Turkish police yesterday released a man they’d brought in for questioning about the mysterious disappearance of a Staten Island woman, news reports said.
Sarai Sierra, a 33-year-old mother of two, was last heard from on Jan. 21, the day she was due to fly home.
The man questioned by cops, identified only as “Taylan,” was to meet Sierra that day at the Galata Bridge, which she planned to photograph. But their meeting never took place, said reports.
“We did not meet that day, but we had met before,” Taylan said, according to a report in the newspaper Hurriyet.
Taylan and Sierra first met online four months ago, Hurriyet said. Police found him after Sierra’s husband gave investigators transcripts of their chats.
Sierra’s husband, Steven, and her brother, David Jimenez, are in Turkey aiding the search.
Sierra arrived in Istanbul on Jan. 12. Three days later, she flew to Amsterdam and Munich, before returning to Turkey on Jan. 19. The owner of the hostel where she was staying in Istanbul said he last saw her Jan. 20.