Walshe tenants say apartment was abruptly sold before Ana's disappearance
Fox News' Bryan Llenas on the latest developments on the missing Massachusetts mom and her husband in custody
COHASSET, Mass. – EXCLUSIVE: Ana Walshe, the Massachusetts real estate boss missing over two weeks, was making plans for the future and was selling some of her assets with the intention of reinvesting the profits into a property she was intending to buy, a well-placed source confirmed to Fox News Digital.
Walshe, the 39-year-old real estate manager who regularly commuted to Washington, D.C. for work, had owned an apartment in Revere, Massachusetts, for years before she finalized the sale just days before her disappearance. Walshe lived with her family in the seaside, South Shore town of Cohasset, but owned investment properties, including the apartment in Revere.
Her longtime Revere tenants previously told Fox News Digital Walshe's behavior had changed in recent months, when she suddenly sprung on them the news of the property sale and grew "pushy" – different from the friend they once considered her.
But a source who worked closely with Walshe told Fox News Digital the "proceeds from the sale of the Revere condo were going directly into the purchase of another investment property, and not to Ana herself."
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Ana Walshe pictured in a November 2022 Instagram post. (Ana Walshe/Instagram)
The source, who asked to remain anonymous out of a concern for their privacy, spoke out after they said certain reports about Walshe’s recent actions were not "sitting right" with them. The source said the funds from the sale of the Revere property were already in escrow when Walshe vanished in the beginning of the month.
The person told Fox News Digital the process of selling assets to acquire others is "not unusual in any way."
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Ana Walshe commuted from Massachusetts to Washington, D.C., each week to work at a real estate job, her friends told WCVB. (Cohasset Police Department)
"Not even saying this necessarily specific to Ana and Brian, people who invest in real estate, they change their properties all the time," they went on.
And the source, who had been around and communicated with Walshe in the days and weeks before she went missing, said Walshe had an "optimistic, magnetic personality." They said they did not notice any behavioral changes from Walshe in the months prior, and added: "I don’t feel that the Ana that I worked with" recently "was any different from the Ana that I met when I met her … In terms of changing behavior, not from my perspective."
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Massachusetts State Police troopers and other officials searched the property, backyard, pool and surrounding area of missing woman Ana Walshe's home in Cohasset on Saturday, Jan. 7, 2023. (David McGlynn for Fox News Digital)
Having seen Walshe so recently, the source said the news of her disappearance is "still shocking."
"It was absolute disbelief," they said. "I thought it was a cruel joke at first."
Mandi and Mike Silva, Walshe’s tenants who live in the Revere apartment that recently sold, spoke kindly of Walshe, but said they noticed a change in her behavior in recent months. They said they signed a contract that allowed them to remain inside the basement apartment until May.
When it came time for the sale to be finalized at the end of December, Walshe "was pushy," Mike Silva previously said. The union contractor said Walshe owed him money for the construction done on the apartment, and when he confronted her about it, "she exploded."
"All the years I’ve known Ana, I’ve had disputes with Ana about working at her houses, and she’s never done that," he said.
He added that he often performed maintenance or construction at Walshe’s other properties through they years. Mandi Silva said both she and her fiancé had babysat the Walshe’s children and had spent time inside their homes.
"You’re not just my landlord, you’re my friend," Mandi Silva said, fighting back tears, as she seemingly spoke directly to Walshe. "So, if something did happen to you, I can’t take back my last argument with you."
Walshe, a mother of three young boys, was last seen in the early morning hours of Jan. 1, when she was allegedly supposed to take a ride-sharing service to a local airport to board a flight bound for Washington, D.C.
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The Tishman Speyer real estate manager was previously scheduled to depart for D.C. Jan. 3 but allegedly said there was an emergency that required she fly there earlier than expected.
A security official at Tishman Speyer, not her husband, Brian Walshe, first notified police that Walshe was missing on Jan. 4.
In the days between Ana’s disappearance and the missing person’s report, Brian Walshe allegedly lied about his own whereabouts. Investigators said Walshe told investigators he traveled to stores, such as CVS and Whole Foods, where he might not have actually been.
But he allegedly neglected to mention that he spent about $450 in cash buying cleaning supplies from a Rockland, Massachusetts, Home Depot.
According to court documents and officials, Walshe was spotted on surveillance video "wearing a black surgical mask, blue surgical gloves and making a cash purchase" of items including mops, tape and drop cloths.
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Investigators also discovered blood and a bloody, damaged knife in the basement of the couple’s home, prosecutors said. They also traced Ana’s cellphone to the area of the family’s Cohasset home on Jan. 1, and approximately 0.7 miles away from the home on Jan. 2, according to officials and a police log.
General view of the home at 516 Chief Justice Cushing Hwy in Cohasset, MA on Friday, Jan. 6, 2023. The home belongs to Ana Walshe, who has been reported missing, last seen on New Year's Day. (David McGlynn for Fox News Digital)
Brian’s cellphone pinged in other parts of Massachusetts, such as Brockton and Abington, despite his lack of permission to be in the areas under the terms of his home confinement. The convicted art swindler was under home confinement as he awaits sentencing for selling bogus Andy Warhol paintings.
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Officials previously revealed investigators had recovered even more evidence related to their search for Walshe. They also appeared to have removed — and then replaced — a dumpster taken from Brian Walshe's mother's Swampscott home, located nearly 35 miles from the couple's home.
And a recent CNN report described how Walshe had conducted internet searches for "how to dispose of a 115-pound woman's body" and how to dismember a body.
Brian Walshe was arrested on Jan. 8 and charged with misleading a police investigation.
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Police said the charge stemmed from Walshe's alleged "intentional, willful and direct responses to questions about his whereabouts on the days of Sunday, January 1, 2023 and Monday, January 2, 2023." They further called it, "a clear attempt to mislead and delay investigators."
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He has not been charged with any criminal counts related to his wife’s well-being.
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