MANASSAS PARK, Va. — The desperate search for a missing Manassas Park mother continues to expand into more community searches and social media outreach.
Mamta Kafle Bhatt, 28, was reported missing by her husband on Aug. 5, three days after police conducted a welfare check. Police said he chose not to report her missing at the time.
She was last seen by her husband on July 31, a few days after co-workers last saw and spoke to her, according to investigators. The Manassas Park Police Department is treating her disappearance as a critical missing person case.
The organizers of the Facebook group "Find Mamta Kafle Bhatt" created Instagram and X accounts to help generate more help in locating her.
The incident has sparked searches from community members, including in Blooms Park, which friends say Bhatt frequented. The community is conducting another search at the same park on Saturday at 9 a.m. with the help of a former marine.
Manassas Park Councilman Michael Carrera, who also works in law enforcement, strongly supports any community searches even if they’re not officially by police.
“Any immediate attention to solve any of that is always a benefit for the community and families waiting for loved ones to come home,” Carrera told WUSA9. “We do have resources and mutual agreement with a lot of agencies so if that's a necessity, it will be looked at.”
Manassas Park Police didn’t respond to questions from WUSA9 regarding what specific agencies were assisting in the case.
The organizer of the Facebook group asked people not to spread anything that hasn’t been verified by investigators.
“Just because the police are not able to tell us what is happening does not mean they are not doing their job,” the Facebook post read. “I believe as soon as it is safe for them to tell us something, they will.”
Manassas Park Mayor Jeanette Rishell echoed those sentiments in a statement she prepared to be read at a vigil for Bhatt.
"The entire city stands with Mamta and her family, and the entire city prays for her safe return," Rishell said. "Please know that our police department has been working very hard on this disappearance and they are doing everything possible. Not everything can be shared, because in any investigation, that might compromise the investigation itself. I ask everyone to please allow the police investigation to continue to its conclusion. The process honors Mamta just as we all honor her and pray for her safe return."
The community has also spread posters of Bhatt with pictures of her with her 10-month-old girl.
“I hope, I hope, I hope, and I want to pray for her, and I hope we find her as soon as possible,” her neighbor Ikram Hidari told WUSA9.
Meanwhile, friends and the Nepalese community gathered outside the police department on Friday to help bring more awareness.