Updated April 24, 2026 — One of two University of South Florida doctoral students who had been reported missing was found dead Friday and a roommate has been taken into custody, authorities said.
Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Joseph Maurer said the remains of 27-year-old Zamil Limon were recovered from the Howard Franklin Bridge in Tampa on Friday morning. Investigators said they are still searching for 27-year-old Nahida Bristy; dive teams were working in the area near the bridge, the sheriff’s office said in a social media update.
Limon and Bristy were last seen in the Tampa area on April 16. An autopsy is pending to determine Limon’s cause of death.
Deputies arrested 26-year-old Hisham Abugarbieh, who shared a residence with Limon, after responding to a domestic violence call at a home in the Lake Forest community, a neighborhood near USF’s Tampa campus. Officials said Abugarbieh faces charges including domestic violence, tampering with evidence and failing to report a death to law enforcement.
Maurer said Abugarbieh had barricaded himself inside the home but eventually exited peacefully. Law enforcement briefly closed the entrance and exit to the Lake Forest Community during the response, the sheriff’s office said.
The Sheriff’s Office had upgraded Limon and Bristy’s case to endangered status on Thursday, saying new information had prompted detectives to do so but providing no further details.
Limon was pursuing research on applications of artificial intelligence in environmental science and was scheduled to present his doctoral thesis this week, his family said. Bristy was a chemical engineering student.
Bristy’s older brother, Zahid Pranto, told CBS News the family had been in daily contact with her and remains deeply shaken by the developments. “There has been no single day without contact with her,” he said.
Authorities continue to investigate and have not released further details as searches and inquiries remain active.