Scotland Yard stole dead children's identities: report

LONDON: London's Metropolitan Police stole the identities of some 80 dead children and issued false documents in their names for use by undercover officers, Britain's Guardian newspaper reported on Sunday.

The force authorised the practice over three decades for officers attempting to infiltrate protest groups, without informing the children's parents, the broadsheet said.

Its investigation described officers creating aliases based on the dead children's details and being issued with documents such as passports and driving licences in their names.

Some officers reportedly spent up to a decade pretending to be these people.

Scotland Yard said it did not currently authorise the practice and had launched an investigation into "past arrangements".

"We appreciate the concerns that have been raised," the force said.

"We can confirm that the practice referred to in the complaint is not something that would currently be authorised."

Keith Vaz, chairman of the British parliament's home affairs committee, described the practice as "gruesome".

"It will only cause enormous distress to families who will discover what has happened concerning the identities of their dead children," he told the Guardian. "This is absolutely shocking."

One unnamed officer, who adopted the fake identity of Pete Black while operating undercover in anti-racist groups, told the newspaper he felt he was stomping on the grave" of the four-year-old boy whose identity he used.

Another argued that the practice could be justified on the grounds that it was for the "greater good".

Both officers worked for a Scotland Yard unit called the Special Demonstration Squad, which was disbanded in 2008.

The Guardian said it had seen a document indicating that around 80 officers used dead children's identities between 1968 and 1994.

- AFP/jc

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Former Navy SEAL is shot dead at Texas gun range

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Authorities believe the suspect used a "semiautomatic handgun"


• NEW: The suspect confessed to his sister, but not to police, authorities say


• NEW: Eddie Ray Routh is held on $3 million bond after being arraigned on murder charges


• The two men killed, Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield, worked to help veterans with PTSD

(CNN) -- A former Navy SEAL known for claiming a record number of sniper killings in Iraq was one of two men shot dead at a Texas gun range, allegedly at the hands of a fellow military veteran, officials say.

Chris Kyle, 38, was the author of the best-selling "American Sniper." He and 35-year-old Chad Littlefield, also a veteran, were gunned down Saturday afternoon on the grounds of the expansive Rough Creek Lodge and Resort in Glen Rose, Texas, southwest of Fort Worth, the Texas Department of Public Safety said.

Police later arrested suspect Eddie Ray Routh, 25, and served him with two felony warrants for capital murder.

Eddie Ray Routh, a former Marine, is believed to have left the service in 2010

The three men entered the lodge around 3:15 p.m. (4:15 p.m. ET) Saturday and went to a shooting range located within its 11,000 acres, Sheriff Tommy Bryant of Erath County told reporters Sunday.

A hunting guide tied to the facility found Kyle and Littlefield -- both unconscious -- around 5 p.m. and went to the lodge and called 911, Bryant said. Sheriff's deputies arrived soon after and determined that the two veterans had been shot dead.

It was until about four hours later that the suspect was taken into custody.

Routh's family members could not be reached immediately for comment Sunday. No attorney has made a public statement on his behalf. Bryant said Sunday that he believes the suspect is in the process of seeking a court-appointed attorney.

While Routh's sister said he had admitted shooting Kyle and Littlefield, he didn't explain to her why he did it, Bryant said. Routh isn't believed to have confessed to local authorities about killing the two men. The motive for the killings is unclear.

"I don't know that we'll ever know," said Erath County Sheriff's Capt. Jason Upshaw. "(Routh) is the only one that knows that."

Sheriff: Suspect served four years in Marines

Routh, a former Marine, is believed to have left the service in 2010, a U.S. military official said Sunday. The official had no information on where Routh served or whether he took part in combat. The official spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation.

According to Bryant, the Erath County sheriff, he'd served for four years in the Marines. Routh's public records show he previously lived at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, though his latest address was in Lancaster, Texas.

At the time of shooting, he was unemployed, though Bryant didn't offer many other details. He said that Routh's mother, a longtime schoolteacher, "may have reached out to (Kyle to) try to help her son."

Kyle is best known for his time as a military sniper, having claimed more than 150 such killings during his time in Iraq, which he called a record for any American. He said insurgents placed a bounty on his head and nicknamed him "the devil."

He has also been an outspoken advocate for war veterans, including working with people suffering from issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder tied to their time in the service, Bryant explained. Bryant said he did not know immediately whether Routh suffered from PTSD.

Semiautomatic handgun is suspected 'murder weapon'

The Rough Creek Lodge is a large facility in Texas hill country that attracts couples getting married, business people using its conference center and families looking for a getaway. Hunting and shooting sports are some of the many recreational options available on its grounds.

While there is a record that Kyle, Littlefield and Routh headed to the resort's shooting range, it is believed that there were no witnesses to the shooting. Authorities located what they believe to be the murder weapon -- a semiautomatic handgun -- inside Routh's residence, Upshaw said.

