Featured Image Credit: Manassas Park Police Department/ GoFundMe
Topics: Crime, US News, Virginia, Sex and Relationships
Emily Brown
Topics: Crime, US News, Virginia, Sex and Relationships
A Virginia man has been charged with his missing wife's murder after investigators found a telling 11-word Google search in his internet history.
Naresh Bhatt was charged on Monday (December 2), with first-degree murder and physically defiling a dead body following the disappearance of his wife, Mamta Kafle Bhatt, who was last seen on July 29.
The 28-year-old woman was first reported missing on August 5, after she failed to turn up to work, prompting local police in Manassas Park to perform a wellness check.
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During the check, Naresh told authorities that he and Mamta, who share a one-year-old child, were in the process of separating.
However, on August 22, the husband was charged with concealing a dead body after authorities found evidence that a body had been dragged out of the home the couple shared.
The additional charges filed on Monday come as prosecutors lodged a series of allegations against Bhatt, claiming that he carried out a suspicious internet search in April, months before Naresh disappeared.
In the search, Bhatt wrote: "How long does it take to get married after spouse die."
The husband also allegedly searched 'what happen to debt died spouse'.
On July 30, Naresh is accused of visiting a Walmart in Chantilly, Virginia on July 30 to buy three knives. The following day, he allegedly went to another Walmart to buy cleaning supplies.
Following Mamta's disappearance, Naresh allegedly stopped at a Loudoun County gas station and discarded a bloodstained bath mat in a donation bin. He was also seen throwing bags into a trash compactor while wearing gloves.
Additional evidence against Bhatt comes from the amount of blood allegedly found in the couple’s master bedroom and bathroom, which prosecutors claim is an indication that Bhatt killed his wife.
However, drawing on the fact that no body has been found in the investigation, lawyers for Bhatt have argued Mamta is still alive.
Police have conducted at least 27 searches for Mamta, but have had no luck finding her.
Holly Wirth, Kafle Bhatt’s friend and former co-worker, said she and the community are 'very pleased' that additional charges have been brought against Bhatt.
“As a community that loves Mamta, we’re very pleased that the additional charges have been brought,” she said: “It sadly demonstrates the horrific things that we suspected happened to Mamta and we want Naresh Bhatt to be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
A GoFundMe page has been set up following Mamta's disappearance, which is dedicated to helping her young daughter 'thrive'.
UNILAD has contacted Manassa Park police for comment.