The Staten Island mom who traveled alone to visit Turkey for several weeks was found dead on Saturday. And what I can’t get over is the outpouring of blame not for the person that killed her but for the mother for traveling alone.

Here is the background of the story if you haven’t been following (I bolded the big stuff):

From The Associated Press:

“A New York City woman who went missing while vacationing alone in Istanbul was found dead on Saturday and police detained nine people for questioning in connection with her case, Turkey’s state-run news agency said.

“Sarai Sierra, a 33-year-old mother of two, was last heard from on Jan. 21, the day she was due to board her flight back home. Her disappearance attracted a lot of interest in Turkey, where such disappearance of foreign tourists are rare and Istanbul police had set up a special unit to find her.

“The Anadolu Agency said the body of a woman was discovered Saturday evening near the remnants of ancient city walls and that police later identified it as Sierra’s.

“The agency did not say what caused her death. The private NTV television reported that she was stabbed to death, while a private news agency, Dogan, said she had a wound to the head, suggesting she may have been hit by an object.

“Police reached by The Associated Press refused to comment on the case.

“Sierra, whose children are 9 and 11, had left for Istanbul on Jan. 7 to explore her photography hobby and made a side trip to Amsterdam, Netherlands, and Munich, Germany. She had originally planned to make the trip with a friend, but ended up traveling alone when her friend canceled.

“She was in regular contact with friend and family and was last in touch with her family on Jan. 21, the day she was due back in New York. She told them she would visit Galata Bridge, which spans the Golden Horn waterway, to take photos.

“The location where the body was found, is a few kilometers away the bridge. It is near a major road that runs alongside the sea of Marmara and offers an iconic view to visitors of dozens of tankers and other vessels waiting to access the Bosporus strait. Police stopped traffic on the road as forensic police inspected the area.

“Anadolu suggested Sierra may have been killed at another location and that her body may have been brought to the site to be hidden amid the city walls.

“At least nine people were detained for questioning in Istanbul over the arrests and a police official on the site told journalists two of them were women. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters on the case.

“It was not clear if a Turkish man Sierra had exchanged messages with during her stay in Istanbul was among the group that was detained. That man was detained for questioning on Friday but was later released. Turkish news reports had said Sierra had made arrangements to meet the man on Galata Bridge but the man reportedly told police the meeting never took place.

“Sierra’s husband, Steven, and brother, David Jimenez, travelled to Istanbul to help in the search. Sierra’s mother, Betzaida Jimenez, said she couldn’t talk when reached in New York.

“Shortly after she was reported missing, Turkey set up a special police unit which scanned through hours of security camera footage in downtown Istanbul in search of clues over her disappearance. A Turkish missing persons association had joined the search, handing out flyers with photos of Sierra and urging anyone with information to call police.

“While break-ins and petty thievery is common in Istanbul, the vast and crowded city is considered relatively safe in comparison to other major urban centers. The American’s death was unlikely to have a significant impact on tourism, an increasingly large component of the Turkish economy.

“In 2008, an Italian artist Pippa Bacca, was raped and killed while hitchhiking to Israel wearing a wedding dress to plead for peace. Her naked body was found in a forest in northwest Turkey. A Turkish man was sentenced to life in prison for the attack”

So what is interesting is the comments following the story and there were similar comments on other sites – even Turkish news sites.

From the Huffington Post comments on the AP story above:

masseynm

What in the world was she thinking???

americanpatriot4ever

brings more than his fair share to the table

Visit the Muslim world at your own peril. No lifeguards on duty (in any sense of the word).

(I lost the name on this one)

Very, very sad. I had hoped so much that she would return home to her family. I have traveled alone, and unfortunately, it can be very dangerous for a woman to travel alone. I don’t blame the woman; I blame the killer. It takes guts to travel like she did…RIP.

Missteek

I am so sorry for her and her family. I hope the culprits are found.

Let this (sadly) be a lesson………it is unwise to travel alone, especially to a foreign country, when you are a woman.

Judith Berge

I live on staten island where this woman was from. Rip…I don’t understand what she was doing going there alone. I will pray for her and her family.

relaxxing

if you’re young and single careful when you chose to go to another country, having children should make you think twice before going alone..

ridemaster

I would never let my wife travel alone to another country.”

This was only one of a few that blamed the killer and not the woman:

“tozomona

“Very, very sad. I had hoped so much that she would return home to her family. I have traveled alone, and unfortunately, it can be very dangerous for a woman to travel alone. I don’t blame the woman; I blame the killer. It takes guts to travel like she did…RIP. “”

So what do you think: Should women not be traveling alone? (I got a lot of heat for telling my babysitter to be careful when she traveled with her buddies. ) Should moms not travel alone because they have such big responsibilities at home? Is the mom to blame or the killer? Should the husband have put his foot down when the friend dropped out? Should the husband have gone with her? (The difference there is traveling with a friend someone else is paying half the expense but with your husband you’re just doubling the expense. ) Is there benefit for women/moms/wives to get out and see the world without family?

Is Turkey the issue? Are women safe to travel alone other places – France, Spain, Israel, Bermuda – or no where?