Missing Ana Walshe: Husband Arrested For Misleading Investigators About Woman's Mysterious Disappearance

A Massachusetts man has been arrested on charges of misleading cops in the investigation of his missing wife, Ana Walshe, who vanished mysteriously on New Year's Day.

Brian Walshe, of Cohasset, was arrested Sunday after cops said they "developed probable cause" to believe that he had "committed the crime of misleading police investigators" while they search for his missing wife.

Brian will be arraigned in Quincy District Court on Monday, Norfolk District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey said in a news release Sunday.

The 39-year-old mother of three was reported missing by both her husband and her employer on Jan.4, three days after she was last seen by an unidentified family member, NBC News reported.

Ana was last seen at her Cohasset home early on New Year's Day after allegedly booking a rideshare to Boston's Logan Airport to get a flight to Washington, D.C. She reportedly had to attend to a work emergency in the capital city.

Investigators could not confirm if Ana took the rideshare but revealed she did not board the flight last week.

Ana's cellphone had been turned off since then and she did not leave any electronic footprint, police said.

Investigators announced Sunday that the 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," Cohasset Police and Massachusets State Police said in a joint statement.

Brian pleaded guilty in 2021 to selling two fake Andy Warhol paintings to an unsuspecting buyer on eBay. Police said Brian's legal history is "not believed to have any relation" to Ana's missing case.

Ana was described as 5'2" tall, weighing about 115 pounds with brown hair, brown eyes and an olive complexion. She speaks with an Eastern European accent, reports said.

Meanwhile, Ana's friends said they were disturbed by her mysterious vanishing.

"This is completely unlike her and I think that is part of the shock. She would not go a day without talking to her husband and her boys. This is honestly just really mind-boggling, and gut-wrenching. There are no words," her friend Evan Turell told NBC Boston.

Last Friday, a fire broke out in the home where the Walshe family was residing before they moved out last April. Investigators said the fire was accidental and that no one was injured.