Sarai Sierra's body was claimed by her family from the Forensic Medicine Institute after a post-mortem was completed, and then it was taken to an Armenian Catholic Church according to news reports out of Turkey on Mon., Feb. 4, 2013.
Photos of Sarai Sierra's coffin were provided by Hurriyet Daily News as CBS News reported on Monday that the Turkish authorities had competed the autopsy on the 33-year-old female American victim. It was also announced that they were submitting DNA samples to a state crime lab for testing according to Turkey's state-run media.
The Milliyet newspaper revealed that due to samples retrieved from some of the fingernails of the victim it appeared she tried to fight off her attacker.
Testing will also be done on the victim's other fingernails retrieved, as well as hair and blanket fibers collected during the autopsy process. And police continue to scour the crime scene for additional clues and evidence, including with the use of sniffer dogs per the Anadolu Agency.
On Monday the victim's mother, Betsy Jimenez, spoke with NBC's Today Show and said that as of right now the two young son's of her daughter did not know what had happened to their mother yet. She said the family would allow Sarai's husband Steven to tell his sons what happened to their mother.
Their father is going to talk with them when he comes back and we'll all be there to support him."
Staten Island Rep. Michael Grimm's office had reported on Sunday that he would be joining the Sierra family at a home on Monday morning for a meeting with the media. But the mother of the deceased appeared on Today, and she said that police think they have a motive in the case.
They think it might be a robbery, but they're not sure. It's still under investigation."
For more news updates on the Sarai Sierra case by the Top News Examiner Radell Smith subscribe to her column by clicking on the link at the top of this page. Like Radell on Facebook too.
Radell Smith has a degree in criminal justice and first-hand experience in the law enforcement and criminal justice communities.
Comments