Missing mother Mamta Kafle Bhatt from Virginia: Judge denies bail for husband Naresh Bhatt after prosecutors present new evidence

CNN
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According to CNN affiliate WJLA, a judge denied Naresh Bhatt bail for the second time at a court hearing in Virginia on Friday after prosecutors presented new, disturbing evidence linking him to the disappearance and alleged murder of his wife, Mamta Kafle Bhatt.

Prince William County prosecutors told a courtroom packed with Kafle Bhatt's family and friends that a cadaver dog found evidence of a body in the bedroom and bathroom of the couple's home. They also showed footage showing Bhatt, 37, driving around various communities wearing gloves and disposing of garbage bags after his wife disappeared, according to WJLA.

The search continues for Kafle Bhatt, 28, mother of a young daughter who authorities say is presumed dead. No one has been able to locate the popular member of the Nepali community since July 27, when she was last seen at UVA Health Prince William Medical Center in Manassas, where she worked as a nurse in the medical surgical department, CNN previously reported.

According to an indictment, her husband is accused of killing her in their home and then dragging her body outside. According to court documents, Bhatt is charged with concealing a body. He was taken away in handcuffs on August 22 after authorities raided the couple's home.

Bhatt has not been formally charged with murder, but the preliminary criminal complaint states: “On or about July 30, 2024, the defendant Naresh Bhatt murdered his wife, Mamta Bhatt.”

Bhatt's defense attorney argued there was insufficient cause to keep him in custody since Kafle Bhatt's body had not been found, WJLA reported. Bhatt's attorney also said the couple was in the process of separating and Kafle Bhatt had left to visit family out of state, WJLA reported.

The new evidence Friday has put a spotlight on Bhatt's activities in the days after his wife was reported missing. Prosecutors told the court that he was filmed driving his Tesla, sometimes at night, to dump bags of garbage into dumpsters and trash compactors, CNN affiliate WJLA reported.

In Loudoun County, near where Kafle Bhatt's cellphone last beeped, video footage shows Bhatt throwing a bag into a donation box. According to WJLA, prosecutors told police a bath mat with blood on it was found in the bag.

Bhatt sold his Tesla on August 19 after prosecutors asked if they could search it, WJLA reported.

After the hearing, friends, family and supporters of Kafle Bhatt held a press conference to reiterate the testimony they had heard in court.

“The evidence that prosecutors presented was so serious that we were completely unprepared for it. It clearly showed that Mamta was murdered,” said Holly Wirth, a former colleague of Kafle Bhatt. “She was systematically dismembered, put in bags… Horrible things were done to her,” Wirth said.

Police went to the couple's Manassas home on Aug. 2 after co-workers of Kafle Bhatt stopped by to get checked out on Aug. 1. Kafle Bhatt worked two days a week at the hospital and was scheduled to work there on Aug. 1 and 2. Officers said they were alarmed when she neither showed up for work nor called.

When police spoke to Bhatt, he “provided additional information” and told investigators he did not want to report her missing at that time, police said.

Three days after the investigation, Bhatt, a former Fairfax County police recruit and former U.S. Army Reserve automated logistics specialist, reported her missing, telling investigators he last saw his wife at dinner on July 31 and had not seen her since.

Detectives conducted extensive investigations from August 5 to 8 and found that there had been a significant lack of contact between Kafle Bhatt and her family, friends, employer and on social media recently, so they upgraded her missing person status to involuntary/critical missing person status.

On August 21, police officers searched the couple's house. However, no further details about the reason for the search were given at the time.

Prior to this search, investigators executed ten search warrants and conducted “hundreds of interviews related to this case,” Manassas Park Police Chief Mario Lugo said the same day.

Asked if there was a “person of interest” in Kafle Bhatt's disappearance, Lugo said her husband “was a point of interest and everyone knows that,” adding that Bhatt has stopped cooperating with police, a departure from the department's Aug. 15 press release, which said “the husband, friends and colleagues have cooperated throughout the investigation.”

A judge ordered Bhatt held without bail during a court hearing late last month, arguing he poses a danger to the community, CNN affiliate WUSA reported.

On July 30, Bhatt was seen at a Walmart, where he purchased three knives, according to investigators. Two of them were missing after the couple's home was searched, WJLA reports. A day later, he was seen at another Walmart location, where he purchased cleaning supplies.

Investigators found pools of blood and blood splatters in the home's master bedroom. The bed had apparently been moved and was blocking a closet. Light pink stains were visible on the bedroom carpet after the bed was moved. Pools of blood were visible in the bathroom, “as if something had been dragged across the floor.” There were also pools of blood on the shower floor, WJLA reported at the arraignment last month.

When investigators removed the bathtub, they saw what they believed to be blood in the caulk, WJLA reported.

It is still unclear who the blood found in the couple's house belongs to.

Numerous cleaning supplies purchased by Bhatt were also found in the house, which police said appeared to be in a neglected state at the time of the indictment, according to the WJLA.