Sarai Sierra's family wanted their daughter home alive. Instead they received the news most families of missing persons dread the most. Sarai, on vacation in Turkey for the first time, had not returned home to discuss her adventure. Instead of a happy homecoming with her husbamd and two children, Sarai never returned home from her first overseas trip.
"All the family of Sarai Sierra wants now is to bring her home. But they are having difficulty paying the costs of shipping her body home, Representative Michael Grimm said during a news conference with the family on Monday morning," added The Staten Island Advance.
Grimm's office is currently looking for ways to pick up the expense with the help of local charities. "My office is looking into every possible funding option that there is. We're going to do whatever we have to do to bring her home," Grimm said to The Advance.
"While nothing could fill the void the death of their daughter has left, the mother of Sarai Sierra expressed her gratitude for all the help her family has received since she went missing during her first overseas trip to Istanbul, Turkey," added the report.
"Even though I wanted to see my daughter alive, at least we have closure," her mother, Betzaida Jimenez, said during a press conference held at their friend's Stapleton apartment Monday morning to The Advance.
"Breaking down in tears several times, Mrs. Jimenez said that her other daughter, Christina, could not attend the press conference because "she's just too broken," Mrs. Jimenez said to The Advance. "All she does is cry. They were very close."
Grimm, who has aided the Jimenez family, could not provide much detail with the ongoing investigation to The Advance. "He confirmed that police in Turkey have been interviewing "people of interest." Meanwhile, the Turkish news agency says the government has permission to test the DNA of 21 people who could possibly be suspects," added the report..
"Mrs. Jimenez said that the Sierra children, who are 9 and 11, still don't know about the death of their 33-year-old mother. She said that the family plans on telling them when her son-in-law, Steven Sierra, returns home from Turkey. He and his brother-in-law, David Jimenez, traveled there last Monday to assist with the search," added the story.
"That's something we're going to do together as a family," she said. This sad ending to the story has not resulted in the happy homecoming Sarai's family had hoped for. We at www.examiner.com are sorry for this loss and empathize with the pain this investigation and result has caused to Sarai's family and friends.
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