{"id":248921,"date":"2026-04-27T23:50:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T23:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/248921\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T23:50:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T23:50:09","slug":"missing-usf-students-confirmed-dead-suspect-in-custody-the-crows-nest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/248921\/","title":{"rendered":"Missing USF students confirmed dead, suspect in custody\u00a0\u00a0 \u2013 The Crow’s Nest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zamil Limon, right, and Nahida Bristy were reported missing last week. Authorities say Limon\u2019s remains were found Friday, April 24.<\/p>\n

Photo courtesy of Hillsborough County Sheriff\u2019s Office<\/p>\n

By Alisha Durosier and Julia Ferrara\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hearts are heavy across the University of South Florida this month after two missing 27-year-old doctoral students from Bangladesh were confirmed dead.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Zamil Limon, a geography, environmental science and policy student\u00a0and Nahida Bristy, a chemical engineering student, were reported missing on April 17 after a family friend was unable to reach them.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Both students were last seen on April 16, Bristy in the Natural & Environmental Science building of the USF Tampa campus and Limon at his Tampa apartment complex \u2013 week later, on April 24, his remains were found on Howard Frankland Bridge.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Limon\u2019s roommate, Hisham Saleh\u00a0Abugharbieh, 26, was taken into custody on the preliminary charges of moving a dead body, failure to report a death, tampering with evidence, false\u00a0imprisonment\u00a0and battery.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

On April 25,\u00a0\u00a0Abugharbieh\u2019s\u00a0charges were upgraded to two counts of first-degree murder for both Limon and Bristy\u2019s deaths, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff\u2019s Office.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Abugharbieh\u00a0has a prior record, including domestic violence petitions,\u00a0battery\u00a0and burglary of an unoccupied dwelling, but they were either dropped or classified as\u00a0misdemeanors.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Though confirmed dead, Bristy\u2019s remains have not been found.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Sherrif\u2019s Office Deputy Joseph Maurer shared that\u00a0they\u2019ve\u00a0been able to link\u00a0Abugharbieh\u00a0to the case and are waiting on the autopsy results for manner and cause of death.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAt this time, we have no indications that think he was not working alone, but again, active investigation,\u201d Maurer told\u00a0WFLA<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

USF students shared their thoughts on the situation.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is really concerning because, like I said, it is really close to home,\u201d a student said to a WFLA reporter.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really shocking, just because I\u2019ve been here for 3 years and I haven\u2019t really seen anything like this,\u201d another student shared.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

USF President Moez\u00a0Limayem\u00a0sent a university-wide email sharing updates about the case, and services staff and students have access to if needed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIn recent days, members of the USF leadership team have spoken directly with the families and friends of the students to offer our support and assure them that we have been doing everything possible to assist in this case,\u201d\u00a0Limayem\u00a0said. \u201cWe will continue to stay in close contact with them to provide any help that we can.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Students can access\u00a0Timely Care 24\/7<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0in-person counseling services<\/a>\u00a0on campus. Resources for faculty and staff are available through the\u00a0Employee Assistance Program<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n


\n\t\t\t\t Post Views: 104 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\"More<\/a>
Written by: Julia Ferrara<\/a> on April 27, 2026. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Zamil Limon, right, and Nahida Bristy were reported missing last week. Authorities say Limon\u2019s remains were found Friday,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":248922,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-248921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=248921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248921\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/248922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}