HARLEM — New surveillance footage shows the state judge who was found dead in the Hudson River walking alone near the waterfront the night before her body was discovered, police said.
The video obtained by investigators shows Sheila Abdus-Salaam walking in the area between West 131st and 141st streets, as well as near the river, between 8:50 p.m. and shortly after midnight on April 11, the NYPD said.
In the footage, which shows the judge by herself, she was wearing the same clothes she was found in when her body was pulled from the river the following afternoon, police said.
Abdus-Salaam, 65, who was the first African-American woman to sit on New York State’s Court of Appeals, was found near West 132nd Street about 1:45 p.m. on April 12, officials said.
At the time, NYPD officials said her body had no signs of trauma and that they didn't suspect any foul play. The department has been reconstructing the timeline of events to trace her movements.
This week, the NYPD referred to the judge's death as "suspicious" because investigators can't explain how she wound up in the water.
Her husband, Rev. Canon Gregory A. Jacobs, and her family issued a statement on Wednesday calling on the public to “step forward” with any information that could help solve the mystery of her death.
Abdus-Salaam was last seen around 7 p.m. on April 10 and the last anyone heard from her was the morning of April 11, when she called her assistant, authorities said.
Police issued a public appeal for additional information on Tuesday. The notice said she was wearing a gray sweatshirt with the word “Canada” in red letters on the front, black sweatpants, white socks and white New Balance Sneakers.
A public memorial service Abdus-Salaam will take place on May 26 at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, 1047 Amsterdam Ave., at 11 a.m., a family spokeswoman said.
