Missing USF students: Nahida Bristy and Zamil Limon now considered 'endangered' as search expands
Search for missing USF grad students
The search for two missing USF grad students grows as Thursday marks one week since the pair has been seen. FOX 13’s Kylie Jones reports.
TAMPA, Fla. - It's been a week since two USF graduate students were last seen or heard from.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office has taken over the search and have now listed Nahida Bristy, 27, and Zamil Limon, 27, as "endangered." They were last seen on April 16.
Missing USF students
The backstory:
USFPD says Limon, a USF doctoral student pursuing a degree in geography, environmental science and policy, was last seen around 9 a.m. at his home on Avalon Heights Blvd. on April 16.
Bristy, a USF doctoral student studying chemical engineering, was last seen around 10 a.m. on April 16 at the NES Building, 121 USF Sweetgum Lane, on the USF Tampa campus.
Police said a family friend contacted USFPD shortly before 5 p.m. on April 17 after they were unable to contact Limon or Bristy.
A public information officer with USFPD said the pair, who are both from Bangladesh, are friends and the pair are believed to be together.
Police said they are not being held by ICE, which was a concern for family members.
Missing students' phones are off
Dig deeper:
According to investigators, both of their phones are off.
Investigators also noted that this is not usual behavior for the pair, who are good students.
FOX 13 asked about surveillance video, social media use, license plate readers, transportation and bank statements. Police say after several days of investigation not leading to the students’ locations, they’re now asking the public for help.
Courtesy: Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office
"When we get to this point where we aren’t having success in locating them, then our next best source is the public. That’s where we are at," McKinnon said.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office has taken over the missing persons investigations. Detectives are searching in Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties.
The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office confirmed that its forensic unit was called to assist with a Hillsborough County missing persons case. It's not clear if this case involves the two students.
Early Thursday evening, investigators confirmed there was a search on Thursday for the two students at Sand Key in Clearwater.
HCSO has been passing out missing persons flyers at doors of homes around the county to aid in the search efforts.
On Thursday, a spokesperson for the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office said the agency's forensic unit was requested by the Clearwater Police Department to assist with the Hillsborough County missing persons case, but did not provide additional details.
Unusual not to hear from Nahida
What they're saying:
Fox 13 spoke with Nahida's brother, Zahid Pranto, who lives in Bangladesh, on Thursday. He says Nahida talked to their parents on the phone the day she was last seen.
"She just mentioned she will be doing her classes and all of that," Pranto said. "After that, she will be going to do some grocery shopping, or something like that."
Pranto says it's unusual to not hear from his sister.
"My parents used to talk with her every single day at least, most likely, twice a day," he said.
Pranto says his sister was preparing to finish her first year of graduate school at USF.
"People cannot just go and vanish in broad daylight just like this," he said.
He says they haven't gotten any updates, as the search for the two students continues. He says Nahida is supposed to go back to Bangladesh in July.
"At this point, we just want them to come back safe and sound, that's it," Pranto said.
What we don't know:
The circumstances surrounding their disappearance are unknown.
Investigators say recent information that has come to light led detectives to consider the two endangered. However, they wouldn't go into detail.
What you can do:
Anyone with information on Limon or Bristy’s whereabouts is asked to contact the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office at 813-247-8200.
The Source: This article was written with information gathered by FOX 13's Kylie Jones.