Police say fibers may link husband to body

RALEIGH -- Cary investigators say they found evidence in a car that may have been used in the disappearance and homicide of a woman whose badly burned body was found in Virginia on Jan. 16.

A search warrant made public Monday said leaves and green and yellow fibers were collected from a red 1996 Subaru Legacy after Vanlata Patel's body was found alongside Interstate 85 in Mecklenburg County, Virginia. Police think her estranged husband, Harish Purushottamdas Patel, 60, of Cary, abducted her and is responsible for her death. The Subaru was owned by Harish Patel.

Police said they also found biological evidence in a 1997 Nissan Sentra owned by Vanlata Patel. Vanlata Patel had left her husband and moved to Canada with her son, but the Nissan was seen parked at the Cary apartment of her husband the day she died, according to an earlier warrant.

Cary police learned of the death Jan. 22 after Virginia authorities connected the burned body to a description of Vanlata Patel, 57, who had been reported missing. Harish Patel denied having anything to do with his wife's death. But on Feb. 11, police charged Harish Patel with first degree murder.

On the day of Vanlata Patel's death, her husband was captured on surveillance video at a Cary convenience store, where he purchased a red gasoline container and the fuel he pumped to fill that vessel, court records show.

Vanlata Patel had arrived in Cary from Canada to settle a financial dispute with her husband and was scheduled to catch a flight back to Canada the day she disappeared, police reported.

In an interview with police Jan. 20, Patel denied his wife had ever been to his apartment at 1128 Woodway Bluff Circle in Cary. But a resident told police that Vanlata Patel's Nissan was in the apartment building's parking lot about 8:30 p.m. Jan. 16, investigators reported.

Police have not released a motive for the woman's death, but friends and court documents indicated the Patels had argued about money throughout their marriage. Before Vanlata Patel died, she and her husband disagreed about dividing more than $400,000 they had in Swiss bank accounts, court records show.

Investigators recovered dry leaves on the front windshield of the Subaru. They also found one yellow and one green fiber in the left rear passenger seat and more yellow fibers on the rear passenger floor of the vehicle, according to the search warrant.

Police reported that Vanlata Patel's body had been wrapped in a nearly destroyed comforter when firefighters found her body, but they did not indicate its color.

"The investigation has been turned over to the district attorney's office," Cary Sgt. Travis Baker said Monday.

Wake County Assistant District Attorney Howard Cummings declined comment.

Harish Patel remains in custody at the Wake County jail without benefit of bail, a jail spokeswoman said Monday.