Going West: True Crime - Anna Maciejewska // 395

Episode Date: April 6, 2024

In April of 2017, a 43-year-old woman in Pennsylvania was getting ready to take a trip to her native Poland to visit her father for his birthday. Then, just before she was set to leave on the trip, she canceled via text, simply stating that she wouldn’t be able to come. But her parents point out that the text was sent in broken Polish, despite it being her first language. When her car was found abandoned, a homicide investigation began. This is the story of Anna Maciejewska. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What is going on true crime fans? I'm your host, Heath. And I'm your host, Daphne. And you're listening to Going West. Hello everybody. Big thank you to Donna for recommending today's case. We would not have known about this case otherwise. We really think you're all going to be just as enthralled as we are with this one today. Yeah, this one is

intense. So thank you again Donna and let's just dive right into this one today. Let's do it. Alright guys, this is episode 395 of Going West, so let's get into it. In April of 2017, a 43-year-old woman in Pennsylvania was getting ready to take a trip to her native Poland to visit her father for his birthday. Then, just before she was set to leave on the trip, she cancelled via text, simply stating that she wouldn't be able to make it. But her parents pointed out that the text was sent in broken Polish, despite it being her first language. When her car was found abandoned, a homicide investigation began. Anna Macieska.

Anna Bronisława Macieska was born on July 18, 1973 in Warsaw, Poland to parents Janina and Zygmunt, who were immensely proud of their daughter from a young age, describing her as brilliant. After completing high school, Anna went on to earn her bachelor's degree in both mathematics and computer science from Warsaw University. But she specialized in actuarial mathematics, which is the study of quantifying risk. And then in 1997, at the age of 24, she moved all the way to the United States from Poland to continue her studies at the University of Louisville in Kentucky. Though she moved abroad with her boyfriend at the time, the relationship didn't last,

but Anna remained in Kentucky for a little bit longer to finish out her studies. Upon completing her secondary degree, she did decide to stay in the United States because she was offered a very prestigious position in finance at the ING Group, which is a financial institution based in the Netherlands. And ING later rebranded their American branch as VOYA Financial, which is where Anna's career continued to excel. So technically she worked for VOYA Financial. Anna did eventually leave Kentucky and she put down roots in the super idyllic and quaint borough of Westchester, Pennsylvania.

It's nestled about an hour outside of Philadelphia, and it's an affluent and historic community with many nearby nature preserves and lush wooded areas. So it looks like an amazing place to settle for sure, which is what Anna happily did, purchasing a townhouse for herself and building a friend group from her neighbors and her coworkers. And then in 2004, while on a ski trip with friends, she met a man named Alan Gould and

the two began dating. A couple years later, on April 18, 2006, Anna and Alan got married in a civil ceremony at their local courthouse. And then two months later, Anna brought him back to her native Poland and on June 18th, they held a proper Catholic ceremony in her home city of Warsaw with all of her family in attendance. So they kind of got to have both. Into married life, Anna and Alan custom built a stunning modern European farmhouse in Malvern,

Pennsylvania, which is just about 20 minutes northeast of Westchester. The stately white home now valued at over a million dollars was designed by Anna herself to emulate the beautiful farmhouses of the Polish countryside that she had grown up admiring. Yeah, it is a beautiful house. Absolutely. So through work and community events, Anna built a very large, tight-knit circle of female friends who described her as highly intelligent and likeable. In her workplace, she's remembered as high-achieving and an invaluable member of her team. So the couple maintained what her friends and family described as a very happy relationship,

but they both knew that they wanted more and tried for children for a few years. And finally, in May of 2013, 39-year-old Anna gave birth to a son, whom her friends described as the quote, light of her life. And Anna was such a warm and loving mother who really found her purpose in caring for her son. Though she was a gifted mathematician and enjoyed an amazing career, being her son's mom was the center of her universe. So Anna and Alan continued to try for a second child, but unfortunately, they had no luck

as in 2016, Anna suffered a miscarriage that friends say was a massive blow to her mental health. And she concealed this from most of the people in her life, but the people that she did tell revealed that she didn't feel very supported or consoled by her husband when it happened, which only added to the trauma of it all. But about a year later in spring of 2017, Anna seemed to be in a better spirit. Her dad's 80th birthday was fast approaching, and the family was actually planning a trip back to Poland, which would be the first with her beloved son to pay her dad a visit.

