( CNN ) -- Sarai Sierra followed her passion to Istanbul -- a budding photographer lured by the possibilities the picturesque , ancient city has to offer . But the day before she was supposed to fly back home , the 33-year-old mother of two went missing . Sierra had taken up photography last year , posting her work to the photo sharing app Instagram and quickly amassing 3,000 followers . Some people she met through the service encouraged her to visit Istanbul , her husband , Steven , said . They offered to act as tour guides , he said . `` You 're admiring pictures , but you 're getting acquainted with people that you 've never met before , '' the husband said . He thought the trip was a great idea for his wife . Now , he ca n't help but wonder whether she should have trusted people she met online . Traveling alone . Sierra had originally planned to travel with a friend , who canceled , her husband said . She flew alone to Istanbul on January 7 . `` She did a lot of researching about the area , about where she was going to stay , the safest places to go and the time of day to travel , '' her friend Magalena Rodriguez said . After her arrival , she began posting pictures to Instagram and stayed in touch with family back home via Skype . Her photo feed displayed images of Istanbul 's beautiful skyline and historic landmarks . She also squeezed in an excursion to Amsterdam in the Netherlands and to Germany , starting January 15 , where she went to photograph graffiti . She returned to Istanbul on January 19 . Three days later all signs of life from Sierra ceased . No-show on flight home . Sierra had rebooked her flight to arrive back early , on January 22 , in part to surprise her two sons , 9 and 11 . Just days before her scheduled trip home , Sierra spoke with her father David Jimenez via Skype to remind him of her flight number and arrival time . On January 21 , she messaged her sister to say she was glad to be heading back to New York . When Jimenez went to Newark airport to pick Sierra up , she did n't show , he said . The airline told him she had never checked in for the flight . `` She kept in contact with us all the time , '' Sierra 's mother , Betzaida Jimenez , said . `` And then not to hear from her ? It 's not like her . '' On Monday , Steven Sierra landed in Istanbul with his wife 's brother to help police search for her . The next day , police released a surveillance camera video of Sarai at a shopping mall , flipping through her iPad . The scenes from January 20 are the last known images of her . Last signs of life . The manager of the small private hotel where Sierra was staying reported last seeing her the day the surveillance video was shot . That was a Sunday . Her Skype account , which she avidly used , went silent a day later . A day after that was when she missed her flight home . The time she last talked with her family , Sierra was planning to see the Galata Bridge and visit the Asian side of Istanbul , her husband said . The former capital of the Byzantine and East Roman empires straddles the continents of Europe and Asia . After her family raised the alarm that she was missing , some of her belongings -- including her passport and medical cards -- were found in her room in Istanbul , though her iPhone and iPad were not there , according to her husband . A heartbroken family . Her parents ca n't watch the surveillance video . It 's too painful . `` I wish she was close , wish she was close by , so I could reach out and grab her and bring her back , '' her father said . Steven Sierra has lost his appetite for living and sometimes wishes that one morning he just would n't wake up . But he has to keep going for the sake of his children . `` I would never wish this on anybody , '' he said . `` There 's times when ... you feel like you 're gon na lose it mentally . '' He says he wants to be there to protect her , wants to make sure she is not cold or hungry . But all he can do is wait . And hope . CNN 's Ivan Watson and Mary Snow contributed to this report .
A series of photos on Instagram on Sierra 's trail then goes cold . She flew to California alone after making friends there online . The mother of Sierra has n't been heard from since January 21 and did n't fly home the next day . Her husband , Steven , says he has no clue as to what happened to her .