Sabina Rosas, Brooklyn-based artist from Tajikistan, identified as woman killed at Water Mill Spa

Sabina Rosas, whose body was found Monday in a Water Mill spa, was remembered as a talented artist and photographer who made her way to New York after growing up in Central Asia.

Rosas, 33, of Brooklyn, whose death is being investigated as a homicide by Suffolk police, also went by the name Sabina Horramdel. According to Phillips, she planned to visit her former Purchase College art professor, Liz Phillips, in Queens last weekend. But she never showed up.

At 3:14 a.m. ET on Saturday, she said Rosas texted her to say she was on her way to New York. But at 6.50pm on Saturday she replied: “23 hours of flying – too exhausted to talk” and they planned to meet on Monday instead.

Phillips said she only learned of Rosas’ death Tuesday from the Manhattan nonprofit arts organization where she recommended Rosas for a residency.

“I’d like to know what happened, but I’m not sure I want to know. I have no idea who she was in her last days,” said Phillips, who added that Rosas traveled a lot and enjoyed visiting resorts. “I am terrified. She was so talented in many things and so ambitious that she put her life in order. It’s terrible when a beautiful, talented young artist loses her life in this way.”

Family friend Ryder Iwata, who said he was representing the family, announced her death, calling her “our beloved daughter, sister, fiancée and friend.”

“As the eldest of three daughters, Sabina brought excitement, adventure, joy and love to our family,” the statement reads. “We urge anyone with information about the circumstances of Sabina’s death to come forward.”

Phillips said she mentored Rosas when she was a student for two years at Purchase College beginning in 2018.

“She was very talented in her sculptures and paintings, and she had a great sense of style and aesthetics,” Phillips said. “As a student, she added a tremendous amount of life to the classroom. She was cheerful, energetic and always doing something. She was a wonderful person to have in the classroom.”

Police said Sabina Rosas was the victim of a homicide, but the cause of death will not be determined until an autopsy is performed by the Suffolk Medical Examiner. There was no arrest.

An employee at Shou Sugi Ban House Spa in Water Mill discovered the body of Rosas, who was an overnight guest, police said.

Rosas was born in Tajikistan in 1991 and later moved with her family to Turkmenistan in 1993 and Crimea in 2000, according to an online biography on the nonprofit arts organization’s website.

She graduated from high school in 2003 after returning to Tajikistan and attended Polytechnic University of Tajikistan before moving to the United States in 2009 and to Forest Hills in 2010. She later moved to Westchester to attend Purchase College.

Purchase confirmed that Rosas graduated there in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in new media.

Rosas co-founded an online artists’ website called Ruyo Journal with her sister in Germany. She also co-produced a video called “Hafta” about the extinction of flora and fauna and family in Kazakhstan, and is currently working on profiles of women in Central Asia, according to Phillips.

Nitin Mukul, an artist from Jackson Heights, said in an email that he worked briefly with Rosas, whom he called Khorramdel, on a multimedia art project they mounted in Queens Square in 2021. The project was called “EMERGE” and included a long painting by Mukul, a combination of video and painting using sheets of ice, with the sound of Rosas.

Just last month, she was at the University of Central Asia, where she gave a presentation on an artistic platform dedicated to discourse on Central Asian art and film.

The police investigation, which began Monday afternoon at the spa, continued until Tuesday morning when detectives returned.

The spa did not respond to Newsday’s request for comment.

Suffolk County detectives are asking anyone with information about the death to call the homicide division at 631-852-6392 or the criminal division at 800-220-TIPS. All calls will remain confidential, police