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The husband of a Staten Island woman who has vanished in Turkey is headed to Istanbul today to find her.
“I am very worried, but hopeful,” Steven Diaz Sierra said of the search for his wife, Sarai, 33, who was due back from a solo vacation last week but never returned.
“We will get her back,” he told The Post yesterday, noting he hasn’t told their two sons, ages 9 and 11, that their mom is missing.
“The kids don’t know, and I am doing my best to keep it that way,” Sierra, 40, said as he made plans for the boys to stay with family while he and Sarai’s brother, David Jimenez, fly to Turkey today.
Sierra said his wife left all her possessions, including her insurance cards, passport, clothing and phone chargers, in her room at a the hostel where she was staying in Istanbul’s upscale Beyoglu district.
The hostel is said to be in a more dangerous area, but violent crimes are still rare there, officials say.
“We are in touch with the US Embassy and other authorities, and they are looking into everything. She loves her family, and she was happy,” Sierra said.
The FBI is also involved.
A police official said Monday authorities are reviewing security camera footage from around her hostel’s neighborhood. The official said no trace of her has been detected yet. He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government rules.
Sierra said his wife is interested in photography and was on a “dream” trip to take pictures in the city.
She was supposed to go with a friend, but the person canceled, and Sarai went alone, her first trip outside the US, Sierra said.
Sarai kept in touch with her family, texting or Skypeing, until last Tuesday, when she didn’t show up at the airport for her United Airlines flight to Newark.
“Every day she was there we talked on Skype. Everything seemed OK,” he said. “Then she was due back, and nothing. It just stopped.”
Sarai’s sister Christina was the last to have contact with her, the night before she was to leave. Sarai was headed to the see the Golden Horn harbor and Galata Bridge.
Sarai’s friends have reached out over Facebook, Twitter and other social media for help finding her.
Records show Sarai once separated from Steven. She had financial problems, including a bankruptcy, before reconciling with him.