Man Allegedly Used Google Translate To Fake Text From Missing Wife, Now Charged With Murder

On April 12, 2017, Allen Gould, 60, reported his wife, 43-year-old wife Anna Maciejewska, missing. Gould said he had not seen Maciejewska, a native of Poland and mother to their 4-year-old son, for two days. He told police that he watched his wife leave for work on April 10, but the internal GPS system on Maciejewska’s car showed that the car was not driven at all that day. 

When detectives began investigating, cellphone records and witness accounts confirmed that no one had seen or heard from Maciejewska since March 28, two weeks before Gould contacted police. Now, eight years later, he is facing charges for her murder, after authorities reportedly discovered a fake text he sent pretending to be her.

All of her belongings were left at home.

In response to the missing person’s report, officers searched the couple’s home in Chester County, Pennsylvania. There, they found Maciejewska’s iPhone and iPad on the kitchen table, ABC News reports. Her phone was in startup mode, as if it had recently been reset. When officers questioned Gould about this, he told them Maciejewska was updating her phone the morning she went missing, but it was taking too long so she left her devices.

All of Maciejewska’s belongings were in the home, with the exception of the keys to her car. Later, authorities found her car at an apartment complex 2 miles from the home the family shared. 

The couple had been discussing divorce.

In addition to Maciejewska’s belongings, there was also divorce paperwork. A friend told police that Maciejewska was unhappy in the marriage. The couple couldn’t agree on how to raise their son, including whether she should pursue dual citizenship for him. Gould felt he would lose his parental rights if their son had a Polish passport and traveled without him.

Maciejewska’s friend shared that while she wanted the marriage to end, Gould did not. Her plan was to “set a firm date to discuss divorce.” While Maciejewska waited to have that talk with her husband, she was doing research on her own. She’d visited over 150 websites pertaining to various forms of abuse, including narcissistic personality disorder, and abuse versus normal marital conflict.  

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Authorities found a Google Translate message in Maciejewska’s native tongue.

There was additional search history that proved suspicious. On March 30, two days after anyone had last seen her, Maciejewska’s father received a message from his daughter wishing him a happy birthday in Polish, People reports. But the message contained grammatical errors. Later, police found that one of Maciejewska’s devices had been used to search the phrase on Google Translate, despite Maciejewska speaking fluent Polish. Later, police found a printout of the message in Gould’s home.

Gould is being held without bond.

After reporting her missing, Gould stopped cooperating with the police in their efforts to find her. Instead, he hired a criminal defense attorney, got a second cellphone, and clicked on an article about “strangulation.”

He was arrested on May 14, 2025, and is being held without bond. Officials have charged him with first-degree murder and tampering with physical evidence. 

Maciejewska’s body has not been found.

Gould’s defense attorney, Evan Kelly, spoke to ABC on his client’s behalf. “He’s been living under the specter of this for eight years,” Kelly said. “At this point he just wants to clear his name in the court of law.” Officials have yet to locate Maciejewska’s body.