It’s time for It’s A Crime…to step into the criminal mind. These are stories of people who are not who we thought they were. People who turned to the dark side and chose betrayal and bloodshed. Your host Margaret McLean is a former prosecutor and author of true crime mystery. This is her world…  

I’m your host Margaret McLean. Thank you for listening. I’m back on air with a dark and twisted missing persons investigation that I fear will unravel a tale of betrayal and murder. This case hits so close to home because it took place in a town next-door to where I live, and involves a young family who could be my neighbors or yours. As a busy criminal prosecutor. I’ve had many high profile trials, and I’ve always been fascinated with the criminal mind and unsolved cases, yet this one goes deeper and feels personal. Let’s delve right in! 

This case is about Ana Walshe. Right now she’s missing.  With all my experience I’ve never been this close to a case that has turned darker, darker and down right sinister. 

First and foremost, who is Ana Walshe? She’s a beautiful, put together, smart, 39 year old, married mother of three young children. We will learn a lot more about Ana as we go along. So Ana allegedly heads out of her house in Cohasset, Massachusetts. It’s very early. Her bags are packed and she’s on her way to Washington D.C. for some kind of work emergency that she has to attend to. She’s a manager at Tishman Speyer. She heads out and then she vanishes–she disappears. Nobody hears from her again. 

We’ll call that day one.  Now. It’s also day one of 2023–New Year’s Day. A day of new beginnings, resolutions, and goals. I wonder how Ana rang in the new year?Did she watch the ball drop in Times Square? Did she toast with champagne? Did she have resolutions? Maybe we’ll never know. 

So, January 2 rolls around–it’s a Monday. Her family and friends hear absolutely nothing from Ana.  If you called her phone, it would go straight to voicemail as usual.  I live in the next town over, only about three minutes away in Scituate. My friend Lori Langenhagen is a longtime resident of Cohasset, and I asked her to provide you with a description of the setting: 

Lori: “It’s a wonderful little town, safe place to raise kids. A quaint New England coastal town.” 

It’s hard to believe that it’s been 36 hours, a whole 36 hours and nobody’s heard a thing from Ana. It makes you wonder–did anybody get suspicious? Friends? Family? Did anybody call the police? 

Let’s check out the dispatch logs at the station. I’m reading through  the logs and I don’t see any reports for a missing woman on January 1 or 2. There was a goose in the middle of the road, goose cleared. Somebody else called reporting a homicide of a deer– investigation concluded–coyote attack. Then there was a chicken coop on fire. Oh, I like this one, a caller rats out of party and claims she saw someone lighting something up in their car! I thought that was legalBottom line—no missing person reported.  No news of Ana.

Then, January 3rd rolls around. It’s a Tuesday. There is nothing on Ana. Nobody reported her missing. I’m sure you’re all thinking— Wait a minute— something’s really off here. Why isn’t her husband, whose name is Brian, by the way, why didn’t he start calling and asking—Have you heard from my wife, Ana? Her phone goes right to voicemail. She hasn’t called me or the kids since she left early in the morning on New Year’s Day. I’m getting really worried. Wouldn’t you think he’d be absolutely frantic this point? Wouldn't he have definitely called the police? And their little boys, all under the age of seven, would be asking: why hasn’t mommy called? Over and over and over where’s mommy? Where’s mommy? Why hasn’t she called?

Kate Barcomb, a neighbor, is sharing her thoughts: “This is really odd. She wasn’t in touch with her family? Her kids? Under normal circumstances, she would definitely call her husband.  And her social media posts show a loving family. How could she go with no contact for three days?”

I agree with Kate. That’s very suspicious—three days without anyone knowing where she is. Well, perhaps someone knew and had a reason to remain silent.

Kate also mentioned in her social media accounts, Ana often posts on Facebook and Instagram with her husband, kids, coworkers.  It looks like she has the perfect life, always smiling, and the perfect family to go with it. But, we all know social media can be very deceiving.

Let’s move onto day four—finally Ana was reported missing and I wonder by whom? OK, again, I’m scrolling down through the police log and here it is right here; 11:44 AM on January 4, it says “caller requesting a wellness check on an Ana Walsh, 38 years of age, reporter states he is the head of security for the company party works for: Tishman Speyer. And she works in Washington D.C. Her car is in Washington, last seen on Friday. The company has contacted the husband— he has not filed a missing persons report on female. The security officer knows nothing about the female; no reason to think she is in danger or ill.”

All right it sounds to me like Ana didn’t show up to work on January 4th. What happened to the emergency work issue on January 1? Hmmm…perhaps she never even left for work at that point. Did she even have her bags packed? I wanted to get another person‘s perspective on all of this so I asked my friend Lori, a Cohasset neighbor, and this is what she had to say: “Emergency meeting in DC was extremely strange! I mean who has an emergency meeting on January 1 especially in real estate? Is someone going to die if their house isn’t sold? I don’t like the sound of that. It sounds like total BS to me!”

 I don’t like the sound of that either and I wonder who’s doing the BSing? I’m sure the police wanted to know too. The husband Brian says he hasn’t heard from his wife since early morning New Year’s Day. I am wondering— how did she get to the airport? They must’ve asked him. I wish I was a fly on the wall for that conversation because I’d like to know how he reacted. did his eyes grow large? Did he register shock or did he look away? 