She had also recently told friends that she wanted to start the process of gaining her son's dual Polish-American citizenship, as well as obtaining his Polish passport. But for reasons he didn't elaborate on, Alan, her husband, forbade her from doing this. Which we are going to touch on, but toward the end of January 2017, Ellen Lee, who was a very good friend of Anna's, had dinner with her and remembers her feeling pretty down about the fight between she and her husband, you know, about the citizenship. Like it was really affecting her that night, and this is what Ellen remembers about that dinner, which by the way, was the last time Ellen would ever see Anna.

Likely unbeknownst to her husband, Alan, Anna had started seeking reinforcement from local support groups. She was pretty quiet on the details, and even her friends and family aren't entirely clear on the circumstances, but it's believed that this was for Anna to seek comfort after the miscarriage and potentially also from the disconnect that she was suffering in her marriage to Alan. However, it's unknown how serious the fight between Anna and Alan really was and if it had possibly become abusive or if

this was just kind of like a general marital disagreement. But regardless of what she was seeking advice for, it was clear that something was bothering her. She was even spotted by a co-worker crying at her office in the weeks leading up to her disappearance. However, despite the perceived setbacks in her personal life, she was really excited to be bringing her son home to Poland for a visit. Her father's 80th birthday fell on March 30, 2017 and according to her parents, Anna called three days before his birthday to confirm that she,

Alan, and their son would be coming for four days. But the following day, which was March 28th, she texted her mom Janina writing in perfect Polish, quote, mommy, something happened at work and we won't arrive until Thursday, but we'll stay for the weekend return on Monday. Kisses, Anna. So now she's saying that they're not going to arrive until the day of her dad's birthday, and they're just gonna stay until the end of the weekend. Which is a pretty short trip to go to Europe

and come back to the States, but again, they were just excited to go. But then, the following day, Anna called her parents. So now this is the day before she's supposed to be heading over there and she's kind of just like loosely confirming the same plan. But she also threw out the possibility that she and her family come for Easter instead, which was about two weeks after her dad's birthday in April. She said that she would verify the details with Alan,

her husband that evening and let her know what they decided. So even up to the day before this trip is supposed to happen, which was already delayed as it was, she is kind of unsure what the plan is. Yeah, it seems a little bit wishy-washy. But after that, there were no texts or phone calls from Anna to her parents to reconfirm any of these plans. Her mother, Yanina, checked on Anna that evening to see what they had decided, to which Anna responded by sending a text that read, quote, Sorry, I can't come, kisses Anna, with no further explanation. So it's just this text and nothing else.

Yeah. And, you know, just before this, like hours earlier, she had said, you know, we're kind of figuring out when we can come and now she's just like I can't come and that's it which is such a shock Yeah, and it seems like there would be an explanation for this, but she obviously did not give one in this text So her family was not only saddened by this news But they were also just puzzled and mildly worried as this was pretty out of character for somebody like Anna Who was a natural-born planner. I mean, she was organized, reliable, and always putting her family obligations first.

And to just suddenly decide not to come without a proper reasoning was just really weird. So the next day, which was Zig Moon's birthday, Anna sent him a quick text that read, quote, Anna sent him a quick text that read quote best wishes daddy We love you very much and then she signed the text from herself as well as Alan and their son And this was really strange as well because they still had no explanation and she was still just being very short And Poland is only six hours ahead of Pennsylvania So it would have been easy for her to call any time before evening her time without it being too late, but all they're getting are these short text messages." Exactly. Well, her father agreed, and he began sensing that something was very wrong here,

claiming that Anna never would have missed calling him on his birthday. Yanina later remarked, quote, "...it's really not like her." But even more suspicious than that was the fact that the text contained grammatical errors that seemed inconsistent with Anna being a native Polish speaker. Janina said simply, quote, Anna didn't write this message. So even with how short the birthday text was, it had two very clear mistakes. And these were mistakes that her parents claim she never would have made, even if she had

been texting quickly. Translating to, we love you, Anna supposedly wrote, Kohame Chebia, instead of the correct, Kohame Chia. Chebia also should have been capitalized, but it was not. One native Polish speaker who weighed in on this issue pointed out that this was not necessarily an unheard of error even for fluent speakers but Anna's parents say that she knew better. Right, this stood out to them.

