Sisters found dead in Hudson River were ordered home by Saudis, mom saysLate Monday, detectives were poring over files detailing the family’s immigration status.
By Anthony M. DeStefano
Updated October 30, 2018 8:57 AM
NYPD investigators are looking into a claim by the mother of two sisters found dead in the Hudson River last week that they had been ordered to return to their native Saudi Arabia because the girls had applied for asylum in the United States, a law enforcement official said Monday.
The sisters, Tala, 16, and Rotana, 22, were found dead in the river Wednesday afternoon, their bodies bound together with duct tape and no obvious signs of trauma, officials reported at the time.
Late Monday, detectives were poring over files detailing the family’s immigration status and were in contact with the Department of State, looking for any evidence that the dead sisters had applied for asylum, an NYPD spokesman said. The family first arrived in the United States in mid-2015, the spokesman added.
Both young women had initially been reported missing by their family in December 2017, at which time police in Fairfax, Virginia, determined that they were safe and living in an area homeless shelter, said the official who didn’t want to be identified.
For reasons which are still unclear, the sisters never returned to their family residence in Fairfax but went missing in August. ...
A.M. New York
