A murdered Staten Island mom not only hung out with a “criminal element” on her dream European vacation — she also made room in her busy itinerary for a secret rendezvous with an Internet beau.
Amateur photographer Sarai Sierra — who left her husband and two young sons in New York for the trip overseas to take pictures — had sex the day before she vanished with a man she’d first met online last fall.
The fellow, identified only as Taylan, told police he had consensual sex with Sierra on Jan. 19, after a first date in the bustling tourist city Jan. 13, according to Turkish newspaper Vatan.
He hoped to see her again, but she never responded to his messages, Taylan told cops.
The tipster told cops he first saw Sierra Jan. 11, speaking to a man outside the popular Sultanahmet Mosque in Istanbul. The man handed her a card, Turkish newspaper Milliyet reported.
After leaving the mosque, Sierra was seen talking to the man and “took a walk” with him and four or five other men, the tipster said.
Sierra flew to Amsterdam Jan. 15 and to Munich the next day, returning to Istanbul Jan. 19.
The tipster told authorities he next saw Sierra with the same man Jan. 21, at Topkapi Palace.
Sierra’s body is slated to be flown back to the US today, officials said. Her husband, Steven, and brother, David Jimenez, were also returning to Staten Island yesterday after flying to Istanbul to search for her.
Sierra’s friends and family said they don’t believe Taylan’s story of a Turkish fling.
Local churchgoers raised the funds for Sierra’s cash-strapped husband and brother to fly to Turkey. The family sold her Instagram photos online to pay for shipping her casket home and her funeral.
Taylan’s revelation came as The Post first reported that FBI investigators in Turkey are looking into Sierra’s ties to “sketchy characters” in Istanbul.
“She gets there, and the first people she met up with were a criminal element,” a source said.
Federal agents are still in the early stages of their probe and want to know whether Sierra got involved with drug traffickers, human traffickers or efforts to transport jewels or currency illegally, a law-enforcement source said yesterday.
The adventurous Sierra left New York for her solo trip Jan. 7 with a credit card, $400 in cash, running shoes, high heels and her iPhone and iPad, her husband, Steven Sierra, told investigators.
She was found dead of a single blow to the head in a seedy area of Istanbul Feb. 2, nearly two weeks after she failed to show up for a Jan. 21 flight home.
Taylan, who has been extensively interviewed by Turkish authorities, had previously denied a physical relationship with Sierra and claims he was not involved in her disappearance or murder.
He is one of 22 people that Turkish police have taken sperm and/or blood samples from as they hunt for Sierra’s killer.
Meanwhile, Istanbul police said they continue to press witnesses — including a tipster who claimed he saw Sierra with a group of men known for hustling and harassing tourists.
The tipster told cops he first saw Sierra Jan. 11, speaking to a man outside the popular Sultanahmet Mosque in Istanbul. The man handed her a card, Turkish newspaper Milliyet reported.
After leaving the mosque, Sierra was seen talking to the man and “took a walk” with him and four or five other men, the tipster said.
Sierra flew to Amsterdam Jan. 15 and to Munich the next day, returning to Istanbul Jan. 19.
Sierra’s body is slated to be flown back to the US today, officials said. Her husband, Steven, and brother, David Jimenez, were also returning to Staten Island yesterday after flying to Istanbul to search for her.
Sierra’s friends and family said they don’t believe Taylan’s story of a Turkish fling.
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