Yes, very much so. So Janina maintained quote, we think the text message was not written by Anna. Zygmunt added, quote, Anna knew Polish. It's impossible for Anna to do this mistake. But over a week passed with no word from Anna and texts and calls from her family went unanswered. Over a week later on Saturday, April 8th, 2017, Janina called Allen just hoping to speak to her daughter. And to her surprise, he told her that Anna would call her

two days later on Monday, which Yanina found both frustrating and extremely odd. Yeah, like why can't she just talk to her that same day? Yeah, I mean again, it's a pretty minimal time difference here or if not even that day, why not Sunday, the next day? Why did she need to wait two days to speak to her daughter? To me, it seems like someone's trying to buy a little bit of time. And it's also strange that she's able to talk to Alan and not Anna.

Anna is just completely MIA and she has been for well over a week. But without a choice, Yanina waited until Monday as Alan requested, but she still did not hear back from Anna. When Yanina called Alan again trying to reach her, Alan said flatly, quote, I have no idea where she is. She didn't come back. Anna's parents were more confused than ever and couldn't believe why Alan seemed so unaffected if Anna was just gone. And also there was just no explanation as to where she had gone. It's just like, oh well she's gone and she didn't come back.

And they're like, what? From where? What do you mean? And for how long? Like he was not being helpful at all. So their suspicions against him mounted very quickly and understandably so. At this point, they hadn't spoken to their daughter in almost two weeks, so they're just wondering had she been missing that whole time? One Polish newspaper reported that Anna had been seen having dinner in town with her husband and son on the evening of Sunday, April 2, 2017, which is three days after her father's birthday. But because this is the only source of information for this claim,

it kind of seems more likely that she had not been seen since her last appearance at work, which would have been that final week of March, which was days earlier around the time that those strange texts were sent to her parents. So, but let's jump ahead a week to that Monday that Yanina is supposed to hear back from Anna.

So that morning Alan says that Anna had gotten up for work as usual. Again, this is Monday, April 10th, 2017, but around 9 45 AM, Alan says that Anna fled the house hurriedly, running to her car, which was parked out front, and speeding away. Alan claims that he found this odd, but waited until that evening before he started to grow a little concerned. When he couldn't reach her and she wasn't reporting home from work for dinner as usual,

he became worried and informed her parents. He described Anna as panicked and in a rush and said she'd been headed to a meeting, and she had left her phone, wallet, and passport behind, seeming to take off in her car with nothing. And this is just such BS to me. Again, Alan told her mom, Yanina, that she had to wait until Monday to speak with her, and then Monday happens to be the day that she's acting weird and goes missing. And somehow, Anna didn't text or call her parents for a week and a half despite canceling their family trip so last minute. Things are just really not adding up here. And yeah,

I mean, Alan is seeming like a bullshitter at this point. Yeah, again, buying time. Also, her coworkers later said that she hadn't had any pressing meetings that morning, except for, you know, a standard 15-minute daily check-in that she and her colleagues participated in daily. But they claimed that it was not imperative and that Anna wouldn't have been panicked to miss it. So didn't seem like there was anything really pressing that morning, but Alan is claiming, oh, she left in a hurry because she had this crazy meeting and it's like, well, the co-workers confirmed that she didn't. But it all gets even more suspicious, because her husband wasn't even the one to report her missing.

She was actually reported missing by both a co-worker and her family back in Poland before Alan called to report her disappearance himself. Even though he's saying that he grew kind of suspicious on Monday, and he still didn't report her missing that night. Yeah, exactly. But Anna's manager at VOYA Financial claims that she had called out to work on Monday, April 3rd. So a week earlier, texting her manager that she was sick and would be gone that week, but that she planned to be back on Monday, April 10th.

