Police resume search at home of missing Virginia mother whose husband is in custody

MANASSAS PARK, Va. (WJLA) — Manassas Park police again searched the home of Mamta Kafle Bhatt, a missing 28-year-old mother who is presumed dead after her husband was accused of murdering her and hiding the body.

7News reporter Rebecca Turco was there Tuesday when the new search warrant was executed.

READ MORE | Judge finds reason to keep husband of missing Manassas Park woman in custody

7News crews were outside the house. Watch the live stream here:

Police did not disclose what evidence they were looking for at the time, but said they were following up on tips they received during the course of their investigation into the case.

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This comes just days after her 37-year-old husband, Naresh Bhatt, was arrested at their Heather Court home and charged with violating the prohibition against concealing a corpse. During a bail hearing on Monday, a judge agreed with prosecutors that Naresh was a flight risk based on information revealed in the courtroom and posed a threat to the community.

On Monday, Naresh's public defender argued that the state lacks crucial evidence to support the charge because Mamta's body has not yet been found and it is not known at this time whether the blood discovered in the family's home was hers.

The public defender pointed to Commonwealth evidence photographs showing blood stains, describing them as a “tiny” amount of blood compared to the “large pools of blood” described at Naresh's arraignment. The prosecution argued the evidence only showed the blood visible to the naked eye, not the blood visible through BLUESTAR technology.

Prosecutors presented a timeline of events surrounding their disappearance, describing pools of blood and blood splatters visible with BLUESTAR technology in the couple's master bedroom and bathroom. They said the amount of blood detected came from injuries that could not have been survivable. Prosecutors explained that BLUESTAR technology detects the most diluted blood samples.

Prosecutors said a friend told police Mamta was a victim of domestic violence. They also said Naresh conducted government Google searches on his work laptop in April, including on how long it takes to remarry after the death of a spouse.

SEE ALSO | Mamta Bhatt's husband accused of murdering his wife, dragging her body: Court document

A makeshift memorial is being erected in front of the house where Mamta lived with her husband Naresh and one-year-old daughter Neema. Friends gathered over the weekend to seek justice for Mamta.

Since Mamta's case began, there has been a huge outpouring of support in the community and it seems that people have no intention of giving up their love for Mamta until justice is served and the authorities find her body.

Police said on Tuesday that they were still looking for Mamta and had conducted several searches for her. Investigators are examining one of the locations where Mamta's cellphone last beeped, near a water body.

Police also confirmed that the basement of the Bhatts' house was rented out.