Before he was charged with murder, before his arrest, before the manhunt for his wife in the swamps of Cohasset, Massachusetts, around Boston, and in Washington, D.C., there was another set of searches, prosecutors say, on Google — on their son’s iPad — starting early the morning when Brian Walshe would later say Ana Walshe went missing…
Pulling from our extensive archive and new reporting, we're answering exploring that and more in our new podcast, "The Searches for Ana Walshe," hosted by NBC10 Boston anchor Colton Bradford, and Matt Fortin.
Subscribe and listen to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get podcasts for a comprehensive look back at the search, new insights on what happened and updates on the case as they come in, right through the trial.
WATCH ANYTIME FOR FREE
 |
Stream NBC10 Boston news for free, 24/7, wherever you are. |
The Ana Walshe murder case was among the biggest stories in 2023 for Greater Boston, but intrigue went far beyond the Bay State and attracted international attention.
For journalists at NBC10 Boston, the days and weeks following Ana's disappearance and Brian Walshe's arrest proved at times intense and chaotic, as they worked to bring the latest updates in the case to a public that was hungry for answers.
Get updates on what's happening in Boston to your inbox. Sign up for our News Headlines newsletter.
In episode 4 of "The Searches for Ana Walshe," three reporters involved in covering the massive story reflect and remember what it was like following the missing-person-turned-murder case.
Abbey Niezgoda, a general assignment reporter at NBC10 Boston, covered the case for about a month straight following Ana's disappearance. She was chasing the ground search, talked to those in the Walshes' circle and covered the allegations against Brian as prosecutors rolled out charges against him in court.
"This is one of those cases that still keeps me up at night," Niezgoda said. "It was a "Dateline" episode in the making from the onset."
Kathy Curran also discusses her role in the coverage in the new episode. As NBC10 Boston's Chief Investigative Strategist, Curran uses her network of sources that she's built over the decades to get inside information. This case was no different, and she talks about the process of digging into Brian's past as she tracked developments in the ongoing search.
"A couple of days into it, just from my sources, I learned that they were thinking that there was something suspicious," Curran said. "My gut told me something's wrong because, being a parent, I don't think a mom would just leave and leave her kids behind."
Finally, we hear from Mark Garfinkel, staff photographer at the station who has covered Boston for decades.
Garfinkel discusses the infamous shots he captured of Walshe appearing to smile while walking out of Cohasset police, after he was first charged in the case. He also shares a bizarre personal connection to the case, which steered us to a critical location in the search for Ana.
"He just looked right at my camera, and he gave a big smile," Garfinkel said. "What's up with that?"
