The Husband Of A Missing Massachusetts Woman Was Arrested For Allegedly Giving Police Misleading Statements That Delayed The Investigation

Prosecutors say police found a damaged bloody knife in the basement of the couple’s home in Cohasset, Massachusetts.

A Massachusetts man was charged Monday for allegedly making misleading statements to the police after his wife was reported missing last week.

Brian Walshe, 47, was arraigned on Monday in Quincy District Court. Prosecutors allege Brian Walshe’s initial statements to police caused a delay in the search for his wife, Ana Walshe, 39, who was reported missing on Jan. 4 after she failed to show up at her job in Washington, DC, prosecutors said. She was last seen three days earlier by a family member.

“These various statements caused a delay in the investigation to the point that during the time frame when he didn’t report his wife and gave various statements, that allowed him time to either clean up evidence, dispose of evidence, and cause a delay,” prosecutor Lynn Beland said at Brian Walshe’s arraignment Monday.

Walshe pleaded not guilty and was held on $500,000 cash bail.

Brain Walshe had told police that he last saw his wife on New Year's Day, when she took a rideshare to the airport to travel to Washington, DC.

Ana Walshe

Investigations say Ana Walshe did not book a rideshare that day and also wasn’t scheduled on a flight to DC. According to prosecutors, her phone pinged in the area of her home in Cohasset, Massachusetts, on Jan. 1 and Jan. 2, the day after which Brian Walshe said she’d already left, according to Beland.

Brian Walshe’s whereabouts on those days were also questioned by investigators. He told officers he went to Whole Foods and CVS to purchase items on Jan. 1; however, according to Beland, there were no receipts, and police surveillance indicated that he never went to these two locations on that day.

The prosecution continued by saying that Brian Walshe told police officers he took his son out for ice cream on Jan. 2; however, surveillance video obtained during the police investigation found that he went to Home Depot, where he purchased $450 worth of cleaning supplies, including mops, a bucket, and tarps.

After obtaining a warrant to search the Walshes’s home, police found blood and a damaged, bloody knife in the basement, prosecutors said.

Brian’s arrest on Sunday came a day after authorities announced they were not resuming a ground search in the wooded area near Ana Walshe’s home after two days and no results.

“Twenty Troopers from the MSP Special Emergency Response Team, a specialized unit trained in search and rescue operations, as well as three K9 teams and the State Police Air Wing searched wooded areas near Ms. Walshe’s home with negative results for the second straight day,” the statement read.

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