Vigil to be held for missing Cohasset woman as search for mom of 3 continues

COHASSET − A vigil will be held Thursday for Cohasset mother of three Ana Walshe as investigators continue to search for her.

Walshe, who has not been seen since early New Year's Day, was reported missing on Jan. 4. by her employer in Washington, D.C., when she didn't report to work. Her husband, Brian Walshe, is charged with misleading the investigation into his wife's disappearance and is in state custody.

Religious leaders in the South Shore town have organized a vigil on the town common for 4:30 p.m. for the community to come together and pray as one.

Meanwhile, some of Ana Walshe's friends are working to get her children, ages 2, 4 and 6, out of the custody of the state Department of Children and Families.

"I am proposing to keep them together. In our community, we have quite a few families," Natasha Sky, founder of the Sky International Center, a social-business network in Newton, said. "I'm offering my house for them to stay since I am a mother and I have a 9-year-old."

Investigators have conducted an extensive search for the missing mother spanning several Massachusetts communities.

Blood and a knife were found earlier this week in the basement of the home the family rented in Cohasset, prosecutors said.

The investigation has included searches of a transfer station in Peabody and a waste-to-energy facility in East Wareham. 5 Investigates has learned that evidence found at the transfer station near the home of Brian Walshe's mother included a hacksaw and a rug with blood on it.

Brian Walshe, 47, was arraigned Monday in Quincy District Court on a charge of misleading a police investigation in connection with the disappearance. A police report indicates that he told officers his wife was leaving for Washington, D.C., early on the morning of Jan. 1.

"Police were notified around Jan. 4 by her employees in Washington, D.C., that she had not shown up for work on Jan. 4. That was the first time that (anyone) was notified that she was missing," Norfolk Assistant District Attorney Lynn Beland said in court Monday. "She actually had a plane ticket for Jan. 3 that she did not use and did not show up at the airport."

Prosecutors said during Brian Walshe's court appearance that blood and a bloody knife were found in the basement of the family's Cohasset home shortly after he spent about $450 on cleaning supplies. Police said he wore a surgical mask and gloves at the store, and used cash to pay for the purchase.

Brian Walshe is awaiting sentencing in a federal case involving fake Andy Warhol paintings, and he is supposed to request permission to leave his home and specify the time required for each trip.

Ana Walshe is 5 feet, 2 inches tall and weighs 115 pounds. She has brown hair, brown eyes and an olive complexion and speaks with an eastern European accent.

Anyone with information about her whereabouts is asked to contact Detective Harrison Schmidt at 781-383-1055 ext. 6108 or email hschmidt@cohassetpolice.com.

Cohasset police have also set up a new email for tips at tips@cohassetpolice.com.

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Vigil to be held for missing Cohasset woman as search continues