What Happened to Mamta Kafle Bhatt?

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1:32Hello, sir. How are you? I'm off to the team in NASCAR, please. We're looking for Miss Manta Caffley. Yeah, she, like, on Tuesday, Wednesday, she left, and then she says she's going to go either New York or Texas, us and then she had the phone and then she destroyed that phone and then she left.

1:52Michelle Sigona:That was Naresh Bhatt, the Manassas Park, Virginia man charged with murdering his wife, Mumta Coughley Bhatt. Naresh was arrested and held without bond on August 22nd, 2024. Mumta's body still has not been found. I'm 48 Hours producer Michelle Sagona, 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 Koflebat 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 co-workers, and that was at the UVA Prince William Medical Center.

2:37Michelle Sigona: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.

3:24Michelle Sigona:Since she had not contacted her friends, family, or even co-workers, Mumpta'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.

4:09Michelle Sigona: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.

4:51Michelle Sigona: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. Hi, Michelle. Happy to be working with you on this. I first want to talk to you about Mumta's disappearance. I mean, she was last seen at work on July 27th, 2024. for. 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 and really play a role.

5:33So 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, you know, cutting off of very consistent, you know, almost systematic communications between her and 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.

6:10given 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.

6:23Michelle Sigona:Absolutely. So in a pre-trial 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.

7:12Michelle Sigona: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? Well, the diagram of a brand you got me. 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?

7:50And 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.

7:58Michelle Sigona:I own chickens and we keep the coop far away from the house. So, yes, it's a very strong that that ammonia smell is it's distinct. And it I would think it would mask anything, you know. 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.

8:41Michelle Sigona: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? So the police pulled Naresh's Tesla's GPS data and the prosecution noted that he was spotted at a gas station with a noticeable limp. He's dropping off a bag at a donation bin. Luckily, because it was a donation bin and not just a dumpster, the police were able to retrieve that bag and they found a bath mat testing positive for blood.

9:18So that's really fortunate for the police because when you're just dropping off bags in different various locations, dumpsters and garbage pails, the police are never going to find any of that. There's never going to be recovered. But a donation, that's a slip up because that stuff sits there for a while. I think based on the evidence, he was concerned with the disposal and the concealment of a body or body parts. And based on the purchases and visiting multiple locations, to me, it's conceivable that he was dealing with an extremely messy crime scene that produced a lot of evidence that he needed to get rid of.

9:57So that's going to be something for them to just go through with the jury step by step and create as much of a timeline as they can based on that information.

10:05Michelle Sigona:Absolutely. Yeah. Let's talk about the phone for a moment. So according to the Commonwealth's timeline, on August 1st, Naresh's phone was turned off with no activity. But Mumta's phone sent a signal from Loudoun County, Virginia, and that's about 30 miles away from Manassas Park. So what do you make of this? I would think he was trying to mislead the detectives or anybody that might be looking at this stuff. As you said in the introduction, he had a IT background and a military background. I think this could be an attempt at somewhat of a false flag operation. That's a military term, basically describing an action meant to be pinned on someone else or to throw off investigators.

10:50Michelle Sigona:And that kind of goes back to what he had mentioned early on in the body cam footage that we played for you at the beginning of the show. Maybe she went to New York. Maybe she went to another state, you know, something along those lines. So we've heard from the babysitter. From a witness perspective, who else would you want to hear from regarding this case? I think it's interesting that Naresh was dismissed as a police recruit. I'd love to speak to his instructors, see what happened there, because that's kind of a broad statement. You know, he didn't fulfill the needs. That could be for so many different reasons.

11:23You just never know what you're going to find. And you've got really good, credible witnesses there that are all, you know, current or police officers. I'd pull his military records, anything that could show if he had any kind of, you know, anger issues, temper issues, behavioral issues. They might even go back and interview some of his past girlfriends or relationships, neighbors, anybody that he might have interacted with that he might have blown a fuse. You know, I think if I was ringing doorbells out there, that would be like my aim to try to get a behavioral analysis or behavioral information on him.

12:01Michelle Sigona:And I think with the military portion, I would imagine, again, I probably have more experience with the police side portion. And you do as well. My husband went through a police academy while in the fire department and they go through, you know, everything. They talk to so many people and do such a large investigation. So there's really a lot there to pull from, as you mentioned. I do think it's interesting that Mumta's phone was still active in the area because around this time is when her co-workers started noticing that she wasn't coming into work. And that's when the welfare check was requested.

12:35Michelle Sigona:And so just to let everyone know, a welfare check is an official request to check on an individual. It's due to concern for their safety or well-being under reasonable suspicion. and police officers conducted this check on Mumtabat on August 2nd. Now, in all of your years, Herman, as an NYPD detective, have you done welfare checks like this? And if so, what would you look for? Oh, yeah. Welfare checks. When you're on patrol, when you're in uniform, you get calls for this a lot. You know, maybe not daily, but definitely weekly. They vary a lot. You know, sometimes you get a call from an out-of-town relative that wants to check up on their relative that hasn't answered their phone in a day or so.

13:21And you ring the doorbell and nine times out of 10, you know, they forgot to charge it or they did an update and they left the ringer off. As a police officer, after going on these calls over and over and over again, and it gets kind of mundane, you get jaded from doing these, like a lot of things. This one's a little different because it's somebody that hasn't reported to work and the husband hasn't reported them missing. But, you know, as a young cop, you'd probably suspect that, you know, they had a bad marriage and they broke up. I can't really blame the police officers that responded and did this welfare check.

13:55But I can tell you, I'm sure they wish that they had a second chance at this. They were invited into the house, Michelle, and they didn't take that offer. If he was bluffing and he invited them in and they went to take a step in and he said, well, let's talk out here. That's a tell. So maybe it would escalate, you know, you're kind of like that spidey sense that you use as a police officer. It's what they don't do that's also telling. You know, if you ask Naresh to show them around or, you know, can I take a look around and, you know, I have to check this box on this form and say that I searched the house.

