Zamil Limon was final seen on the morning of April 16 at his residence about three blocks from the University of South Florida campus in Tampa.
Nahida Bristy was final seen later that very same morning at the Natural and Environmental Sciences constructing on campus.
They had been each 27 and promising Bangladeshi doctoral students who began out as mates and over time developed emotions for one another — to the level that they had thought about marriage, in keeping with Limon’s brother, Zubaer Ahmed.
Limon and Bristy had been reported lacking by a household buddy on April 17, and as days glided by, their mates in Florida and kinfolk overseas grew to become more and more determined for solutions.
On Friday, Limon was discovered dead on the Howard Frankland Bridge in Tampa in what Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister referred to as “a deeply disturbing case that has shaken our community.”
His roommate has been charged with killing Limon and Bristy, whose physique has not been discovered, the sheriff’s workplace mentioned.
Their loss is being felt removed from the Tampa Bay space. Both students had deliberate to journey to Bangladesh over their summer time break.
Investigators referred to as Bristy’s household in Bangladesh to say they believed she could also be dead, based mostly on the quantity of blood present in Limon and the suspect’s shared residence, Bristy’s brother informed NCS affiliate WTSP. NCS has reached out to her brother and the sheriff’s workplace for particulars.
Limon’s household informed NCS they had been anxiously ready to be taught what occurred to the joyful, younger researcher.
“It’s devastating for us,” Ahmed informed NCS earlier than his brother’s physique was discovered Friday. “We are in deep pain.”
Limon and Bristy had been amongst the greater than 17,000 Bangladeshi students — an all-time excessive — enrolled in US establishments, in keeping with the US Embassy in Bangladesh, citing the 2024 Open Doors Report on International Education Exchange.
“Please keep my beloved brother in your prayers,” Ahmed informed NCS Saturday by way of textual content message.
Limon had been engaged on his thesis for the previous two years, finding out the makes use of of generative AI to observe shrinking wetlands in South Florida, his brother mentioned.
“My brother is very decent and a very simple person,” Ahmed mentioned from Bangladesh. “He always put a smile on his face.”
He had been pursuing a level in geography, environmental science and coverage since the fall of 2024.
After finishing his PhD, Limon hoped to return to Bangladesh and get a job as a college professor, Ahmed mentioned.
“I study how natural features evolve across landscapes, with a focus on wetlands, water resources, and vegetation in both agricultural and urban environments,” Limon wrote in his student profile. His aim was “to create practical tools that enhance environmental planning, support sustainable land use, and improve long-term ecosystem management.”
His LinkedIn web page mentioned he labored as a graduate pupil assistant since August 2024, and his expertise included stints with the Center for Natural Resource Studies, the Center for Environment and Geographic Information Services and as a junior city planner in Dhaka. He additionally studied city and rural planning at Khulna University, a public analysis establishment in Bangladesh.
Omer Hossain, Limon’s buddy and fellow pupil at USF, remembers him as a “chill guy” who was “always jolly.”
The two grew to become finest mates after a professor linked the two by e-mail in the fall of 2024, Hossain mentioned.
Later, Hossain met Bristy, who he described as an outgoing and sort one that would all the time embrace others.
Hossain says he has been involved with Limon’s household to debate subsequent steps on returning his physique to Bangladesh.
“The feeling is not describable for us. It’s very unexpected and shocking,” Hossain mentioned. “Our hearts are broken.”
Bristy was a doctoral pupil of chemical engineering at USF. She had a grasp’s of engineering from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology and a bachelor’s of science in utilized chemistry and chemical engineering from the Noakhali Science and Technology University in Bangladesh, in keeping with her LinkedIn profile.
She was a “talented and promising student,” Professor Mohammad Ismail, the NSTU vice chancellor, mentioned in a submit on social media and the college web site.
“Her untimely death is an irreparable loss to the university and the nation,” Ismail wrote.
A Facebook submit from her brother, Zahid Hasan, mentioned: “My sister is no longer with us.”
Her LinkedIn profile described Bristy as “self driven” and “skilled at problem solving, lab work and passionate about learning new technology.”
Limon had spoken extremely of Bristy to his household in Bangladesh, in keeping with his brother.
“He shared that she is a good girl, and she has a lot of talent, like she can sing and cook well,” Ahmed mentioned.
Limon’s household has been anxiously following updates.
“We are becoming numb,” Ahmed mentioned. “Anything could be possible. We just want to know the truth or what happened to them. It’s not possible that two students disappear out of nowhere.”