Vigil planned for missing mother Ana Walshe in Cohasset
COHASSET - The weeklong search for Ana Walshe has hit close-knit Cohasset like a wave.
"At first, I think everybody was hoping that this was a mix-up and she'll come home," said Deborah Loring. "But as the days wore on and the details came out, you just realized that there was this evil."
Each tragic turn in the investigation, consuming this peaceful community.
"Finding out about what they found up in in Peabody was particularly gory and shocking. It's really cast a pall over the place," said Loring. "It's a very small town. Most of us will drive by there every day. You look in and you think, this poor woman."
The initial worry and fear for Ana's safety has shifted in a way; so much of that worry and fear now is for the wellbeing of three precious children.
"I'm a mother and that is the part that is very devastating for me when I think about that," said Maura Young. "They don't have either parent anymore at this point. Innocent until proven guilty but it's not looking good."
The Department of Children and Families confirmed the three Walshe boys, ages two, four, and six, are in state custody.
Cohasset will come together Thursday, seeking some comfort from a feeling of community. A vigil will be held on the Cohasset Town Common at 4:30 p.m.
"We're all feeling these same emotions and that's OK," said Father Will Sexton of St. Anthony's Parish. "It's OK to have questions, it's OK to be angry or upset or afraid. To take that and come together helping each other and relying on each other and of course doing it with the help and strength that comes from God that we can't do this on our own."
The friends who know Ana Walshe best describe the way she cares. And that's what supportive neighbors want those loved ones to feel.
"A show of solidarity that this community cares about her, cares about her children, wants to make sure her parents, and her friends and her family, particularly in Serbia know that we care," Loring said.
Brian Walshe, Ana's husband, is currently being held on $500,000 bond on a charge of misleading investigators in the case. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Monday in Quincy District Court.