Saudi Sisters Bound With Duct Tape Found Near New York River: Authorities Reveal Cause of Death

New York authorities have announced that two Saudi sisters whose bodies were found on the banks of a New York river bound together with duct tape had committed suicide.

Chief Medical Examiner Barbara Sampson said on Tuesday, Jan. 22, that Rotana Farea, 22, and her sister Tala, 16, had killed themselves, and the cause of death was drowning.

“My office determined that the death of the Farea sisters was the result of suicide, in which the young women bound themselves together before descending into the Hudson River,” Sampson said, according to AP.

The sisters were found beside the Hudson River in late October with no visible signs of trauma, dressed all in black, and in coats with fur-trimmed collars. They were tied together at the ankles and waist by duct tape.

The medical examiner’s announcement confirms statements by police last year that the cause of the women’s deaths was most probably suicide. In a Nov. 2 press conference, NYPD Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea said that his detectives have developed sources who told them how much the girls didn’t want to return to Saudi Arabia.

“They would rather inflict harm on themselves, commit suicide, than return to Saudi Arabia,” Shea said, describing statements the sources made.

It was previously reported that the girls left their family home in Virginia after suffering abuse. Another report indicated that the girls applied for asylum earlier this year. At the time of the November press conference, those reports had not yet been corroborated by the NYPD, Shea said.

Fatimah Baeshen, spokeswoman for Saudi Arabia’s U.S. Embassy in Washington, was cited by AFP as saying, “Reports that we ordered anyone related to the Saudi sisters, Tala and Rotana Farea, God rest their souls, (who recently died tragically in NY), to leave the US for seeking asylum; are absolutely false.”

The case highlights the restrictive nature of the Saudi regime, calling to mind the situation Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, a teenager who recently received asylum in Canada after fleeing what she said was family-inflicted physical and psychological abuse.

No Evidence of a Crime

A witness came forward on Oct. 31, to tell the police that he had a story that was “haunting him.”

The man, who frequently exercises at Riverside Park, where the girls were found, said he came upon them on the morning they were found dead.

He said that the girls were sitting in a playground at the park, sitting about 30 feet apart but appearing to be together. “They were sitting with their heads in their hands, their heads lowered, and they were making noises loudly that he described as praying,” Shea said, relaying the witness’s statement.

The playground is a very short distance from the Hudson River. Shea said the duct tape found around girls was not tight and binding, but only “keeping them together,” indicating they may have placed the duct tape themselves before they entered the water.

Shea said at the time the NYPD believed the two sisters may have entered the water alive, adding that there was no credible information indicating any type of crime.

Two women were found next to the Hudson River on the Upper West Side of the Manhattan borough of New York City on Oct. 24. (NYPD)

Left Home in November

Detectives said that the family of the girls last saw them on Nov. 30, 2017. The next month they were located by police officers and taken to a shelter-like facility in the Washington area due to some abuse allegations that came up.

About eight months later, in August, the girls went missing from the facility where they had been staying. The family said they were not in contact with them.

On Aug. 24, police officers said, the girls traveled to New York City, arriving on Sept. 1.

“We have them staying at a number of high-end hotels in New York City during this time,” Shea said. “We also have them following a pattern of ordering meals, always two meals. Until as best we can surmise at this point in time ... the credit card, the money started to run out.”

Video footage showed the girls in good health until about a week before their bodies were found.

NTD reporter Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.