Officers search homes in Raleigh, Apex in connection to killing of Hadeel Hikmat

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Two homes connected to the woman found dead in Jordan Lake are being searched Friday.

Chatham County Sheriff's Office confirmed that investigators were executing search warrants at homes in Apex and Raleigh. Both homes were places Hadeel Hikmat visited frequently.

Hikmat is the woman who was found dead in Jordan Lake on Aug. 29. Chatham County Sheriff's Office has said her death was a homicide, but they have not named any suspects or released any further details about how they think she died.

ABC11 crews were at the Raleigh home when law enforcement officers arrived and began going in and out of the home. They took out what appeared to be bags of evidence and towed away a vehicle.

SEE ALSO | 'We want justice': Brother of woman found dead in Jordan Lake demands answers

Hadeel Hikmat's death is now being investigated as a homicide, Chatham Co. Sheriff confirms. Her body was pulled from the lake on Tuesday, August 29.

ABC11 has learned the home is owned by the parents of Hadeel Hikmat's husband, Omar Drabick. That family exclusively told ABC11's Tom George that they're "grieving at this time" and referred all questions to their attorney.

"They are desirous, much like her family, in regards to obtaining the truth," attorney Nardine Guirguis said. "The entire family is grieving...The family is going through a grieving process. They are very much in pain, and I think that that happens whenever you have a loss in the family."

Drabick, his parents and his brother were all present at the Raleigh home when officers arrived to search it. No one was taken into police custody.

Guirguis said all members of the family are working closely with law enforcement and cooperating in the investigation.

Drabick's sister told ABC11 police had their guns drawn when they arrived at one of the homes. She said they then took her cellphone and her dad's laptop.

It is still unknown what law enforcement is looking for with these searches and what Hikmat's husband was doing before and after she went missing. ABC11 asked the family's attorney that last question directly.

"We are not going to engage any further, we want to make sure we respect the process as well," she said.