Police renew call for tips to help locate Shaler woman missing since January 2020

Shaler and Allegheny County Police are asking the public to help with their effort to find out what happened to a 70-year-old township woman who hasn’t been seen in a year.

Janet Walsh, of Dolores Drive, was reported missing Jan. 20, 2020 by her daughter, who was supposed to have dinner at her mother’s house that evening, according to investigators.

In the year since she was last seen, police say they have not received any tips to help locate her.

“Unfortunately we do not have new information today,” Shaler police Chief Sean Frank said during a news conference Jan. 22. “But we want to recognize that it’s been a year since this report was taken, and we’re really asking for the public’s assistance.”

Investigators developed a timeline for Walsh that begins shortly after noon on Sunday, Jan. 19,2020 when a license plate reader indicated she was driving her silver 2018 Chevy Trax southbound along Mt. Royal Boulevard. The vehicle bears Pennsylvania license plate number: KTW-6007.

Police believe she was heading home from church services at Bethlehem Lutheran in the 1700 block of Mt. Royal. The church is located across from Shaler Area Middle School.

Walsh was last seen by her daughter and son-in-law while they were having dinner at her home Jan. 19, 2020, according to the timeline.

Investigators also learned that Walsh cancelled an appointment she had scheduled for the afternoon she went missing.

The register from the doctor’s office indicated that she cancelled her appointment at around 10 a.m. She “sounded congested and sick” when she spoke with office staff, according to investigators.

Walsh last spoke with her daughter at 8 a.m. on Jan. 20, 2020. They were planning to get together at Walsh’s house that evening for dinner, police said.

But when her daughter arrived at the house at around 5 p.m. she noticed that her mother’s SUV was not there.

Police said Walsh did not contact her daughter to say she was leaving the house that evening and her cell phone was found in the upstairs of the home.

Walsh’s daughter called several of her mother’s friends to try to locate her before contacting Shaler police at around 8 p.m. to file a missing person report, police said.

The chief said an extensive search was conducted but there have been no clues about what became of Walsh.

“After the first few days when all leads were exhausted, we contacted the Allegheny County Police homicide unit and they began assisting us with the investigation,” Frank said.

The chief said the county was able to provide resources to extend the scope of the search.

“The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh river rescue and Murrysville’s medical and dive team have been down on the (Allegheny) river at least four or five times when weather allowed,” Frank said.

Frank said the river became the focus of the search because “without this vehicle (being located), we made an assumption that she may have been into the water because we lost all track of her vehicle.

“It’s unusual that we haven’t even located a vehicle, so we are really puzzled by this,” he said.

Allegheny County Police Lt. Venerando Costa said in addition to searching the river, “multiple land searches” were performed.

Costa said Walsh’s vehicle was equipped with an OnStar GPS vehicle tracker but “there were no hits on (January) the 20th.”

The lieutenant noted that the OnStar signal can be blocked if it is in a garage or parked under a heavy tree canopy.

He said investigators have been concentrating on locating the missing vehicle because of the lost OnStar signal.

“Locating the vehicle is the key to finding her,” Costa said.

He said the river between the Highland Park and 31st Street bridges has been searched extensively. Dive teams plan to expand the area where they look once the winter weather breaks.

“We’re urging the public to provide any information that can help us,” he said. He noted that investigators have been in regular contact with Walsh’s family since she disappeared and “they are doing the best that they can.”

Costa urged people to call police if they believe they saw Walsh’s vehicle before she went missing or if they’ve seen a similar vehicle parked in an area for a long period of time.

“Even if there is no license plate, we’d be able to use the vehicle identification number to determine if it belongs to Walsh,” he said.

Walsh is white, about 5 foot, 3 inches tall with a heavyset build. She has blonde curly hair and hazel eyes.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 1-833-255-8477. Callers can remain anonymous. Tips also can be provided by calling 911.