But then, April 10th is the day that she allegedly fled the house in a hurry and didn't show up to work. So it's like, okay, she calls in sick to work, she says she's going to be out for a week, and then then you know Responsible Anna doesn't show up on that Monday, right? But I mean who last minute says they're sick and calls out for a week Instead of taking it day by day and then on top of that not only are they sick? But they suddenly won't be in the office for a week It would make more sense if on April Monday April 3rd she texted her

boss and said hey I'm not feeling well today I'm not gonna be in I'll let you know how I'm feeling tonight to see if I can come in tomorrow yeah but to say I'm not gonna be there the whole week what yeah that seems like a reasonable thing to do to say hey I'll let you know tomorrow how I'm feeling yeah but you don't just say so I'm taking the whole week off bye and I want to clear this one thing up because I'm sure a lot of you guys are wondering. So, you know, the week before April, okay, just to make it clear because I know we're throwing out a bunch of dates. So, Monday, April 3rd, a few days before that, the Thursday before that was her dad's birthday, which was March 30th. They were supposed to be in Poland by Wednesday originally.

So she had taken part of that week off of work and she was supposed to be back to work. Like she said to her mom by Monday. So she wasn't taking that week off anyway for anybody who's confused that she's saying, Oh, I'm sick. I'm taking the week off. She was not going to take the week of April 3rd off anyway, because she was planning to be back from Poland by then, because like we said, this was only supposed to be like a four day trip.

So she was gonna go until the end of the week on Sunday-ish and be back by Monday to come to work. And then on that Monday, April 3rd, she texts, not calls, her manager and says, I'm sick and I'm going to be out all week. And then, but I'll be back on Monday, April 10th. Then Monday, April 10th, she is still not back. So I know that is super repetitive,

but I just wanted to clear any kind of confusion on that. And now it's April 10th and her coworker is reporting her missing. Her parents are reporting her missing, and Alan still has not done so. Right, so when Anna failed to show up for work yet again and officially hadn't been seen for about two weeks, her manager became fearful

that something had happened to her. But when she continued to miss calls and texts concerned for her whereabouts, her manager decided to put in a welfare check with the local police. Anna rarely missed a day of work, so missing a week and then failing to show up afterward without even a text message as an explanation was entirely unprecedented. When police stopped by Anna and Alan's Malvern home to perform the welfare check, they found

neither Anna nor Alan inside. That same day, Tuesday, April 11th, 2017, Anna's parents had grown weary of the lack of information and communication from Alan and called the Chester County Police to report their daughter missing. When they asked Alan why he had failed to search for his wife or report her missing himself, he claimed that he had his hands full taking care of their son. What? Yeah, it's like, uh, you can't do both. Like you can't just pick up the phone and say, hey, I'm worried about my wife's whereabouts?

Yeah, like, dude, it's really not that hard. So naturally, the next day, on Wednesday, April 12th, Alan finally filed a missing persons report, becoming the third person to do so. Anna's mom, Yanina, arranged a trip to Pennsylvania to join in the search efforts for her daughter and help Alan with her grandson right away, and Anna's nephew, Mihau, who was also her son's godfather, joined Yanina on her journey, and they both stayed in the couple's home with Alan. Mi Hao said quote, We have no idea what happened to her.

The strange thing is that we just know nothing, and everyone who knows her is very worried. She didn't really give anyone an explanation. Her parents were heartbroken that she wasn't coming. She didn't even call her dad on his birthday. That was alarming to us. She didn't take her passport, so she isn't traveling outside of the US. We drove around and talked to people, but nothing. It feels like there is nothing more for us to do.

We've done everything that we can think of." So additionally, upon their arrival to the States, Janina reported being disgusted with how routine Alan's behavior was, and he even celebrated Easter that weekend as usual. When Janina would cry about her missing daughter, Alan apparently seemed irritated and told her quote, she'll come back. In the days following Anna's extremely bizarre disappearance, her mom, friends, coworkers, and neighbors all teamed up alongside police in the search efforts, but Alan seemed completely uninterested and barely made himself available to talk to police. But despite all the other people searching, canvassing of the area surrounding her house turned up no indication of her

whereabouts. But there's one thing that I really want to mention that has been circulating the internet. I've only seen it on a couple different posts. One of them is a Facebook post in her Facebook group. Um, so I don't know how accurate this is, but it's really eerie. So I wanted to mention it in case this is true. So it says that one of Anna's neighbors believed that a blue tarp went missing from her backyard, from Anna's backyard, around the time that she went missing. So a lot of people started wondering if maybe her body was being weighed down somewhere in some body of water. And apparently her

son told a teacher that quote, mommy is hiding in the water. That is extremely eerie if that is true. Yeah, because then it makes you wonder if again if that is what was said, if he overheard something or if Alan is responsible, if, you know, somehow their son saw something and was able to come to that conclusion and say it. So I don't know. It was just creepy enough that I wanted to mention it. Yeah, absolutely.

