What Happened to Mamta Kafle Bhatt?

48 Hours

This episode of '48 Hours: Case by Case' investigates the disappearance of Mamta Kafle Bhatt and the subsequent murder charges against her h

Key takeaways

• Naresh Bhatt faces charges of first-degree murder and physically defamed a dead body.
• Prosecutors identified suspicious Google searches by Naresh, including 'diagram of a brain' and queries regarding marriage after death.

Main topics

• Mamta Kafle Bhatt disappearance
• No-body murder investigations

Notable quotes

I'm just waiting for the justice of my sister.

Conclusion

The episode provides a detailed look at how investigators piece togeth

Transcript preview

Speaker 4 (0:02) Hello sir, how are you? I'm off to the Kimanas Park, please. We're looking for Miss Monta Caffley. Speaker 6 (0:10) Yeah, she, like, on Tuesday, Wednesday, she left, and then she said she's going to go either New York or Texas, and then she left, like, she had the phone, and then she destroyed that phone, and then she left. Speaker 3 (0:23) That was Naresh Bhatt, the Manassas Park, Virginia man charged with murdering his wife, Mumta Koffley Bhatt. Naresh was arrested and held without bond on August 22, 2024. Mumta's body still has not been found. I'm 48 Hours producer Michelle Segona, and this is Case by Case. Now, I'm in the D.C. area, and this is a story that's been covered heavily, especially over the last couple of years, by our local media. Mumta Khaflibat was just 28 years old when she went missing, and that was in 2024. She was last seen on July 27th that year by her coworkers, and that was at the UVA Prince William Medical Center. That's where she was a pediatric nurse. Now, after not showing up for a few days, her co-workers requested a welfare check on August 2nd. It was then that officers spoke to Naresh, who initially said he didn't want to report her missing, and that's because she had allegedly left the home like this before. Three days later, on August 5th, he did file that missing report. And on the 7th, He even posted on Facebook that his wife went missing. He encouraged people to go to the nearest police department or to their friends or family with any information, ending his post with, quote, I appreciate your unconditional support and hope to get help down the road in future days. Since she had not contacted her friends, family, or even coworkers, Mumtaz's disappearance was declared involuntary. And that was on August the 8th. The Nepali-American couple had an arranged marriage back in December of 2020, and they share a three-year-old daughter together. Mumta's mother and brother came from Nepal in October 2024 to care for the child right here in the United States. And the BOT trial is expected to start in early October. And this could last up to seven weeks. Now, while Naresh initially faced charges of concealing a dead body, prosecutors later added charges of first-degree murder and physically defiling a dead body. In a bond motion hearing back in September 2024, senior assistant public defender requested that he be released, and this was citing his seven years of experience and service within the United States Army and the fact that he worked in IT at the White House. Naresh was also hired as a police recruit for Fairfax County in 2020. But according to the Fairfax County Police Department, he was, quote, unsuccessful in fulfilling the requirements of the role. Now, the bond motion was denied, and Naresh has since been held at the Prince William Manassas Adult Detention Center. Joining us today is 48 Hours consultant Herman Weisberg. Herman is a private investigator, former NYPD detective. and the managing director of SAGE Intelligence Group. And this is where he oversees investigations. Thank you so much for being here, Herman. It's always great to see you. Speaker 4 (3:35) Hi, Michelle. Happy to be working with you on this. Speaker 3 (3:38) I first want to talk to you about Mumta's disappearance. I mean, she was last seen at work on July 27th, 2024. But from what we've been able to learn, she did speak to a friend on July 28th. And then the day after that, She had a video call with her mom. So I'm curious about how her phone activity leading up to her disappearance may come up in this trial Speaker 4 (4:02) and really play a role. So I read that Mamta actually spoke to her mother twice a day. Her mom lived in Nepal at the time, and they kept an extremely close contact. That call on the 29th was actually Mamta's last call to her mom. So this sudden cutting off of a very consistent, Speaker 2 (4:20) almost Speaker 4 (4:21) systematic. communications between her or mom. That's going to raise some red flags for the family. The defense could hint that Mamta just pulled away from her husband and child because she was unhappy, but prosecutors are going to point out that Mamta's probably not going to cut herself off completely from her whole community and family like that. Given the fact that Mamta's body still hasn't been found, prosecutors will have to get creative about the evidence in this case. So phone data. camera footage, GPS location, all of this very much comes into play. Speaker 3 (4:53) Absolutely. So in a pretrial hearing, this was in September 2024, the senior assistant Commonwealth's attorney laid out this timeline. Now, early in the morning, this is on July 30th, Naresh dropped off their three-year-old daughter at their babysitter's apartment in Manassas Park. At the sitter's apartment complex, he was captured on camera. throwing away several bags of garbage inside one of the local dumpsters there. Now, that same day, according to authorities, he Googled, quote, diagram of a brain and chicken farm near me. Now, all of this was before going to a local Home Depot and a Walmart to buy a set of knives and a 40-pack of extra strong black trash bags. Now, I can see the knives and the bags raising eyebrows. You know, we've seen this before. But chicken farms? Why do you think he could have been researching that? Speaker 4 (5:52) Well, the diagram of a brand new Gami, anyone's guess is as good as mine. I can't figure that out. And remember, we're just getting bits and pieces of this. The prosecution is going to have this laid out, and this will be a very important part of the case. I think anyone looking to mask the odor of a decomposing body. You would think to yourself, what's the smelliest places that I remember, even from your childhood or anything, or just from reputation? And one of those places is this chicken farm. If you've ever been anywhere near one, you know that that's an extremely strong smell. I have been near a chicken farm. I own Speaker 3 (6:30) chickens, and we keep the coop far away from the house. So, yes. Speaker 4 (6:35) It's a very strong, that ammonia smell, it's distinct, and it... I would think it would mask anything, you know. Speaker 3 (6:43) Now, Herman, the day after, this is on July 31st, Naresh did return to Manassas Park. And this was to pick up their daughter, but not before he was captured on video taking bags out of that Tesla, putting them into a trash compactor about 20 miles away. And that was in Falls Church, Virginia. Now, when he returned to the babysitter's apartment, this is what we've learned in Manassas Park, he threw away. More trash bags there. Investigators spoke to the babysitter who said he was nervous and kept looking around. And Herman, the purchases, dropping off trash bags in multiple locations, and now hearing from the babysitter, what do you think is going to stick out here to the prosecution team? Speaker 4 (7:29) So the police pulled Naresh's Tesla's GPS data. And the