MANASSAS PARK, Va. (DC News Now) — Volunteers took time out of their Saturday this Labor Day weekend to continue searching for missing Manassas Park mother Mamta Kafle Bhatt, passing out flyers with her photo.
The 28-year-old mother has not been seen since July 27. Her husband, 37-year-old Naresh Bhatt, initially told police he last saw her on July 31. The couple had a one-year-old child together.
Authorities arrested Naresh on Thursday, Aug. 22. He was charged with Prohibition Against Concealment of Dead Body, a felony, and is being held without bond.
Court documents allege that Naresh killed his wife in their home before he dragged her body out of the house and hid it.
“She needs a voice. She doesn’t have a voice right now,” said Holly Wirth, a friend who worked with Mamta as a registered nurse. “So that’s my goal, is to be her voice.”
Saturday’s gathering comes a day after Manassas Park Police and the Prince William County Search and Rescue Team closed Signal Hill Park to look for evidence related to the mother‘s disappearance.
“I would say it’s very slim chances that she’s alive. And justice may look different than what we thought in those first days,” said Wirth. “But bringing her home, whatever that looks like, should still happen.
Flyers were not the only way volunteers got out their message.
Amanda Lockhart-Davis is a neighbor who hosts her own podcast. Recently, much of the podcast has focused on the search for Mamta.
“I wanted to do something,” Lockhart-Davis said.
Volunteers want to bring closure for Mamta’s family, especially her young daughter.
“Her daughter is going to grow up, likely without any parents,” Lockhart-Davis said.
