Saudi sisters found bound and dead got to NYC around Labor Day, police say
Sisters Rotana, left, and Tala Farea are shown in undated photos provided by the NYPD. Credit: AP
NYPD detectives, using credit card records and other leads, have determined that the two sisters from Saudi Arabia who were found bound and dead by the Hudson River last month arrived in New York City around Labor Day on a trip that took them from their home state of Virginia to Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia, a police spokesman said Thursday.
Tala Farea, 16, and her sister Rotana Farea, 22, were last seen in Fairfax, Virginia, on Aug. 24, the spokesman said. Based on credit card records, the sisters are believed to have arrived in Manhattan on or about Sept. 1 — going to hotels, restaurants and boutiques before their bodies were discovered on Oct. 24, the spokesman said.
“We believe they had been together throughout this journey,” the spokesman added, noting that the purpose of the trip to New York is unknown.
Both sisters were found in the vicinity of 68th Street and Riverside Park, on rocks near the Hudson River, bound together at the ankles and waist by duct tape, police said. Their bodies had no sign of trauma and police said they were alive before they entered the water.
The mystery surrounding their death has garnered international media attention, particularly after police said their mother reported the family had been ordered back to Saudi Arabia after the sisters applied for asylum in the United States.
“We continue to view all possibilities, homicide, accidental, suicide as outcomes. But we don’t have trauma on the bodies,” the spokesman said.
The sisters had been placed in a Virginia shelter in late December 2017, police noted.
NYPD detectives are in Virginia following leads and running down information about the immigration status and possible asylum claims, officials said. Detectives have been looking for video footage to see if the sisters were picked up on any surveillance cameras. Cops also are searching for other evidence along the river shoreline. It was still unclear Thursday where the sisters stayed in New York before they died.
Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.
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