Search continues for missing Nepali woman in Virginia

VIRGINIA– A Manassas Park, Virginia, woman has been missing now for two weeks, and there’s a stepped-up effort to find her. Police and dozens of volunteers searched the trails at Blooms park, but there’s still no sign of 28-year-old Mamta Kafle Bhatt — a pediatric nurse.

The Manassas Park Police Department is being criticized for what neighbors are calling a slow response to a missing Nepali national woman  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.

Mamta Kafle is five feet tall and weighs 132 pounds, according to a missing persons poster distributed by police. She has black hair and dark brown eyes.

Anyone with information is asked to call Manassas Park police at 703-361-1136. Anyone wishing to remain anonymous can contact Manassas/Manassas Park Crime Solvers at 703-330-0330.