Dead Bombing Suspect Traveled to Russia, Spent Six Months Out of US Last Year

Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the Marathon bombing suspect killed Thursday night in a shoot-out with police, traveled to Russia last year and did not return for six months. Travel documents show he flew out of New York’s JFK for Moscow on January 12, 2012. He returned to JFK on July 17th. 

The purpose of his extended trip abroad is unknown. It is also not known if he spent the time in Moscow or traveled to another destination. Authorities are interested in the possibility that Tamerlan received terror training while abroad. 

Tamerlan immigrated to the US as a refugee in 2003. He became a “legal permanent resident” in 2007. He was an ethnic Chechen, but was born and grew up outside the region in southern Russia.