COHASSET, Mass. – One of the last people to see missing Massachusetts mom Ana Walshe before she vanished has shed light on the woman’s final hours and his suspicions "that there may have been foul play," according to a recent report.
Gem Mutlu rang in the New Year with Brian and Ana Walshe at their home in Cohasset, Massachusetts, and last saw the woman, a friend whom he’d met through her husband, when he hugged her goodbye around 1:30 a.m. on Jan. 1.
"We hugged and celebrated and we toasted, just what you do over New Year's," Mutlu told local news station WBZ-TV. "There was a lot of looking forward to the new year. There was no indication of anything other than celebrating the new year, problems on hold."
Mutlu declined to comment when contacted by Fox News Digital on Tuesday, and said he was working with a spiritual healer in the wake of his friend’s continued disappearance.
Speaking to WBZ, Mutlu said he and the Walshe family had a "festive" New Year’s Eve that consisted of an "elaborate meal" that Brian cooked.
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He recalled how Ana Walshe was "texting with friends" and "sitting next to me at the barstool at their kitchen."
"There was absolutely no indication that any modicum of a tragedy, of disappearance, or anything else could have happened that night," he reportedly said.
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Mutlu added that he learned of Ana’s disappearance on Jan. 4, when Brian called him.
"I said what's wrong? Is there something wrong?" he recalled. "He said, ‘Yeah, Ana is missing.’"
Walshe, a mother of three young boys, was last seen in the early morning hours of Jan. 1, when she was supposed to take a ride-share service to a local airport to board a flight bound for Washington, D.C.
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The Tishman Speyer real estate executive was previously scheduled to depart for D.C. on Jan. 3, but allegedly said there was an emergency that required she fly there earlier than expected.
Her company reported her missing to police on Jan. 4, after, according to Brian Walshe’s defense attorney, he had contacted the firm asking about Ana’s whereabouts.
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But 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 store.
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.
Investigators also discovered blood and a bloody, damaged knife in the basement of the couple’s home, and traced Ana’s cell phone to the area of the family’s Cohasset home on Jan. 1 and Jan. 2. Meanwhile, Brian’s cell phone 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.
On Tuesday, officials 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 away from the couple's residence.
Brian Walshe was arrested on Sunday and charged with misleading a police investigation.
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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Walshe’s defense attorney, Tracey Miner, argued that her client was otherwise forthcoming with authorities, but neglected to mention his trip to Home Depot. She noted that he had been "incredibly cooperative."
Walshe, a previously convicted art fraudster, was ordered held on $500,000 cash bail over $5 million surety bond.
Mutlu told WBZ Ana and Brian Walshe, 46, have been "individually and together very impactful on my life.
"Both Ana and Brian have been individually and together very impactful on my life. "A part of me had this suspicion all along that there may have been foul play and that somehow just the story just wasn't adding up," Mutlu told WBZ.
"My biggest fear had shifted towards the children," Mutlu said. "I wondered if the children were safe."
A spokesperson for the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that the couple’s three children were in the custody of the state, but would not provide additional details.
Fox News Digital's Rebecca Rosenberg contributed to this report.
