey to photograph what? For what magazine? Or was she just a woman with a camera? The whole story sounds odd. Who is this person she was supposedly going to travel with? And why the hell to Turkey? Did they speak the language? Why did the other person back out? Something smells rotten and it isn't in Denmark!
My wife and I have traveled in Turkey countless times, together and on our own. It is far safer than many parts of Europe (on par with Switzerland). Of course you need to be aware of your surroundings wherever you go, but we certainly felt safer in Turkey than the majority of the other 80 or so countries we have traveled in.
"The family is suspicious and said it is completely out of character for the happily married mother of 11-year-old and 9-year-old sons, who met her husband in a church youth group, to disappear."
Two tickets, friend cancels and she goes to Turkey alone? Never been out of the US before? Call Nancy Grace to inetrview the husband. Nonsence. I watch 48 Hours on the ID Network.
As Hillary would say, "she just wants decocracy."
That makes as much sense as the woman going to Turkey alone to take pictures.
"Sarai Sierra, a mother of two who enjoys photography, was looking forward to her trip and arrived in Istanbul on Jan. 7."
Old secular Turkey is gone.
Now it is seventh century desert dancing Erdogan's Toorkey!
This is one example: where one does not know what she is doing or where is going?
No Muslim nation is safe place for humans.
US citizens and whites (seventh century Islamists imagine that whites are their enemies) should stay away from those nations.
For everyone's latest info- Hurriyet Daily News .Sarai Sierra's husband Steven and her brother David Jimenez arrived at Ataturk Airport,Istanbul today (Mon)- Sarai Sierra rented her room at the hostel January 12- January 15 she traveled to Netherlands and Munich,Germany. She returned to Turkey on January 19- the proprieter of hostel saw 'her' January 20. Her passport and clothes are left in the room. Police are searching all available video footage regarding Sarai Sierra.
Bet she's a spy.
bet you're an idiot. Well, you are...
Ok, that was supposed to be a joke. But since we are on the topic of stupidity, why couldn't she be a spy? Show me definite proof she isn't and then you can tell me I am wrong. I made a speculation, I did no state a fact, and I never said that that was the only possible conclusion. Nice job showing how tolerant you are by calling me stupid though. anyay, you should be happy I responded. Trolls like you are always so proud when they are graced with a response.
conservativelybiased, I got the joke and thought it was funny. I think alberto is the only person who did not get it. He must not understand humor.
Maybe she met a hot Turkish guy there and decided to stay? Maybe that's why she went there in the first place?
As most married woman cheat on their husbands? Not sure where you pulled that from. Maybe she got abducted by aliens? Just as much evidence for that. Maybe she's a closet stripper and is earning extra money.
I think I can go out on a limb and say this women is a typical LIBERAL Democrat who thinks the whole world respects women as America does. Well guess what , you're in a mostly Muslim country and them Muslims don't honor women much , do they ?
No such animal as a hot Turkish man. They all stink because they rarely, if ever bathe. They eat food that makes them stink. They are uncircumcised heathens. They hate deodorant. They never shave and most have fleas in their beard. Only a Kardashian would bed them.
People are so judgemental these days and don't know how to keep an open mind. Hmmmmm...and people wonder why our country is going to hell....I wonder when America will have a war with America just because everyone states everything like it's a fact instead of an opinion and get off on shoving sh*t in other peoples faces because it makes them feel better...
HAVE SOME F*CKING RESPECT PEOPLE!!!
Actually, Turkey is pretty friendly. It's not an overtly Islamist country. I've been there. I doubt you have. It's not as conservative as you think it is. I know you get terrified because we are talking about a country that is not mainly Christian like America (unfortunately) is, but it's going to be okay. Not everything is terrible and awful because it's not identical to America.
I have been there too and found people friendly - the only rude/forward folks were the ones that wanted to sell you a carpet...considering the police carry automatic rifles on every street corner, I felt completely safe, even walking to a local store from my hotel...My husband and I got lost and still felt safe (except for a taxi ride...LOL) When I was on the mezzanine, reading a book, it was the hotel security that approached me with his hand on his gun...
IndyBill is an idiot - why would an Armenian woman (Kardashian) willingly sleep with a filthy Turk...?
