Authorities in Florida have confirmed that the second recovered body is that of Bangladeshi PhD student Nahida Sultana Bristy, said Golam Mortoza, Minister (Press) at the Bangladesh Embassy in the United States, on Friday.
Police from Florida contacted Bristy's brother to confirm the identification, he said in a WhatsApp message.
The family has requested that arrangements be made to send her body back to Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Embassy in Washington, DC, in coordination with the Bangladesh Consulate in Miami, has started the process to repatriate the body.
Meanwhile, the body of Zamil Ahmed Limon will arrive in Dhaka on May 4.
Golam Mortoza said the mortal remains will reach Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 8:40am on an Emirates flight. The body has been received by a funeral home and will be transported from Orlando via a flight departing at 8:50pm on May 2, through Dubai.
Limon and Bristy, both 27-year-old PhD students from Bangladesh, disappeared on April 16. Limon was last seen at the off-campus complex where he shared an apartment with murder suspect Hisham Abugharbieh and another roommate.
Detectives used cellphone location and license plate reader data to track Abugharbieh's car and Limon's phone to the bridge where Limon's body was found on April 24. Limon had numerous stab wounds and appeared to be bound, according to a report filed by prosecutors.
Authorities later recovered another body from a nearby waterway on April 26, which has now been confirmed as Bristy.
The suspect was arrested days after the incident by a SWAT team at his parents' home. A court ordered that he be held without bond.
Hisham Abugharbieh has also been barred from contacting witnesses or the victims' family members, Hillsborough County Judge Logan Murphy said during a brief hearing in Tampa.
According to court records, Abugharbieh faces two counts of first-degree murder with a weapon along with other charges. He could face the death penalty if convicted, though prosecutors have not yet said whether they will pursue capital punishment.
