Bloody knife found in Ana Walshe’s Cohasset home 

Crime

Brian Walshe also purchased hundreds of dollars worth of cleaning supplies, authorities said.

In their search for Ana Walshe, the 39-year-old Cohasset mother last seen on Jan. 1, investigators discovered blood and a bloody, damaged knife in the basement of her home, prosecutors said in Quincy District Court on Monday.

The detail emerged during the arraignment of Walshe’s husband, Brian Walshe, 46, who is charged with misleading a police investigation.

Brian Walshe pleaded not guilty and was held on $500,000 cash bail.

According to prosecutors, Brian Walshe told investigators on Jan. 1 he left his house to visit his mother in Swampscott and made stops at Whole Foods and CVS locations, but police found no surveillance footage or receipts proving that he actually did.

Brian Walshe also allegedly told police he took his son out for ice cream on Jan. 2.

But investigators found that sometime after 4 p.m. that day, he went to Home Depot in Rockland, where he bought approximately $450 worth of cleaning supplies, including mops, a bucket, tarps, drop cloths, and other materials, prosecutors said.

Both instances of Brian Walshe leaving his home are also apparent violations of the conditions of his house arrest after he pleaded guilty to federal charges in 2021 for scamming a California buyer by selling two fake Andy Warhol paintings for $80,000.

Through a search warrant, police found the blood and the bloody knife in the basement of the couple’s home, authorities said. Prosecutors did not provide further details of the discovery in court.

An attorney representing Brian Walshe said, however, her client has been “incredibly cooperative” with the investigation and has been in his house with police present for “almost 12 hours a day” for several days during the investigation.

“I was at his house for at least eight hours with police officers present,” the attorney said. “So it’s not that he’s been there changing evidence or somehow impeding the investigation.”

According to prosecutors, investigators have so far been unable to locate Ana Walshe, who was reported missing on Jan. 4 — three days after she was last seen.

Authorities say Ana Walshe supposedly made plans to take a ride share to Logan Airport to hop on a flight to Washington, D.C. for work early on Jan. 1, but she never boarded a plane and police have so far found no record of her entering any vehicle.

She is described as 5 feet, 2 inches tall, and weighing 115 pounds.

Law enforcement officials say she has brown hair, brown eyes, and “an olive complexion.” Walshe is believed to speak with an Eastern European accent.

This breaking news story will be updated.