Hisham Abugharbieh Asked ChatGPT About Dumping Bodies Before USF Doctoral Students Disappeared

A man accused in the deaths of two University of South Florida doctoral students asked ChatGPT about disposing of a body in the days before they disappeared, according to court filings described by NBC News and CBS News.

“Human remains have been found in the waterways of Tampa Bay, where authorities have been searching for the body of missing University of Florida doctoral student Nahida Bristy, Florida deputies announced late Sunday as new court documents allege the of Bristy and appeared to ask ChatGPT how to dispose of a body”

CBS News

NBC News said Hisham Abugharbieh, 26, is charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy, both 27, and that prosecutors alleged he asked ChatGPT about putting someone in a dumpster on the night of April 13, three days before Limon and Bristy were last seen alive.

CBS News

NBC News quoted prosecutors’ account of the question: "What happens if a human has a put in a black garbage bag and thrown in a dumpster," and said prosecutors alleged Abugharbieh then responded to ChatGPT’s warning with "How would they find out."

CBS News similarly said court documents allege Abugharbieh asked ChatGPT on April 13 what would happen if someone was "put in a black garbage bag and thrown in dumpster," and that the AI chatbot responded that it sounds dangerous, prompting the follow-up "How would they find out."

The filings also described other ChatGPT queries, with CBS News reporting that on April 15 Abugharbieh allegedly asked, "Can a VIN number on a car be changed?" and "Can you keep a gun at home with out a license," and that just after midnight on April 17 he asked if cars are "checked at the Hillsborough River state park."

NBC News said Sheriff’s investigators found Limon’s remains in a heavy duty trash bag that smelled of decomposition, and that his death was preliminarily determined to be a homicide caused by "multiple sharp force injuries," citing an autopsy.

CBS News added that an autopsy by the Pinellas County Medical Examiner’s Office found Limon’s body had sustained numerous lacerations and stab wounds, and that the manner of death was ruled a homicide due to "multiple sharp force injuries."

The case centered on the disappearance of Nahida Bristy and Zamil Limon and the later discovery of human remains in the Tampa Bay area, with multiple outlets tying the timeline to the Howard Frankland Bridge.

NBC News said Limon’s body was found Friday, and that prosecutors alleged Abugharbieh claimed to have given Limon and Bristy a ride to Clearwater the day they were last seen, April 16.

NBC News

NBC News reported that on April 17 Abugharbieh drove to a location along the Howard Frankland Bridge that spans Tampa Bay and stopped there, citing location data obtained through a search warrant, and that Limon's body was found on the side of the bridge.

CBS News said human remains were found in the waterways of Tampa Bay in Pinellas County and have not yet been identified, and that the remains were found "in the area of Interstate 275 and 4th Street North," at the St. Petersburg side of the Howard Frankland Bridge.

CBS News described Bristy as 27, presumed dead, and said she went missing last week along with 27-year-old Zamil Limon, whose remains were found Friday on a bridge near Tampa.

CBS News also reported that Limon’s body "was located within numerous black utility trash bags in advanced stages of decomposition" on the Howard Frankland Bridge, and that prosecutors believe Bristy was "disposed of in a similar way."

NBC News said investigators found Limon’s remains in a heavy duty trash bag that smelled of decomposition, and that the motion stated there is no evidence that would point to Bristy still being alive and investigators believe Abugharbieh disposed of her body.

WFLA’s account of newly released court documents laid out a detailed timeline of the last known contacts and movements of Bristy and Limon, and it also described how investigators connected Abugharbieh’s vehicle to the bridge area.

“USF Roommate Charged with Double Murder of Doctoral Students”

Oz Arab Media

WFLA said Nahida Bristy, 27, and Zamil Limon, 27, were last seen the morning of April 16, and that a friend told USF Police he tried to contact Bristy on April 17 but her phone was off.

WFLA reported that another friend last spoke with Bristy over the phone on April 16 at 11:30 a.m. and again at 2:14 p.m., when Bristy asked her to bring her eyeglasses, and that the friend waited at 5 p.m. but Bristy never arrived.

WFLA said USF police responded to Bristy’s workplace on April 18 and found personal belongings in the office, including her lunchbox, a MacBook, a larger purse, and an iPad, and that the iPad reportedly had Facebook Messenger conversations between Limon and Bristy and confirmed that the two had shared locations.

