A friend of the Manassas Park, Virginia, woman who has been missing for over three weeks, said there were “red flags” before the disappearance.
Mamta Kafle Bhatt, a 28-year-old mother and nurse from Manassas Park, has been missing since July 31.
Prince William County police arrested Kafle Bhatt’s husband, Naresh Bhatt, and confirmed he had been charged with a felony count of prohibition against concealment of a dead body. The charge essentially means he is accused of not cooperating with police in finding a body in their ongoing investigation.
Police activity today at the home of 28-year-old Mamta Kafle Bhatt in Manassas Park after police named her husband, Naresh Bhatt, as a person of interest in her disappearance. She has been missing since July 31. @WTOP pic.twitter.com/80Vf5PE48J
— Nick Iannelli (@NickWTOP) August 22, 2024
“I would anticipate that we would see more charges in the future, but the good news is he’s in custody now,” said Holly Wirth, a former co-worker of Kafle Bhatt and who has been helping the family search for her.
The mood in the community has been getting more and more grim as the days have passed.
Still, Wirth said, the criminal charge “is a shock.”
“I think a lot of us failed Mamta,” said Wirth. “We weren’t able to keep her safe when we needed to, and there were red flags all over.”
Wirth said people who knew the family were aware of the allegations of abuse.
“She has a very large footprint on social media, and there are posts of her asking for help and how to navigate a divorce,” said Wirth. “Perhaps we didn’t do right by her, so I think that’s something we’re going to have to grieve in our own ways.”
In a post in a private Facebook group for single mothers, Kafle Bhatt allegedly wrote that she was in the “process of separation” and her husband wasn’t “helping to take care of (the) baby.” She went on to say, “He is saying that if I leave baby with him, he will send child to custody.”
The police investigation into her disappearance began earlier this month after Kafle Bhatt did not show up for work. Her husband reported her missing on Aug. 5, according to police.
He remains in custody and is being held without bond until his arraignment Friday morning in Prince William County’s Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court. Police assert that Bhatt is still presumed innocent until proven guilty.
“The Manassas Park Police Department is still investigating the disappearance of Mamta Kafle Bhatt and hoping to locate her,” police said in a statement. “There are additional investigative leads being actively pursued and may result in additional charges being brought.”
The couple’s 1-year-old daughter has been placed in the care of social services for the time being.
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