Art fraudster husband of missing Massachusetts mother-of-three arrested for ‘misleading police’

Brian Walshe, the husband of Ana Walshe, 39, who disappeared on New Year’s Day after failing to catch a work flight to Washington DC, is a convicted art fraudster

Brian Walshe, 49, the convicted art fraud husband of missing real estate manager Ana Walshe, has been charged with misleading police in the search for his wife and 39-year-old mother of three.

Ana disappeared on New Year’s Day after failing to board a flight from Massachusetts to Washington, where she works.

She has not used her phone or credit cards since her disappearance and has not shown up for work.

Her friends say her disappearance is uncharacteristic as she would never abandon her three young sons.

Brian Walshe initially told police he was asleep when Ana requested a ride from her home in Cohasset to Boston’s Logan International Airport, but police have now arrested him.

They originally said Brian was cooperating with the investigation, but things suddenly changed on Sunday night.

He is due to appear in court on Monday. It is not yet clear what additional information could be revealed upon his indictment.

“At this point, additional facts may or may not be included in the record,” police said.

Brian Walshe, 49, is seen driving from Cohasset, Massachusetts, where he, his wife Ana and their three children lived until the mother-of-three disappeared on New Year’s Day

A gray Volvo carrying the Walshe children was also spotted leaving the Walshe estate on Sunday. They are believed to have been taken away by close family friends or relatives

Earlier Sunday, camera-shy Brian appeared to be driving a red Volkswagen away from his home in Cohasset — a 45-minute drive south of Boston — a week after his wife’s disappearance.

The couple’s three children were taken away in a separate vehicle, a gray Volvo, by people believed to be friends or family. Authorities appeared to have returned to the Walshe’s home on Sunday to search the contents.

Cohasset and State Police detectives had also been investigating in Washington DC, where Ana worked for real estate giant Tishman Speyer.

The mother of three boys, aged between two and six, of Serbian descent was reported missing on Wednesday by her husband and employer in the small Massachusetts town of around 8,600.

The ground search for 39-year-old Ana was halted a week after she was scheduled to board a flight from Boston Logan International Airport to Washington DC

The couple owns a home in DC, and Ana often commutes to work during the week, her friends have told various outlets. Ana had booked a flight to Washington for Jan. 3 before being told by her bosses to come early due to “an unexpected work emergency.”

Last seen leaving her house around 4 a.m. on New Year’s Day, Ana caught a ride to Boston’s Logan International Airport, where her flight departed.

Cohasset Police Chief William Quigley said Ana never got on that plane. Friends also noted that Ana’s normally active social media presence had gone silent since the first day of the new year.

In a brief statement regarding her disappearance, Tishman Speyer, of whom Ana has been with since February 2022, said: ‘We are actively supporting the local authorities in their ongoing search for our beloved colleague Ana and are praying for her safe return.’

She is a graduate of Cornell University and after graduating from the University of Belgrade she worked for various US real estate companies. She has brown hair, brown eyes, is 5’6″ and weighs about 115 pounds.

Ana, originally from Serbia, is a Cornell University graduate and worked in real estate development before her disappearance. Pictured with her husband Brian in Europe

Friends noticed that Ana’s normally active social media presence suddenly went silent. She regularly posted updates about her life and family on Facebook

Police said she has not left a digital footprint since she went missing, with her cellphone turned off and her credit cards unused. According to online records, while police searched for Ana on Friday and Saturday, a home in Cohasset that she owned also burned before it was sold in March for nearly $1.4 million.

State police and local investigators determined the cause of the fire was accidental. The current occupants safely escaped.

Ana’s husband Brian is awaiting conviction in a fraud case involving the sale of two fake Andy Warhol “Shadow Paintings” to a South Korean buyer for $80,000, according to court documents.

Brian took the paintings from a friend and sold them on eBay only to exchange them for fakes. On Friday, he pleaded guilty in the US District Court in Boston.

A fire was reported this week at the Walshes’ former family home in Cohasset, which was sold for $1.4 million in March 2022

On Saturday, video showed investigators angrily coming through debris accumulated by their home’s pool after they dumped it as part of the search

However, Cohasset Police have repeatedly said that Walshe’s disappearance and her husband’s case appear to be two very different things, the Boston Globe reported.

Massachusetts State Police and local police said in a joint statement their ground search for the mother-of-three or evidence related to her disappearance was completed Saturday.

A specialized unit of state police trained in search and rescue, three K-9 teams and the state police air wing searched wooded areas near the Walshes’ home on Saturday.

State police divers searched a small stream and pool but found nothing, the statement said.

The Metropolitan Law Enforcement Council also helped with the search.