After finding the victims' bodies, and no sign of Routh, authorities issued an alert asking authorities to look for the black Ford pickup truck, with a sticker of a skull on its back windshield, they they believed he drove away in, according to the sheriff.

Around that time, authorities got a call from Routh's sister, who reported that her brother had gone to her own Texas home and admitted to shooting Kyle and Littlefield.

Routh left his sister's home, and police eventually caught up with him -- and the truck -- around 8 p.m. at his home in Lancaster, Texas, about 75 miles away from the shooting scene. He somehow left his residence and got into the truck as authorities were talking to him and was finally stopped around 9 p.m. after his tires were spiked four to six miles down the road.

He did not struggle with officers as they were arresting him, the Erath County sheriff said. On Sunday morning, he was arraigned on murder charges and ordered held on $3 million bond.

'An American hero'

Kyle's friend Jason Kos told CNN's Randi Kaye he was "a man of incredible character. He led by example. He always stopped to take time to talk to whoever was around him. Just incredibly humble, very funny as well."

Kyle helped establish the nonprofit Fitco Cares Foundation to help veterans battling PTSD get access to exercise equipment.

In a statement, the foundation described Kyle as an "American hero" and pledged to carry on his mission.

"What began as a plea for help from Chris looking for in-home fitness equipment for his brothers- and sisters-in-arms" struggling with PTSD turned into an organization that will continue after his death," Fitco Director Travis Cox said in a statement. "Chris died doing what he filled his heart with passion -- serving soldiers struggling with the fight to overcome PTSD. His service, life and premature death will never be in vain. May God watch over his family and all those who considered Chris a true friend."

He leaves behind a wife and two children.

Littlefield, also a veteran working to help people with PTSD, also leaves behind a wife and children, Cox said.

Kyle fought against weapons bans

Kyle served four combat tours in Iraq and received two Silver Stars, among other commendations.

He left the Navy in 2009.

He recently spoke out against weapons bans. In a video interview with guns.com, Kyle accused President Barack Obama of being "against the Second Amendment."

The founding fathers "had the same weapons the military did," he said. "We don't even have that today -- but don't try to take what I've already got."

'Military-style' weapons and the law

'Not trying to glorify myself'

In an interview with Time magazine last year, Kyle defended his decision to write a book despite the secretive nature of the SEAL world.

"It's kind of frowned on," he told the magazine. "But I'm not trying to glorify myself. I didn't want to put the number of kills I had in there. I wanted to get it out about the sacrifices military families have to make."

He said that while killing did not come easy at first, he knew it meant saving lives.

"The first time, you're not even sure you can do it," he said in the interview. "But I'm not over there looking at these people as people. I'm not wondering if he has a family. I'm just trying to keep my guys safe. Every time I kill someone, he can't plant an (improvised explosive device). You don't think twice about it."

At one point, Kyle wrote, he shot a woman who was carrying a grenade while with her toddler. But he did not kill a child in Baghdad's Sadr City area who had a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. "According to the rules of engagement at the time, you could kill anyone with an RPG on sight. That day I just couldn't kill the kid. He'll probably grow up and fight us, but I just didn't want to do it.

He said the American public lives "in a dream world. You have no idea what goes on on the other side of the world. The harsh realities that these people are doing to themselves and then to our guys. And there are certain things that need to be done to take care of them."

A lawsuit from former Gov. Jesse Ventura

The book led to a lawsuit. Kyle claimed that he had a bar fight with former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura during a SEAL's wake after Ventura made offensive remarks about SEALs. The book did not include Ventura's name, but Kyle mentioned it in interviews about the book. Ventura insisted that the alleged incident never happened and filed a lawsuit accusing Kyle of fabricating the story. Kyle denied Ventura's allegation. The suit was not resolved.

Before becoming a sniper, Kyle was a Texas rodeo cowboy. He started shooting as a child during hunting trips with his father.

After leaving the military, he founded Craft International, a military training company.

His biography on the company website says that in addition to working with the SEALs, he served with units in the Army and Marines.

His combat experience includes close-quarters battle, desert patrols and training foreign allies, it says.

In the interview with Time (like CNN, a part of Time Warner), Kyle said he did not regret any of his kills. He also said he was "comfortable" with the possibility that that part of his life might be over.

He added, "I'm a better husband and father than I was a killer."

CNN's Greg Botelho, Josh Levs, Susan Candiotti, AnneClaire Stapleton, Barbara Starr, Emily Smith, and Nick Valencia contributed to this report.

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Alabama hostage drama drags on into 6th day

MIDLAND CITY, Ala. As an Alabama standoff and hostage drama entered a sixth day Sunday, more details emerged about the suspect at the center, with neighbors and officials painting a picture of an isolated man with few friends and no close family.

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Authorities say Jim Lee Dykes, 65 — a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War known as Jimmy to neighbors — gunned down a school bus driver and then abducted a 5-year-old boy from the bus, taking him to an underground bunker on his rural property. The driver, 66-year-old Charles Albert Poland Jr., was to be buried Sunday.

