More Remains Found in Search for Missing Doctoral Student After Fellow Scholar’s Body Was Found Last Week

The remains were located while Nahida Bristy still remains missing more than a week after her disappearance alongside Zamil Limon, whose body was found last week

Nahida S. Bristy (left); and Zamil Limon.Credit : 

Facebook; University of South Florida Police Department

NEED TO KNOW

Authorities discovered additional human remains near the location where missing student Zamil Limon’s body was found
Fellow student Nahida Bristy remains missing
Suspect Hisham Abugharbieh, Limon’s roommate, faces multiple charges including two counts of first-degree premeditated murder

Authorities in Florida have recovered human remains at the same location where they found the body of a missing Florida student last week.

Nahida Bristy and Zamil Limon, both 27-year-old doctoral students at the Universoty of South Florida, were reported missing on April 17, launching a days-long search which resulted in the recovery of Limon’s body on the Howard Frankland Bridge in Tampa on Friday, April 24.

That same day, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrest of 26-year-old Hisham Abugharbieh on a slew of charges, including murder.

Investigators have since found more human remains in the vicinity of 4th Street North and Interstate 275 in St. Petersburg, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said in an update on Sunday.

In their statement, the sheriff’s office did not say who the remains belong to, but said they’ve been sent to the Pinellas County Medical Examiner’s Office for identification.

Hisham Abugharbieh (mugshot); and Hisham Abugharbieh arrest video.Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office(2)

Bristy and Limon were last seen separately on April 16, a day before they were reported missing. Days into the search, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said they deemed the pair “endangered.”

Abugharbieh was arrested following an unrelated domestic violence call on Friday, the sheriff’s office announced, later adding he was Limon’s roommate.

In a statement released after Abugharbieh’s arrest, Limon and Bristy’s families issued a joint statement calling for the university to take legal action against the off-campus housing facility where Limon and Abugharbieh lived, which the families allege did not do appropriate background check while assigning roommates. Among other things, they are also requesting the university establish a memorial in their name.

The statement claimed Limon and Bristy’s respective families were financially reliant on them.

Nahida S. Bristy (left); and Zamil Limon.University of South Florida Police Department; Facebook

Authorities have not publicly alleged a motive behind the alleged killings.

Abugharbieh has been charged with two counts of first-degree premeditated murder, tampering with evidence, false imprisonment and failure to report a death, among other charges, per the sheriff’s office.

It’s not clear if he has entered pleas; he is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday. The public defender representing him told PEOPLE they are not commenting on this case.

TIMELINE: Murders of missing USF students Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy

Zamil Limon’s remains have been found. Nahida Bristy is still listed as missing, though investigators believe she is also dead. Here’s a timeline of the case so far.

Investigators are still working to identify a second set of human remains found near the Howard Frankland Bridge —  the same area where the body of missing USF doctoral student Zamil Limon was recovered Friday.

USF doctoral student Nahida Bristy is still listed as missing and endangered, though based on evidence, investigators said they believe she is also dead.

Limon’s roommate, Hisham Abugharbieh, has been arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection to their deaths.

As we await further developments in the case, here’s a timeline of events in the University of South Florida students’ disappearance.

USF missing students timeline

Thursday, April 16 – Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy are last seen alive

Zamil Limon, a USF student pursuing a doctoral degree in geography, environmental science & policy, is last seen at 9 a.m. at his home on Avalon Heights Boulevard in Tampa.

Nahida Bristy, a USF student pursuing a doctoral degree in chemical engineering, is last seen at 10 a.m. at the NES Building on campus.

Friday, April 17 – Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy are reported missing

At approximately 4:50 p.m. on April 17, a family friend notifies the University of South Florida Police Department after they were unable to contact Zamil Limon or Nahida Bristy.

Missing person reports are initiated, and both students are entered into FCIC/NCIC missing persons’ databases.

Tuesday, April 21 – USF police announce students’ disappearance

USF police announce that they’re searching for Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy, both 27 years old, as they ask the public for help.

Thursday, April 23 – Deputies search Sand Key Park in Clearwater

A dive team from the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office is seen searching the water at Sand Key Park in Clearwater. Pinellas County deputies are seen taking a paper bag from the scene into a Crime Scene Investigation vehicle.

The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office confirms its forensic unit was called to assist in a search related to the missing USF students.

6:15 a.m. Friday, April 24 – Zamil Limon’s remains recovered from Howard Frankland Bridge

Several northbound lanes of the Howard Frankland Bridge are shut down for hours as authorities recover what is later confirmed to be the body of Zamil Limon in “heavy-duty utility trash bags.”

9 a.m. Friday, April 24 – Deputies respond to domestic violence call at family home of Hisham Abugharbieh

Hillsborough County deputies respond 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 are aware this is the family home of 26-year-old Hisham Abugharbieh, Zamil Limon’s roommate.

Deputies safely remove his family from the home, but Abugharbieh is refusing to leave, according to Chief Deputy Joseph Maurer. A SWAT team is called just after 10:30 a.m.

11:42 a.m. Friday, April 24 – Hisham Abugharbieh taken into custody

Video shows Hisham Abugharbieh exiting the home peacefully and being taken into custody by SWAT officers.

12:53 a.m. Saturday, April 25 – Nahida Bristy’s brother believes she’s dead

The brother of missing USF graduate student Nahida Bristy tells 10 Tampa Bay News reporter Chris Hurst that investigators called the family in Bangladesh late Friday night to say they believe she is dead because of “the volume of blood” found at the shared apartment of Zamil Limon, and the suspect in their killings, Hisham Abugharbieh.

That brother, Zahid Hasan Pranto, says the family was told that her body may never be found and may have been dismembered.

6:30 a.m. Saturday, April 25 – Hisham Abugharbieh charged with 2 counts of first-degree murder

Hisham Abugharbieh, 26, faces two counts of murder in the first degree with a weapon (premeditated) in the deaths of Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy.

He is being held in a Hillsborough County Jail without bond.

Court documents reveal he used ChatGPT to ask questions, such as “what happens if a human is put in a garbage bag and thrown in a dumpster,” before the USF students were reported missing.

8:55 p.m. Sunday, April 26 – Human remains found by Howard Frankland Bridge

Deputies with both the Hillsborough County and Pinellas County sheriff’s offices recover human remains from the waterways near the Howard Frankland Bridge, in the area of Interstate 275 and 4th Street North.

The Pinellas County Medical Examiner’s Office is working to identify the remains.

Credit: 10 Tampa Bay News
Marine units with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office search near the Howard Frankland Bridge for a missing USF student, as seen on April 26, 2026.