A lady from Virginia has been absent for more than three weeks now. Authorities claim that her spouse has ceased to collaborate with the investigation.
A wee one was taken out of the household under a yellow cover, as per a video, although it's uncertain if it's the couple's small child.
CNN has contacted the Manassas Park Police for comment.
The last time Naresh Bhatt saw his spouse was at the dinner table over three weeks ago, he previously conveyed to the police. He hasn't seen her since and stopped assistance to investigators, who searched the couple's home with a warrant on Wednesday, as per Manassas Park Police.
Kafle Bhatt was last spotted on July 27 at UVA Health Prince William Medical Center in Manassas, according to police. The next day, she spoke with a friend and on July 31, she was last seen by her husband.
On August 2, authorities conducted a wellness check at the couple's home and spoke to her husband, who "supplied additional information" and told the investigators he didn’t want to report her missing at the time, police said. Three days later, he reported her missing, authorities stated in a press release on August 15.
The wellness check request came from Kafle Bhatt’s work colleagues, CNN affiliate WUSA reported.
Detectives carried out an extensive investigation from August 5-8, they said, and found there was a significant lack of recent contact between Kafle Bhatt and her family, friends, employer, and on social media, so they elevated her missing status to involuntary/critical missing person status.
“Although I recognize and respect the public’s desire for answers, I assure each of you that even though these answers are limited by this investigation continuing, this investigation remains a top priority for the police department,” Manassas Park Police Chief Mario Lugo said during a Wednesday press conference.
Investigators have executed 10 search warrants and conducted “hundreds of interviews related to this case,” Lugo shared Wednesday evening as a search warrant on the Bhatt residence was being conducted.
When asked Wednesday if there was a “person of interest” in Kafle Bhatt’s disappearance, Lugo said her husband has “been a point of interest and everybody knows that,” adding that he has not been cooperative with police, a departure from the department’s initial release on August 15, where they said “the husband, friends and co-workers have all been cooperative throughout the investigation and detectives will continue to follow up on all investigative leads to locate Mamta Kafle.”
CNN has contacted Manassas Park Police for an update on the search warrant, which Lugo said was expected to take three to four hours to complete.
In an interview with WUSA last week, Bhatt said he was worried about where his wife may be and that this wasn’t the first time she had gone missing.
Although she’s disappeared three times before, she had never been gone for this long, Bhatt said.
“I’m the one who is suffering,” he told WUSA. “She is my baby’s mom. She is my wife. I’m the one suffering, so I don’t know what I’m supposed to say.”
CNN has reached out to Bhatt.
A community searching for answers
Madan Uprety, the president of the Nepali American Community Center in Manassas, told WUSA the group has been communicating with police daily, seeking updates on the investigation.
A friend established a community Facebook group on August 10 to “raise awareness and coordinate search efforts” for Kafle Bhatt, its first post reads. Since its inception, the page has been updated daily with flyer distribution efforts, search and rescue information, and photos of Kafle Bhatt.
A GoFundMe has also been started to fund the search efforts for Kafle Bhatt.
If anyone has information on Kafle Bhatt’s whereabouts, they are urged to contact Manassas Park Police at 703-361-1136. Anonymous tips can also be shared with Manassas Park Crime Solvers at 703-330-0330 or manassascrimesolvers.org.
CNN’s Braden Walker contributed to this report.
The Manassas Park Police mentioned that Naresh Bhatt, Kafle Bhatt's husband, initially didn't want to report her missing, but later did on August 2, according to a press release on August 15.
Madan Uprety, the president of the Nepali American Community Center in Manassas, has been communicating with police daily, seeking updates on Kafle Bhatt's case.