Wow the crazies seem to be out in full swing. Calling someone filthy because they're foreign? Yeah, that makes sense. I think maybe you might be jealous of the Turks, HyeGuy and IndyBill.
IndyBill, I'm betting you never met a real Turk. I lived there for 3 years and most of the Turkish men I knew actually shaved daily and bathed pretty regularly. Are there Turks that don't? Of course, and you'd find most of them are poor and would rather use what water they can afford more judiciously than Americans do.
Johnny, yes Turkey is a Muslim country, but it's far more westernized than any of the Middle East (Attaturk's influence). Yes, there are areas that are very traditional, but most of them aren't exactly touristy areas.
And good job labeling this woman without knowing one thing about her. Sure makes you a shining example to all who read of what a "real American" is. </sarc>
JO1965, no one with any amount of sanity has ever felt safe on a Turkish taxi ride! The Turks, like many around the Mediterranean, think driving rules and lanes are merely suggestions. :)
Crazy redhead
I agree about taxi drivers, but the same can be said about taxi drivers in Italy, Paris, New York City, Boston etc..
As for you,IndyBill; you probably think driving into the city is a big adventure. My brother was married to a highly intelligent,well-educated Turkish woman who ran her own import business.Religion was not an issue. He has a great friend who lives in Istanbul that he just visited. The guy is very educated, well-groomed, and guess what? His name is Ahmad and he has blue eyes. You are the typical uneducated American who knows nothing about other people or cultures, but thinks he knows everything. You open your mouth and people just laugh.
Briefly google for rape turkey. Women are apparently raped by cab drivers as soon as they leave the airport. I know a few women who have traveled in turkey and all of them were harassed, a few attacked. Islam does not respect women. To Islam: women are cattle and if there are no men to claim a "cow" then those "unclaimed" women will be treated like subhumans.
I can't believe that the EU even momentarily entertained the idea of letting Turkey join the EU. Barbaric.
DannyG
Google Turkey and what is legal. Under the law, women share equal rights with men. Legal age to marry is 18; women can independently get abortions and get birth control free under the Social Security system (not like here in the good old USA). They can divorce (legally file and obtain one), the veil is banned, rape and so-called marital rape is a crime, alcohol is legal, etc....
Now...Read this from a news article written about the gang-rape of an 11 year-old in a town in good old Texas, USA where real men come from.
Though a jury found Eric McGowen guilty of horrifically gang-raping an 11-year-old girl, two major issues remain in the search for justice.
One, McGowen, 20, hasn’t been seen since he vanished during a break in proceedings last week, and the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office had few leads to his whereabouts. In the case, 20 men and boys were charged with repeatedly attacking the girl over the span of five months, through December of 2010.
Second, the small Texas community of Cleveland remains divided on the rape – some residents have suggested the girl was partly responsible because of her appearance, sparking widespread condemnation.
Read more: #ixzz2JFyrdN3k
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Hi. I'm a Turk. and ı am a woman. I must say that islam is not something like you explained. Contrarily women are very very important in islam. But unfortunately there is some people in Turkey that don't understand what islam is. these events because of them. also Turkey is a modern country as you can't imagine. I read all writing everybody had written a lot of bad things aabout Turkey and Tukish people. but they all wrong. in there most of the women have job. they can drive and they manage their own life. If you know real Turkish people and real islam I'm sure your mind will change. You must search more.
Jerseyshoremarie, I can speak to Italy, Spain and Portugal being like that. Never tried NY or Boston, but if they drive like those others, it's definitely a reason to avoid them! :)
Danny G, try again. I spent a week in Istanbul with a few other women and we were never harassed or threatened. The only time we felt any sort of concern was one rug salesman that was determined to get us into his shop. We kept walking and his further attempts to lure us back only got him picked on by his neighboring shops.
My family spent 10 years in Europe courtesy of the USAF and they took many field trips in Turkey and I never once worried about them.
Try learning about Islam from independent sources instead of anti-Islam sites. You just might learn something and have your eyes (and heart) opened. I learned way more about charity from my Islamic friends in Turkey than all of the so-called Christians I lived around in the south for 14 years.
mem23, I can only imagine how you feel about some of these stupid posts. They're making me angry and I was just a long-term visitor to Turkey. I'm sure most of them would meet the blonde, blue eyed Turks and never believe they are from your country. :)
She found a new life with a new man. It is how it is.
