Written by Jenae
Trigger warning: family violence, relationship violence, child abuse, childhood sexual abuse, honor killing/violence, suicide
911 call will be linked as a YouTube video, please use discretion as you click.
Today, we’re talking about a fugitive who is currently on the run and apart of the FBI’s ten most wanted. Near the end, we’ll talk about what you can do to help get him caught.
Said was an immigrant from Egypt, who came here to the US in 1983. While working at a gas station, Said met the woman who would become his wife. Patricia Owens was 15 at the time while Said was twice her age at 30-years-old. They were soon married.
Throughout the course of their relationship, Said was incredibly physically violent to Owens. Owens stated that Yaser had about 6 affairs throughout their marriage. Yaser had a past history of violence too, running over a person some time before, but his father paid his way out of it and he was never charged or held responsible. The person he ran over eventually died.
Soon after they got married, they went on to have two daughters and one son. As the children grew up the two girls, Sara and Amina, told their mother and their aunt that they were being sexually abused by their own father. In 1998, Said was indicted on charges for sexual penetration of his two daughters. Unfortunately, the girls recanted their story and the case was never prosecuted.
Throughout their teenage years, the girls shared with friends that the bruises and injuries that were on their bodies were the work of their father and their mother didn’t allow them to seek medical attention for the injuries. On top of the physical and sexual abuse Amina and Sarah were experiencing, Yaser also followed them around with a camera and recorded them without their knowledge both inside the home and out. These tapes included Yaser making disgusting comments about his own children’s bodies. This was so bad that Amina was scared of using a public phone “because her dad knew everything”. She also shared in emails that she believed her father was going to kill her.
At 16, Amina was taken to Egypt for an arranged marriage but rejected the marriage and came back to the US. The plan was to essentially sell her to whoever would pay the most to marry her, including her uncle as a bidder. At this time, Sarah got a job at a gas station, where her father would record her working and then punish her if she smiled too much at customers.
Shortly after her return to the US, Amina began dating a boy she met in class. At this time, Yaser was out of the country but Amina was still terrified that he would know everything. She told her boyfriend not to call or text if a certain codeword was sent because Yaser would go through her phone. At some point, Yaser came across a note that was written to Amina’s boyfriend. Amina told her father this note was just a fantasy. Amina didn’t provide information because she was scared of what her father would do to her boyfriend.
Yaser moved the family to a new home because of the boyfriend, 20 miles away from their old one. Because of this, Amina made plans with her boyfriend to run away to Vegas to start a new life. The boyfriend even dropped out of school to earn more money to save for this. After moving, Amina reached out to her teacher and asked him to pass along the info to her boyfriend. The teacher passed this info to the boyfriend’s parents, where his mother began emailing Amina. She shared that Yaser wanted to know where the boyfriend lived so he could kill him. Yaser then began to dig deeper into the relationship, even beating and torturing Amina for answer, but she still didn’t tell him anything, in order to keep her boyfriend safe. (Mother says that Yaser wasn’t abusive to the children, bullshit) In an email after the attack, Amina stated that he had kicked her in the stomach and face, splitting her lip and embedding her braces into her lips. Patricia was going to drive her to the hospital, but Amina’s unce told her that was not a good idea and Amina didn’t receive medical care for the injuries.
Yaser planned another trip to Egypt for Amina and Sarah, but this time they were even more afraid. Before she left, Amina sent an email to her boyfriend’s mother and gave her all of her info, stating she was afraid that she wouldn’t be able to come back to the US because she believed her father wouldn’t allow it and might take their passports.This fear was not far off. When they arrived, Yaser had taken the girl’s passports. Amina was able to send a short email from a cyber cafe, letting her boyfriend’s mother know. She also said she would try to contact her again but she wasn’t sure that she’d be able to. She was not able to reach out again while in Egypt. Yaser allowed them to return to the US with him and Amina reached out to her boyfriend’s mother when she got home.
Throughout these emails, Amina had no contact with her boyfriend, Joseph, as his parents were concerned for his safety as well. Finally, Joseph’s mother allowed Joseph to email Amina. They discovered that they were both still in love and wanted to make in work. Some point after she got back in contact with Joseph, Amina decided she could no longer take the life she was leading and attempted suicide. While she survived, she felt telling medical professionals about the abuse would simply make it worse for her and her sister.