But more on Alan being suspicious, Anna's friend Ellen recalls that in the chaos of the first few days when Anna was missing, when no one had any answers or direction, she went to Alan offering help. Now, she first suggested that they take out a billboard listing her information as well as a description of her car because they still don't have her car. So Ellen is hoping that if they kind of take the right steps, that maybe the right person will see it and then report a tip. But Alan said that he didn't think it was a good idea and that they should simply

be patient and wait for the investigation to play out. Like sounds like he really wants to find her, right? investigation to play out. Like sounds like he really wants to find her, right? So Ellen then suggested starting a Facebook page and Alan claimed that he didn't think that was a good idea either. So fed up with all of this, Ellen dismissed his request for her to wait patiently for police to find Anna and she started a Facebook group for her missing friend. Chester County by this point was plastered with missing posters and half a dozen different designs pleading for answers for Anna.

Allen remained mostly absent for the searches, vigils, and public appearances, always claiming that he was simply focused on their son, who had just turned four during the search the month after Anna supposedly went missing. But her friends maintained that she was likely missing for days, if not weeks, before she was reported as such, giving Alan a lot of time to cover his tracks. Alan, along with a group of Anna's other close friends, community members, and family, Ellen, along with a group of Anna's other close friends, community members, and family, even from all the way back in Poland, took the search efforts into their own hands, just trying to get the word out.

Her sister even hired a private investigator, but this didn't lead to finding Anna or a trail of her. Ellen relayed to police what she and Anna had discussed on their final evening out in January of 2017, remember that dinner? That Alan was agitated at the idea of getting her son a Polish passport and a second citizenship, though he didn't explain why he was irritated by this. However, Ellen claims that Anna was not attempting to remove her son from Alan's custody, at least not as far as any of her friends knew.

Her friends agreed that she would never have done that to the father of her child. So everyone was just left to go back and forth on this argument and the details, but on May 8th, 2017, the investigation finally saw a massive development. A month after she went missing, Anna's blue 2011 Audi A4 was found backed into a parking spot in the Charlestown Meadows Town Home Complex in Malvern, which again is the town that she and Alan lived in. So the car had been parked near a walking trail, and her friends found this pretty odd, because it had been backed into the parking space, but Anna typically did not park her car like this.

Residents reported helicopter searches scanning the ground surrounding the discovery, but frustratingly, there was no sign of Anna aside from her car. It's likely that the vehicle was forensically processed, but the results have never been made public. And though this gave police a new area to expand into, fanning out into the vast, lush, open space surrounding the townhouse complex, they weren't able to recover any sign of Anna. That same month, police held a press conference begging the public to come forward with any

information that they had about her disappearance. Yet Allen continued to keep to himself and abstained from assisting in the search efforts for his missing wife. Two months later, in July of 2017, police served Allen with a search warrant and entered the couple's home. Pennsylvania State Police Corporal Robert Kirby assured the public, quote, We've been working this case since day one. We came up with some new information that led us to get a search warrant for this residence.

We're working very closely with the Chester County District Attorney's Office. And even the police openly admitted that they believe that Allen knew more than he was saying. They announced on the news and at the press conference that Allen was their only current person of interest. Robert Kirby continued, quote, We think Allen has the key. We think Allen has information. Allen has not told us the truth on everything and we would love to speak to Allen again.

And yet, even with that admission, police weren't able to arrest him due to lack of evidence, but no other persons of interest revealed themselves. Shortly after Anna's disappearance, Alan obtained an attorney and began refusing to speak with journalists, investigators, or any concerned parties. Many reporters paid visits to the house, you know, knocking on the front door themselves in hopes of talking to him, but they were all turned away.