Dykes, described as a loner who railed against the government, lives up a dirt road outside this tiny hamlet north of Dothan in the southeast corner of the state. His home is just off the main road north to the state capital of Montgomery, about 80 miles away.

The FBI said in a statement Sunday that authorities continue to have an open line of communication with Dykes and that they planned to deliver to the bunker additional comfort items such as food, toys and medicine. They also said Dykes was making the child as comfortable as possible.

Government records and interviews with neighbors indicate that Dykes grew up in the Dothan area and joined the Navy in Midland City, serving on active duty from 1964 to 1969. His record shows several awards, including the Vietnam Service Medal and the Good Conduct Medal. During his service, Dykes was trained in aviation maintenance.

Jimmy Lee Dykes

Later, Dykes lived in Florida, where he worked as a surveyor and a long-haul truck driver although it's unclear how long.

He had some scrapes with the law there, including a 1995 arrest for improper exhibition of a weapon. The misdemeanor was dismissed. He also was arrested for marijuana possession in 2000.

He returned to Alabama about two years ago, moving onto the rural tract about 100 yards from his nearest neighbors, Michael Creel and his father, Greg.

Neighbors described Dykes as a man who once beat a dog to death with a lead pipe, threatened to shoot children for setting foot on his property, and patrolled his yard at night with a flashlight and a firearm. Michael Creel said Dykes had an adult daughter, but the two lost touch years ago.

The Dykes property has a white trailer which, according to Creel, Dykes said he bought from FEMA after it was used to house evacuees from Hurricane Katrina. The property also has a steel shipping container — like those on container ships — in which Dykes stores tools and supplies.

Next to the container is the underground bunker where authorities say Dykes is holed up with the 5-year-old. Neighbors say that the bunker has a pipe so Dykes could hear people coming near his driveway. Authorities have been using the ventilation pipe to communicate with him.

The younger Creel, who said he helped Dykes with supplies to build the bunker and has been in it twice, said Dykes wanted protection from hurricanes.

"He said he lived in Florida and had hurricanes hit. He wanted someplace he could go down in and be safe," Creel said. Authorities say the bunker is about 6 feet by 8 feet, and the only entrance is a trap door at the top.

Such bunkers are not uncommon in rural Alabama because of the threat of tornadoes.

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Super Bowl XLVII Brings a First, a Last and a Triumph for NOLA

There's more than just a trophy on the line for Superbowl XLVII -- as two sibling head coaches are pitted against each other for the first time, while one of the NFL's greatest players turns in his final performance, and then there's the question on everyone's minds:

Will Beyonce lip sync during the half-time show?

20 Bizarre Items Inspired by the 2013 Superbow

More than 150,000 fans have flocked to New Orleans for the big game today between the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens, while it's estimated at least 100 million more will watch from home.

The game will be played in the rebranded Mercedes-Benz Superdome, the same venue that nearly eight years ago housed refugees from Hurricane Katrina in squalid conditions, becoming a symbol of the storm's fury and the human suffering that followed in its aftermath.

Today, 75,000 ticketholders will pack the stadium, marking a moment of triumph for the city.

Superbowl Party Survival Facts

Sibling Rivalry

No matter the outcome of the game, one thing is already for certain: Coach Harbaugh is getting a Super Bowl ring.

For the first time in professional football history, a pair of brothers are leading opposing teams at the Super Bowl.

John Harbaugh, 50, head coach of the Baltimore Ravens, will face off against younger brother Jim Harbaugh, 49, skipper of the San Francisco 49ers.

PHOTOS: Baltimore Ravens Cheerleaders

PHOTOS: San Francisco 49ers Cheerleaders

The two, with just 15 months difference in their ages, grew up in Ann Arbor, Mich., and both began their coaching careers working for their father Jack, a college coach at Western Kentucky and later at Western Michigan. The brothers are close and consider the matchup, dubbed by sportswriters as the "HarBowl" a bittersweet moment for the family, knowing one will lose.

"It's probably a little tougher emotionally," John Harbaugh said at a press conference last week. "It's a little tougher just from the sense of I don't think you think about it when you're coaching against somebody else; it's more about the scheme and the strategy. There's a little bit of a relationship element that's more strong than maybe coaching against someone else.

"I'll have a better answer for you after the game," he said. "I've never been through this before. This is all new."

PHOTOS: Greatest Sibling Rivalries

Ray Lewis' Final Game

The game is expected to be the last for Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, 37.

The former Superbowl MVP and a two-time defensive player of the year, has made headlines on and off the field during his 17-season career.

In 2000, a fight broke out after an Atlanta Super Bowl party, leaving two men dead. Lewis faced double murder charges, however in a plea agreement, the charges were dropped. Lewis pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and was sentenced to probation. The case against his two co-defendants fell apart and the murders remain unsolved.

