The first black woman to be appointed as a top US judge in New York has been found dead on a riverbank in the city.
Sheila Abdus-Salaam, 65, was the USA’s first female Muslim judge and was reported missing on Tuesday.
The following day her body was found on the bank of the Hudson River near Harlem.
Her cause of death is not yet known and there were no clear signs of trauma, police said.
Ms Abdus-Salaam, who was born in Washington DC, was appointed to the New York Court of Appeals, the highest court in the state, in 2013.
She was called a “trailblazing jurist” by democratic governor Andrew Cuomo who appointed her, ABC news reported.
He said: “As the first African-American woman to be appointed to the state's Court of Appeals, she was a pioneer.
"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."
Jonathan Lippman, former chief judge, said Ms Adbus-Salaam’s death was “difficult to understand” and the court had suffered “a terrible blow”.
Ms Abdus-Salaam was one of seven judges in New York’s highest court.
