Sheila Abdus-Salaam: Body of America's first Muslim judge found in New York's Hudson River

A legal trailblazer and black woman pioneer was found dead Wednesday in a New York river, according to news reports.

The body of Sheila Abdus-Salaam, 65, was found floating in the Hudson River near 132nd Street and Hudson Parkway in Manhattan, according to law enforcement sources.

Abdus-Salaam, who lived in Harlem, was an associate judge of the Court of Appeals. She had been reported missing earlier Wednesday.

Authorities called her husband, who had to identify her body. 

Police said a preliminary investigation shows no obvious signs of injury and that her death appeared to be suicide.

“Justice Sheila Abdus-Salaam was a trailblazing jurist whose life in public service was in pursuit of a more fair and more just New York for all,” New York Gov. Cuomo said in a statement.

“I’m deeply saddened at having lost a dear friend and colleague, and the court has suffered a terrible blow,” former chief judge of the state Court of Appeals Jonathan Lippman told the New York Post.

“She was a superb jurist and an even more superb human being,” Lippman said. “I knew her for many, many years.”