Husband of Missing Massachusetts Mom Last Seen on New Year’s Day Faces Court

Ana Walshe. Cohasset Police

The husband of a missing Massachusetts mother of three appeared in a Cohasset court on Monday on a charge related to her disappearance.

Brian Walshe was escorted to Quincy District Court to be arraigned on a charge of misleading police who are investigating his wife’s disappearance.

His wife, Ana Walshe, a 39-year-old realtor, hasn’t been seen since New Year’s Day.

In court, Brian Walshe, 46, was seen in handcuffs and wearing what appeared to be plastic bags over his shoes.

The court hearing revealed that blood was found in the Walshe family home’s basement, as well as a partly damaged knife with traces of blood on it.

The prosecutors said that Brian Walshe—who was under house arrest for an earlier crime pending sentencing—asked permission to drive to his mother on New Year’s day for a medical emergency.

He also told police he would be going to two supermarkets that day and specified which, but surveillance footage showed no sign of him at either location. Nor did he have any receipts of any purchases.

Prosecutors said that on the next day, Jan. 2, Brian Walshe told police he would go buy ice cream for his son, but security footage at a Home Depot showed he purchased $450 worth of cleaning supplies.

Ana Walshe’s phone pinged in the area of her home on both Jan. 1 and Jan. 2, prosecutors said.

Brian Walshe pleaded not guilty at the hearing, and a $500,000 cash bail was set under a $5 million bond, reported New York Post.

He has hired well-known lawyer Tracy Miner.

Police Continue Search

Police are continuing their investigation into the fate of Ana Walshe, who was last seen at her Cohasset home shortly after midnight on New Year’s Day.

She was meant to use a ride-share service to catch a flight from Boston Logan International Airport for work on New Year’s Day, Cohasset Police Chief William Quigley said at a news conference Friday.

It was unclear if she actually took the rideshare, he said at the time, but authorities confirmed she never boarded the flight.

Her husband and her employer in Washington D.C. reported her missing several days later, the police chief said.

Guilty in Earlier Case

Brian Walshe had pleaded guilty in 2021 to wire fraud, interstate transportation for a scheme to defraud, possession of converted goods, and unlawful monetary transaction, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.

He allegedly took two original Andy Warhol paintings from a friend in South Korea and put them on eBay. He allegedly sold fake copies of the paintings, and he is still awaiting sentencing in that case.