Body found in Tampa Bay identified as 2nd missing University of South Florida doctoral student
Human remains found recently in Tampa Bay have been identified as those of Nahida Bristy, the second missing University of South Florida doctoral student, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said Friday.
Bristy and Zamil Limon, both 27, were last seen in the Tampa area on April 16. Limon’s body was found in multiple black plastic bags on the Howard Frankland Bridge across Tampa Bay last Friday.
Human remains believed to belong to Bristy were found in the waterways of Tampa Bay on Sunday. Dive teams were involved in the search for her body. Police have not yet shared a cause of death for either victim.
Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister did not say what condition Bristy’s remains were in, but said that DNA and dental work, as well as clothing she had been wearing before her disappearance, allowed them to make the identification. Bristy’s family has been notified of the identification, Chronister said. Bristy’s family previously told CBS News that police had informed them that Bristy was likely dead.
Nahida Bristy is seen in a photo provided by the University of South Florida Police Department.
Limon’s roommate Hisham Abugarbieh has been arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder, battery, false imprisonment, tampering with evidence, failure to report a death and unlawfully moving a body. He is being held without bond.
Abugharbieh, 26, allegedly asked ChatGPT how to dispose of a body in the days before the pair disappeared, according to court documents. Chronister said Abugharbieh also searched online days prior to the apparent murders for whether “a knife could penetrate a skull” and if a “neighbor could hear a gunshot.”
“The details of this investigation are gruesome,” Chronister said at a news conference.
Abugharbieh’s family has previously warned police about his erratic behavior, according to his younger brother Ahmad. Court records show Abugharbieh has been estranged from his family since 2023.
In a 2023 protective order granted by Hillsborough County and obtained by CBS News, Ahmad alleged that Abugharbieh sometimes acted violently and “would start screaming in the middle of the night about how he is God and we should all bow down to him.”
Omar Hossain, a friend of both Limon and Bristy, said that Limon also raised concerns about Abugharbieh. Limon’s family said he and Abugharbieh only knew each other for about two months prior to the incident.
Family members said Limon was studying the use of artificial intelligence in environmental science and was days away from presenting his thesis, while Bristy was studying chemical engineering. The pair previously dated, their families said.
Chronister said police are “now actively working to release both bodies for religious reasons” to their families in Bangladesh.
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