Investigators with the Manassas Park and Prince William County police departments searched a park in connection with the disappearance of a 28-year-old mother.
Items were collected at Signal Hill Park to determine if they are related to the case of Mamta Kafle Bhatt, who has been missing for more than a month. Her husband, Naresh Bhatt, is in custody, charged with concealing a body.
Friends and supporters gathered at the park while the search was happening. People cheered as a Prince William County police vehicle left the park.
“This was the first large-scale search,” said friend and coworker Holly Wirth. “I think this gives us confidence that there was something that led them to the park.”
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They later gathered at the Manassas Park Police Department, hoping for an update.
“They don’t have anything to discuss, specifically, that was found, but we do feel very confident that this investigation continues to move forward,” said Wirth, who spoke with police following the search.
“We cannot stop until we know what’s the final results gonna be,” friend Bina Khadkalama said.
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Mamta Kafle Bhatt, originally from Nepal, moved to the U.S. for an arranged marriage in 2021. She recently missed her baby girl's first birthday.
Naresh Bhatt returned to court Thursday, where his defense attorney his attorney took the unusual step of waiving the preliminary hearing. He also told the judge he intended to bypass the grand jury proceeding. Both are steps to possibly hasten the case. The attorney did not respond to News4's request for comment.
Search warrant reveals new details on timeline of Mamta's disappearance
A search warrant to get a DNA sample from Naresh Bhatt was made public Thursday. It provides new details that reveal sharp contradictions in what he said to police and what they learned through their investigation.
Naresh Bhatt was arrested at the couple’s Manassas Park home last week on a single charge of concealing a body. But in the criminal complaint, police accused him of murder.
“Naresh Bhatt murdered his wife Mamta Bhatt,” the document says.
Investigators say they found evidence to show Naresh Bhatt bought knives, allegedly killed his wife and dragged her body out of their home. Prosecutors previously said there was evidence of pooling blood in the primary bedroom and blood splatter in the primary bathroom.
Investigators focus on Mamta's phone, canceled Uber ride
Investigators have conducted multiple searches at the Bhatt home. A warrant details new information about contradictions in Naresh Bhatt’s story.
One focus is Mamta Kafle Bhatt's phone.
A detective wrote that on July 29 – the last day friends heard from Mamta Kafle Bhatt – there were numerous calls with her husband. After that, all calls went to voicemail.
Naresh Bhatt told police his wife destroyed her phone before July 31 — the day he told police that he last saw her.
But on Aug. 1, her phone was pinging in the Aldie area of Northern Virginia.
Naresh Bhatt told police he was at a cafe there.
The search warrant shows investigators are also trying to learn more about a ride Mamta Kafle Bhatt received the night of July 27. They write she was sitting outside the hospital where she worked with a friend. She ordered and then canceled an Uber ride.
They wrote: “Cameras … showed Ms. Kafle … entering an unknown black four-door sedan driven by an unknown subject at 10:17pm.”'
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