So months gave way to a year, and Anna's devastated parents waited for answers, hoping that police and those who lived locally would stay vigilant and keep their daughter's search alive. But to their dismay, police announced in 2018 that Anna's case was now a homicide investigation. Though they have not revealed how they came to that conclusion, it seemed like a certainty based on the findings that they have kept concealed from the public.

They also said that without the cooperation of Allen, the case was likely unable to advance toward any type of conclusion. Which is so frustrating. They basically know that he's involved and they know, even without a body, that Anna was murdered but there isn't enough actual evidence to convict him. Which is crazy and this really reminds me of my Aunt Carol Wollsancroft's case, who we covered in episode 100 because like the exact same thing happened.

She went missing her parents. So my grandparents were the ones to report her missing, not her boyfriend. The police found her car abandoned and police essentially knew that she had been murdered and knew that her boyfriend, Eugene did it, but they didn't have enough to actually convict him. Like, it's so similar, and they're just the most frustrating situations. Yeah, like, it's so unbelievable that they basically, like you said, they know that Alan is responsible, but they just simply don't have enough.

And obviously they do have some more things than what we've said, because we've said a few times that they are concealing certain things in this case that they don't want to reveal, which happens a lot in unsolved cases. But yeah, I mean, it's like they know just based on all these strange inconsistencies and the fact that Alan was totally trying to buy time and he doesn't seem like a concerned husband, but you know, without her body, there's just not enough evidence. Yeah.

And now it's been, it's been years. I mean, it's been how many years now? Seven. Seven years since she went missing and they still have not solved this case. So, so frustrating. Well, police didn't want to just let this go. You know, they, they do feel very strongly that Alan is responsible and they do want to solve this case.

They want to close it. So in January of 2019, Alan Gould was served yet another search warrant, but this time for the townhouse in Westchester, which technically belonged to Anna. And according to local news reports, the couple had mostly used the townhouse for storage, but police wondered if Alan had used this secondary residence to dispose of Anna or any evidence relating to her case. When Alan didn't open the door or was found to be away from the townhouse at the time, officers used a ram to pry open the door.

Again, they declined to divulge what if anything they discovered inside, but Allen remained a free man so obviously there was nothing super damning in there. Meanwhile, this is what one of the missing posters that were found all over Chester County read, quote, I am Anna. I was a mother. I was a friend. I was a wife I was a friend I was a wife I was an actuary in Westchester I was supposed to visit my family in Poland in late March 2017 but I never made it I live in Malvern Pennsylvania in

Charlestown Township on Hedge Row Lane I died in late March or early April 2017. I was murdered. Examples of the many unanswered questions. Was it murder for hire or did one person do it all? Who backed my car into a parking spot in Charlestown Meadows? And how did they get home? Who contacted my family to say I wasn't coming to Poland in late March 2017?

Who canceled my standing salon appointment in late March 2017? What probable cause prompted searches of my Malvern and Exton homes? The outcomes? Does my son think I abandoned him? Where are my remains? Weighed down in water? Buried within a building

or house? I am Anna. I did not deserve to die. I deserve much more attention from those with the resources and power to help keep my case alive, so my death doesn't go unpunished. I'm all alone where I was discarded, as if I never mattered. I do matter Please help me by taking a picture of this poster do an online search of my name Learn more about my case and talk about it. Please be my voice That is like just the most powerful Missing poster I have ever read in my entire life. It is just absolutely heartbreaking.

And yeah, I mean, we're going to share it on our socials. So please, if you, if you listen to this episode, please share it as well. Yeah. If this doesn't make you want to share it, I don't know it well because it really is such a powerful missing poster and it really posed a lot of great questions. Like, you know, they mentioned her hair salon appointment, um, you know, talking about how did whoever abandoned her car in that parking spot, how did they get home afterwards?