Most recently, Lewis was reported to have used deer antler spray and pills, a substance banned by the NFL, to help heal a torn triceps. Lewis has denied taking any illegal substances.

Hype Surrounding Beyonce, Commercials

For non-football fans, today has been dubbed the Beyonce Bowl.

The megastar lip-synced on President Obama's second inauguration, she said in a press conference on Thursday, because she didn't feel fully prepared.

Will she sing live during the half-time show tonight?

Either way, fans don't seem to mind.

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Hillary: Secretary of empowerment

Girls hug U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during a 2010 tour of a shelter run for sex trafficking victims in Cambodia.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Donna Brazile: Clinton stepping down as Secretary of State. Maybe she'll run for president


• She says as secretary she expanded foreign policy to include effect on regular people


• She says she was first secretary of state to focus on empowering women and girls


• Brazile: Clinton has fought for education and inclusion in politics for women and girls

Editor's note: Donna Brazile, a CNN contributor and a Democratic strategist, is vice chairwoman for voter registration and participation at the Democratic National Committee. She is a nationally syndicated columnist, an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and author of "Cooking with Grease." She was manager for the Gore-Lieberman presidential campaign in 2000.

(CNN) -- As Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton steps down from her job Friday, many are assuming she will run for president. And she may. In fact, five of the first eight presidents first served their predecessors as secretary of state.

It hasn't happened in more than a century, though that may change should Clinton decide to run. After all, she has been a game changer her entire life.

But before we look ahead, I think we should appreciate what she's done as secretary of state; it's a high profile, high pressure job. You have to deal with the routine as if it is critical and with crisis as if it's routine. You have to manage egos, protocols, customs and Congress. You have to be rhetorical and blunt, diplomatic and direct.

CNN Contributor Donna Brazile

As secretary of state you are dealing with heads of state and with we the people. And the president of the United States has to trust you -- implicitly.

On the road with Hillary Clinton

Of all Clinton's accomplishments -- and I will mention just a few -- this may be the most underappreciated. During the election, pundits were puzzled and amazed not only at how much energy former President Bill Clinton poured into Obama's campaign, but even more at how genuine and close the friendship was.

Obama was given a lot of well-deserved credit for reaching out to the Clintons by appointing then-Sen. Hillary Clinton as his secretary of state in the first place. But trust is a two-way street and has to be earned. We should not underestimate or forget how much Clinton did and how hard she worked. She deserved that trust, as she deserved to be in the war room when Osama bin Laden was killed.

By the way, is there any other leader in the last 50 years whom we routinely refer to by a first name, and do so more out of respect than familiarity? The last person I can think of was Ike -- the elder family member who we revere with affection. Hillary is Hillary.

It's not surprising that we feel we know her. She has been part of our public life for more than 20 years. She's been a model of dignity, diplomacy, empathy and toughness. She also has done something no other secretary of state has done -- including the two women who preceded her in the Cabinet post.

Rothkopf: President Hillary Clinton? If she wants it

Hillary has transformed our understanding -- no, our definition -- of foreign affairs. Diplomacy is no longer just the skill of managing relations with other countries. The big issues -- war and peace, terror, economic stability, etc. -- remain, and she has handled them with firmness and authority, with poise and confidence, and with good will, when appropriate.

But it is not the praise of diplomats or dictators that will be her legacy. She dealt with plenipotentiaries, but her focus was on people. Foreign affairs isn't just about treaties, she taught us, it's about the suffering and aspirations of those affected by the treaties, made or unmade.

Most of all, diplomacy should refocus attention on the powerless.

Of course, Hillary wasn't the first secretary of state to advocate for human rights or use the post to raise awareness of abuses or negotiate humanitarian relief or pressure oppressors. But she was the first to focus on empowerment, particularly of women and girls.

She created the first Office of Global Women's Issues. That office fought to highlight the plight of women around the world. Rape of women has been a weapon of war for centuries. Though civilized countries condemn it, the fight against it has in a sense only really begun.

Ghitis: Hillary Clinton's global legacy on gay rights

The office has worked to hold governments accountable for the systematic oppression of girls and women and fought for their education in emerging countries. As Hillary said when the office was established: "When the Security Council passed Resolution 1325, we tried to make a very clear statement, that women are still largely shut out of the negotiations that seek to end conflicts, even though women and children are the primary victims of 21st century conflict."

Hillary also included the United States in the Trafficking in Person report. Human Trafficking, a form of modern, mainly sexual, slavery, victimizes mostly women and girls. The annual report reviews the state of global efforts to eliminate the practice. "We believe it is important to keep the spotlight on ourselves," she said. "Human trafficking is not someone else's problem. Involuntary servitude is not something we can ignore or hope doesn't exist in our own communities."

She also created the office of Global Partnerships. And there is much more.

She has held her own in palaces and held the hands of hungry children in mud-hut villages, pursuing an agenda that empowers women, children, the poor and helpless.

