COHASSET, Mass. (WCVB) — Internet records show the husband of missing Massachusetts woman, Ana Walshe, searched for how to dispose and dismember a body, sources told CNN.
Investigative efforts on Monday resulted in the collection of several pieces of potential evidence in connection with the search for missing Massachusetts mother Ana Walshe, the Norfolk District Attorney's office announced on Tuesday morning.
"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. No detail on those items will be disclosed at this time," the DA's office wrote in a statement.
Searches north of the city on Monday included a transfer station in Peabody and the trash area at an apartment complex in Swampscott. Meanwhile, investigators continued their work at the Walshe family's home in Cohasset.
The office added that there are no anticipated searches of public areas today, but that may change if investigators develop new information.
The 39-year-old mother of three has not been seen since the early morning hours of New Year's Day.
Her husband, 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.
Ana Walshe was reported missing on Jan. 4 by her employer, Washington, D.C.-based real estate company Tishman Speyer.
"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 on 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 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 approximately $450 on cleaning supplies. A police report revealed that he wore a surgical mask and gloves at the store, and used cash to pay for the purchase.
Also according to that police report, Walshe said he and his wife hosted a friend for New Year's Eve dinner and that friend left around 1 a.m. or 1:30 a.m. He further told police that his wife told him early in the morning that she had a work emergency that required her to fly to Washington, D.C.
While police said they were told Ana Walshe was supposed to take a ride-share to Boston Logan International Airport on Jan. 1, prosecutors said no ride was scheduled for that day.
5 Investigates has learned, through court documents, that 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.
Prosecutors said that investigators could not substantiate his claims of getting lost on the way to his mother's home or going to two stores on Jan. 1. Walshe said he was without his phone that day.
Walshe also reported that he only left the couple's home on Jan. 2 to get ice cream for his son; however, surveillance video at Home Depot in Rockland showed him purchasing the cleaning supplies, including mops, a bucket and drop cloths and various kinds of tape, officials said.
"He's on surveillance at that time on Jan. 2, even though he said he never left the house. Police obtained a search warrant and actually searched the house with crime scene services. During that time, they found blood in the basement. Blood was found in the basement area, as well as a knife, which also contained some blood," Beland said.
Furthermore, police found that Walshe's phone traveled to Brockton and Abington, communities where he is not approved to travel.
There was police activity Monday at the Swampscott apartment complex where Walshe's mother lives. NewsCenter 5 spotted crime scene tape around where a dumpster once stood at that apartment complex.
Following the police activity near the home of Walshe's mother, investigators arrived at the trash transfer station in Peabody, where they meticulously combed through garbage for hours one dump truck at a time. Those investigators eventually appeared to sort items onto a blue tarp.
NewsCenter 5 has also learned that part of the search involves a dumpster that was brought in from an apartment complex in Swampscott, where Walshe's mother-in-law lives.
The landlord of the Cohasset house the Walshe family rents told NewsCenter 5's Emily Maher that the basement has a concrete floor with equal space on both sides but that it is not a living area.
On Monday, there was yellow police tape blocking off the doors to the home that lies off the Chief Justice Cushing Highway, which is also known as Route 3A.
A search of the family's Washington townhouse found no sign of Ana Walshe there. Friends said she commutes during the week for work at a job she started last year.
Ana Walshe's cellphone pinged in the area of the couple's home on Jan. 1 and Jan. 2, which is after the time that the defendant said his wife left the area, Beland said.
She is active on social media, but friends say those accounts went silent on New Year's Day.
A defense attorney said her client has been "incredibly cooperative" with police.
"He is not charged with murder. He's charged with misleading investigators by not saying, as I understand it, if he went to a Home Depot," Walshe's attorney said.
Walshe was held on $500,000 and is set to return to court on Feb. 9.
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