You may be the type of person to just leave your kids and wife behind, but you may want a tad more evidence before you show your low moral standards.
While I hope she is found safe, It is totally stupid to travel alone to countries that are not safe......
Sex slavery.. It happens to women traveling in Turkey..Seriously.
It happens in every country including the good old US of A.
The U.S. is not government is not controlled by a religion that promotes sex slavery...Turkey is...
True. Sex slavery happens everywhere, including our country. I have a friend who was doing his thesis on sex slavery and he said you wouldn't believe how huge it is even here. Very sad. I would never travel alone overseas.
Nothing good can ever come from a woman traveling alone in Turkey, or anywhere else in that part of the world! Turkey is becoming increasingly more dangerous, and in many areas you might as well be in Iran.
My wife and I were in Iran on holiday about a year ago and found it to be safer than Turkey... one of the safest places we have ever been. We wandered around Tehran at 11pm with no concerns at all and felt very safe.
Have you been to Iran, OldDog? If not, then how do you know what traveling there is like?
Turkey is a country where they still do a black market in human trafficking to Arab countries of beautiful women.
Muslims exslave homely women just as much as they do the pretty ones...
Exslave? Is that a new form of trafficking? Women who are naiive and promised a better life in another country are usually the ones who get caught up in the black market. They turn over their passports and then are forced into work. The Russian, eastern European women, especially from Croatia and the Ukraine, women from Thailand and Phillipines are especially trafficked internationally. Don't think it doesn't happen here. The women are made into drug addicts and then live a life of being beaten and used.
We all read about some really dumb people doing some really dumb things but this is right there with the young folks from Berkeley that decided to go hiking on the Iran/Iraq border and were captured. The girl that wandered into North Korea and now this one in Turkey. Going to do photography in a predominately Muslim country is just plain stupid, especially a young woman in the land where they have no rights.
I am pretty sure she knows this now.
Hope for the best but be ready for the worst.
Probably never hear from her again.
this sounds like a lie or coverup in the making. You go to an area that is in political disarray to take photos, leave your kids & family, supposedly alone, to a part of the world that's not really sympathetic to american citizens.....there's more to this story.....AS USUAL!!!!!
And NBC would certainly like for you to think so. Notice the "husband says" in the headline?
More accurately, it would state woman reported missing by family and authorities.
Agree with Renee Love 100%.
A dangerous thing to do. Not too smart on her part. It will be hard to find her I would guess. I hope it all works out and she turns up.
Since everybody is speculating.Maybe she never made it to Turkey in the first place.
If she never got to Turkey, then there is the question of how all her luggage and paperwork got to her hotel room there.
Except her passport was found in a hotel room in Turkey. It would be stamped with the date she arrived.
Not a hotel...Hostel. And we know what happens there...
The article doesn't say hotel or hostel, but hotel can typically be assumed. Jeanette-767450 you need to be more careful with your unsourced claims.
No single woman from any western country is ever safe on their own in any country east of Italy. Not a smart decision on this woman's part.
Three years ago we traveled to Italy (Rome and Venice) and Turkey (Istanbul and Kusadasi). We had a wonderful time in both countries. Interesting incident. In Italy when my wife went by herself to rent a car down the street from a hotel near the Coliseum (my sons and I were getting ready at the hotel) the rental agency would not allow her, I had to go and be with her. In a similar situation in Istanbul, she had no problems....The hotel concierge told us that a single woman walking alone in Rome after sunset is not safe and it is advised that she walks with a man. So, my wife walked either with all of us, or with me or with one of my sons while walking in Rome. The point is that Turkey is safe and as dangerous as any other country. Interestingly we met people in Istanbul who wanted to travel to the States but were afraid to since we are a very violent and un-safe country - with all the shootings, rapes, kidnappings etc.
A friend just got trained in the military and said that the sex-slave trade in the US is one of the biggest if not the biggest in the world and it is kept quiet in the media.
I hope she is found safe and sound...
.
Use your brain much? Places like Japan, Korea, singapore, and HK have much lower crime rates than 'western countries'.
Something's not right here. Bet she was kidnapped or is a spy.
My prayers are with the missing woman and her family. I hope they find you soon, alive and well.