We shouldn't have been surprised. Her book "It Takes a Village" focused on the impact that those outside the family have, for better or worse, on a child's well-being.

As secretary of state, she did all she could to make sure our impact as a nation would be for the better.

Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion

Join us on Facebook/CNNOpinion

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Donna Brazile.

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Tennis: Nadal shrugs off talk of return to number one

VINA DEL MAR, Chile: Rafael Nadal shrugged off talk of reclaiming the world number one spot on Saturday as the 11-time Grand Slam title winner prepared to return after a seven-month injury lay-off.

Nadal, now at five in the world after not having played since his shock second round defeat at Wimbledon in June, will be top seed at the Vina del Mar claycourt event next week.

But he is desperate to cool speculation over whether or not he will be able to return to the top of the rankings, a position currently occupied by Novak Djokovic.

"After seven months without playing, I am not even thinking of the world number one spot. I am just concentrating on doing my best," said the Spaniard.

Nadal was kept off the tour through a recurrence of his long-standing knee injury as well as illness.

Those setbacks meant he missed out on the Olympics, where he was the defending champion, the US Open, the 2012 Davis Cup final as well as last month's Australian Open.

"I am feeling good, but I need to have weeks of competition on the tour. I have to start slowly and with patience," said the seven-time French Open champion.

After playing in Chile, Nadal will head off to Brazil and Acapulco before testing his recovery to the full at the season's opening Masters events in Indian Wells and Miami.

"I don't worry now about running to be able to play the best I can. That can help me progress as far as possible," he said.

But the 26-year-old, whose ranking is at an eight-year low, warned: "I just want to be able to play at an acceptable level after such a long time."

Nadal, playing on a wild card, is top seed at the $410,000 tournament and will play doubles with Argentina's Juan Monaco on Tuesday.

In singles, he has a bye in the first round and will open his campaign at 2100GMT on Wednesday against either Argentina's Guido Pella, the world 97, or a qualifier.

- AFP/de

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Body of missing American found in Turkey

Sarai Sierra's family and friends became alarmed when she did not arrive on a return flight from Istanbul on January 22.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Body of New York woman found in Istanbul


• She disappeared almost two weeks ago


• Sarai Sierra was a mother a two


• She failed to arrive at Newark, New Jersey, airport

(CNN) -- The family of an American woman who went missing in Istanbul nearly two weeks ago are in mourning after learning that Turkish police found her body Saturday.

Steven Sierra wept during a phone call with CNN, as he waited in Istanbul to go with police to identify the body of his wife, Sarai Sierra.

Turkish police found the New York woman's body near ancient stone walls in Istanbul's Sarayburnu district, the semi-official Anatolian Agency reported. Police suspected she had been killed at another location.

Police told CNN's sister network CNN Turk that the body of the 33-year-old mother of two showed signs of stab wounds.

At least nine suspects had been detained in connection with Sierra's disappearance and death, Anatolian reported.

Sierra's family and friends first sounded the alarm last week after she did not arrive on a return flight from Istanbul on January 22.

"The last we heard from my wife was Monday morning on the 21st. She had spoken with her sister and the last thing she said was, 'I'm coming home tomorrow,' and she was excited and put a little smiley face at the end of her statement," said Steven Sierra in an interview with CNN earlier this week.

Steven Sierra spoke to CNN in Istanbul on Wednesday, after he and Sarai Sierra's brother, David Jimenez, traveled to Turkey to assist in the search.

The worried husband was periodically overwhelmed with emotion throughout the interview.

"You're hoping that she's OK wherever she's at, that she's not hurting, that she's not cold, that she's being fed," Steven Sierra said, choking back tears.

"Its difficult what's going through my mind, if our hopes and prayers are not answered. It is difficult when you have two children that look up to you, and you have to do your very best to stay strong regardless of what happens."

Sarai Sierra flew alone to Istanbul on January 7 after a friend at the last minute canceled plans to accompany her.

"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," friend Magalena Rodriguez said.

Sierrra was an amateur photographer who had amassed more than 3,000 followers since she joined the photo sharing app Instagram last year.

Some people she met through the service encouraged her to visit the ancient Turkish city, her husband said. They offered to act as tour guides. "You're admiring pictures, but you're getting acquainted with people that you've never met before," Steven Sierra said.

Sarai's brother said he had been worried about his sister's solo trip.

"We were nervous. Were just like 'always be mindful of what you do, be aware of your surroundings. Don't get too comfortable to the point where you drop your guard down,'" David Jimenez said.

But Jimenez and Sierra's husband said Sarai was determined to complete challenges that she set for herself.

As an example, they described how she competed in a triathlon several years ago, despite being a weak swimmer, and despite the fact that she did not own a bicycle. Instead, Sarai completed the cycling leg of the competition by borrowing a mountain bike from her husband.

After arriving in Istanbul, Sierra's 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.

