Virginia husband of missing 28-year-old mother arrested for ‘concealing a body’

Virginia Police have arrested the husband of a 28-year-old mother who went missing last month .

Mamta Kafle Bhatt was reported missing three weeks ago, according to WUSA9 . Her husband Naresh Bhatt was confirmed to be a person-of-interest Wednesday night, then taken into custody Thursday morning.

At a news conference outside the home, police said they could not confirm Mamta was dead. Naresh, however, is facing charges of concealing a body.

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Manassas Park Police executed a search warrant in the home Wednesday, where they found “additional evidence” that led to the charges.

During the press conference following the search, police said Naresh was not cooperating with police. The couple’s one-year-old daughter was also removed from the home and placed in the care of the Department of Social Services.

Ivy Freedman, a neighbor of the family, told WUSA9: “I've always thought that he did something. The mother wouldn't leave her baby. Definitely wouldn't miss her first birthday.”

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Mamta was last seen at UVA Health Prince William Medical Center on July 27, though she spoke to a friend on the phone on July 28. The last day Naresh claims to have seen his wife is July 31.

Police first responded to concerns about Mamta’s whereabouts from coworkers at Inova Fairfax Hospital on Aug. 2. Naresh reported his wife missing on Aug. 5, saying this wasn’t the first time she’d gone missing.

Naresh told WUSA9: "At that time, she has some demands so that's why she just step out and stay with a couple times with her friends and one time she moved to Falls Church, to someone, I don't know the name but she has an apartment.”

"I am suffering through a lot," he said, adding that she’s never been away this long before.

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