Human remains found Sunday during the search for a missing University of South Florida doctoral student were confirmed as belonging to Nahida Bristy, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said Friday.
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The remains of Zamil Limon, who family members have said previously dated Bristy and who was also a doctoral student at the school, were found last week alongside Howard Frankland Bridge in Tampa.
“We have located Nahida Bristy. 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,” Sheriff Chad Chronister said at a news conference.
The remains were identified through DNA.
“We were able to confirm DNA, some dental work that she had done, and the clothing that she still had on from the video that we saw,” he said.
Hisham Abugharbieh, Limon’s roommate and a former USF student, has been charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of the pair.
Bristy and Limon were both 27 and natives of Bangladesh.
Sheriff’s office officials had found remains during the search for Bristy over the weekend.
According to a court filing, Abugharbieh, 26, gave Limon and Bristy a ride from Tampa to Clearwater, Florida, on April 16, the day they were last seen alive. He initially denied having the pair in his car, but changed his story when confronted with data showing that Limon’s phone had been in Clearwater, where his car had also been. Abugharbieh then admitted he had dropped off the two at Clearwater after Limon requested him a ride.
That same night Abugharbieh purchased trash bags, Lysol wipes and Febreze, investigators said. He also disposed of items including Bristy’s pink cellphone cover, prosecutors said.
The next day, Abugharbieh drove to the Howard Frankland Bridge in Tampa and stopped along the bridge, according to location data obtained through a search warrant, the filing states. Limon’s body was found on the side of the bridge.
A roommate of Abugharbieh’s told investigators that on April 17 he saw him moving cardboard boxes from his room to a compactor dumpster at their apartment complex, according to prosecutors. DNA testing done on a kitchen mat matched Bristy’s, according to the court filing. Items belonging to Limon, including a student ID and credit cards with his name on it, were found in the dumpster.
Prosecutors also said Abugharbieh asked ChatGPT about putting someone in a dumpster on the night of April 13, three days before Limon and Bristy were last seen alive. The Florida Attorney General’s Office said Monday that it would expand an ongoing investigation of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, following a shooting at Florida State University last year.
An attorney for Abugharbieh did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Abugharbieh was arrested Friday after a brief standoff at a residence in Tampa, according to the sheriff’s office. He was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of storing remains in unapproved conditions, two counts of failure to report a death, battery, false imprisonment, and tampering with evidence, according to court records.
He is being held without bond at the Falkenburg Road Jail, according to online records. A hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.
Abugharbieh has a criminal record dating back to 2018, including charges of battery, burglary, trespassing and driving over the speed limit. In January, he was arrested for driving with an expired registration.