"She chose to go to Amsterdam for the graffiti," her husband said. "She informed me as far as how her time was out there. And she also had a tour guide that was helping her out there as well, who I know about and who I've spoken with personally."

Sierra returned to Istanbul on January 19. Three days later, she went missing.

Sierra had rebooked her flight to arrive back early, on January 22, in part to surprise her two sons, 9 and 11.

Days before her scheduled trip home, Sierra spoke with her father, Dennis Jimenez, via Skype to remind him of her flight number and arrival time.

When Dennis Jimenez went to the Newark, New Jersey, airport to pick Sierra up, she didn'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."

After the tourist went missing, Turkish police released a surveillance camera video of Sarai at a shopping mall in Istanbul, flipping through her iPad.

The scenes from January 20 are the last known images of her.

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 on January 21 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 Sierra's 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.

Since Sierra's disappearance, Turkish police detained a Turkish man she had been in contact with who was identified only by the first name Talan, according to CNN Turk.

Millions of foreign tourists visit Turkey every year.

While it is not unusual to hear about foreigners being targeted by pickpockets and bag snatchers, violent crime involving foreign tourists is relatively rare.

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Turkey: U.S. Embassy bomber known for terror ties

Updated at 4:35 p.m. ET

ANKARA, Turkey The suicide bomber who struck the U.S. Embassy in Ankara spent several years in prison on terrorism charges but was released on probation after being diagnosed with a hunger strike-related brain disorder, officials said Saturday.

The bomber, identified as 40-year-old leftist militant Ecevit Sanli, killed himself and a Turkish security guard on Friday, in what U.S. officials said was a terrorist attack. Sanli was armed with enough TNT to blow up a two-story building and also detonated a hand grenade, officials said.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that police believe the bomber was connected to his nation's outlawed leftist militant group Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front, or DHKP-C. And on Saturday DHKP-C claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on a website linked to the group. It said Sanli carried out the act of "self-sacrifice" on behalf of the group.

The authenticity of the website was confirmed to The Associated Press by a government terrorism expert who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with rules that bar government employees from speaking to reporters without prior authorization.

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State Dept. had bomber of U.S. embassy in Turkey on terror list

CBS News correspondent Holly Williams reports from Ankara that the DHKP-C is on the State Department's list of terror organizations. They are Marxists who believe that the United States is an imperialist state that's controlling Turkey. Their targets have included both the U.S. and the Turkish military.

Turkey's private NTV television, meanwhile, said police detained three people on Saturday who may be connected to the U.S. Embassy attack during operations in Ankara and Istanbul. Two of the suspects were being questioned by police in Ankara, while the third was taken into custody in Istanbul and was being brought to Ankara.

NTV, citing unidentified security sources, said one of the suspects is a man whose identity Sanli allegedly used to enter Turkey illegally, while the second was suspected of forging identity papers. There was no information about the third suspect.

Earlier, Turkish Interior Minister Muammer Guler said Sanli had fled Turkey after he was released from jail in 2001, but managed to return to the country "illegally," using a fake ID. It was not clear how long before the attack he had returned to Turkey.

NTV said he is believed to have come to Turkey from Germany, crossing into Turkey from Greece. Police officials in Ankara could not immediately be reached for comment.

DHKP-C has claimed responsibility for assassinations and bombings since the 1970s, but it has been relatively quiet in recent years. Compared to al Qaeda, it has not been seen as a strong terrorist threat.

Sanli's motives remained unclear. But some Turkish government officials have linked the attack to the arrest last month of dozens of suspected members of the DHKP-C group in a nationwide sweep.

Speculation also has abounded that the bombing was related to the perceived support of the U.S. for Turkey's harsh criticism of the regime in Syria, whose brutal civil war has forced tens of thousands of Syrian refugees to seek shelter in Turkey. But Erdogan has denied that.

Officials said Sanli was arrested in 1997 for alleged involvement in attacks on Istanbul's police headquarters and a military guesthouse, and jailed on charges of membership in the DHKP-C group.

While in prison awaiting trial, he took part in a major hunger strike that led to the deaths of dozens of inmates, according to a statement from the Ankara governor's office. The protesters opposed a maximum-security system in which prisoners were held in small cells instead of large wards.

Sanli was diagnosed with Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome and released on probation in 2001, following the introduction of legislation that allowed hunger strikers with the disorder to get appropriate treatment. The syndrome is a malnutrition-related brain illness that affects vision, muscle coordination and memory, and that can cause hallucinations.

Sanli fled Turkey after his release and was wanted by Turkish authorities. He was convicted in absentia in 2002 for belonging to a terrorist group and attempting to overthrow the government.

On Saturday, the U.S. flag at the embassy in Ankara flew at half-staff and already tight security was increased. Police sealed off a street in front of the security checkpoint where the explosion knocked a door off its hinges and littered the road with debris. Police vehicles were parked in streets surrounding the building.

