• Body of mom killed on vacation in Turkey to return to NY

    View more videos at: http://nbcnewyork.com.

    By Pei-Sze Cheng, NBCNewYork.com

    The body of a New York City mother of two who was killed in Turkey while on a solo vacation is expected to return to the U.S. Thursday.

    Sarai Sierra's remains are expected to arrive Thursday, the New York Daily News reported. Turkish Airlines is providing the transportation for free.

    A funeral home on Staten Island has offered free services, but the owner said it's unclear whether the family is accepting the offer.

    Sierra's husband, Steven, went to Istanbul after she went missing, and he returned to New York on Wednesday to finalize arrangements.

    After landing at Kennedy Airport, Steven Sierra went directly home to his sons on Staten Island, a relative told NBCNewYork.com

    On Monday, Sierra's mother said the two sons, ages 9 and 11, were unaware of their mother's fate, and the family was waiting for Steven Sierra to return to inform the children about her death.

    Turkish authorities concluded that 33-year-old Sarai Sierra was killed with a blow to the head. She had been in regular contact with her family on Staten Island during her three-week trip, which included a pre-planned excursion to Amsterdam and a stop in Munich before she returned to Istanbul.

    Read more stories at NBCNewYork.com

    She disappeared Jan. 21, and her body was found 12 days later near the remnants of the city's ancient walls. She was still wearing her jewelry, but her iPhone and iPad were missing.

    Turkish police and the FBI are investigating her death. Prosecutors on Monday got a court order to take blood and DNA samples from 21 people questioned in the death, according to Turkish state media.

    Her family says she was on her first trip abroad pursuing a newfound hobby of photography. She posted some of her work on the photo-sharing website Instagram, and her page there has attracted thousands of new visitors since news broke of her disappearance.

    Her family subsequently set up a separate site where her photos were put up for sale. A post from someone who identified himself as her brother, David Jimenez, said any received funds will go to her children.

    Steven Sierra told the Daily News earlier this week he was heartbroken after his wife's death.

    “You have so many plans, so many dreams with the person you deeply love. You look forward to many years together and there are so many things you haven’t fulfilled with that person, and now those won’t be fulfilled," Steven Sierra said.

  • Phone of NYC mom missing in Turkey used twice in recent days: report

    AP

    Turkish men pin up a photo of Sarai Sierra, a New York City woman who disappeared while on vacation in Istanbul.

    By Tracy Connor, Staff Writer, NBC News

    The cellphone of a New York City mom missing in Istanbul has been used twice since she vanished, a Turkish newspaper reported Friday.

    Sarai Sierra, 33, hasn’t been seen heard from since Jan. 21, the day before she was supposed to catch a flight home from a two-week vacation.


    But police believe the amateur photographer is alive because her phone was used for a Skype call on Wednesday and turned on again Thursday, the Sabah newspaper reported, according to the Turkish daily Hurriyet.

    Cops briefly detained a man who exchanged online messages with Sierra after meeting her online four months ago, contacted her while she was in Istanbul and made plans to rendezvous with her on a bridge she wanted to photograph, Hurriyet said.

    The man reportedly told police the two never connected, and investigators are now hoping to question three other people she corresponded with on Facebook and Twitter.

    Sierra left for her first trip abroad on Jan. 7 — flying solo after a close friend dropped out of the prepaid trip, her family has said.

    Her husband, Steven Sierra, said his wife stayed in close contact, talking to him and their children, ages 9 and 11, by phone and Skype.

    The last communication from her came Jan. 21, when she sent her sister a brief message saying she would be home the next day.

    When she didn't show up at the airport, her husband called her hostel, which said her passport and other personal items were still there.

    Police uncovered surveillance-camera footage of Sierra walking around Istanbul during her visit; she appeared to be alone and well.

    Steven Sierra and Sarai's brother, David Jimenez, flew to Turkey earlier this week and turned over her online communications to police.

    "I don't want to come home without my sister," Jimenez told NBC New York before the trip.