A man has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder and concealment of an unnatural death in connection with the discovery of his wife’s body in a North Carolina Lake.
The Chatham County Sheriff’s Office apprehended 34-year-old Omar Matthew Ibrahim Drabick after his wife, Hadeel Ghadhanfer Hikmat, 34, was found deceased on August 29.
According to information obtained from an arrest warrant, Drabick allegedly killed his wife and threw her body from a bridge into Jordan Lake in the Raleigh area. The exact cause of Hikmat’s death has not been disclosed, but authorities have ruled out accidental or self-inflicted causes. Her identity was confirmed through fingerprint analysis.
The motive behind the murder remains undisclosed. Deputies executed two search warrants on September 8, one at the Raleigh-area home where Hikmat and Drabick lived and another at a location she frequented.
Hikmat, who had relocated from Iraq to the United States last year, was reported missing by her brother, Firas Hikmat. He revealed that he last communicated with his sister on August 28 and reported her disappearance to the police two days later.
Drabick is currently held without bond at the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office Detention Center. His next court appearance is scheduled for Monday, September 29.
The case has stirred concern among Hikmat’s family in Iraq, where she had a substantial support network.