After Saudi sisters found dead by New York river, police hunt clues
The sisters had recently requested asylum in the United States without giving a reason for the application
This undated composite image released by the New York Police Department (NYPD), shows sisters Tala (L) and Rotana Farea. - NYPD searched on October 30, 2018, for clues to what, or who, killed the two sisters whose bodies were found duct-taped together on the banks of the Hudson River in Manhattan. The young women, identified as Rotana, 22, and her sister Tala, 16, were found on the banks of the Hudson on October 24, with no visible signs of trauma, dressed all in black, with fur-trimmed coat collars, and bound together at the ankles and waist by duct tape. Media report the sisters, who had run away from home before, were of Saudi origin but their family was living in Fairfax, Virginia. Photo by NYPD / AFP
NEW YORK CITY:
New York police were still trying to piece together on Wednesday
a mystery over two young women whose bodies were discovered a
week ago on the rocky Manhattan shore of the Hudson River, bound
together with duct tape around their waists and ankles.
Since then, New York City police have determined that Tala
Farea, 16, and Rotana Farea, 22, were sisters from Saudi Arabia
living in Virginia, and at least one of them was reported
missing two months ago.
The city's medical examiner has yet to determine the cause
of death, be it a double homicide or a suicide pact. The medical
examiner's office said the bodies were not decomposed when found
by a passer-by on the afternoon of Oct 24, indicating they had
not been dead long.
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The sisters had recently requested asylum in the United
States without giving a reason for the application, the New York
Times reported, citing police. The sisters' mother also received
a call from the Saudi Arabian embassy in Washington telling her
about the asylum applications, the Times reported.
The New York Police Department declined to confirm the
Times' report. The sisters' family could not immediately be
reached for comment. Saudi Arabia's consulate general in New York did not comment on the Times report directly.
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In a statement, the consulate said it had appointed a lawyer
to follow the case "to avoid inaccurate reporting." The Saudi
embassy in Washington was also extending its "support and aid in
this trying time" to the sisters' family, the statement said. The two sisters were students accompanying their brother in Washington, the consulate general said.
Rotana Farea had been enrolled at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, but left in the spring and may have moved to New York at some point, according to media reports. New York detectives have been sent to Fairfax to look into the sisters' movements there.
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The police department released new passport-style photographs on Wednesday showing the two young women with headscarfs over their hair. "Are there any clues down in Virginia in their past life?"
Dermot Shea, the New York Police Department's chief of
detectives, said to reporters this week. "We're out to get
justice for those two girls."
New York police were still trying to piece together on Wednesday
a mystery over two young women whose bodies were discovered a
week ago on the rocky Manhattan shore of the Hudson River, bound
together with duct tape around their waists and ankles.
Since then, New York City police have determined that Tala
Farea, 16, and Rotana Farea, 22, were sisters from Saudi Arabia
living in Virginia, and at least one of them was reported
missing two months ago.
The city's medical examiner has yet to determine the cause
of death, be it a double homicide or a suicide pact. The medical
examiner's office said the bodies were not decomposed when found
by a passer-by on the afternoon of Oct 24, indicating they had
not been dead long.
US revokes Saudi visas in first action over Khashoggi
The sisters had recently requested asylum in the United
States without giving a reason for the application, the New York
Times reported, citing police. The sisters' mother also received
a call from the Saudi Arabian embassy in Washington telling her
about the asylum applications, the Times reported.
The New York Police Department declined to confirm the
Times' report. The sisters' family could not immediately be
reached for comment. Saudi Arabia's consulate general in New York did not comment on the Times report directly.
Saudi Arabia calls Khashoggi killing 'grave mistake,' says prince not aware
In a statement, the consulate said it had appointed a lawyer
to follow the case "to avoid inaccurate reporting." The Saudi
embassy in Washington was also extending its "support and aid in
this trying time" to the sisters' family, the statement said. The two sisters were students accompanying their brother in Washington, the consulate general said.
Rotana Farea had been enrolled at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, but left in the spring and may have moved to New York at some point, according to media reports. New York detectives have been sent to Fairfax to look into the sisters' movements there.
Dutch PM Rutte calls for further investigation into Khashoggi's death
The police department released new passport-style photographs on Wednesday showing the two young women with headscarfs over their hair. "Are there any clues down in Virginia in their past life?"
Dermot Shea, the New York Police Department's chief of
detectives, said to reporters this week. "We're out to get
justice for those two girls."