Nahida Bristy’s remains were found on Sunday, April 26 in a nearby county more than a week after she was reported missing from Tampa, Fla.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(708x289:710x291):format(webp)/Nahida-S-Bristy-042726-bc1cc0224a8b43949a11853eb67f040b.jpg)
Nahida S. Bristy.Credit : University of South Florida Police Department
Authorities in Florida have confirmed a set of remains found last week belong to Nahida Bristy, the doctoral student whose suspicious disappearance has now led police to a double-murder investigation.
Bristy, 27, was reported missing alongside 27-year-old Zamil Limon on April 17 from Tampa, Fla., where they were PhD students at the University of South Florida.
Limon’s roommate Hisham Abugharbieh, 26, has been charged with two counts of murder following his arrest on April 24, the same day Limon’s remains were found on a bridge.
At a press conference on Friday, May 1, the Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said Bristy’s remains were found in nearby Pinellas County by two kayakers on Sunday, April 26.
The fishing line of one of the kayakers “snags on a bag,” prompting him to go deeper into the mangroves, where he smelled something indescribable, Chronister said.
When the kayaker got closer to the bag, he saw what looked like human remains and called police.
Given the advanced stage of decomposition of her body, police were unable to use her fingertips to identify her at the time, he said.
They’ve since used DNA to determine the remains belong to Bristy.
Police allege they found Bristy’s blood on the passenger seat of Abugharbieh’s vehicle.
Limon was found with his wrists and ankles bound, the sheriff’s office previously said, adding that he had been stabbed several times.
When contacted by PEOPLE, the coroner’s office said on Friday that they don’t have a cause of death for Bristy as it’s still under investigation.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(750x388:752x390):format(webp)/Nahida-S.-Bristy-Zamil-Limon-42726-2143fb62f52644288410febd1f421700.jpg)
Nahida S. Bristy (left); and Zamil Limon.Facebook; University of South Florida Police Department
“First and foremost, I want all of you to know who Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy were,” Chronister said at Friday’s briefing.
“They were dedicated students and loyal friends; they were accountable and responsible, which is why they didn’t show up to meetings, stopped answering calls and missed appointments, their friends immediately knew something was very wrong,” he said.
The families of Bristy and Limon, both international students from Bangladesh, spoke out in a joint statement after Abugharbieh’s arrest, calling for the victims’ remains, belongings and financial assets to be returned to the families, and for an investigation into the housing facility where Limon and Abugharbieh had been assigned roommates.
A GoFundMe has been set up to assist Bristy and Limon’s families and for their remains to be returned to Bangladesh.
Abugharbieh has been charged with two counts of first-degree premeditated murder, tampering with evidence, false imprisonment and failure to report a death, among other charges, per the sheriff’s office.
Online court records don’t show any plea information. A public defender representing him declined to comment to PEOPLE earlier this week and was not reachable on Friday.
News
But when the church doors opened and he saw the billionaire rancher who had stepped into his place, the smile vanished from his face before I even reached the first row.
Three days before my wedding, my father told me he would not walk me down the aisle because my sister might feel “overshadowed” — but when the church doors opened and he saw the billionaire rancher who had stepped into his place, the smile vanished from his face before I even reached the first row. […]
Kaylee Goncalves’ early morning calls remain the most haunting detail of Idaho 4
**“Kaylee Goncalves’ early morning calls remain the most haunting detail of Idaho 4”** Before Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin were killed, Kaylee made numerous consecutive calls to her ex-boyfriend. This detail caused a stir on social media and led to countless speculations THAT… As the investigation into the murders of four […]
But what made the whole town think Silas was completely insane wasn’t his appearance, but the strange behavior he had been repeating for the past three months.
The whole town thought the old man had lost his mind when he poured salt all over the field every day; at night, when black snow rolled down from the mountain, only his land remained unfrozen. ### Chapter 1: The Madman of Oakhaven In the memory of the people of Oakhaven, the valley nestled at […]
The handbag fell onto the marble floor. The clasp broke. A few coins, a cold medicine box, and a yellowed parchment card scattered across the floor.
“Can I Get a Birthday Cake for My Son for Three Dollars?” They Laughed—Until the Billionaire Behind Her Asked Why Their Signature Recipe Was in Her Grandmother’s Purse The December wind in New York howled, lashing icy gusts of snow against Clara’s face as she pushed open the gilded glass doors of Caldwell & Co. […]
The winter of 2009 in Greenwich, Connecticut, was as cold and cruel as Julian Vance’s voice.
Millionaire called her a “broken woman” and left her for his pregnant lover… “A Real Man Needs an Heir,” He Said—Seventeen Years Later, the Broken Woman came to collect everything he owed her and Bought His Empire… The winter of 2009 in Greenwich, Connecticut, was as cold and cruel as Julian Vance’s voice. In the […]
Part 2 But what made the town laugh wasn’t the cellar itself, but what she had buried inside.
After being called insane for burying hundreds of glass jars underground, the widow softly said, “People will need air more than food.” And then the storm came. The town of Blackwood nestled in the dense forests of Connecticut, a place renowned for its stunning falls and eerie silence. But that summer, that silence was shattered […]
End of content
No more pages to load
