State Police stop ground search for missing Cohasset mother Ana Walshe
COHASSET - Crews spent hours searching Saturday for Ana Walshe, a 39-year-old Cohasset mother of three who has not been seen for nearly a week.
Massachusetts State Police said the ground team from State Police and Cohasset Police concluded around 5:15 p.m. There are no plans to return on Sunday.
Saturday's search included the use of various resources, including three K-9 units and the State Police Air Wing.
They received "negative results for the second straight day," State Police said.
State and Cohasset Police arrived in Washington D.C. on Saturday as well.
There were new developments in the case Friday afternoon as police searched the woods near her home and crews responded to a fire at her former home where another family now lives.
The search was called off for the night around 7 p.m. on Friday. Around 9 a.m. on Saturday, crews began reassembling in the area, set to continue searching for Walshe.
At a news conference Friday, Police Chief William Quigley said there's been "no electronic foot print of her" at all since January 1.
That's when a relative saw Walshe leave her home in Cohasset around 4 a.m. to take a ride share to Logan Airport in Boston for a flight to Reagan National Airport in Washington, DC. Her husband was sleeping when she left, the chief said, adding she was presumably called to a work emergency in DC.
Quigley said investigators have not been able to confirm she ever got in a ride share. He also said they've been in contact with all of the airlines and that she "did not board a plane this week." Walshe was reported missing Wednesday.
Walshe lives in Cohasset with her husband and their three young sons but she works during the week as commercial real estate executive in Washington DC. Quigley said police have searched her home in Massachusetts as well as her townhouse in Washington.
On Friday afternoon, firefighters responded to a fire at a Cohasset home on Jerusalem Road where Walshe lived until a few months ago. On Saturday, investigators said the fire was not suspicious and was linked to an issue with a fireplace insert.
The fire began in the attic. A couple, their nanny, and a toddler who were in the home at the time all made it out safely.
The chief said Walshe's cell phone has been off since January 1 and there's been no activity on her credit or debit cards since then as well. He said investigators have been tracking the electronic forensics looking for any evidence of her whereabouts.
Quigley said Walsh's husband, her family, her friends in Washington and her company have all been fully cooperative.
"We have nothing to support anything suspicious or criminal," the chief said.
Police released a photo of Walshe Thursday and described her as 5'2″, weighing 115 pounds. She has brown hair, brown eyes and speaks with an Eastern European accent.
"We have detectives working around the clock," Quigley told reporters. "We're looking everywhere."
The chief said they're getting help from the TSA, FBI and Secret Service as well as Massachusetts State Police and detectives from Hingham, Hull, Norwell and Scituate. Investigators were searching an area near Route 3A Friday afternoon, about a mile from Walshe's home.
Friends of Walshe met virtually on Friday to come together and pray for her safe return.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police detective Harrison Schmidt at 781-383-1055 x-6108 or email hschmidt@cohassetpolice.com.
