Why the Delay? Residents Question Police Response in Missing Manassas Park Woman Case

The Manassas Park Police Department is being criticized for what neighbors are calling a slow response to a missing mother who has not been seen since July.

Police and residents have been searching for 28-year-old Mamta Kafle, who has been missing since late July. The case has been classified as an Involuntary/Critical Missing Person, prompting an intensified search effort. The investigation began on August 2, after she failed to report to her job at Prince William UVA Hospital the day before. Officers with MPPD responded to her home in the Blooms Crossing neighborhood to do a welfare check. At that time, her husband, Naresh Bhatt, provided information to the police but did not report her as missing. It was not until eight days after anyone besides her husband last saw her that Bhatt reported his wife missing. Police began a formal investigation but waited three more days to inform the public of the disappearance. Despite the delay in reporting, Police say that Bhatt has cooperated with the investigation. Supporters say this delay in action by both Bhatt and Manassas Park police makes the outlook appear grim. Two groups of supporters have been holding separate efforts to help find Kafle. One group organized by residents with ties to Nepal has been holding vigils at the police headquarters at 329 Manassas Drive. The Nepali Embassy and various other locations, in an effort, are also encouraging local leaders to act.

The Embassy is deeply concerned about the missing of Nepali national Ms. Mamta Kafle from Manassas, Virginia since July 31, 2024. As soon as the family members of Ms. Kafle reported to the Embassy about the case, it reached out to relevant US authorities,

— Embassy of Nepal, Washington, D.C. (@nepalembassyusa) August 15, 2024

The second group, consisting of her co-workers and friends, is organized by her former roommate, Nadia Navarro. The groups have self-organized search parties to check local parks and wooded areas. For several nights, groups of about 100 volunteers scoured Blooms Crossing Park for hours, hoping to find her. While the searches have generated only a few leads, they have had a more significant effect of drawing attention to finding Kafle. Media were present Thursday night during the search, and a helicopter hovered over the search area for several hours while the search was conducted.

Both groups are frustrated by the lack of early action by the police and say they are slow to decide when and where to look. “Why aren’t the police organizing these searches? I am here to help, but there should be a central command post to ensure we are efficiently searching these areas and not going over where others have already searched or, worse, skipping areas that have not been searched. The police have the expertise and should be out here directing volunteers where to look.” said Anne Tornatore Lese, a volunteer searcher who didn’t know Kafle but felt a duty to search for her. Police say the initial assessment did not meet the Virginia State Police criteria for anything more than a missing person report, which led to Kafle only being entered into the state-wide missing persons list. Still, family and friends wanted more, saying that Kafle would never leave her 10-month-old daughter voluntarily or the job she loved as an operating room nurse. “She’s a very happy and positive person,” said Sunit Basnet Thapa, Bhatt's mentor when she worked at Inova Fairfax Hospital. “She does not have a car, driver’s license, or passport. She Ubered to work everyday. She couldn’t have gotten far by herself,” said Sadichhya Dhungana, an outspoken member of the Nepali community who participated in Thursday’s search. After Bhatt reported her missing to Manassas Park police on August 5, detectives began investigating Kafle’s disappearance. They found that there had been a lack of recent contact between Mamta and her family, friends, and employer. Additionally, there was an absence of social media activity, which raised concerns. Based on these findings and other circumstances, on Thursday, August 15, police elevated Mamta’s status to an Involuntary/Critical Missing Person.

Bhatt, facing louder public criticism for his failure to report the disappearance earlier, has conducted interviews with the media and has been seen at the MPPD offices several times. “Finding Mamta at any cost is my first and only priority,” Bhatt told reporters. He said that this is not the first time that she has disappeared before and admitted that they don’t sleep in the same room. He told the Nepalese language news site enepalise.com that the couple have been having “strained relations” but were committed to working on it, saying that the couple’s relationship has been improving since May. Kafle’s Nepal-based family backs up a claim the news site wrote. Kafle was last seen at UVA Health Prince William Medical Center on July 27. She spoke to a friend on July 28 and was last seen by her husband on July 31. These were the last known contacts before her disappearance. Kafle emigrated to the U.S. in 2021 and completed a Registered Nurse course. She first obtained a job as a nurse at INOVA Hospital before transferring to Prince William’s UVA Hospital. Kafle is 5 feet tall, 132 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. Her blood family is in Nepal, but we’re out here searching for her because we’re her family now, and we are going to find her,” said Jennifer Cooper, who did not know Kafle but helped organize the Thursday search. The Nepal Embassy posted to their X account that they are ‘deeply concerned’ over her missing status and said they have contacted relevant US authorities. Manassas Park Police Chief Mario Lugo did not respond when asked about the three-day delay in publicly announcing the disappearance after the investigation started and why they did not investigate after Kafle’s co-workers said she didn’t show up to work. Police urge anyone with information on Kafle’s whereabouts to come forward. Those with information are asked to contact Manassas Park police at 703-361-1136. Anonymous tips can also be submitted to Crime Solvers at 703-330-0330 or online at Manassas–Manassas Park Crime Solvers.