The funds are expected to help in Nahida Bristy and Zamil Limon’s “heartbreaking final return to Bangladesh,” according to the GoFundMe page

Nahida S. Bristy, Zamil Limon

Nahida S. Bristy (left); and Zamil Limon.Credit : University of South Florida Police Department; Facebook

A fundraiser has been set up to assist the families of Nahida Bristy and Zamil Limon, 27-year-old doctoral students whose disappearances have led Florida authorities to a murder investigation.

Limon’s body was found on a bridge in Tampa, Fla. on Friday, April 24, a week after the two had been reported missing. Additional human remains were found at the same location and are pending identification at the coroner’s office.

Limon’s graduate advisor at the University of South Florida, where both Bristy and Limon were students, started the GoFundMe — which has been verified by PEOPLE — to assist their families with funeral costs and legal proceedings.

“We have all lost two gifted and generous young people, and their families have lost their beloved son and daughter,” Kai Rains, a University of South Florida staffer, wrote in the fundraiser.

Nahida S. Bristy, Zamil Limon

Nahida S. Bristy (left); and Zamil Limon.Facebook; University of South Florida Police Department

The funds are expected to help with the transferring of belongings and remains back to their families in their native Bangladesh, lost income and funeral proceedings.

The victims’ families were financially reliant on them, according to a joint-statement the families issued Sunday.

“We hope you will contribute to this fund to ease the financial burden associated with this unexpected and heartbreaking final return to Bangladesh,” Rains wrote in the fundraiser, which garnered more than $5,000 in its first three hours of going live.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said in an affidavit obtained by PEOPLE that they found no evidence to indicate that Bristy may still be alive.

Limon’s roommate Hisham Abugharbieh has been arrested and charged with two counts of murder in connection with the case.

Online court records don’t show plea information; his public defender declined to comment when contacted by PEOPLE earlier this week.