Relatives of dead Saudi sisters reject suicide reports

Youngest sibling had been reported missing in August

This undated sketch provided by the New York Police Department shows Tala Farea, 16, of Fairfax. New York Police Department via AP 

The family members of two Saudi sisters found washed up on the shore of the Hudson river in New York have denied reports the two women killed themselves.

The bodies of Tala Farea,16, and Rotana Farea, 22, were spotted by a passerby on October 24 and identified as two missing sisters from Fairfax, Virginia. The youngest, Tala, was last seen in August according to a post on the website of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The alert said she might be with her sister.

The bodies were found bound together with duct tape and facing each other. Police said both were fully clothed and there were no obvious signs of trauma. Preliminary reports suggest the women had planned to end their own lives.

_______________

Read more:

Saudis vow complete probe of Khashoggi murder, according to Jim Mattis

Punish a Muslim Day: UK cities stand together in the face of Islamophobic threat

Father of murdered girl blames Pakistan police for slow action

_______________

The family, originally from Jeddah, had not experienced any major familial troubles, a relative told Saudi newspaper Arab News, dismissing reports they may had taken their own lives.

According to other family members, the sisters were close, prompting Tala to run away form her home in Fairfax and move to New York City, where her older sister lived.

"We do not know that a crime took place," The New York Times quoted Dermot Shea, the chief of detectives, as saying. "We have a terrible tragedy for sure."

__________________

Get stories like this one in your inbox each morning. Sign up for our daily newsletter here