The Ankara governor's office, citing the findings of a bomb squad that inspected the site, said Sanli had used 13.2 pounds of TNT for the suicide attack and also detonated a hand grenade. That amount of TNT can demolish "a two-story reinforced building," according to Nihat Ali Ozcan, a terrorism expert at the Ankara-based Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey.

Officials had earlier said that the bomber detonated a suicide vest at the checkpoint on the outer perimeter of the compound.

The guard who was killed was standing outside the checkpoint. The U.S. ambassador on Saturday attended his funeral in a town just outside of Ankara.

A Turkish TV journalist was seriously wounded and two other guards had lighter wounds.

DHKP-C's forerunner, Devrimci Sol, or Revolutionary Left, was formed in 1978 as a Marxist group openly opposed to the United States and NATO. It has attacked Turkish, U.S. and other foreign targets since then, including two U.S. military contractors and a U.S. Air Force officer.

The group changed its name to DHKP-C in 1994.

Friday's attack came as NATO deployed six Patriot anti-missile systems to protect its ally Turkey from a possible spillover from the civil war raging across the border in Syria. The U.S., Netherlands and Germany are each providing two Patriot batteries.

Ozcan, the terrorism expert, said the Syrian regime, which had backed terrorist groups in Turkey, including autonomy-seeking Kurdish rebels, during the Cold War era and through the 1990s, had recently revived ties with these groups.

As Turkey began to support the Syrian opposition, Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime began to try "rebuilding its ties with these organizations," Ozcan said.

Radikal newspaper reported that the DHKP-C had recently been taking an interest in "regional issues," reviving its anti-American stance and taking on "a more pro-Assad position."

Former U.S. ambassador to Turkey Ross Wilson speculated that the masterminds of the embassy bombing may have been partly motivated by U.S.-Turkish policy on Syria.

"A successful attack would embarrass the Turkish government and security forces, and it would have struck at the United States, which is widely — if wrongly — thought to have manipulated the Erdogan government into breaking with Bashar al-Assad and supporting efforts to remove him from power," Wilson, director of the Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center at the Washington-based Atlantic Council, wrote in an analysis. "That might rekindle public support for the group. Alas for DHPK/C, this seems unlikely."

Howard Eissenstat, a Turkey expert at St. Lawrence University in the United States, said the bombing showed that a "relatively isolated and obscure group" still has the capacity to cause havoc.

"They really fall outside of our comfortable narratives," Eissenstat wrote in an email to The Associated Press. "And they do seem to have been left in an ideological time warp. There is something distinctly cult-like about them."

The attack drew quick condemnation from Turkey, the U.S., Britain and other nations, and officials from both Turkey and the U.S. pledged to work together to fight terrorism.

It was the second deadly assault on a U.S. diplomatic post in five months.

On Sept. 11, 2012, terrorists attacked a U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, killing U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. The attackers in Libya were suspected to have ties to Islamist extremists, and one is in custody in Egypt.

U.S. diplomatic facilities in Turkey have been targeted previously by terrorists. In 2008, an attack blamed on al Qaeda-affiliated militants outside the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul left three assailants and three policemen dead.

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Body of Missing Mom Reportedly Found in Turkey

The body of an American woman who went missing while on a solo trip to Turkey has been pulled from a bay in Istanbul, and nine people have been held for questioning, according to local media.

Sarai Sierra, 33, was last heard from on Jan. 21, the day she was due to board a flight home to New York City.

The state-run Andolu Agency reported that residents found a woman's body today near the ruins of some ancient city walls in a low-income district, and police identified the body as Sierra.

Rep. Michael Grimm, R-NY, who with his staff had been assisting the Sierra family in the search, said he was "deeply saddened" to hear the news of her death.

"I urge Turkish officials to move quickly to identify whomever is responsible for her tragic death and ensure that any guilty parties are punished to the fullest extent of the law," he said in a statement.

Courtesy Sarai Sierra's family

Footage Shows Missing New York Mom in Turkish Mall Watch Video

NYC Woman Goes Missing While Traveling In Turkey Watch Video

New York Mother Goes Missing on Turkish Vacation Watch Video

The New York City mother, who has two young boys, traveled to Turkey alone on Jan. 7 after a friend had to cancel. Sierra, who is an avid photographer with a popular Instagram stream, planned to document her dream vacation with her camera.

"It was her first time outside of the United States, and every day while she was there she pretty much kept in contact with us, letting us know what she was up to, where she was going, whether it be through texting or whether it be through video chat, she was touching base with us," Steven Sierra told ABC News before he departed for Istanbul last Sunday to aid in the search.

Steven Sierra has been in the country, meeting with U.S. officials and local authorities, as they searched for his wife.

On Friday, Turkish authorities detained a man who had spoken with Sierra online before her disappearance. The identity of the man and the details of his arrest were not disclosed, The Associated Press reported.

The family said it is completely out of character for the happily married mother, who met her husband in church youth group, to disappear.

