The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said Sunday it has recovered human remains from water near Interstate 275 and 4th Street North in St. Petersburg.
The remains have yet to be identified.
The search was being conducted in conjunction with the disappearance of University of South Florida doctoral student Nahida Bristy.
She and Zamil Limon — both 27 — were last seen on April 16 at USF's campus in Tampa, according to a statement from the University of South Florida Police Department.
The sheriff’s office says his body was found Friday on the Howard Frankland Bridge.
Limon’s roommate, Hisham Abugharbieh, was arrested on two counts of first-degree murder over the weekend and is being held without bond at the Hillsborough County Jail.
Abugharbieh, a native-born U.S. citizen, was initially taken into custody on Friday at his family’s home on preliminary charges that include unlawfully moving a dead body, failure to report a death, tampering with evidence, false imprisonment and battery. Online court records do not list an attorney for him. Messages were sent via email and phone to the public defender’s office in Hillsborough County.
Officers encountered Abugharbieh as they responded to a report of domestic violence at his family’s home, just north of the campus, and were able to move his relatives to safety. But then he barricaded himself inside and refused to come out. A SWAT team responded — along with a drone, a robot and crisis negotiators — before Abugharbieh came out with his hands up, apparently wearing nothing but a blue towel.
Abugharbieh had been a USF student but was not currently enrolled. University records showed he had attended the school from Spring 2021 through Spring 2023, and had pursued a BS in Management, a university spokesperson said.
USF President Moez Limayem said the incidents occurred off campus and that Abugharbieh acted alone.
"There is no ongoing threat to the safety of the university community," Limayem said in a statement. "Abugharbieh was born in the United States and is a citizen. He is not a current USF student or employee."
The couple was from Bangladesh, attending USF on student visas. Limon was studying geography, environmental science and policy, and Bristy was studying chemical engineering. She was a graduate of Noakhali Science and Technology University. The school, which spelled her last name as Brishti, said in a statement Saturday that she was a Ph.D. candidate and described her as a talented and promising student.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. This is a developing story. Stay with WUSF for updates.
