Sheriff's Sad News: 'We Have Located Nahida Bristy'

UPDATE May 1, 2026 12:30 PM CDT

Remains found over the weekend in Florida waters have brought to an end the search for a second missing grad student from the University of South Florida. "We have located Nahida Bristy," Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said at a Friday presser, per NBC News, adding that the family of the 27-year-old, whose body was found near a Tampa Bay bridge by two kayakers, has been contacted. The remains of fellow USF doctoral student Zamil Limon, also 27, were found last week not far from hers. Limon's roommate, 26-year-old Hisham Abugharbieh, has been hit with first-degree murder charges and is being held without bond, per the AP. A motive isn't clear, and Limon and Bristy's relationship also remains a bit murky: A relative has said that the two had talked marriage, but Chronister noted that a romantic relationship hadn't yet been established, per WUSF.

Apr 27, 2026 9:03 AM CDT

A body has been found in a waterway near a bridge over Tampa Bay where the body of one of two missing Bangladeshi doctoral students was found days earlier, authorities in Florida announced. The body was recovered from waterways in the area of Interstate 275, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said in a news release Sunday night. The body hadn't yet been identified, the AP reports. Zamil Limon's remains were found on the Howard Frankland bridge Friday morning, but Hillsborough County Chief Deputy Joseph Maurer said later that day they were still searching for Limon's girlfriend, Nahida Bristy. Law enforcement dive teams were searching the bay near the bridge, the sheriff's office said.

Limon's roommate, Hisham Abugharbieh, was charged with two counts of premeditated murder in the first degree with a weapon in the deaths of Limon and Bristy, the sheriff's office announced Saturday. The 26-year-old former University of South Florida student was ordered held without bond on Saturday. A hearing is set for Tuesday. USF students Limon and Bristy, both 27, were considering getting married, a relative said. They disappeared from campus on April 16. Limon was last seen at his home in an off-campus apartment complex where he lived with Abugharbieh. Bristy, who lived off campus, was last seen an hour later at a campus science building.

Abugharbieh, a native-born US citizen, was taken into custody on Friday at his family's home on preliminary charges that include unlawfully moving a dead body, failure to report a death, tampering with evidence, false imprisonment, and battery. Officers encountered Abugharbieh as they responded to a report of domestic violence at his family's home, just north of the campus, and were able to move his relatives to safety. But he then barricaded himself inside and refused to come out. A SWAT team responded—along with a drone, a robot, and crisis negotiators—before Abugharbieh came out with his hands up, wearing nothing but a blue towel. Abugharbieh had been a USF student but wasn't currently enrolled. University records show he'd attended the school from spring 2021 through spring 2023 and had pursued a BS in management.