Campus Alert Archive
USF

Two USF Doctoral Students Vanish on a Wednesday in April: A Missing-Student Notification Becomes a Double Homicide

FLmissing personmissing studentmedium confidence
Confirmed Threat

On April 16, 2026, USF doctoral students Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy, both 27, were last seen near the Tampa campus. After a family friend was unable to reach Bristy, the University of South Florida Police Department was notified at approximately 4:50 PM EDT on April 17, 2026, and a parallel report was made to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. Both students were entered into FCIC/NCIC missing-persons databases, and USF Police pushed a missing-student alert to media. Their status was upgraded to 'endangered' on April 23, and Limon's roommate Hisham Abugharbieh was arrested April 24 and charged with two counts of first-degree murder.

Alerts
3
Response
—
Killed
2
Injured
0
Institution
University of South Florida
Public R1 · FL
~50,000 studentsAlertUSF
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

3 messages in sequence · 1 verified verbatim

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTEmail
Approximate reconstruction250 chars
USF Police are seeking the public's assistance in locating two missing USF doctoral students, Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy, both 27, last seen the morning of April 16 in the Tampa area. Anyone with information is asked to call USFPD at 813-974-2628.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Reconstructed; the USF Police notification went to the media on April 17, 2026 — the day after both students were last seen and approximately 24-30 hours after their last sighting
Under the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, institutions with on-campus housing must notify law enforcement within 24 hours of determining a student is missing — this notification meets that benchmark
Issuing a missing-student notification through media rather than an AlertUSF emergency push reflects USF's policy choice to use emergency notifications for immediate threats and media releases for missing-person investigations
UPDATEEmail
Approximate reconstruction279 chars
USF Police have upgraded the status of missing students Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy from missing to missing and endangered. New information has led detectives to believe they are at risk of physical injury or death. Anyone with information should call USFPD or 911 immediately.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Reconstructed; the upgrade to 'endangered' status occurred on April 23, 2026, approximately 7 days after the students were last seen
The 'endangered' classification under FCIC/NCIC indicates a person is at imminent risk of physical injury or death — the next step before a homicide investigation
USF coordinated with Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office and Tampa Police; the synchronized public release reflects multi-agency missing-person investigation best practices
FOLLOW-UPEmail
Verified verbatimVerbatim from USF President Moez Limayem's official 'Honoring Nahida Bristy and Zamil Limon' campus message dated April 29, 2026348 chars
As we continue to mourn the tragic loss of our students Nahida Bristy and Zamil Limon, I want to share several updates with you, including plans to honor Nahida and Zamil with the dignity and compassion they deserve. Nahida and Zamil were exemplary students, building lives, creating community and contributing to our university in meaningful ways.
Reconstructed; this update was issued April 24, 2026 — the same day Abugharbieh was arrested at his parents' home in Lutz, Florida and the same day Limon's body was found
The notification distinguishes between confirmed (Limon's body located) and unresolved (Bristy still missing) status — a critical clarity choice in active missing-person investigations
Bristy's remains were discovered on Sunday, April 26, 2026 by a fisherman in a kayak in a black trash bag in shoreline mangroves south of the Howard Frankland Bridge, and positively identified on Thursday, April 30, 2026 (publicly announced May 1) due to advanced decomposition
Context

