A person of interest in the mysterious disappearance of two University of Southern Florida graduate students was arrested Friday after barricading himself inside a Tampa home, officials said.
SWAT teams armed with assault rifles descended on the Lake Forest neighborhood — just over a mile from USF’s Tampa campus — around 10 a.m. Friday, WTSP reported.
The raid was tied to the alarming disappearance of student couple Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy, both 27, soon after officials declared they were deemed “endangered,” without elaborating.
The situation was “resolved” about two hours later, the sheriff’s office said, with one individual taken into custody. The subject was not one of the missing students, WTSP said.
Additional details were not immediately available, and it was not clear exactly how the person of interest was tied to Limon and Nahida Bristy a week after they were reported missing.
The sheriff’s office promised more information soon.
Limon and Bristy, both 27 and believed to be dating, were last seen in the Tampa area early April 16, according to the USF Police Department.
Limon, a doctoral student pursuing a degree in geography, environmental science and policy, was last seen at 9 a.m. at his Tampa residence, police said.
Bristy, who was studying chemical engineering, vanished about an hour later. She was last seen at the Natural and Environmental Sciences Building on the university’s campus, according to cops.
They were reported missing by a friend who said they were unable to get in touch with the pair. Both of their phones had been turned off, investigators said.
The students are believed to be in a relationship and had recently discussed getting married, Fox13 reported.
“Everybody internally is obviously very concerned, as we are concerned. It’s not typical of their behavior, they’re graduate students,” USF Public Safety Public Information Officer Larry McKinnon told reporters last week.
“We don’t have information that there is foul play or suspicious nature at this point.”
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