Nahida S Bristy, the second missing University of South Florida doctoral student, was confirmed dead on Friday (US time) after her human remains were officially identified to the public. Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office issued the heart-rending update a week after the remains of Zamil Limon, a fellow doctoral student at the university who had once dated Bristy, were found last week alongside Howard Frankland Bridge in Tampa, Florida.
Both 27-year-old individuals, who were in the US on student visas, were natives of Bangladesh. Nahida Bristy and Zamil Limon were last seen alive on April 16, according to US reports citing a court filing. Limon’s roommate and a former USF student, Hisham Abugharbieh, has since been charged with first-degree murder in their deaths.
USF student was meant to visit family in Bangladesh
In a heartbreaking confession to WFLA TV, the NBC affiliate for the Tampa Bay Area, Nahida’s brother Zahid Pranto said that his sister had already planned to visit her home country before the unprecedented tragedy changed things forever.
“We were really happy that she would be coming soon back to Bangladesh for a one-month visit,” he told the local US news channel. “She had already purchased a ticket and all that. So we were making plans with her, what we were going to do, and then everything just collapsed.”
Her family emphasised that Nahida will be remembered as a positive and bright young woman aspiring for a better future in the US. After pursuing a master’s of engineering the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology and a bachelor’s of science in applied chemistry and chemical engineering from the Noakhali Science and Technology University in Bangladesh, she went on to study chemical engineering as a doctoral student at the University of South Florida.
During her time as a USF doctoral student, she lived on the school’s campus, not with Limon and Abugharbieh. They lived at Avalon Heights, an off-campus apartment complex.
In a separate statement shared with CNN, her brother said it was Nahida’s dream to “come back to Bangladesh, work here, do something big and contribute to society.”
With the University of South Florida’s Muslim Student Association previously confirming that Limon and Bristy were Muslim, Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister disclosed during a news conference that authorities were actively working to release both bodies for “religious reasons” back to their Bangladeshi families.
Gruesome details of missing USF students’ murders emerge
Although identity confirmation rolled out this week, Bristy’s human remains were originally recovered near a Tampa Bay area bridge on Sunday (US time), according to Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister’s statement. While at a new conference, the sheriff affirmed that DNA testing has helped confirm that the body, which had been in an “advanced stage of decomposition,” found earlier in a black trash bash in a mangrove was that of Nahida.
Limon’s body was also found in a trash bag last week on the Howard Frankland Bridge in Tampa. The black bag containing Bristy’s body was spotted just south where Limon was found. Both bags were tied in a knot in a similar fashion, and each victim suffered multiple stab wounds.
“What began as a missing persons case ended with the discovery of a monstrous crime,” Sheriff Chronister said on Friday. “Our community has been left heartbroken.”
“The details of this investigation are gruesome, and the actions of the suspect are nothing short of pure evil,” he added.
University of South Florida in shambles amid student tragedies
Kai, Zamil’s co-major professor at USF, previously launched a GoFundMe campaign cooperation with the Bangladesh Student Association to help the bereaved families as they come to terms with the life-altering tragedies.
“Zamil Ahamed Limon and Nahida Sultana Bristy were both talented, dedicated graduate students at the University of South Florida before they were brutally murdered,” the fundraiser states, adding that the total sum of funds raised through the campaign will be divided in two equal shares and transferred to each of the family account in Bangladesh.
At the time of writing, the GoFundMe page had raised over $170,000.
Elsewhere, the university’s Bangladesh Student Association announced that a vigil will be held on campus on Friday evening (US time) to pay tribute to Bristy and Limon.
USF President Moez Limayem issued a separate statement, saying, “No words can fully capture the heartbreak surrounding this loss, which is felt deeply across our university. Nahida and Zamil Limon were exemplary students, building lives, creating community and contributing to our university in meaningful ways.”
About the USF students’ accused murder
While authorities’ investigation to uncover a motive is still ongoing, they have not ruled out the possibility of additional charges.
In addition to facing two counts of murder in the first degree with a weapon (premeditated) in the deaths of Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy, Hisham Abugharbieh has also been charged with Unlawfully Hold or Move a Dead Human Body in Unapproved Conditions, Failure to Report Death to Medical Examiner or Law Enforcement (Intent to Conceal), Tampering with Physical Evidence, False Imprisonment and Battery, according to Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.
A court filing, cited by US report, detailed that the 26-year-old accused gave both USF student a ride from Tampa to Clearwater, Florida, on April 16, the last day they were seen alive. Although Abugharbieh originally denied the claims, he eventually changed the narrative when confronted with data indicating that Limon’s phone had been in Clearwater, the same location where his car had also been.
He has since admitted to dropping off the pair at Clearwater after his roommate, Limon, requested for a ride.
Reports citing discoveries of the investigation pointed out that Abugharbieh bought rash bags, Lysol wipes and Febreze that same night. He eventually got rid of certain items, including Bristy’s pink phone cover. The filing further takes note of location data obtained through a search warrant, which tracked the suspect driving to Howard Frankland Bridge and stopping along the bridge the following day.
The investigation also linked Limon’s roommate to the murders through his ChatGPT searches about putting someone in a dumpster on April 13. As of Monday, the Florida Attorney General’s Office said it would be expanding an ongoing investigation into the chatbot’s creator, OpenAI, in the wake of the recent tragedies, including the Florida State University shooting from last year.
The 26-year-old suspect remains in custody as he awaits trial.