I lived in Mannheim Germany for many years and traveled alone to various countries in Europe and never had any problems but that was back in the 80s. Would I do that now days probably but I would make sure I was meeting with someone I trust prior to traveling out side of the US. With sex slavery on the rise I would be concerned she was abducted BUT those of you who are being snot nosed at those who say she may have left her family to be with someone else are just plain ignorant. Fact is I have a best friend who did that very thing...she left her child and husband and moved to Florida with a man whom she ended up breaking up with then she married a different man and left that husband to move to Canada with yet another man. There are women out there who are not above being selfish enough to leave their children and husband for what they think will be a better bed of roses. I mean look at that teacher who screwed her 6th grade student and went to prison for it...She left her whole family and started a new one and married this kid. IT HAPPENS SO GET OVER IT! What I'm wondering though is why in the world her husband would let her go there alone. Just saying...
no this woman crossed the line by going to country like turkey by herself and wondering around; turkey is well known for running prostitution ring with captive women from different countries; she probably did not see the documentaries about it ; well good luck to her since those pimps in there are brutal and if they get hold of the woman they will drug her and work her so she obeys and become a sex slave; that is one big possibility it could have happen to her ; hope not but that comes to mind since they do those things in there; it is not a democracy or country like other western European countries
Everyone is saying what women travels to a country such as Turkey by herself? I say what in the hell kind of husband allows his wife to leave her children behind to travel to such a country as Turkey alone? Stupid, just plain Stupid!!!!! I would not travel to ANY country outside of the US alone with the exception of Canada. It is just to dangerous.
Spies come in all genders!! But then again, what woman in that profession decides to start a family? Unless the family is part of the spy's cover story.
So Robin, what you're saying is all husbands have full and total
control over their wife?
Men are glad the woman is there, though in some cases women
are treated more as personal slaves excepting even this if finally
beginning to change.
A woman makes a decision to go somewhere... she's going period.
Husband try to stop her? Divorce in the making.
Marriage is supposed to be about two people enjoying life and making
decisions together. Unfortunately, discussions where they disagree or
attempt to hold the other back, they eventually split.
Marriage isn't about control... it's about enjoying life together.
How many countries have you been to to draw this conclusion? I've been to more than 80 and have lived in 6 of them. You are simply wrong to assume that the US and Canada are the only safe places in the world.
Yes, it is absolutely idiotic to complain about how dangerous other countries are when we lead the developed world in gun homicides.
Check the Albanian whore houses.
Been there, David?
The number of women who die due to gender-based violence surpasses the number of women who lose their lives due to cancer, traffic accidents, wars and malaria, revealed a study by the Turkish Ministry of Family and Social Policy.
The ministry announced in July that they would soon be implementing a national action plan to combat violence against women. The national plan announced by the ministry also included important statistics regarding gender-based violence.
The number of women between the ages of 15 and 44 who lose their lives to gender-based violence outstrips deaths due to traffic accidents, malaria, cancer and war, revealed one of the surprising statistics.
Look at the leading causes of death in the US in females; homicide is #3 in ages 1-4, and ages 15-24, #4 in ages 5-14 according to the CDC. Not saying much for the US, is it? Homocide committed against femeales is most often caused by a male who knows the female. Surprising statistics?
As Turkey gallops toward reimplementation of Sharia, we get yet another glimpse of how radically anti-woman Islamic law really is. "Turkish woman barred from public bus by religious fanatics," from Hürriyet Daily News, June 12 (thanks to Joshua):
They probably didn't want to risk getting attacked.
Watch for it to happen more often.
what kind of a name is "Sarai Sierra?"
that's a good question! does anybody know?
what kind of a name is "Sarai Sierra?"
Alliterative?
Sarai is a Hebrew name. Not very common, but not an odd, made-up name either. Sierra is not such an unusual last name. Not everyone is named "Susan Smith", y'know.
homesick yank, i was thinking like what kind of ethnicity? so you've helped part of the question: her first name is hebrew. we didn't mean "why does she have a weird name"? we meant this is unusual sounding and we're wondering what her background is....maybe it could have something to do with the overall picture?
She may be Jewish married to a Latino.
In this age of internet, everyone who travels alone should report daily status and future plans regularly back to their family.
She did. She called the day she was to leave, also. Not all is reported in this article.