The body of Zamil Limon was recovered on the Howard Frankland Bridge. His roommate, Hisham Abugharbieh, was taken into custody after a barricade situation in Tampa.
TAMPA, Fla. — A suspect is in custody after the body of missing USF student Zamil Limon was recovered on the Howard Frankland Bridge on Friday morning, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office confirmed.
Pinellas County deputies responded to the Howard Frankland Bridge around 6:15 a.m., slowing traffic for several hours while they recovered the remains of the 27-year-old doctoral student.
Then, at about 9 a.m., Hillsborough County deputies responded to a domestic violence call in the Lake Forest neighborhood in Tampa, located about a mile away from the University of South Florida campus.
Deputies were aware that the call was at the family home of 26-year-old Hisham Abugharbieh, the suspect in this case and Zamil Limon’s roommate.
Chief Deputy Joseph Maurer said deputies were able to safely remove his family from the home, but Abugharbieh refused to leave.
He continued to refuse commands for about 20 minutes until the SWAT team was activated, according to the chief deputy.
The SWAT team arrived at 10:36 a.m. and mobilized. A short time later, Abugharbieh exited the home peacefully and was taken into custody.
Abugharbieh is facing several charges while authorities await the results of the autopsy, including:
domestic violence, simple battery;domestic violence, false imprisonment;tampering with evidence;failure to report death to law enforcement andunlawfully holding or moving a dead human body in an unapproved condition.
Chief Deputy Maurer said that while the investigation is active, deputies believe Abugharbieh acted alone.
“Right now, we don’t have any inclination to think that he was working with anybody else,” Maurer said.
Authorities are still searching for the other missing USF doctoral student, 27-year-old Nahida S. Bristy.
“We are still actively searching for Nahida,” the chief deputy said. “If you have any tips of where you’ve seen her or if she was just recently seen, please report it to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office immediately so we can recover her to safety.”
Deputies are interviewing Abugharbieh as they work to determine a motive.
VIDEO: Suspect taken into custody in missing USF students case
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Limon was a doctoral student pursuing a degree in geography, environmental science and policy.
Bristy is a doctoral student studying chemical engineering. She was reportedly last seen at around 10 a.m. on April 16 at the NES building on the USF campus.
Authorities are asking anyone with more information on Bristy’s wherabouts is asked to contact the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office at 813-247-8200.
