Hatchet, hacksaw and blood found in trash facility during search for missing mother Ana Walshe, sources say
Officials investigating the case of vanished mother Ana Walshe found trash bags with blood, a hatchet, a hacksaw, a rug and used cleaning supplies at a transfer station in Massachusetts, sources told CBS Boston's investigative team.
The items were found at a transfer station in Peabody, a city about 46 miles from Cohasset, where Walshe, a mother of three, was last seen.
Walshe, 39, was last seen alive in the early hours of Jan. 1 after a New Year's Eve dinner at her home with her husband and a friend. She purportedly took a rideshare to Logan International Airport for a flight to Washington, authorities said, but police have found no indication that she either took a vehicle or boarded any flight out of Logan recently. Since her disappearance, there has not been any activity on her credit cards or cell phone.
Her husband, Brian Walshe, is currently being held on a $500,000 bond on a charge of misleading investigators in connection with his wife's disappearance. A plea of not guilty has been entered on his behalf. Their children, aged two through six, are in the custody of the state's Department of Children and Families.
The day after Walshe went missing, Brian Walshe was seen purchasing $450 worth of cleaning supplies, including mops, buckets, tarps and tape, at a home improvement store, prosecutors say. Brian Walshe did not tell police about the visit, where he was allegedly wearing a black surgical mask and blue surgical gloves, according to court documents.
A broken knife and blood was also found in the basement of the couple's home. Sources also told CBS Boston's investigative team that Brian Walshe's car has been impounded and shows signs of being recently cleaned.
State police have also searched an incinerator in Wareham, Massachusetts, but did not find anything. CBS Boston noted that because the facility converts waste into electricity within a day, anything brought there several days ago would have already been incinerated.
In a statement on Tuesday, a spokesman for Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey would not confirm what investigators found in the Peabody transfer station.
"Search activity conducted north of Boston yesterday resulted in a number of items being collected which will now be subject to processing and testing to determine if they are of evidentiary value to this investigation," said spokesman David Traub. "No detail on those items will be disclosed at this time."
