Photo: @AnaWalshe/Instagram
Ana Walshe's mother said she "just cannot believe" her son-in-law Brian Walshe made the disturbing internet searches announced by prosecutors in relation to her disappearance.
Milanka Ljubicic, 69, told NBC News from her home in Belgrade, Serbia, that she's holding out hope that her daughter is still alive, despite Brian Walshe being officially charged with murder in relation to Ana's death.
"I think that she just left somewhere, to get away, maybe she was tired of everything ... It is only my assumption. I still don’t know the truth about what happened," Ljubicic said. "I just hope that she is alive. Anywhere, but alive. That is my only hope."
Earlier this month, Ljubicic told FOX News Digital that her daughter pleaded to her to "come tomorrow" from Serbia days prior to her disappearance.
"She just said, ‘Please, mama. Come tomorrow,’" Ljubicic said in an interview conducted on Monday (January 9) that was later translated to English. "Which means, that clearly, there must have been some problems."
Ljubicic said she received a text from her daughter on December 25 requesting her to meet her in Washington, D.C. the following day.
"She texted in the evening, urging me to come the next day to Washington," Ljubicic said. She recalled responding, "I can’t get myself together in one day. I am 69 years old, I have to get my medications and a thousand other things."
Brian Walshe pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and disinterment of a body in a Quincy, Massachusetts court on Wednesday (January 19).
Prosecutors listed a series of suspicious online searches made by Walshe on his son's iPad during the first three days of 2023, which include the following, per CNN:
January 1:
- "How long before a body starts to smell?"
- "How to stop a body from decomposing."
- "Ten ways to dispose of a dead body if you really need to"
- "How long for someone to be missing to inherit."
- "Can you throw away body parts?"
- "What does formaldehyde do?"
- "How long does DNA last?"
- "Can identification be made on partial remains?"
- "Dismemberment and the best ways to dispose of a body."
- "How to clean blood from wooden floor.
- "Luminol to detect blood."
- "What happens when you put body parts in ammonia?"
January 2:
- "Hacksaw best tool to dismember."
- "Can you be charged with murder without a body?"
- "Can you identify a body with broken teeth?"
January 3:
- "What happens to hair on a dead body?"
- "What is the rate of decomposition of a body found in a plastic bag compared to on a surface in the woods?"
- "Can baking soda mask or make a body smell good?"
Prosecutors also listed items purchased by Brian Walshe believed to be connected to Ana Walshe's murder, which included mops, brushes, tape, tarp, a Tyvek suit with boot covers, buckets, baking soda and a hatchet from a Rockland, Massachusetts Home Depot on January 2; towels, bath mats and men's clothing from Home Goods and TJ Maxx on January 4; and squeegees and a trash can from Lowe's on January 4.
Walshe had previously pleaded not guilty to misleading investigators in relation to the search for his wife, who was reported missing by her coworkers on January 4.
Last Tuesday (January 10), law enforcement sources with knowledge of the investigation told CNN that a hacksaw, torn-up cloth material and what appears to be bloodstains were reportedly found during a police search linked to Walshe's disappearance.
Investigators were searching through the trash of a Peabody transfer station on January 9, which a source with knowledge of the situation told CNN was in relation to the potential remains of the missing woman.
Norfolk County District Attorney's Office said evidence collected at the Peabody transfer station -- which District Attorney Michael Morrissey had previously described as "a number of items" -- would be sent for testing.
The law enforcement sources told CNN that investigators will plan to collect blood samples from Walshe's sons to see if the stains found have a "direct bloodline" sample to any blood found in relation to the case, which also includes blood and a bloodied knife found at Walshe's home.
Norfolk District Attorney's office prosecutor Lynn Beland revealed that the bloody knife was found at the Walshes' home on January 9.
Beland also said Brian Walshe claimed he took his child to get ice cream on January 2, however, surveillance video instead shows he purchased $450 worth of cleaning supplies at Home Depot that day, which included mops, a bucket and tarps.
Crime scene tape was also placed around dumpsters at a Swampscott apartment complex where Brian Walshe's mother lives.
Brian Walshe reportedly told police he visited his mother on January 1, which was the last day he claimed to have seen his wife, according to an affidavit obtained by CNN.
A search warrant obtained by police led to blood and a damaged, bloody knife being found in the basement of the couple's home, according to Beland.
“These various statements caused a delay in the investigation to the point that during the time frame when he didn’t report his wife and gave various statements, that allowed him time to either clean up evidence, dispose of evidence, and causing a delay,” Beland said via CNN.
Brian Walshe's defense attorney said his wife's employer initially reported her disappearance because Walshe had first called them to ask about her whereabouts and claimed he was "incredibly cooperative" with police during multiple interviews and consented to search of his properties.
Brian Walshe, who was previously arrested in 2018 for selling pieces he falsely claimed were part of Andy Warhol's 1978 Shadows series, is currently being held on a $500,00 cash bail and is scheduled to appear at his next hearing on February 9.