The body of a University of South Florida doctoral student from Bangladesh was discovered on Friday on a bridge spanning Tampa Bay, while his girlfriend and fellow graduate student remain missing. Authorities continue to comb the surrounding waters for any sign of her.
“This is a deeply disturbing case that has shaken our community and impacted many who were hoping for a safe resolution,” Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said. “While the discovery of Zamil Limon’s remains is heartbreaking, I want the public to know that our detectives worked and are working tirelessly and relentlessly to uncover the truth. We will continue to follow every fact, pursue every lead, and use every tool available to hold those responsible fully accountable.”
Abugharbeih faces a string of charges, including unlawfully moving a dead body, failure to report a death, tampering with evidence, false imprisonment, and battery, according to Hillsborough County Chief Deputy Joseph Maurer. He was expected to make his first court appearance Saturday morning.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office responds to a neighborhood close to the University of South Florida campus in Tampa, Fla., on April 24, 2026. Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office via AP
A Search That Began Eight Days Ago
Limon and his girlfriend, 27-year-old Nahida Bristy, also a doctoral student at USF and from Bangladesh, vanished from campus on April 16, and reported missing by a family friend on April 17.
Limon and Bristy, both 27, were considering getting married, a relative said.
Limon was last spotted at an off-campus apartment he shared with Abugharbeih in the morning; Bristy was seen roughly an hour later inside a campus science building where she worked.
Limon was pursuing a doctorate in geography, environmental science and policy; Bristy was studying chemical engineering.
Investigators spoke with Abugharbeih on April 23, Maurer said, but he chose to end the interview before it finished. After his arrest on April 24, he continued speaking with detectives.
A Standoff, Then an Arrest
The break in the case came on the morning of April 24 when deputies responded around 9 a.m. to a domestic violence call at the Abugharbeih family home in the Lake Forest Community, near Bruce B Downs Boulevard and Lake Forest Drive—less than a mile from campus. Deputies were able to move the family to safety, but Abugharbeih refused to come out of the home.
Sheriff Chronister, speaking at Friday’s news conference, said commands were given for roughly 20 minutes before a SWAT team was activated. When SWAT arrived at approximately 10:36 a.m., Abugharbeih came out peacefully, wearing nothing but a blue towel, and was taken into custody. Authorities deployed a drone, a robot, and crisis negotiators during the standoff.
“At approximately 9am we received a domestic violence call for service,” Chronister said. “Units responded. We knew that this was the home of the suspect.”
A Prior Record
Abugharbeih had previously attended USF from spring 2021 through spring 2023, studying for a bachelor’s degree in management, but was no longer enrolled at the time of the incidents, a university spokesperson said. Court records show he had prior arrests: a battery charge in May 2023 and combined battery, and burglary charges in September 2023, both misdemeanors.
Abugharbeih completed a diversion program for first-time misdemeanor offenders in 2024 and the charges were discontinued. Additionally, two domestic violence petitions filed against him by a family member in 2023 resulted in one injunction being granted and one denied.
Search for Nahida Bristy Continues
As of Friday afternoon, Bristy had not been found. Marine and dive teams from the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office were actively searching the waters near the Howard Frankland Bridge, with assistance from the Florida Highway Patrol and the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.
“We are still actively searching for Nahida,” Maurer said, appealing to anyone with information to come forward.
An autopsy was underway Friday to determine the cause and manner of Limon’s death, with results expected Saturday, Maurer said.
USF Police Chief Chris Daniel, who also spoke at Friday’s news conference, extended condolences to Limon and Bristy’s families and praised the multi-agency response. “Our hearts go out to the families, to the students at USF,” Daniel said. “It was amazing to see the teamwork, the agencies across the bay that helped us.”
Chronister echoed the same. “When I tell you I had hundreds of detectives and deputies and assets looking for Nahida and Zamil, that is the truth,” he said, citing his Criminal Investigations Division, Special Investigations Division, aviation assets, marine assets, drone operators, SWAT, crisis negotiators, and a bomb team among those deployed.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