On Christmas Eve 2007, Sarah (17) and Amina (18) were threatened by their father with a gun. These threats began because Yaser had discovered that both girls had boyfriends and this was his justification for the threats and beatings. At this point, the girls could no longer take it and decided they were going to run away. Patricia decided it was time to leave too. The group was joined by a few friends. Patricia packed up with the girls and left to Wichita, KS. When Yaser discovered they had left, he filed a missing persons report with the police for Amina, Sarah, and Patricia. Unfortunately, the time in Kansas would be short lived. Patricia decided to drive the girls to Tulsa, staying in a hotel while looking for a home to rent in the area. They quickly found a place to stay and signed a lease on 12/28. Yaser called Patricia’s family, pleading for their location. The family didn’t disclose.On 12/29, one of the friends told Patricia that they needed to go back to Texas to finish a job. On top of this, Amina and Patricia had voicemails from Yaser’s family, begging them to come home, stating that they would make sure Yaser was no longer in the home if that’s what they wanted.. This put Amina on edge, because she knew her mother was contemplating going back. After each one of the women spoke with Yaser, Patricia decided to drive them all back to Texas. Patricia didn’t close that they would be going back to Yaser. Instead, she lied and told the girls they were going to stay with her sister forNew Year’s and visit their grandmother’s grave. Once they got into Texas, Patricia admitted she had lied, informing them that they we’re going back to Yaser. Sarah agreed but Amina refused and wanted to stay with friends, Amina stayed the night with friends. Patricia stated that Yaser had forgiven the girls and wanted them home. (Forgiven for what exactly?!) They then returned home.
On 12/31, Patricia told Amina that she didn’t plan on leaving. This was Amina’s worst nightmare and would turn out to be a fatal mistake. Amina tried to reach out to family, to get help. No one in the family knew that Patricia had gone back to Yaser. Amina was certain she wouldn’t go back.
The Night of the Murder:
On New Year’s Day 2008, Sarah texted Amina, telling her to call their mother. Amina called, but Patricia wanted Amina to come home. Amina refused everytime Patricia called. Patricia showed up to her friend’s house, refusing to leave until Amina came with her. She agreed. This is the last time Amina and Sarah would be seen by anyone outside the immediate family.
Yaser told Amina and Sarah that he wanted to take them out for dinner. He took them in his cab, alone. Patricia wanted to come but Yaser was adamant that she wasn’t allowed to join. Yaser drove the girls to Irving, TX and shot the girls in the cab. Amina suffered 2 gun shots and died instantly. Sarah was shot nine times and called the police. She died on the phone with authorities, her last words were “Oh my god, I’m dying”. The dispatcher put Sarah on hold several times during her call. To this day, the Irving Police department hasn’t released info to the public.
Patricia stated that they were killed because they had non-Muslim boyfriends, more on this later.
After the shooting, Yaser disappeared. He’s been on the run since 2008. Many people believe that Said family know where Yaser is and are hiding him. The Said family has yet to comment on the crime. Investigators haven’t questioned some of the Said family members, even though Yaser called two of his brothers after the murders.His sister is also wanted by the FBI for kidnapping her own children and moving them back to Egypt.
After the murders, Patricia moved herself and her son into Yaser’s brother’s home for some time. Islam (the brother), left to Egypt without telling his mother. He’s been known to state that his sister’s deserved to be murdered and make threats online to America and in a voicemail to his aunt. He wanted to come back to the US after 3 years in Egypt but the Said family wouldn’t allow it.
Controversy:
Many people believe that their mother was an accomplice to the murder as she had brought the children back to their dad. Her story changes many times or is found to be not true. Even her family petitioned the Irving Police Department to arrest her as an accomplice.
Many people, including the FBI, believe that the murders were an honor killing.
If you want to learn more about Islam and honor killings, please read this https://yaqeeninstitute.org/jonathan-brown/islam-is-not-the-cause-of-honor-killings-its-part-of-the-solution/#.XUxWNehKhPY. And do some research before you label an entire religion that you don’t understand in that way.
No one, not even those who were suspected accomplices, has been arrested for the murders of Amina and Sarah Said.
How You Can Help:
Yaser is currently on the FBI’s 10 most wanted list. He’s 6’ 2”, 180 pounds, brown eyes, and salt and pepper hair with a receding hairline. He has ties to Egypt, California, Texas, New York, Virginia, and Canada. He has a dark brown spot on the lower left side of his neck. He may have changed his appearance to conceal his identity. He wears sunglasses all times, inside or out. He smokes Marlboro 100s and is known to frequent diners like Denny’s and IHOP. He’s also known to carry a weapon at all times. Yaser Said is considered armed and dangerous. If you see him, DO NOT approach him.
If you have any information, please contact the FBI at your local FBI office. There will be a link in the description to find your local office or embassy. There’s currently $100,000 rewards for any information that leads to the arrest.
Submit a tip online: https://tips.fbi.gov/
Sources:
