Missing MA Woman's Husband Has Troubling Search History: Reports

COHASSET, MA — A disturbing internet search history was discovered on devices belonging to 47-year-old Brian Walshe, the husband of a Cohasset woman who has been missing since New Year's Day, according to reports in CNN and NBC Boston.

A source told NBC Boston the searches were related to murder. While the news outlet's report did not specify the exact subject of the searches, two law enforcement sources told CNN the record showed searches related to dismembering a body.

The new information comes as prosecutors say a bloody knife was found in the basement of the home he shares with his wife. Prosecutors revealed the information at an arraignment Monday where Brian Walshe appeared on charges of misleading police.

The discovery of the search history was one piece of information that led investigators to fear 39-year-old Ana Walshe was dead, CNN reported.

Investigators Monday night searched the trash of a transfer station in Peabody for remains and crime scene tape was also placed around dumpsters in an apartment complex near Brian's Walshe's mother's home in Swampscott, CNN reported, citing sources. According to a criminal complaint affidavit filed in support of the misleading police charge, Brian Walshe told police he went to visit his mother January 1, the same day he told police he last saw his wife.

Brian Walshe is currently on probation for wire fraud, and as a result, must request leave from his home each week and specify the time and reason for each trip, according to the affidavit.

Also on January 1, Brian Walshe told investigators that he went to CVS and Whole Foods to run errands for his mother—who had just undergone cataract surgery—though investigators say that surveillance footage reveals those trips did not occur, according to the affidavit.

Investigators discovered video evidence of Brian Walshe at the Home Depot in Rockland on January 2, when he was seen wearing a black surgical mask and blue surgical gloves and making a cash purchase during the time that was allotted for him to pick up his kids from school, the affidavit said.

Cell phone records show that in yet another violation of his probation, Brian Walshe traveled during the first week of January to Brockton and Abington, trips that were not approved by his probation officer, according to the affidavit.

Brian Walshe pleaded not guilty after he was arrested Sunday and arraigned Monday on a charge of misleading police who were investigating the disappearance of his wife, officials said.

Brian Walshe "provided statements relative to his movements and activities after his wife's disappearance that were not substantiated by investigation," which included purchasing a tarp and cleaning supplies, the District Attorney's Office said Monday.

The judge imposed a $500,000 cash bail and ordered Brian Walshe to return to the Quincy District Court on February 9.

Officials said Ana Walshe, a mother of three who works in property management, was last seen at her home shortly after midnight on New Year's Day.

Ana Walshe planned to travel using a rideshare service to Logan Airport around 4 a.m. January 1 for a trip to her second home in Washington D.C., Cohasset’s police chief said. Police added that they were unable to confirm whether she ever got in the rideshare vehicle, but can confirm that she never boarded a plane for any airline this week.

Cohasset police previously said that Brian Walshe was being “fully cooperative” in the investigation and was asleep when she was supposed to leave for her trip.

Extensive searches were conducted all weekend in the woods near the Walshe home on Chief Justice Cushing Highway, where the couple has been living with their three children, the Boston Globe reported.

At the end of the day Sunday, an investigator was seen carrying a large plastic container with evidence from the house, according to the outlet.

Ana Walshe's Washington D.C. townhouse, where she commutes several times a month for work, has been searched with no signs of her, police said. Authorities did, however, find her vehicle in its usual place in D.C.

A two-alarm fire broke out Friday afternoon at a property formerly owned by Ana Walshe in Cohasset but was not deemed suspicious and was attributed to damaged piping connected to a natural gas fireplace insert, officials told the Globe.

Authorities added that Ana Walshe's phone has been off and she has not used any debit or credit cards since January 1.

Ana Walshe is 5'2" tall and weighs 115 pounds, with brown hair, brown eyes, and an olive complexion.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the Cohasset Police Department's Detective Harrison Schmidt at 781-383-1055 x6108 or email hschmidt@cohassetpolice.com.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.