MANASSAS PARK, Va. (DC News Now) — Police declared the husband of the missing Manassas Park woman a person of interest after executing a search warrant on her home Wednesday evening.
During a news conference, the Manassas Park Police Department said officers executed a search warrant at the home Mamta Kafle Bhatt lived in after she was declared missing “under involuntary circumstances.”
Police said officers have executed over 10 search warrants, followed up on over 100 leads and have conducted hundreds of interviews.
During the news conference, police confirmed that they have a few people of interest, one of which is Bhatt’s husband. They said he has not been cooperating with them in their investigation.
Bhatt, 28, was a nurse, and one of her coworkers, who came out Wednesday evening as police searched Bhatt’s home, told DC News Now that she had been praying for a positive outcome.
“The case isn’t going to have a positive outcome the way that we’ve been praying for and I think that’s really hard to say out loud. Justice for Mamta may come in a different form or fashion,” the coworker said.
Adrian, a Manassas Park community member who has been helping out in the search efforts, said he was shocked to find out that Bhatt’s husband was a person of interest.
“It was very shocking. As a matter of fact, I had spoken with him this afternoon,” Adrian said. “I asked ‘how’s the baby, how’s he doing’ and he says ‘I’m going through, making it through.'”
Adrian said he’s been frustrated with police over the lack of new information in the search for Bhatt.
“I’ve been demanding with the police, ‘don’t give the information what we already know. You have to have something that we’ve been waiting for,'” Adrian told DC News Now. “We need to have more information.”
Bhatt was last seen on the night of July 31 at home. Her husband reported her missing on Aug. 5.
Friends and neighbors of Bhatt have been searching tirelessly for her for weeks. People close to her told DC News Now they hadn’t heard from her in weeks and when she didn’t report to work on Aug. 1 and Aug. 2, her colleagues got worried, prompting them to call police.
On Wednesday, Aug. 14, around 10 people went to Blooms Park Trail, a place Bhatt frequented with her now-1-year-old baby, to hang up flyers and search for her.
Bhatt’s husband did not participate in the search.
Later that day, Bhatt’s husband addressed the community and reporters during a news conference outside the police department thanking everyone’s efforts in searching for his wife.
“I need your help in a positive way. Thank you for doing what you are doing, keep doing what you are doing during this difficult time,” he said.
Police said the investigation is still ongoing.
