COHASSET — Investigators returned to the home of a missing Cohasset woman Sunday morning who has not been seen since she was scheduled to catch a flight early on New Year’s Day.
At about 9 a.m. Sunday, marked and unmarked police cars arrived at Walshe’s home along Chief Justice Cushing Highway (Route 3A). Detectives walked through the house and took pictures, but also entered the house.
NewsCenter 5’s Brianna Borghi witnessed young children being led out of the house. Walshe is the mother of three young boys between the ages of 2 and 6.
Borghi also saw a red truck drive up to the house earlier Sunday morning and drop off an elderly woman, who spoke to an investigator for a few minutes. That woman later appeared to leave the house with the children in another vehicle. Borghi soon after saw a man leave the house in a separate vehicle.
The Norfolk County District Attorney has taken charge of the missing persons investigation.
Sunday’s unexpected mobilization follows a Saturday night decision by state and Cohasset police to end a two-day ground investigation into the woman, Ana Walshe.
In a joint statement, state and Cohasset police said their search for Walshe ended at about 5:15 p.m. Saturday.
Authorities said 20 troopers from the state police special emergency response team, which is trained in search and rescue, as well as three K-9 teams and the state police Air Wing Unit searched wooded areas near Walshe’s home at Chief Justice Cushing Highway. Route 3A) for the second consecutive day.
State police divers also searched a stream and a pool, according to authorities.
“The ground investigation will not be resumed unless the police develop new information that warrants it. At the same time, detectives from the State Police and the Cohasset Police Department continue to undertake various investigative actions to determine the whereabouts of Ms. Walshe,” the joint statement read.
At about 1:45 p.m. Saturday, Sky5 saw a group draining and cleaning the pool at Walshe’s Cohaset home. At least one police officer appeared to be digging up old leaves lying at the bottom of the dug-in pool.
Walshe, 39, was last seen at her home in Cohasset on Sunday morning, and her cell phone and credit and debit cards have been inactive since that day, Cohasset Police Chief William Quigley said.
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She was reported missing on Wednesday at the same time by her husband, who lives in Cohasset, and her employer, who is based in Washington, DC.
Quigley said the family owns a mansion in the nation’s capital. He said the Metropolitan Police Department searched the house and found no sign of Walshe there.
“She works in DC, and it’s not unusual for her to work long hours and be out of touch with the house,” Quigley said.
A spokesman for the Cohasset Police Department said Cohasset and state police detectives arrived in Washington early Saturday morning as part of the investigation.
Friends said Walshe commutes to Washington during the week for work at a real estate firm, Tishman Speyer, a job she started last year. She’s active on social media, but friends say those accounts went silent on Sunday when she had a flight to catch.
“She is a loving and loyal wife and mother of three beautiful boys,” said Alissa Kirby, a friend. “She loves her family, and I know in my heart that by choice, she wouldn’t go a day without talking to her husband and her children.”
On Friday, the state police special emergency response team and a regional police team spent much of the day searching the area near Walshe’s home. The search was called off for the night at about 6:30 p.m. after officers covered an area of about 1 square mile.
The search for Walshe in that area resumed between 9:30 a.m. and 10 p.m. Saturday.
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As police searched for Walshe on Friday, a fire broke out at her former home at 725 Jerusalem Road in Cohaset. Officials said the home’s current occupants called 911 when the fire started.
Walshe lived at that address until recently. Zillow shows that the property was sold on March 17, 2022.
Firefighters said it took them about an hour to douse the flames. Most of their work had to be done from the outside due to safety concerns, including a partial roof collapse.
Three adults and an infant all got out of the house safely, officials said.
Quigley acknowledged the connection and said any possible connection between Walshe’s disappearance and the fire would be investigated.
On Saturday, a spokesman for the state fire department’s office told NewsCenter 5 that Cohasset and state investigators determined the fire at Walshe’s former home was not suspicious.
The spokesman said the fire started in the area of damaged pipes connected to a natural gas fireplace insert. In their joint statement, the state and Cohasset police said the fire was an accident.
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A family member told police that Walshe would be taking a ride to Boston Logan International Airport on Sunday. Officials confirmed to the airlines that Walshe did not board a plane this week.
“It has been reported that she was called to DC to handle some kind of emergency at one of the properties she manages. So she tried to go to DC (on New Year’s Day),” Quigley said. “She had booked a flight for January 3, but she never got on that flight.”
Quigley said Walshe’s husband, friends, family and employer cooperated with the investigation.
“Life is challenging sometimes,” Quigley said. “She has small children – the eldest is 6 and the youngest is 2. The holidays, working out of state – sometimes life gets chaotic, and it could be a case that she needed a break, and if that’s the case , we need a call from her or someone who spoke to her,’ Quigley said.
Police said Walshe is 5 feet, 2 inches tall and weighs 115 pounds. She has brown hair, brown eyes and an olive complexion. Walshe speaks with an Eastern European accent, police said.
Anyone with information on Walshe’s whereabouts is asked to contact Detective Harrison Schmidt at 781-383-1055 ext. 6108 or email [email protected].
The Cohasset Police Department has also set up a new email for tips at [email protected].
This article originally appeared in The Patriot Ledger: Ground investigation suspended due to missing Cohasset woman Ana Walshe
