VA VA - Mamta Kafle Bhatt, 28, mom & pediatric nurse, 'involuntary missing,' husband reported her missing Aug 5, Manassas Park, 31 July 2024

[MassGuy]

were these two about the same age? first marriage for him as well?

She's 28, and public records indicate that he's 37.

We don't know if it's his first marriage, but we do know it was an arranged one.

 

[Seattle1]

As usual, great post.

I'm sure they are all over it, on it, doing all they can. I wish we knew if there was a search warrant on the home, and if not, why they can't get it granted.

IMO MOO

IME, securing and executing a search warrant during a missing adult investigation nearly always proves difficult. These cases are the most frustrating!

First, the purpose of the warrant is to search for evidence of a crime.

Second, police have to first provide a Judge information that supports the possibility of finding evidence of a crime at the location being searched. In other words, present probable cause to the Court (i.e., facts and circumstances) that provide a reasonable basis to believe a suspect has committed or is about to commit a crime.

Police need evidence to support MFB was the victim of a criminal act before they're going to get inside the house to search if violence against her occurred inside.

Unfortunately, the prior incidents of MFB acting to separate herself from the husband without evidence she was threatened, feared for her safety, or evidence she told police or others she'd been assaulted and or physically abused, isn't necessarily helping.

On the other hand, we are hearing about evidence that the husband actually acted in ways he believed would prevent her from leaving the home such as denying her access to money and a phone. Things he knew she'd need to be away from him and her child.

Unlike pinging MFB's phone location, it's also frustrating that a search warrant is also required to search a suspect's electronic footprint including phone, CSLI, GPS, and information from the vehicle telematics too.

MOO

 

[Charlot123]

I actually agree - I am still on the fence, though I fully realize LE says she is involuntarily missing. I don't know what has led them to say that so I remain on the fence. My hunch is because she left behind her child, but I'm not sure that is enough to say she is gone "involuntarily."

I know the seemingly obvious conclusion is likely what happened, but I want to know more. (I know that is not a popular stance and I totally appreciate why people do not share my hesitancy. I agree one theory is stronger than the other.)

jmo

2/3 chance that she has been “disappeared” by her husband, because of the elapsed after she last shown any evidence of life and the time the husband said he last saw her.

However, could this situation potentially invite something like divorce in absentia? if Mamta has reasonable reasons to be afraid for her life as the victim of DV, could she be hidden in a DV shelter? Then, of course, serving papers could be difficult as there is no return address. And, she can’t show at the divorce hearing as she is in hiding. I can’t totally exclude this scenario, or maybe I still clutch at hope.

 

[Charlot123]

‘We’ve lost days and days’: Search Continues for Pediatric Nurse Who Vanished Following Argument with Husband

More details continue to emerge as loved ones search for a Virginia nurse who hasn’t been seen in weeks. As CrimeOnline previously reported, Bhaytt, a pediatric nurse at UVA Health Prince William Medical Center, was last seen in Manassas Park on July 31. She unexpectedly stopped her daily...

www.crimeonline.com

Meanwhile, according to the Washington Post, loved ones recalled a disagreement that led Bhatt to move in with friend Sarita Neupane Neupane for a week. The cause of the argument between the couple remains unclear.

Another friend, Nadia Navarro, told Grace that she recalled the husband being controlling and “constantly” calling her when Bhaytt wasn’t home.

“He would call me on my phone constantly, and text me constantly,” Navarro, who temporarily lived with the couple, said. “He started to kind of control where I would go, too. At one point, I wanted to take Manta to an Indian store…..He wouldn’t really let her leave the house that was any further than five minutes.”

That appears somewhat more than controlling. Am I the only one questioning paranoia in the spouse?