Crime & Safety
Body Of Missing USF Student Found; Roommate Arrested: Report
The body of 1 of the 2 missing USF doctoral students was found on the Howard Frankland Bridge and his roommate was arrested, a report said.
Updated: Friday, 3:03 p.m.
TAMPA, FL — The body of Zamil Limon, one of two University of South Florida doctoral students missing for over a week, was found Friday morning on the Howard Frankland Bridge, NBC News reported.
Limon’s roommate, Hisham Abu Gharbieh, 26, was arrested Friday in connection with the case, the Tampa Bay Times said.
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He was arrested after a domestic violence incident at their home, and his charges include domestic violence, simple battery, false imprisonment, tampering with evidence, failure to report a death and unlawfully holding or moving a dead body, reports said.
Limon and Nahida S. Bristy, both 27, were last seen separately on April 16, USF police said.
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The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office took over the search for the students, following leads in both Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, and declared them endangered on Thursday.
The roommate barricaded himself in a Tampa home, just north of campus in the Lake Forest Community, near Bruce B. Downs Boulevard and Lake Forest Drive.
Family at the home were able to leave safely and after a brief standoff with deputies, the suspect came out after about 20 minutes, the report said.
The students, who are both from Bangladesh, had previously dated, Bristy’s older brother, Zahaid Hasan Pranto, speaking from Bangladesh, told NBC News.
“From my sister’s friends, I came to know like she was still emotionally engaged,” he said.
Limon’s younger brother, Zubaer Ahmed, also speaking from Bangladesh, told the news outlet that the couple were “close friends” who were still talking about potentially getting married in the future.
They had been “thinking about having [a] future together,” but both were currently dedicated to their studies, he said.
Ahmed told Fox news that his brother “is a very responsible person, and that’s why the situation is so unpredictable and unusual to us … like, and very suspicious.”
The family is “in deep pain and [it’s a devastating situation,” the brother added.
Limon, who is pursuing a doctoral degree in geography, environmental science and policy, was last seen on April 16 around 9 a.m. at Avalon Heights, an off-campus apartment complex not far from campus, USF police said in a news release.
He was scheduled to present his thesis on the use of AI in environmental science this week, CBS News reported.
Bristy, who is studying chemical engineering, was last seen on April 16 around 10 a.m. at the NES building on USF’s Tampa campus at 121 USF Sweetgum Lane.
A family friend told police they were missing on April 17, just before 5 p.m., after being unable to contact either of them
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office documented and processed Limon’s missing person’s report, while USF police handled the missing person’s report for Bristy.
Their lack of communication is unlike them, Md Rakibuzzaman, a friend of Limon and a graduate student at the University of Georgia, told WFLA.
“It doesn’t feel normal,” he said, “It’s a pretty complex puzzle to me. Like I said, he is a very decent person, but what’s going on in his personal life…I don’t know.”
Authorities said there are no signs of foul play, reports said.
Larry McKinnon, a spokesperson for USF police, told the USF Oracle that the department believes the two disappearances are related.
Anyone with information about the whereabouts of Limon or Bristy are asked to contact the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office at 813-247-8200.
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