Body of missing NY mother found in Turkey 02-02-2013, 11:24 PM
#1
CNN
Code:
The family of an American woman who went missing in Istanbul nearly two weeks ago are in mourning after learning that Turkish police found her body Saturday.
Steven Sierra wept during a phone call with CNN, as he waited in Istanbul to go with police to identify the body of his wife, Sarai Sierra.
Turkish police found the woman's body near ancient stone walls in Istanbul's Sarayburnu district, the semi-official Anatolian Agency reported. Police suspected she had been killed at another location.
Police told CNN's sister network CNN Turk that the body of the 33-year-old mother of two showed signs of stab wounds.
At least nine suspects had been detained in connection with Sierra's disappearance and death, Anatolian reported.
Sierra's family and friends first sounded the alarm last week after she did not arrive on a return flight to New York from Istanbul on January 22.
"The last we heard from my wife was Monday morning on the 21st. She had spoken with her sister and the last thing she said was, 'I'm coming home tomorrow,' and she was excited and put a little smiley face at the end of her statement," said Steven Sierra in an interview with CNN earlier this week.
Steven Sierra spoke to CNN in Istanbul on Wednesday, after he and Sarai Sierra's brother, David Jimenez, traveled to Turkey to assist in the search.
The worried husband was periodically overwhelmed with emotion throughout the interview.
"You're hoping that she's OK wherever she's at, that she's not hurting, that she's not cold, that she's being fed," he said, choking back tears.
"Its difficult what's going through my mind, if our hopes and prayers are not answered. It difficult when you have to children that look up to you, and you have to do your very best to stay strong regardless of what happens."