The first African-American female Muslem judge in the United States, Sheila Abdus-Salaam, is dead.
She was found dead and floating in the Hudson River, New York on Wednesday afternoon by witnesses who immediately reported the sight to the police.
Abdus-Salam had reportedly gone missing for several hours before her body was found in the river. Police, however, said that her body showed no signs of trauma at the time it was found. Investigators also said there were no apparent signs of crime about her.
The 65-year-old Abdus-Salam was an associate judge at the US Court of Appeal. She graduated from Columbia Law School and began her career as a staff attorney at East Brooklyn Legal Services before her election to the Supreme Court in 1993.
She was appointed to the Court of Appeals in 2013 by New York Governor, Andrew Cuomo, where she served until her death.