WFLA described surveillance footage from campus showing Bristy leaving her office building at 12:08 p.m. on April 16 and walking from her office building while holding an umbrella to block the sun at 12:09 p.m.

WFLA said detectives met with one of Limon’s roommates, who claimed he last saw him cooking rice the evening of April 15, and that when this roommate left the apartment on April 16 at 1 p.m., Limon’s scooter was still there.

WFLA reported that USF police pinged Limon’s phone, and that the locations appeared to show the device in the area of Limon’s school and home between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m., before moving toward the Courtney Campbell at 7:43 p.m. and remaining in Clearwater after 8:25 p.m.

WFLA then said the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office took over the investigation for Limon, as his apartment fell under their jurisdiction, and it described HCSO searching Limon’s room and discovering personal items including a toothbrush, a laptop charger, and his passport.

Across the reports, Abugharbieh’s alleged statements and the evidence described in court documents formed the backbone of the prosecution’s case.

NBC News said prosecutors alleged Abugharbieh claimed to have given Limon and Bristy a ride to Clearwater the day they were last seen, April 16, and it reported that investigators said Abugharbieh purchased trash bags, Lysol wipes and Febreze that night, and that blood was discovered in his apartment.

WFLA

NBC News also said investigators alleged Abugharbieh disposed of items including Bristy’s pink cellphone cover, and it described DNA testing on a gray T-shirt found in the dumpster indicating the genetic material was likely Limon's, while similar testing on a kitchen mat matched with Bristy.

CBS News reported that court documents say detectives used an "enhancement agent" at the apartment Limon and Abugharbieh shared and found "significant" blood patterns from the entry foyer, through the kitchen, into the hallway and in the suspect's bedroom.

CBS News added that the blood in the bedroom was found in "two distinct patterns on the floor which appeared to have a relatively human-sized shape," according to the court documents.

NBC News said Abugharbieh was arrested Friday after a brief standoff at a residence in the area, and it reported he was charged with battery, false imprisonment, failure to report a death, storing remains in unapproved conditions and tampering with evidence, according to court records.

CBS News said Limon’s roommate, 26-year-old Hisham Abugharbieh, was arrested Saturday and is charged with two counts of premeditated first-degree murder with a weapon, and that he is being held without bond.

WFLA said detectives interviewed both roommates and Abugharbieh denied having any knowledge of either student’s whereabouts, and it described a detective noticing Abugharbieh had a cut on his left pinky finger, which was wrapped.

As the investigation moved from disappearance to discovery and charging, the reports also documented statements from families and from the university, alongside the procedural posture of the case.

“Human remains have been found in the waterways of Tampa Bay, where authorities have been searching for the body of missing University of Florida doctoral student Nahida Bristy, Florida deputies announced late Sunday as new court documents allege the of Bristy and appeared to ask ChatGPT how to dispose of a body”

CBS News

NBC News said family members told NBC News that Limon and Bristy, both from Bangladesh, previously dated, and it reported that the families of the pair said in a joint statement Sunday that their wish is that “the bodies of Zamil and Bristy be handled in accordance with Islamic rituals and funeral requirements.”

CBS News

The families also hoped the university will establish a memorial in the couple’s names, and NBC News said USF responded with a statement that it is "mourning the tragic loss of students Nahida Bristy and Zamil Limon," adding that it is "committed to the safety and well-being of our students."

CBS News said Bristy is presumed dead and that Abugharbieh is due back in court on Tuesday, while NBC News said a hearing was scheduled for Tuesday and that he was being held without bond at the sheriff’s Falkenburg Road Jail.

WFLA described how USF police responded to Bristy’s workplace on April 18 and how the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office took over the investigation for Limon, reflecting the shift in investigative control as the case developed.

NBC News said a roommate of Abugharbieh’s told investigators that he saw Abugharbieh moving some cardboard boxes from his room to a compactor dumpster at their apartment complex on April 17, and it reported that a search of the dumpster yielded items belonging to Limon, including a student ID and credit cards with his name on it.

NBC News also said OpenAI, the organization behind ChatGPT, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and it reported that Jennifer Spradley, homicide bureau chief of the Hillsborough County Public Defender’s Office, which is representing Abugharbieh, said by email that they have no comment on the case.

In a separate account, Oz Arab Media said the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office announced the charges after the remains of Zamil Lemon were found on the Howard Frankland Bridge while Nahida Priesti remains missing, and it claimed that after his first court appearance he was ordered held without bond with a hearing set for April 28.