NEW YORK - The body of the United States’ first-ever female Muslim judge was found Wednesday afternoon in the Hudson River near Manhattan, The New York Post reported.
Sheila Abdus-Salaam, 65, served as an associate judge of the Court of Appeals. She was the first African-American woman to serve on New York's top court.
She had been reported missing earlier in the day, the newspaper reports. Her husband later confirmed her identity.
Sources tell the Post that there were no visible signs of trauma or physical injuries suggesting foul play. Police are still investigating.
Ms Abdus-Salaam worked as an attorney at East Brooklyn Legal Services after graduating from Columbia Law School. She continued to rise in the ranks until she was elected to the New York Supreme Court in 1993, and then appointed to the Court of Appeals, the state's highest court, by Governor Andrew Cuomo.
Jonathan Lippman, who once served as the chief judge of the state Court of Appeals from 2009 to 2015, said Abdus-Salaam’s death is a “terrible blow.”
“I’m deeply saddened at having lost a dear friend and colleague, and the court has suffered a terrible blow,” Lippman told the Post. “She was a superb jurist and an even more superb human being,” he continued. “I knew her for many, many years. To some degree, we grew up together in the court. I’ve known her in all her different roles in the court. It’s just so shocking ... If you ask anyone about her, people would say only the most wonderful things. That’s why it makes it even more difficult to understand.”
"The medical examiner will determine the cause of death and the investigation is ongoing," New York police said in a statement.
State Governor Andrew Cuomo hailed Abdus-Salaam as a "trailblazing jurist" and extended his sympathies to her family, loved ones and colleagues.
"As the first African-American woman to be appointed to the state's court of appeals, she was a pioneer," he said. "Through her writings, her wisdom, and her unshakable moral compass, she was a force for good whose legacy will be felt for years to come."
Abdus-Salaam was born into a working class family in Washington DC in 1952 and educated at public schools.
While researching her family history as a child she discovered that one of her great-grandfathers had been a slave in Virginia.
She studied at New York's Barnard College and Columbia Law School, where she was a classmate of Eric Holder, the first black US attorney general, who served under former president Barack Obama.