Like there are so many questions in this case and this poster is pointing out a lot of really good ones. Yet somehow, even after the discovery of her car, the announcement that her case was determined to be murder, and the raiding of two separate residences, police still did not have enough evidence to arrest Alan or anybody else for involvement in Anna's disappearance. Nor did they have any indication as to where her body was hidden. I mean really only two theories persist in the case of Anna's disappearance. That she elected to leave her life behind and start over by herself. Okay that theory shouldn't even exist. Totally

agree. Or that she was met with foul play. But yeah I mean the former theory has been debunked by those who knew and loved her, claiming that she would have never abandoned her beloved 3 year old son, who was the center of her universe. She had a fulfilling career, which she absolutely loved, and she was comfortable financially, and she was living in her dream house. Her parents concurred that this was not something that their consistently responsible daughter would ever do.

And the police don't even believe this happened either, so yeah, that's not where they're headed. And logistically, it would have been very difficult for her to vanish, you know, without her passport, her wallet, or her phone. Also, there was no activity on her bank card, so the only thing that she had with her when she supposedly ran from their home was her car Which as we know was later found in the same condition that it had been before she disappeared Yeah, I mean it seems as if the only other possibility points to her husband Alan Which you know both Daphne and I believe Indeed so the fact that Anna was clearly going through an emotional time may have something to do with her disappearance You know maybe she was seeking refuge in the women's support groups So the fact that Anna was clearly going through an emotional time may have something to do with her disappearance.

You know, maybe she was seeking refuge in the women's support groups prior to seeking a divorce from her husband, or maybe she had just been feeling unsafe with him. When this information was relayed to her family, they really struggled with the realization that Anna had been unhappy or even depressed leading up to her disappearance. Her nephew, Mihau, recalled, quote, We didn't know how bad it was, so of course that is alarming to us. It's also entirely possible that Anna's abrupt departure had nothing to do with her emotional state at the time, and this may have begun with Anna and Alan's disagreement over their

son's passport and dual citizenship. Like maybe Alan was kind of feeling threatened and even accused Anna of wanting to take their son away from him and leave for Poland together because he was clearly focused on his son in the aftermath of her disappearance which could give us a window into his motives. Yeah, it kind of seems like, you know, he might have been upset and maybe thought that she was just trying to flee with their son. Exactly, but regardless of the reason, Mihael said, quote, "'She's a mother, a daughter, a friend.

We just need someone to help.'" But sadly, with no leads outside of a suspect who is unwilling to help, all her family and friends are left with are wild speculation and theories. Anna's good friend and co-worker Sharon Grant said sadly, quote, I don't consider her missing. I consider her dead. As far as the public is aware, Alan remains the only person of interest in the case of Anna's disappearance, but he also remains free the only person of interest in the case of Anna's disappearance,

but he also remains free and is believed to reside in the same home he lived in with Anna, maintaining custody of their young son. Anna's parents who stayed in Poland were forced to obtain legal counsel in order to establish visitation rights and be able to keep in touch with their grandson. But as time went on, they reported that Alan barred them from seeing their grandson altogether. That seems like such a selfish move. But, you know, obviously if he was involved in his wife's murder, then it doesn't seem far fetched.

Yeah, it's such a red flag. He's trying to push her family out and get them out of his life. Just like he got Anna out of his life. But as it goes with her friends, they still hold vigils and searches in the area hoping for some sign of her. In 2022, so five years after Anna disappeared, Yanina told a local Pennsylvania news station, quote, Maybe I'm naive and stupid, but still I have hope. At the time of her disappearance, Anna Macieska was 43 years old. She stood at 5 feet,

4 inches tall and weighed about 160 pounds. She had blonde hair and blue eyes. There is still a $30,000 reward being offered for information that leads to an arrest. If you have any information about the disappearance or murder of Anna Macieska, please call the Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers at 1-800-472-8477. in. Thank you so much everybody for listening to this episode of Going West.

Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode. Make sure that you share this. We're going to post the missing poster on our socials. But yeah, let's talk about this case over on our discussion group on Facebook. Absolutely. It is so clear that her family really wants her story to continue to be told. Like he said, you know, I mean, years and years have passed, but it's really only not only because obviously every day I'm sure is incredibly difficult, but it has been just

over seven years. So there is still absolutely the possibility that this case can be solved. So thank you guys so much for tuning in. Let's get her case out there. Yes, and thanks again to Donna for recommending today's case. We'll see you guys on Tuesday. Alright guys, so for everybody out there in the world, Don't be a stranger. I'm out. Thanks for watching!