{"id":478,"date":"2026-04-23T15:47:27","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T15:47:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/2026\/04\/23\/2-missing-doctoral-students-were-romantically-linked-but-would-not-disappear-without-telling-anyone-family-says\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T15:47:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T15:47:27","slug":"2-missing-doctoral-students-were-romantically-linked-but-would-not-disappear-without-telling-anyone-family-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/2026\/04\/23\/2-missing-doctoral-students-were-romantically-linked-but-would-not-disappear-without-telling-anyone-family-says\/","title":{"rendered":"2 Missing Doctoral Students Were Romantically Linked but Would Not \u2018Disappear Without Telling Anyone,\u2019 Family Says"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Family said it is out of character for University of South Florida doctoral students Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy to vanish<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/pLD1YqWKB6ki5C-_waV_wh30IrQ=\/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)\/Zamil-Limon-and-Nahida-Bristy-042126-1795ce0c57114cc6a945d56552473bb3.jpg\" alt=\"Zamil Limon and Nahida BristyCredit: University of South Florida Police Department\" title=\"Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy\" \/><figcaption><i>Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy<br \/>Credit: University of South Florida Police Department<\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>NEED TO KNOW<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy, two doctoral students at the University of South Florida, disappeared separately on April 16<\/li>\n<li>Family said the pair were previously romantically involved and considering a future together<\/li>\n<li>One family member said Bristy left her laptop, iPad and lunch box at a university lab<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>New details are emerging after <a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/2-doctoral-students-disappeared-overnight-and-have-been-missing-for-5-days-police-11955537\" data-type=\"\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">two doctoral students at the University of South Florida disappeared<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The University of South Florida Police Department <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/USFPD\/posts\/pfbid0oLm3v7x9LfSL3784vU7hELFTZJV5cX9y1VSJbDo5ncAtQfq6gog8SPbiH2r1fknul\" data-type=\"\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">said<\/a> Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy, both 27, were last seen separately on April 16 in Tampa.<\/p>\n<p>A mutual acquaintance reported the pair missing on April 17 at 4:50 p.m. local time after they were unable to reach both Limon and Bristy.<\/p>\n<p>Zubaer Ahmed, Limon&#8217;s younger brother, told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/us-news\/two-university-south-florida-doctoral-students-are-missing-police-say-rcna341385\" data-type=\"\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NBC News<\/a> that Limon and Bristy were \u201cclose friends\u201d and even seemed to be romantically linked.<\/p>\n<p>Zahaid Hasan Pranto, Bristy&#8217;s older brother, said the pair were romantically involved in the past but weren&#8217;t currently dating, though his sister seemingly was \u201cemotionally engaged\u201d with Limon.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/wJEUMrKDDoiMLf-pAbnVSDu-OoU=\/fit-in\/640x480\/Zamil-Limon-042126-263e0e7e61f24a0da815fcf0e6d899ac.jpg\" alt=\"Zamil LimonCredit: University of South Florida Police Department\" title=\"Zamil Limon\" \/><figcaption><i>Zamil Limon<br \/>Credit: University of South Florida Police Department<\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Ahmed said Limon and Bristy were \u201cthinking about having [a] future together,\u201d according to NBC News. He also noted that both students were considering getting married at some point but were dedicated to their studies.<\/p>\n<p>The brother described Limon and Bristy as \u201cvery serious\u201d people who would not \u201cdisappear without telling anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Limon, a doctoral student pursuing a degree in geography and environmental science and policy, was last seen at his home around 9 a.m., according to police.<\/p>\n<p>Family last spoke with Limon on April 13, Ahmed said, NBC News reported. He added that Limon left his apartment with his phone and wallet, but left his passport behind.<\/p>\n<p>Bristy, a doctoral student studying chemical engineering, was last seen around 10 a.m. on the USF Tampa campus at the NES Building, police said.<\/p>\n<p>Pranto said family last spoke with his sister on the day of her disappearance, according to NBC News. She left her laptop, iPad and lunch box at a university lab, he added.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/6ivD-79CRRYtvz6YKu3xVOGwkj4=\/fit-in\/640x480\/Nahida-S.-Bristy-042126-15c2ba9b5d124130821fa2ec835ffe21.jpg\" alt=\"Nahida S. BristyCredit: University of South Florida Police Department\" title=\"Nahida S. Bristy\" \/><figcaption><i>Nahida S. Bristy<br \/>Credit: University of South Florida Police Department<\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Both Ahmed and Pranto said their siblings&#8217; disappearances are out of character. Pranto also shared a message for his sister.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJust be safe and contact us,\u201d the brother said, according to NBC News. \u201cEveryone is just worried, and we just want you to come back safe and sound.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Police previously told Fox affiliate <a class=\"null\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fox13news.com\/news\/2-usf-doctoral-students-reported-missing\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"externalLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\" rel=\"null\">WTVT<\/a> that Limon and Bristy, who are both from Bangladesh, are not being held by ICE.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for <\/strong><a class=\"null\" href=\"https:\/\/forms.dotdashmeredith.com\/people-news-inline\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"externalLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\" rel=\"nofollow\"><strong>PEOPLE&#8217;s free daily newsletter<\/strong><\/a><strong> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Anyone with information is asked to call the University of South Florida Police Department at 813-974-2628.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Family said it is out of character for University of South Florida doctoral students Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy to vanish Zamil Limon and Nahida BristyCredit: University of South Florida Police Department NEED TO KNOW Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy, two doctoral students at the University of South Florida, disappeared separately on April 16 Family [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-everything-else"],"wpmagazine_modules_lite_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":"","cvmm-medium":"","cvmm-medium-plus":"","cvmm-portrait":"","cvmm-medium-square":"","cvmm-large":"","cvmm-small":"","full":""},"categories_names":{"1":{"name":"Everything Else","link":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/category\/everything-else\/"}},"tags_names":[],"comments_number":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=478"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}