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Sarai Sierra: CCTV Of Tourist Missing In Turkey

Turkish police have released security camera footage of a New York woman who has gone missing while on holiday alone in Istanbul.

Sarai Sierra, 33, has been missing since January 21 when she was supposed to return to the US, but was not on her flight back home.

She arrived in Istanbul on January 7.

The CCTV footage shows her eating alone at a shopping centre cafeteria near her hostel in the Taksim area of the city and walking around the mall.

It is not known when the footage was recorded.

Husband Steven Diaz-Sierra arrived in Istanbul on Monday with her brother as they began a search for the missing woman.

Just before she went missing, she told relatives she planned to take photographs at the Galata Bridge - a well-known tourist destination that spans the Golden Horn waterway.

The mother-of-two's passport, mobile phone and medical cards were still in her room and no trace of her has been detected since last Monday, officials said.

Her children, aged 11 and nine, do not know their mother is missing.

Mrs Sierra had planned to go on the trip with a friend, but they were unable to make it.

Crime in Turkey is generally low and Istanbul is a relatively safe city for travellers. The Galata areas are popular with tourists, with fish restaurants, chic cafes and boutiques.