14:29Is that cool with you, sir? And right away, you know, it's a bluff and you really don't have a search warrant or anything like that. But if somebody invites you in, you get a better feeling for this welfare check that maybe it is what I suspected when I was rolling up here. But you really you got to push these things as an investigator. And you learn that I look back on things. I always wish I had a second shot at a bunch of different scenarios that I had early on in my career. Everybody does, but you'll you learn from it. It's just one of those things.

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17:03Michelle Sigona:So I was surprised that Naresh actually answered the door for this check and spoke freely for over 10 minutes. Seemed open, forthcoming. again has his daughter in his arms he seems relaxed he has answers even offering to put officials in contact with mumta's family and suggesting where she could have allegedly gone so how significant would it be to the officers that the husband answered and that mumta was not there i look back and i say how would somebody act if they're taking care of their child and their wife just left them. It kind of could go with the way that he appeared at this on the body camera.

17:50I know people will second guess this and it's Monday morning quarterback it, but that's sometimes that's what a person looks like whose wife just left them. So we have to keep an open mind on that. But the fact that she wasn't there when the people from her work called in this welfare check, that's big. And I probably would have pushed this, like I said, if you and I were partners, Michelle, and we went there. I think we would have talked to our, at least tried to talk our way into their dining room table and maybe give them that thing about that I have to take a look around and it's okay. And I'm just going to take a look around your house with you.

18:25If that's okay, see what he says.

18:27Michelle Sigona:Now, days before his August 22nd arrest, he was interviewed by not one, but two different WUSA 9 reporters. They're local in this DC area. And I'd like to play some of those for you here. First, you'll hear WUSA reporter Katie Lasso speaking to Nourish at his doorstep. What has been going on the last couple days, weeks? Yeah, it's been very terrible time. You know, like we are just, you know, like my baby and then myself, we are just waiting minute and second, every minute and second, just waiting like to get the, you know, I don't know how to explain. How are you doing? I don't know. I'm like frustrating, yeah.

19:12Michelle Sigona:And this is WUSA 9 reporter Rafael Sanchez Cruz speaking to Naresh a week later. I don't want to talk to the media. Like, you know, I don't want to be the bad person. Like, you know, hey, why you talk to the media? I don't think it would be bad just to say. You don't think, but like, you know, you don't know. But the message is you want them that if you see her, if you see. Okay, it's up to you. No, I'm not. I'm not working like that. Oh, no, I don't know. I don't know. Okay. Sorry about that. Kudos to these reporters for really going after this story, knocking on doors. And this is before charges were even brought forward.

19:52Michelle Sigona:They were just doing their due diligence out there trying to figure out the latest. I mean, Katie was at his doorstep before he was arrested. So Herman, how do you see these interviews playing out in court? I think these will really resonate with the jury. They're going to be watching his moves, the way he is, candor, everything that he has to say. They'll be hanging on every one of these words because this is, like you said, good reporting. You really get to see this person and maybe, maybe they'll think to themselves, that's not how I would act if the mother of my child and my wife just left under these circumstances.

20:34I've sat and watched juries and what clicks with them. And I think a lot of people try to see themselves in the way that they think that it's normal to act or that they would act. And I don't think they're going to be thinking to themselves, that's exactly what I would say and do if I was being interviewed by the press about my missing mother of my child. We also know that three WUSA 9 reporters, including the ones we just heard from, were added to the witness list for the trial. So you're going to hear from them firsthand and you're going to get their insight and they're going to put on the record what he said and his demeanor.

21:14Michelle Sigona:So you mentioned earlier that this case could prove to be more complicated because it's what's known as a nobody case. So according to a study, now this was done by the general counsel for the United States Capitol Police, nobody cases actually have a conviction rate of 86%. This is due to the strength of the evidence associated with those cases. Now, for comparison, the conviction rate of all murder cases is around 70%. I mean, without a body, I would imagine other evidence would have to be extremely convincing to make it to trial. Herman, you've covered another no-body situation with us, and that was on case-by-case in the Larry Miliate murder trial.

22:01Michelle Sigona:And that was over the summer, and that's where he was found guilty of first-degree murder. So can you break down what is so unique about these kinds of cases? It's extremely challenging to prove criminal intent without a body present. It's hard enough when you do have one, obviously. You know, you look at those, you know, those statistics that you mentioned before. But this makes investigators look very closely at all of the evidence. Some of it's crucial to the case. Some of it's just to rule things out. But every single piece of evidence is given more weight than usual in a case like this. Absolutely.

22:39Michelle Sigona:And in a pretrial hearing, this was just last week, prosecutors discussed thousands of pages of digital records. This is going to be from Google, TikTok, and about 3 ,700 pages of data from Meta alone, which could include Facebook, Instagram, or WhatsApp. Now, they even read some of Nourish's alleged searches aloud, and they included things like how long does it take to marry after a spouse dies and what happens to debt after a spouse dies. So these searches seem pretty damning, for sure. And you talked a lot about the digital evidence and why it's so important to go through every corner and every piece of this.

23:22Michelle Sigona:Do you see the prosecution using them to build a case against Bob? Oh, absolutely. Think about it like the way I was trained and the way I go about just about every investigation. It's the five W's, the who, what, where, when, and why. When you're missing the what, and in this case, it would be the what is the cause of death, you have to really bolster the why. So motive and things like getting an inside look into what a person was thinking about while he was Googling things and searching search terms and things like that. That's an amazing advantage that we have now. You know, I didn't have them during my time as a police officer as much as it's so prevalent.