Bound together with duct tape, how did Saudi sisters Tala and Rotana Farea die in New York’s Hudson River?
- Investigators have not established whether the sisters died in a double homicide or a suicide pact
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 October 24, indicating they had not been dead long.
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 report. The sisters’ family could not immediately be reached for comment.