A former University of South Florida student has been charged in connection with the deaths of two doctoral students from Bangladesh who went missing earlier this month. Authorities say 26-year-old Hisham Abugharbieh faces two counts of first-degree premeditated murder with a weapon in the deaths of 27-year-old Zamil Limon and 27-year-old Nahida Bristy.
Abugharbieh made an initial court appearance in Tampa and was ordered held without bond; a further hearing is scheduled for April 28. Hillsborough County deputies recovered Limon’s remains Friday morning from the Howard Frankland bridge. Bristy remains missing, and an autopsy is under way to determine Limon’s cause and manner of death; results are pending.
Deputies arrested Abugharbieh at his family’s home Friday on several preliminary charges, including unlawfully moving a dead body, failure to report a death, tampering with evidence, false imprisonment and battery. Officers who responded to a separate domestic violence complaint at the residence moved relatives to safety before Abugharbieh reportedly barricaded himself inside. A SWAT team, drone, robot and crisis negotiators were deployed; he later emerged with his hands up wearing only a blue towel.
Court records available online do not list an attorney for Abugharbieh; the public defender’s office was contacted for comment.
Limon and Bristy, both doctoral students who were reportedly considering marriage, disappeared from the Tampa campus on April 16. Limon was last seen at an off-campus apartment he shared with Abugharbieh; Bristy, a chemical engineering Ph.D. candidate who graduated from Noakhali Science and Technology University, was last seen about an hour later in a campus science building. Her alma mater, which spells her name Brishti, issued a statement expressing sorrow and calling for those responsible to be punished and the family to be compensated. Vice Chancellor Mohammad Ismail offered condolences.
Abugharbieh previously attended USF from Spring 2021 through Spring 2023 while pursuing a bachelor’s degree in management but was not enrolled at the time of the alleged crimes, a university spokesperson said.
Hillsborough County records show prior interactions with law enforcement: misdemeanor charges from 2023 for battery and burglary of an unoccupied dwelling and a separate battery charge, for which he entered and completed a diversion program in 2024 and the charges were subsequently discontinued. Two domestic violence petitions filed by a family member in 2023 resulted in one injunction being granted and another denied. Records also list traffic citations.
The search for Bristy continues. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.
