Ana Walshe's disappearance, husband Brian Walshe's arrest: A timeline of events in Cohasset
COHASSET - It's been more than two weeks since Cohasset mother of three Ana Walshe was last seen after going missing on New Year's Day. Her husband Brian Walshe, arrested and charged with misleading the investigation, was held on $500,000 bail after prosecutors revealed that police found a bloody knife in the couple's basement. On January 17, a murder warrant was issued for Brian Walshe.
Here is a timeline of events surrounding Ana Walshe's disappearance - based on court documents, statements from the prosecution and defense, and WBZ-TV's reporting:
Dec. 31, 2022: New Year's Eve
Brian Walshe told investigators that he and Ana hosted their friend Gem for dinner, according to a criminal complaint. Gem arrived at about 8:30 p.m. and left "around 1:00 or 1:30am." He told WBZ-TV there was "absolutely no indication" that anything was wrong. Brian said he and Ana went to bed shortly after Gem left. Brian said Ana told him she had a "work emergency" and needed to fly to Washington, D.C. in the morning.
Friends say "Happy New Year" messages sent to Ana were never returned.
Jan. 1, 2023: New Year's Day
Ana is last seen between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m., prosecutors say. Brian told investigators she left the house to take an Uber or Lyft to the airport. Police later checked and determined there was no Uber or Lyft that picked her up that day, a prosecutor said in court.
Brian, who was on house arrest in connection with a case involving fake Andy Warhol paintings, tells police that he got up at 7 a.m. to make breakfast for their three boys. In the afternoon, a babysitter arrives and Brian leaves to see his mother in Swampscott, the criminal complaint states.
Brian told investigators he "got lost" driving to his mother's house and it takes him about 20-30 minutes longer than usual to get there. He said he didn't use GPS because he was missing his cell phone, telling police that one of their children must have taken the phone and that it wasn't found until the next day.
Brian told police that while in Swampscott he ran errands for his mother at CVS and Whole Foods. A prosecutor said in court that there are no receipts or surveillance video showing him in those stores.
At Brian Walshe's murder arraignment, the prosecution alleged that he made a long list of disturbing Google searches from his son's iPad on New Year's Day, including "10 ways to dispose of a dead body if you really need to."
Jan. 2, 2023: Alleged Home Depot trip
Brian told police he took his son out for ice cream in Norwell. A prosecutor said that sometime after 4 p.m., Brian in fact went to the Home Depot in Rockland. Surveillance video showed him in a black mask and blue surgical gloves using cash to buy about $450 worth of cleaning supplies, including mops, a bucket, tarps, drop cloths and various kinds of tape, the prosecutor said.
Ana's cell phone pinged in the area of the Cohasset home on January 2, a prosecutor said.
Jan. 3, 2023: Plane ticket
A prosecutor said Walshe had a flight booked to Washington, D.C. on Jan. 3 that she never used, and she never showed up to the airport.
Walshe's phone data allegedly showed he traveled to an apartment complex in Abington, exited a car near a dumpster and walked to it carrying a garbage bag that appeared heavy and left it. He allegedly went to two more complexes and threw items into dumpsters as well.
Prosecutors also said Walshe then did more Google searches about decomposition including, "what happens to hair on a dead body?"
Jan. 4, 2023: Ana is reported missing
Police in D.C. and Cohasset are notified by employees at Ana's Washington, D.C. workplace that she did not show up for work. A prosecutor says this is the first time police have been alerted that Ana is missing, and that Brian had not notified anyone that she was missing. A lawyer for Brian countered in court that he was the one who contacted the employer to say that he had not heard from his wife.
Brian leaves a voicemail for a friend saying "Ana hasn't been in touch for a few days" and says he's trying to reach anyone who may have been in contact with her. "I am sure everything is fine," he says.
The prosecution said Walshe went to a store and bought towels, bath mats and men's clothes and then went to Lowe's where he purchased squeegees and a trash can.
Cohasset Police went to the Walshe home that day for a well-being check. Officers noticed the seats in his Volvo were down and there was a "plastic liner in the back of the car." The prosecutor said chemists later analyzed the car and found blood in it.
Jan. 5, 2023: Police ask public for help finding Ana
Cohasset police get the word out on social media that they are looking for help from the public to find Ana. They say she was last seen early in the morning of New Year's Day and speaks with an Eastern European accent.
Walshe's phone records show he went to his mother's home in Swampscott and stopped at a dumpster there.
Jan. 6, 2023: Ground team searches the woods
Police search the woods near Route 3A, about a mile from the Walshe's home. Later in the day, a fire breaks out in the attic of another Cohasset home where Ana lived until a few months ago.
The police chief calls it a "very strange coincidence," but the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services determined the cause of the fire was accidental.
Jan. 7, 2023: Search stops
Police spent more hours on Saturday searching for Ana in Cohasset. Among the resources used are K-9 units and the State Police Air Wing. They search a small stream and backyard pool without finding anything. The search ends Saturday evening.
Jan. 8, 2023: Brian is arrested; home searched
Police execute a search warrant at the couple's home, and investigators are seen removing boxes of evidence from inside the house, while others had shovels in hand. A prosecutor says blood and a bloody and damaged knife were found in the basement of the home.
Brian is arrested and charged with misleading the investigation as Ana has now been missing for one week.
Jan. 9, 2023: Brian appears in court; evidence found
A plea of not guilty was entered for Brian in Quincy District Court. A judge ordered him held on $500,000 for the charge of misleading the investigation.
Investigators begin combing through trash at a facility in Peabody and find evidence linked to the disappearance of Ana Walshe, I-Team sources tell WBZ. They find trash bags with blood, a hatchet, a hacksaw, a rug and used cleaning supplies, the I-Team sources say.
State police also searched an incinerator in Wareham, but do not find anything.
Jan. 10, 2023: Police finish searching Cohasset home
The district attorney says detectives are continuing to investigate "the suspicious disappearance" of Ana Walshe.
Police finish searching and processing the family's Cohasset home, and leave the scene Tuesday afternoon.
Jan. 13, 2023: Search warrants returned
The Norfolk County District Attorney's Office confirms search warrants connected to the Ana Walshe case have been returned to Quincy District Court and impounded.
Jan. 17, 2023: Murder warrant issued
The Norfolk County District Attorney's Office says an arrest warrant has been obtained, charging Brian Walshe with the murder of his wife and improper transport of a body. He will be arraigned in Quincy District Court.
Jan. 18, 2023: Formally charged with murder
Brian Walshe is formally charged with murder in Quincy District Court. Prosecutors detail disturbing internet searches allegedly made by Brian Walshe shortly after his wife's disappearance. Walshe pleads not guilty and is held without bail.
Walshe's attorney Tracy Miner says in a statement to WBZ-TV "I intend to win this case in court, not in the media, which has already tried and convicted Mr. Walshe."
