The search for missing Cohasset, Massachusetts, mother Ana Walshe entered its seventh day on Tuesday, after Monday's fast-moving developments involving Walshe's husband, Brian, who now faces a criminal charge in the case amid a flurry of allegations from prosecutors.
Ana Walshe, who was reported missing last Wednesday, hasn't been seen since New Year's Day. Her husband has been charged with misleading investigators, and had his arraignment on Monday, where new details emerged as state prosecutors spoke before a judge.
In one of several new developments announced Tuesday, the Norfolk District Attorney's Office said that search activity conducted north of Boston on Monday in connection with the disappearance of Walshe has resulted in a number of items being collected, which will now be processed and tested to see if they are of any value as evidence.
Sources confirm to the NBC10 Boston Investigators that included among the items found during the search of the trash facility in Peabody are a hacksaw, bloody materials including towels, and materials consistent with some of the items Brian Walshe allegedly purchased at Home Depot.
In the announcement, prosecutors did not share details on what the items were and said there were no anticipated searches of public areas on Tuesday. That was subject to change, though, should detectives determine other areas of potential investigation, the news release from the DA's office noted.
The processing of the family's Cohasset home was completed by Tuesday afternoon, with police leaving the scene, prosecutors said later.
Meanwhile, law enforcement searched a second Massachusetts waste facility Tuesday. A representative for the waste-to-energy Southeastern Massachusetts Resource Recovery Facility in West Wareham confirmed the search in connection with Ana Walshe's disappearance.
Waste sent to the facility is incinerated to generate electricity. Trash can be at the facility for up to 36 hours, the representative said.
Also Tuesday, the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families confirmed it had taken custody of the Walshe's three young children. They didn't share more information.
"Our prayers are with Ana's children and family," Father Aleksandar Vlajkovic of St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church in Cambridge, where Ana Walshe has been a regular member, told NBC10 Boston in a statement.
New Details From Brian Walshe's Arraignment
During Walshe's arraignment on Monday morning in Quincy District Court, the state alleged that Walshe lied to police about his whereabouts last week and purchased $450 in cleaning equipment at a Home Depot, while also saying that law enforcement found blood and a bloody knife in the Walshe home's basement after a search warrant was pulled.
Authorities Investigate in Swampscott, Peabody
Also on Monday, investigators spent hours at the Republic Services Transfer Station in Peabody, combing through trash, trying to find clues that might help them solve the disappearance of the Cohasset mom.
In video captured by SkyRanger, police in Swampscott were seen in the parking lot of an apartment complex where Brian Walshe’ mother lives, blocking off the dumpsters – before hauling them away, with a police escort, to the transfer station in Peabody. They searched through the trash there for hours.
The Norfolk County DA’s office would not comment on that search, nor the dumpsters removed from the Swampscott apartment complex.
Brian Walshe's Search History, Background
A source connected to the investigation said a troubling internet search history related to murder was found on Walshe's electronic devices.
Brian Walshe is already on probation and home confinement, wearing a monitoring bracelet, awaiting sentencing for a federal case involving the sale of fake Andy Warhol paintings on eBay in 2016.
Brian Walshe is also tangled in a probate case involving his father's home in Hull, Massachusetts, and a will that went missing after his death. According to court records, Walshe's cousin alleges he was the executor of the estate and that Walshe was purposefully excluded from the will after a "severe falling out" with his father and running off with a significant amount of his money.
Brian Walshe entered guilty pleas on three of the charges, including wire fraud, in the art case. He was awaiting sentencing and on probation when his wife disappeared.
