Nearly eight years after Polish-American woman Anna Maciejewska went missing in the US, her husband, Allen Gould, has been arrested and charged with her murder, despite her body never being found. The high-profile case, which captured attention both in the US and Poland, had long gone cold before investigators recently cited fresh evidence, including suspicious Google searches and a poorly worded birthday text in Polish, to build their case, CNN reported.
According to newly released court documents, Pennsylvania State Trooper David Brodeur confronted Gould during a search of his home in July 2017, accusing him of killing his wife. Gould, investigators noted, had no visible reaction - neither denying the charges nor proclaiming his innocence.
However, no arrest was made at the time, and the case remained unsolved until this week, when police took Gould into custody. He now faces charges including first-degree murder, tampering with evidence, and abuse of a corpse.
Anna, 43, was last seen in March 2017. A native of Poland, she had moved to the US in 1997 to study mathematics and worked as an actuary for nearly two decades. She lived with Gould and their young son in an upscale suburb of Philadelphia. Friends and coworkers described her as kind, highly intelligent, and a devoted mother.
Court records reveal Anna had confided in friends about her troubled marriage and had even begun attending divorce counselling weeks before she vanished. She was reportedly concerned about losing custody of her son.
Among the key evidence cited is a birthday text sent to Anna's father on March 30, 2017, written in broken Polish. Investigators later found Google Translate printouts in Gould's home matching the unusual phrasing. Police also recovered Anna's car in a nearby gated community, with her purse inside and the driver's seat pushed back, inconsistent with her height. Forensic data showed the car hadn't been driven on the day Gould claimed she left home in a panic.
Despite the lack of physical remains, prosecutors believe the evidence, particularly inconsistencies in Gould's version of events, points to guilt. "He was being incredibly deceptive about where his wife was, and the only reason for that is that he killed her," Chester County District Attorney Chris de Barrena-Sarobe said.
Gould has not entered a formal plea and maintains his innocence. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 27.
For Anna's loved ones, the arrest is bittersweet. "It was a sigh of relief that it was finally happening," her friend Ellen Lee said. "But the story isn't over yet."
