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Ana Walshe, a 39-year-old Massachusetts mother of three was last seen New Year’s Day in her home in the wealthy Boston suburb of Cohasset, according to police, who have asked for the public’s help in their search for her.
Her husband, Brian Walshe, 47, was arrested and accused of misleading officials and lying about his whereabouts on Jan. 1 and 2.
Prosecutors have said that officials found blood and a damaged, blood-stained knife in the couple’s basement and that Brian Walshe allegedly spent $450 on items including cleaning supplies, mops and tape the day after his wife was last seen.
The attorney for Brian Walshe is not commenting on the case “Her focus is on defending Mr. Walshe in court,” an assistant for attorney Tracy Miner has said via email.
More on the disappearance and search for Ana Walshe
A spokesperson for the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families said the Walshe’s three children are in state custody and declined to provide more information, citing state and federal privacy laws.
On Monday, Ana Walshe’s sister told NBC Boston from Serbia that the family is trying to get to the U.S. and that relatives are concerned for the couple’s three children.
Ana Walshe was born in Belgrade and holds dual citizenship in Serbia and the U.S., according to Olgica Vlacic, acting consul general of the Serbian Consulate in New York.
“We are all joined in praying for Ana’s safe return, despite the latest grim developments indicating otherwise,” Vlacic said. “Our hearts go out to her family and especially to her young children, who deserve to be reunited with their mother.”
Key moments in the case:
Jan. 1: Ana Walshe reportedly headed to airport
Cohasset police say Ana Walshe was at her home on Chief Justice Cushing Highway shortly after midnight before she allegedly took a ride share to Boston’s Logan Airport for a flight to Washington, D.C., to attend to a work emergency.
It is unclear who reported those alleged details, and police have said they had not been able to independently confirm them — though had confirmed she had a Jan. 3 flight booked to D.C.
Ana Walshe often traveled to D.C. for work, police said; her LinkedIn page lists her title as regional general manager at real estate company Tishman Speyer.
Police did not specify who reported last seeing Ana at home that night, other than saying it was a “family member.” Officials have said her husband was sleeping at the time she was said to have left.
A probable cause affidavit states that Brian Walshe told police the couple went to bed after a friend left around 1 a.m. and that Ana Walshe left for the airport between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m.
Brian Walshe also told police he spent New Year’s afternoon doing errands for his mother at Whole Foods and CVS — but he was not seen on surveillance video from either store, according to the affidavit.
Jan. 2: Police say husband bought cleaning items
According to a police log, Ana Walshe’s phone connected to a cell phone tower for the last time at 3:14 a.m. Jan. 2, within a quarter mile of the area of Reservoir Road, which is 0.7 miles from the family’s home. Her phone was then turned off, the log states.
Brian Walshe has told police that he visited a juice bar in the nearby town of Norwell early Jan. 2, officials have said.
Police discovered video evidence that Brian Walshe visited Home Depot in Rockland, about 10 miles southwest of the home, on Jan. 2. He was wearing a surgical mask and gloves and purchased $450 worth of goods, including cleaning supplies, mops and tape, according to prosecutors.
Jan. 4: Employer asks for a well-being check
The head of security for Ana Walshe’s employer, Tishman Speyer, called Cohasset Police around 11:45 a.m. Jan. 4 to request a well-being check, reporting that her car was in D.C., she was last seen days earlier and that the company had contacted her husband who had not filed a missing person report, according to the police log.
The company’s head of security told police they knew nothing about Ana Walshe but had “no reason to think she is in danger or ill,” the police log states.
Police interviewed Brian Walshe at his home shortly after 6:30 p.m., according to the affidavit. He stated that his wife left for work in D.C. at 6:30 a.m. New Year’s Day “and he hasn’t heard from her since,” according to the police log.
Jan. 5: Search for Ana Walshe goes public
Police announced their search for Ana Walshe, urging the public to contact them if they have any information on her whereabouts.
Jan. 6: Fire at former home
At a news conference, Chief William Quigley said Ana Walshe’s husband, family and friends had been “fully cooperative” with the investigation.
On Jan. 6, the Walshe’s former residence, on Jerusalem Road, caught fire, according to the police log. Four occupants — three adults and a young child — escaped before first responders arrived and were uninjured, police said.
The local police chief characterized it as a crime scene, and state police arrived, the police log states.
Police later characterized the blaze as a two-alarm fire whose cause was unknown, “though it does not appear to be suspicious.”
Jake Wark, public information officer for the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services, said that “state police, fire investigators and local officials identified the cause as some damage to piping that was connected to a natural gas fireplace insert and determined that it was accidental.”
Jan. 7: Ground search suspended
Local police and state police announced they were suspending their two-day ground search in the wooded area near the Walshe home.
As news of Ana Walshe’s disappearance roiled the small town of Cohasset — which, according to Crime Grade, is safer than 98% of cities in the country and boasts a median home value of $875,000, according to Census Bureau data — residents phoned in tips to police.
A spokesperson for the DA’s office said police were “aggressively following up” on all leads.
Jan. 8: Brian Walshe arrested
Police returned to the Walshe home on Chief Justice Cushing Highway to execute a search warrant just after 9:20 a.m., according to the police log.
Authorities arrested Brian Walshe, saying he mislead their investigation.
An assistant for Brian Walshe’s attorney, Tracy Miner, has said the attorney is not commenting on the case but is focused “on defending Mr. Walshe in court.”
Miner’s assistant declined to comment on her behalf Thursday.
Jan. 9: A court appearance, but not the first
Brian Walshe was arraigned in Quincy District Court. He pleaded not guilty to a single charge and was ordered held on $500,000 bail. He is next due in court Feb. 9.
This was not Brian Walshe’s first time in court: In 2021, he pleaded guilty in federal court to three counts, including wire fraud, after stealing Andy Warhol paintings from a college classmate and commissioning forgeries, Reuters reported. Court documents show that he was ordered to forfeit $225,000, but does not appear to have been sentenced to any prison time in that case.
In a letter submitted to the judge in June, Ana Walshe wrote: “Brian has been working consistently on breaking the past habits of his family, and we are all looking forward to the new chapter of his life.”
Following the 2018 death of Brian Walshe’s father, from whom he was estranged after allegations of missing money, there was a legal battle over his father’s estate, according to court documents and NBC Boston. He was described as a violent liar in affidavits from relatives and friends.
A nephew of Brian Walshe’s father prevailed in that inheritance case, court documents show.
Jan. 10: The search for evidence
The Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office said investigators removed “a number of items” for testing during a search north of Boston.
The testing of the unspecified items will “determine if they are of evidentiary value” in Ana Walshe’s disappearance, the DA’s office said.
NBC Boston reported that investigators spent hours Monday combing through trash at a transfer station in Peabody, a city 20 miles north of Boston, after digging through a Dumpster at the apartment complex where Brian Walshe’s mother lives.
Brian Walshe’s mother could not be reached for comment.
A spokesperson for Republic Services, the company that operates the Peabody waste transfer station, said that it is cooperating with law enforcement.
A spokesperson for Covanta, which operates a waste transfer station in West Wareham, a town about 65 miles south of Boston, confirmed authorities also visited their facility on Monday.
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