A working mom of three from Massachusetts mysteriously vanished after leaving home to catch a flight on New Year’s Day — sparking a statewide police search as her loved ones fear the worst.
Ana Walshe, 39, of Cohasset ordered a rideshare bound for Logan International Airport in Boston at 4 a.m. to commute to Washington, DC, for her job at a real estate firm, according to police.
But Walshe, who has three young sons, ranging from 2 to 6 years old, never boarded the plane and hasn’t been seen since, Cohasset cops and a friend told wcvb.com.
“Honestly, I’m scared. Really, really scared,” Alissa Kirby, a friend of Walshe, said of her sudden disappearance.
“She’s a loving and loyal wife and mother of three beautiful boys. I know in my heart, that of her choice, she would not go a day without speaking to her husband and her kids.”
She was reported missing by her husband, Brian Walshe, on Wednesday — three days after leaving home.
But Cohasset Police Chief William Quigley said it was common for Walshe to work long hours without contacting her family, which may have accounted for the gap between her disappearance and her husband’s call to police.
The high-end property management firm where she works, Tishman Speyer, reported her missing simultaneously on Wednesday.
At a press conference Friday, Quigley said Walshe is being treated as a missing person as authorities with K-9s search a wooded area near her home.
“It’s not normal she is missing. We automatically feel she is in danger by the mere fact she is missing,” Quigley said at a press conference.
But he stressed that police have uncovered no sign of foul play.
“We are trying to locate Ana and get her home safely. We have nothing to support anything suspicious or criminal,” Quigley said, adding the State Police Special Emergency Response Team has joined the hunt.
The mystery deepened later Friday, when a fire reportedly broke out at the family’s former home on Jerusalem Road in Cohasset, where smoke was seen billowing from the structure.
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Walshe and her family moved out months ago and police said it was too early to determine if the blaze was linked to her disappearance, according to NBC10 Boston.
During the investigation, police found that Walshe had left no digital footprint — turning off her phone on Jan. 1, according to Quigley. There is also no record of her using her credit cards after New Year’s Day.
“We can’t confirm that a rideshare actually picked her up,” he said.
In 2021, Brian Walshe pleaded guilty in federal court to selling two fake Andy Warhol paintings to a South Korean buyer for $80,000 — but Quigley said the case appears unrelated to her disappearance.
“It may be a case where she just needed a break, we just need a call from her or someone who has talked to her,” he said.
Earlier this week, police had used dogs to search the family’s property on Cushing Highway along with adjacent swaths of land.
A new search near the parking lot of a nearby Stop and Shop store was launched Friday afternoon with State Police and regional cops.
Cops are also searching for the missing mom along Route 3A in the Cohasset area.
Walshe regularly commutes to DC, where her family owns a townhouse. She is a regional general manager for Tishman Speyer, a high-end property management and real estate brokerage, according to her LinkedIn page.
Tishman Speyer said the company is cooperating with the search.“We are actively assisting the local authorities in their ongoing search for our beloved colleague, Ana, and are praying for her safe return,’’ a statement from the company said.
Walshe speaks with an Eastern European accent, is 5 feet 2 inches tall and roughly 115 pounds, according to police, who are seeking tips about her whereabouts.
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