The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said Friday that the remains found Sunday belong to Nahida Bristy, a 27-year-old student from Bangladesh who had been missing since mid-April.
Bristy and fellow doctoral student Zamil Limon, also 27 and a native of Bangladesh, disappeared on April 16. Limon’s remains were discovered in Tampa last week. The two were in a relationship, according to investigators.
“We have located Nahida Bristy,” Sheriff Chad Chronister said at a news conference. “We have contacted her family. We are now actively working to release both bodies for religious reasons back to the families who live in Bangladesh.”
Authorities have arrested Limon’s roommate, 26-year-old Hisham Abugharbie, who faces two counts of premeditated first-degree murder along with related charges.
Investigators have not yet identified a motive. “I hope we find that out,” Chronister said.
What began as two separate missing persons cases quickly converged. Both students were described as responsible and reliable, making their sudden disappearances alarming and causing investigators to conclude the cases were connected.
The killings have prompted an outpouring of grief at the University of South Florida. University President Moez Limayem expressed “profound sadness” in a statement.
“Two young lives were taken far too soon and the pain surrounding these losses is real,” Limayem said. “We will continue our review of the conditions and safety measures that are in place at off-campus housing communities in order to identify additional ways to better support and protect our students, wherever they live.”
The university has established a fund to support the victims’ families and plans to hold a vigil Friday evening in their honor.
The case has also drawn attention from state officials. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said this week that his office is expanding a broader criminal investigation involving OpenAI after learning the suspect allegedly used ChatGPT in the days before the killings.
FLORIDA ADDS CHATGPT TO USF MURDER INVESTIGATION AFTER SUSPECT ASKED IT ABOUT BODY DISPOSAL
According to court documents, Abugharbie allegedly asked the chatbot questions about disposing of a body, including what would happen if someone were “put in a black garbage bag and thrown in dumpster.”
When the chatbot responded that the scenario sounded dangerous, he allegedly replied, “How would they find out.”
