1/8/23 UPDATE: Officials announced Sunday Ana Walshe's husband, Brian Walshe, has been arrested for misleading police in their investigation.
Authorities wrapped up their search efforts Saturday night that were concentrated near the home of a missing mom from Cohasset, Massachusetts, but the investigation into Ana Walshe's disappearance continues.
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Massachusetts State Police and Cohasset police released a joint statement Saturday saying their ground search "for Ana Walshe or evidence related to her disappearance is concluding."
"The ground search will not resume unless police develop new information that so warrants it," the statement continued.
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Police have asked for the public's help finding the 39-year-old, who was last seen by a family member at her Cohasset home around 4 or 5 a.m. on New Year's Day. She was reported missing Wednesday by her husband, and police were simultaneously alerted by her employer in Washington D.C. that she had not been seen.
Saturday marked the second straight day that crews were out searching wooded areas near Walshe's home off Chief Justice Cushing Highway. Police said there were 20 troopers from a specialized unit trained in search and rescue operations, as well as three police K9 teams, and a police helicopter involved in the search Saturday. State police divers also searched a small stream and drained the pool at Walshe's home off Route 3A, but they say they still have not found any sign of the mother of three.
State and local police said detectives are continuing "various investigative actions" to locate Walshe, who is described as 5'2" tall, weighing about 115 pounds. She has brown hair, brown eyes, an olive complexion and speaks with an Eastern European accent.
Cohasset police said during a news conference Friday that their department, as well as several other agencies, have been working "around the clock" on this case.
Also Friday, a fire broke out shortly after 2 p.m. at the Walshe family's former home on Jerusalem Road in Cohasset. They moved out in April, police said, noting initially that it was too early to say whether the fire was connected to Walshe's disappearance.
Police said Saturday that investigators had determined the cause of the fire, which originated in the area of damaged piping connected to a natural gas fireplace insert, was accidental, and is not considered suspicious.
No one was injured in the fire. Four people, including a 21-month-old child, safely escaped before firefighters arrived on scene, officials said.
Neighbors tell NBC10 Boston that they're not sure what to make of all of this right now.
"I'm just here like everyone else trying to figure out what's going on in my neighborhood," a Cohasset resident named Laura said.
State and local police said Saturday there is nothing further they are reporting publicly at this time.
Friends tell NBC10 Boston that Walshe, a wife and mother to three young boys, would not go days without communicating with her family.
"This is completely unlike her and I think that is part of the shock," her friend Evan Turell said. "She would not go a day without talking to her husband and her boys."
According to police, Walshe was set to take a ride-share from her home to Logan Airport to catch a flight to D.C. where she worked as a real estate executive. While police say they can confirm she did not board a plane, they have not yet been able to confirm whether or not she got into a ride-share service.
While the search on the ground near her home has wrapped up, the search for answers into what happened to Walshe continues as friends say they are in disbelief.
"This is honestly just really mind-boggling, and gut wrenching," Turell added. "There's no words."
According to police, they have not been able to track an electronic footprint on Walshe since she's been missing.
Cohasset's police chief said the broader community, not just Cohasset, should be on the lookout for Walshe, noting her ties to Washington D.C. and friends "all over the country."
Police in Cohasset said they have been coordinating with authorities in D.C., who searched and found no trace of Walshe at her property there.
Walshe's husband has been said to be fully cooperating with the investigation.
Anyone with information on Walshe's whereabouts is urged to call police at 781-383-1055, Ext. 6108 or email hschmidt@cohassetpolice.com
