The art swindler husband of missing Massachusetts mom of three Ana Walshe has been arrested and charged with misleading police in their search for his wife. Bryan Walshe, 46, the convicted art swindler husband of real estate executive Ana Walshe, 39, who went missing on New Year's Day after failing to board a flight to Washington was arrested on Sunday.
Police claimed they had reason to think Brian Walshe had lied to them during the course of their investigation and the search to trace Walshe. He had previously been described as "completely cooperative" in the inquiry by Cohasset police but now police find him to have misled them in the search of his wife.
Misguiding the Police
Ana Walshe vanished mysteriously after failing to board a work-related flight from Massachusetts to Washington D.C., where she works. Since going missing, Ana Walshe hasn't used her phone or credit cards, and she hasn't turned up for work.
According to her friends, her absence is uncharacteristic because she would never leave her three small sons behind.
Brian Walshe initially claimed to be asleep, when Ana Walshe requested a rideshare from their Cohasset, Massachusetts, home to Logan International Airport in Boston. However, authorities have since arrested him as they found his account misleading.
"Police developed probable cause to believe that (Ana Walshe's) husband, Brian Walshe, had committed the crime of misleading police investigators," a statement from the Norfolk County District Attorney's Office read.
Police had initially said that Brian Walshe claimed that he was helping the inquiry, but on Sunday night, things abruptly changed. He will be charged on Monday. It is not yet clear what additional information may be revealed at his arraignment.
Walshe is expected to be arraigned in Quincy District Court on Monday morning. "Additional facts may or may not be entered into the record at that time," police said.
Although Ana Walshe disappeared on New Year's Day, she was reported missing to police on Wednesday. Police have since searched the family's property, which is located in the 500 block of Chief Justice Cushing Highway, as well as nearby homes using K-9s.
"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."
Walshe, who is of Serbian descent, was described by police as a brown-haired, brown-eyed lady who is five feet two inches tall, weighs around 115 pounds, and has had no known online footprint since she went missing.
Mystery Deepens
The couple has a house in D.C., and according to her friends who spoke to various media sources, Ana Walshe frequently commuted for work during the week. Ana had booked a flight to Washington for January 3 before her seniors told her to report to work earlier than planned due to "an unexpected work emergency."
William Quigley, the Cohasset Police Chief, claimed Ana never boarded the aircraft.
In fact, authorities have not been able to independently verify that Walshe entered a car or even made a reservation for one, or that she had a trip scheduled for January 1.
Friends have observed that since the beginning of the year, Ana Walshe's typically busy social media presence has been silent.
In a brief statement after her disappearance, Tishman Speyer, where Ana Walshe has been working since it was founded, said, "We are actively assisting the local authorities in their ongoing search for our beloved colleague, Ana, and are praying for her safe return."
A graduate of Cornell University, Ana had worked for various US real estate companies after obtaining a degree from the University of Belgrade.
Meanwhile, it was revealed that Brian Walshe is an art swindler who stole two Andy Warhol paintings from his friends some years back. Walshe, 48, entered a guilty plea in U.S. District Court in Boston in 2021 after being arrested a few years ago for allegedly selling two phony Andy Warhol artworks to a South Korean bidder for $80,000, according to federal authorities.
Walshe stole the artwork from a friend and put it up for sale on eBay before replacing it with a fake. However, Quigley, in a press conference on Friday, stated that the case doesn't seem to have anything to do with Walshe, who has been missing since January 1.
On Friday and Saturday, as police searched for Ana, there was apparently a fire at the Cohasset house she owned before selling it in March for roughly $1.4 million, per online records.
The cause of the fire was ruled to be unintentional by State Police and local authorities, and it is not believed to have any connection to her disappearance. The current occupants escaped unhurt.
Prior to his arrest, camera-shy Brian was seen leaving the house in Cohasset, a 45-minute drive south of Boston, in a red Volkswagen earlier on Sunday. Fox News Digital acquired the images.
The couple's three kids were being transported in a different car—a gray Volvo—by individuals who were presumably acquaintances or family. On Sunday, it appeared that authorities went back to the Walshes' house to search through the belongings.
