Roommate Arrested After Missing Grad Student Found Dead

A chilling disappearance at the University of South Florida has taken a dark and devastating turn, leaving a community rattled and a family searching for answers.

Zamil Limon, a 27-year-old doctoral student from Bangladesh, was found dead Friday on the Howard Frankland Bridge after being reported missing for days. His roommate is now in custody — and facing a string of disturbing charges.

Limon and fellow PhD student Nahida Bristy, also 27, vanished last week after last being seen near campus. While Limon’s body has now been recovered, Bristy remains missing, intensifying fears in what authorities are calling a deeply unsettling case.

“This is a deeply disturbing case that has shaken our community,” said Chad Chronister, sheriff of Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.

The suspect, 26-year-old Hisham Abugharbieh — a former USF student — was arrested Friday morning after deputies responded to a reported domestic violence incident at his home. What happened next looked like something out of a crime drama.

Authorities say Abugharbieh barricaded himself inside, triggering a SWAT response and tense negotiations. Video from the scene shows him eventually stepping out with his hands up, wearing only a towel around his waist as armored vehicles surrounded the property.

He now faces multiple charges, including battery, false imprisonment, tampering with evidence, failing to report a death, and unlawfully moving a body.

Investigators say Abugharbieh had already been on their radar. He had spoken with detectives multiple times — but suddenly stopped cooperating during a follow-up interview just one day before his arrest.

By Friday, officials say they were able to directly link him to Limon’s death.

Back home in Bangladesh, Limon’s family had been desperately waiting for news — clinging to hope that both students would be found safe.

“We are becoming numb,” his brother said before the grim discovery. “We just want to know the truth.”

Limon had been working toward a PhD in environmental science, focusing on cutting-edge research using AI to monitor shrinking wetlands in South Florida. His family says he had dreams of returning home to become a university professor — and had even spoken about marrying Bristy.

“He said she was kind, talented… a good person,” his brother shared.

The two students were last seen separately on April 16 — Limon near his off-campus home and Bristy at a campus science building. When neither could be reached the following day, a concerned family friend alerted police.

As days passed, the search intensified, and authorities upgraded the case to “endangered” after uncovering troubling new information.

Now, with one student dead and the other still missing, the investigation is far from over.

University President Moez Limayem said the school is staying in close contact with the families as the tragedy unfolds.

“Please keep them in your thoughts,” he urged.

Meanwhile, the question haunting everyone remains the same — what really happened in those final hours before two promising young lives vanished?