Next, like in any missing persons case, phone calls are most likely made by police to Ana’s friends and family to find out if anybody’s heard from her in the last several days. Police also contact the Verizon cell phone company and they request to ping her phone. Now, they’re looking for the last time it was on and that location. It’s really amazing how quickly the police got that information. This is what was jotted down in the police log: “last time the phone hit the tower was on January 2, 2023 at 3:14 in the morning, hit the tower on Reservoir Road in Cohasset within .24 miles. I actually had to read that again—they said January 2 her phone pinged— on January 2. It doesn’t make sense because her husband said she’s been missing since January 1 and she allegedly went to Washington DC, but I’m reading here that her phone just happens to be in Cohasset on January 2 at 3:14 in the morning turned off? That’s a whole 21 hours later! So what happened? Did Ana ever get on that airplane or did she get on the plane and fly back to Cohasset without anyone seeing her at all?  If that’s the case, why wasn’t she in touch with her family?

 Police share the same concerns and appeal to all the local media channels.

 I saw the photograph of Ana with the following caption: Missing 39-year-old woman last seen early New Year’s Day. I remember the exact moment I saw that—there was Ana; her image is burned into my mind. I’m not exaggerating here, Ana really looks like she could have stepped right out of a magazine. She has this very mesmerizing look about her: olive complexion, beautiful flawless skin, dark brown eyes, intriguing smile, and most women would be jealous of her hair. It’s long, brown, beautiful golden highlights: exquisite, stylish. She’s upbeat and fun. Someone I’d hang out with for sure. 

Let’s see what our friend Lori thinks:  “Well, I think seeing Ana’s picture and how beautiful and put together she is— I think Brian looks like a goober. Actually, I think he looks more like a palooka.”

“What’s a palooka?”

“Someone who’s not very smart and kind of a goof.” 

I certainly don’t have to describe Brian now. Lori did it for me. OK, now that we have a better visual of Ana Walshe and her husband, let’s go check out the first press conference at the Cohasset police station. Let’s see what they have to say. It’s gonna be packed.

Chief Quigley: “We are seeking information on locating Ana Walshe. She was last seen at her house in Cohasset on the first of the year, in the early morning hours in Cohasset. She left to board a plane for Washington DC in the early morning hours of the 1st. we have confirmed with the airlines, and that has been a challenge. She did not board a plane this week. She commutes weekly to Washington DC for work. They have a townhouse there, and her vehicle was there. We have been working with Washington DC metro police. They have searched her townhouse, and there is no evidence that she has been there. the last information we have is that she got into a rideshare vehicle in the early morning hours of the first. Her husband was sleeping when she left. Her husband, who is being cooperative, said that it’s not abnormal for her to work long hours and not to contact the home. She has three small kids, the oldest being six, the youngest being two. With the holidays, and working out of state, sometimes life gets chaotic it may be a case where she needed a break. If that’s the case, we just need a call from her.”

Thr press conference just wrapped up. We learned that Ana did not get on any flight to Washington DC or elsewhere. There are no records of her taking a rideshare. I still have so many questions Was Ana possibly abducted by an Uber driver or possibly a Lyft driver?  Was she having an affair? I mean anything is possible. Could she be having a mental breakdown from the stress? I mean think about it—3 little kids, commuting to work. It must take a toll on somebody. Was Ana unhappy? I totally get that sometimes people need a break away from it all. Life can be stressful, but I still have to believe that Ana would be in touch with those three young children. 

In the meantime, the police have intensified their search for Ana. The command center is just across the street from her home in Cohasset. I’m going to go and see if I can learn anything.

 I just got the following statement from Cohasset police press, liaison, Justin Schreier at the command center: “Police are continuing to search for Ana Walshe, along with our Massachusetts state police partners. They also have canines that are assisting in that search. there are two other sectors that police are searching today, so what does the ground search until one of the most experienced canine handlers out there is Bobby DiLiddo from the Brockton PD. I recently attended a canine training session and ride-along with Bobby so he’ll be on this episode and the next one to explain how the dogs search for missing people and cadavers. he is one of the best in the field.

And, this is what he had to say:

Bobby DiLiddo: “ So, there are detection dogs, firearms, explosives… where they don’t do patrol work. They only detect for these scents. There are also the cadaver dogs that are out there looking for dead bodies. And, they’re trained on the odors of decaying bodies. You know, the gases and things like that. It’s very interesting how these dogs track human odor.” 

Bobby went on to explain that every time your foot steps on a surface—it could be anything—grass, dirt, leaves—underneath your foot is the human odor. That’s what the dogs pick up.

Bobby DiLiddo: “As the dog gets closer to the person that it’s tracking, whether it be a suspect or a missing person, the odor is getting stronger and stronger.”

The search for Ana has continued for hours and so far investigators haven’t turned up a thing. Someone close to the investigation just told me they’re applying pressure on the husband, Brian Walshe. That means they’ll be going over his story, looking for inconsistencies, and watching for body language. Brian also has a criminal record. So, I looked it up and get this one—it involves the sale of fake Andy Warhol paintings on eBay. Wow, he’s awaiting sentencing in federal court in Boston. He must be wearing an ankle bracelet. This makes for a very interesting twist. Ana is originally from Serbia, but there’s no criminal record on her as far as I can see. I bet the FBI was all over it. They have a special task force because art crime is an international multi-billion dollar enterprise these days, so all sorts of theories come to mind. Were these two mixed up with the wrong people? Was Ana involved at all? Is this why she disappeared? 

I told you this case has many layers and here’s another one—the Washe’s former home 

In Cohasset, which they just sold for $1.4 million—that home just went up in flames! Yes, as they’re searching for Ana in the woods, her former home is on fire! I’m going to the scene now.

This is what Chief Quigley had to say at the scene: “You know, obviously, we’re going to look at everything here. Very strange coincidence, but we have the fire marshal‘s office, and our detectives are here to investigate this fire.”

Will the dogs find evidence in the woods buried under the leaves? What will happen with the fire? Will the investigation take a dark turn? The answer is yes, so stay tuned for Episode 2 of the Ana Walshe missing persons case.

Again, I’m your host, Margaret McLean. Thank you for listening to It’s A Crime!