Nearly two years ago, nurse Mahfuza Rahman left work at Bellevue Hospital when her shift ended. Then she vanished.
Bronx homicide squad detectives believe the 30-year-old Rahman is dead, the victim of foul play. But the case of the young mother is still technically an open missing persons investigation, police say, because cops have found no evidence of her body.
Rahman was last seen leaving her associate nurse job at Bellevue at 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 8, 2015.
Her husband, Mohammad Chowdhury, told officers from the hospital police force that she had rushed back to Bangladesh because her parents had been injured in a car crash. Then he left for Bangladesh himself with the couple?s 9-year-old daughter. Months passed, and Rahman never called or returned to work, sparking an NYPD investigation in March 2016.
When detectives reached Rahman?s parents, they realized her husband had lied, cops said. They said they had not been an accident, and they hadn?t heard from their daughter since the day before she disappeared, police sources said.
Cops tore up the cement outside Rahman?s E. 198th St. house in Bedford Park, the Bronx, searching with dogs for clues, but found none.
They did discover that Chowdhury used a credit card to buy a camping hatchet two days after his wife?s disappearance, the case detectives told WPIX 11 in January.
Police also found Rahman?s clothes, wallet, credit cards ? and passport ? in her home.
The NYPD got Chowdhury on the phone shortly after starting its probe. He proclaimed his innocence in Rahman?s disappearance and said he wanted to return to New York but feared for his safety because of tensions with his wife?s family, police sources said.
He hasn?t returned to the U.S., and it?s not clear if he?s in hiding in Bangladesh, cops said Sunday.
Police are asking the public?s help to find Rahman, whom they describe as 5-feet-5, 135 pounds, with brown eyes and black hair. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS.
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