Autopsy reveals woman found dead in Jordan Lake last year was fatally shot

PITTSBORO, N.C. (WNCN) — The cause of death for a woman who was found dead in Jordan Lake last summer and took over a week to identify has been determined.

Thirty-four-year-old Hadeel Ghadhanfer Hikmat’s body was found on August 29, 2023, by a boater in Jordan Lake near the Farrington Point Boat Ramp, according to the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office.

After eight days, she was identified using fingerprint analysis .

According to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services medical examiners, Hikmat’s cause of death was a gunshot wound to the upper back.

Documents also said that Hikmat suffered blunt force trauma to the head as well as to the left ankle and forearm.

Omar Matthew Ibrahim Drabick, Hikmat’s husband, was arrested and charged in September 2023 with first-degree murder. Drabick was also charged with destroying a body/remains in the concealment of an unnatural death.

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