She took two side trips, to Amsterdam and Munich, before returning to Turkey, but kept in contact with her family the entire time, a family friend told ABC News.

Further investigation revealed she had left her passport, clothes, phone chargers and medical cards in her room at a hostel in Beyoglu, Turkey.

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Hillary: Secretary of empowerment

Girls hug U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during a 2010 tour of a shelter run for sex trafficking victims in Cambodia.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Donna Brazile: Clinton stepping down as Secretary of State. Maybe she'll run for president


• She says as secretary she expanded foreign policy to include effect on regular people


• She says she was first secretary of state to focus on empowering women and girls


• Brazile: Clinton has fought for education and inclusion in politics for women and girls

Editor's note: Donna Brazile, a CNN contributor and a Democratic strategist, is vice chairwoman for voter registration and participation at the Democratic National Committee. She is a nationally syndicated columnist, an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and author of "Cooking with Grease." She was manager for the Gore-Lieberman presidential campaign in 2000.

(CNN) -- As Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton steps down from her job Friday, many are assuming she will run for president. And she may. In fact, five of the first eight presidents first served their predecessors as secretary of state.

It hasn't happened in more than a century, though that may change should Clinton decide to run. After all, she has been a game changer her entire life.

But before we look ahead, I think we should appreciate what she's done as secretary of state; it's a high profile, high pressure job. You have to deal with the routine as if it is critical and with crisis as if it's routine. You have to manage egos, protocols, customs and Congress. You have to be rhetorical and blunt, diplomatic and direct.

CNN Contributor Donna Brazile

As secretary of state you are dealing with heads of state and with we the people. And the president of the United States has to trust you -- implicitly.

On the road with Hillary Clinton

Of all Clinton's accomplishments -- and I will mention just a few -- this may be the most underappreciated. During the election, pundits were puzzled and amazed not only at how much energy former President Bill Clinton poured into Obama's campaign, but even more at how genuine and close the friendship was.

Obama was given a lot of well-deserved credit for reaching out to the Clintons by appointing then-Sen. Hillary Clinton as his secretary of state in the first place. But trust is a two-way street and has to be earned. We should not underestimate or forget how much Clinton did and how hard she worked. She deserved that trust, as she deserved to be in the war room when Osama bin Laden was killed.

By the way, is there any other leader in the last 50 years whom we routinely refer to by a first name, and do so more out of respect than familiarity? The last person I can think of was Ike -- the elder family member who we revere with affection. Hillary is Hillary.

It's not surprising that we feel we know her. She has been part of our public life for more than 20 years. She's been a model of dignity, diplomacy, empathy and toughness. She also has done something no other secretary of state has done -- including the two women who preceded her in the Cabinet post.

Rothkopf: President Hillary Clinton? If she wants it

Hillary has transformed our understanding -- no, our definition -- of foreign affairs. Diplomacy is no longer just the skill of managing relations with other countries. The big issues -- war and peace, terror, economic stability, etc. -- remain, and she has handled them with firmness and authority, with poise and confidence, and with good will, when appropriate.

But it is not the praise of diplomats or dictators that will be her legacy. She dealt with plenipotentiaries, but her focus was on people. Foreign affairs isn't just about treaties, she taught us, it's about the suffering and aspirations of those affected by the treaties, made or unmade.

Most of all, diplomacy should refocus attention on the powerless.

Of course, Hillary wasn't the first secretary of state to advocate for human rights or use the post to raise awareness of abuses or negotiate humanitarian relief or pressure oppressors. But she was the first to focus on empowerment, particularly of women and girls.

She created the first Office of Global Women's Issues. That office fought to highlight the plight of women around the world. Rape of women has been a weapon of war for centuries. Though civilized countries condemn it, the fight against it has in a sense only really begun.

Ghitis: Hillary Clinton's global legacy on gay rights

The office has worked to hold governments accountable for the systematic oppression of girls and women and fought for their education in emerging countries. As Hillary said when the office was established: "When the Security Council passed Resolution 1325, we tried to make a very clear statement, that women are still largely shut out of the negotiations that seek to end conflicts, even though women and children are the primary victims of 21st century conflict."

Hillary also included the United States in the Trafficking in Person report. Human Trafficking, a form of modern, mainly sexual, slavery, victimizes mostly women and girls. The annual report reviews the state of global efforts to eliminate the practice. "We believe it is important to keep the spotlight on ourselves," she said. "Human trafficking is not someone else's problem. Involuntary servitude is not something we can ignore or hope doesn't exist in our own communities."

She also created the office of Global Partnerships. And there is much more.

She has held her own in palaces and held the hands of hungry children in mud-hut villages, pursuing an agenda that empowers women, children, the poor and helpless.

We shouldn't have been surprised. Her book "It Takes a Village" focused on the impact that those outside the family have, for better or worse, on a child's well-being.

As secretary of state, she did all she could to make sure our impact as a nation would be for the better.

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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Donna Brazile.

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