Background

The University of South Florida is a public R1 doctoral institution in Tampa, with about 50,000 students. On the morning of Wednesday, April 16, 2026, two USF doctoral students — Zamil Limon, age 27, and Nahida Bristy, age 27, both originally from Bangladesh — were last seen in the Tampa area. Limon was last seen at his home about three blocks from USF; Bristy was last seen later that morning at the Natural and Environmental Sciences building on USF's Tampa campus. On April 17, 2026 at approximately 4:50 PM EDT, a family friend notified USF Police after being unable to reach Bristy. USF Police entered both students into FCIC/NCIC missing-persons databases and released a missing-student notification to media. On April 23, 2026, both students' status was upgraded from 'missing' to 'missing and endangered' when investigators received new information. On April 24, 2026, Limon's roommate Hisham Abugharbieh was arrested at a domestic-violence call at his parents' home in Lutz, Florida, and Limon's body was located in a trash bag on the Howard Frankland Bridge. Bristy's remains were discovered Sunday, April 26, 2026 by a fisherman in a kayak in a black trash bag in the shoreline mangroves south of the Howard Frankland Bridge — about two days after Limon's body was found nearby — and were positively identified on Thursday, April 30, 2026, with the announcement made on May 1. Abugharbieh was charged with two counts of first-degree premeditated murder, plus charges of moving a dead body, tampering with evidence, false imprisonment, and battery. The case became one of the most-watched university missing-student investigations in years and underscored both the importance and limits of Higher Education Opportunity Act missing-student notification protocols — protocols that worked exactly as designed but could not prevent the underlying crime.
Analysis

Key Findings

USF's missing-student notification was issued within the 24-hour HEOA-mandated window after a family friend reported the students unreachable, demonstrating the federal compliance framework working as designed
Limon and Bristy were doctoral students rather than residence-hall undergraduates, illustrating that the HEOA missing-student framework — though specifically applied to on-campus housing residents — extends in practice to all enrolled students
The 'endangered' status upgrade on April 23 (7 days after disappearance) correlates to the moment FCIC/NCIC investigators received critical new information that led to Abugharbieh's arrest the next day
The case represents the rare missing-student notification that becomes a homicide investigation — a category that the HEOA framework was designed to surface as quickly as possible to enable interagency response
Investigators later disclosed that Abugharbieh had used ChatGPT in the days before the killings to ask what would happen if a human body was placed in a garbage bag and thrown in a dumpster — making this one of the first US campus missing-student cases to feature documented generative-AI premeditation evidence
Outcome
Both students were ultimately found deceased. Zamil Limon's body was recovered April 24 from the Howard Frankland Bridge area in a trash bag. Nahida Bristy's remains were [recovered Sunday, April 26 by a fisherman in a kayak in a black trash bag in the shoreline mangroves south of the Howard Frankland Bridge](https://www.tampabay.com/news/crime/2026/05/01/tampa-missing-usf-students-murders-zamil-limon-nahida-bristy/) and [positively identified on Thursday, April 30, 2026 (announced May 1)](https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/01/us/usf-student-nahida-bristy-death). Limon's roommate, Hisham Abugharbieh, 26, was arrested at his parents' home in Lutz, Florida on April 24 after a domestic-violence call and was charged with two counts of first-degree premeditated murder with a weapon, plus charges of unlawfully moving a dead body, failure to report a death with intent to conceal, tampering with physical evidence, false imprisonment, and battery.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    2 missing USF doctoral students were promising young researchers (CNN)
    cnn.com
  2. News
    Missing USF doctoral students were romantically linked, would never vanish willingly, family says (NBC News)
    nbcnews.com
  3. News
    TIMELINE: Murders of USF students Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy (10 Tampa Bay)
    wtsp.com
  4. Student Paper
    Missing USF students now considered 'endangered,' police say (USF Oracle)
    usforacle.com
  5. News
    2 missing University of South Florida doctoral students now considered endangered (CBS News)
    cbsnews.com
  6. News
    Remains identified as missing USF student Nahida Bristy (CNN)
    cnn.com
  7. News
    1 missing USF doctoral student found dead, roommate charged with murder (ABC News)
    abcnews.com
  8. Source
    Federal Requirements for Missing Student Notification (United Educators)
    ue.org
  9. News
    Fisherman on kayak found missing USF student's body, sheriff says (Tampa Bay Times)
    tampabay.com
Tags
missing-studentmissing-personhomicidefloridapublic-r1usfdoctoral-studentsheoaendangered-status
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion