‘THERE ARE PEOPLE OUT THERE THAT HAVE INFORMATION’
In exclusive interview with SA Insider, investigators say they’re optimistic recent leads could soon mean a break in case
NEW CANAAN — Police investigating the disappearance of Jennifer Dulos said they’re optimistic recent leads could soon lead to a break in the case.
“Recently, we've had some leads come in that were promising and we’re in the process of vetting those out,” said John Kimball, a detective with the state police Western District Major Crime Squad.
“I anticipate at some point in the future, we will be taking additional investigative steps, which will garner some attention from the media,” Kimball continued. “I can't go into specifically when or where or what, but this is by far not a cold case.”
On Monday, Kimball and the other lead investigator in the case, New Canaan Police Officer Thomas Patten,
returned to Waveny Park near where Jennifer Dulos’ SUV was found abandoned the night of her disappearance.
In an exclusive interview with CT Insider, Kimball said the recent tips in the case haven’t led to any search warrants being obtained “as of yet,” but the information could lead them to apply for one, declining to be more specific.
It’s been more than a year since the 50-year-old mother disappeared, last seen dropping off her kids at school the morning of May 24, 2019.
Her estranged husband, Fotis Dulos, died from an apparent suicide while facing murder and other charges in connection with her death and disappearance. His ex-girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, and his former lawyer, Kent Mawhinney, still face murder
conspiracy and other charges. Both have pleaded not guilty.
Though Kimball and Patten said they’re not aware of any other suspects besides those already charged, they believe there are people who know more about what happened to Jennifer Dulos.
“I have high confidence that there are people out there that have information that could lead us to the whereabouts of Jennifer,” Kimball said. “And this is a case, a very terrible, sad case where you have five children who now no longer have a mother and who no longer have a father. And I would hope that anyone that had any information that might help us find Jennifer or what happened to Jennifer would come forward with that information.”
The 16-month investigation has generated more than 1,500 leads and tips that continue to come in each day via a website set up by cops: findjenniferdulos.com.
In an exclusive interview with CT Insider published Monday, the two investigators revealed how they believe Fotis Dulos may have tried to frame a former employee of his luxury home-building group. Kimball said Fotis Dulos shaved his head in the days leading up to the disappearance in a possible attempt to resemble one of his workers, whose truck police say was used in the crime.
The cops said Fotis Dulos’ suspicious behavior soon after the investigation raised major red flags.
For example, Kimball pointed to Fotis Dulos’ apparent reluctance to help authorities find his wife when they spoke with him the day after the disappearance.
“She remained the mother of his five children,” Kimball said. “Why would he not want to help us find her? In my mind, the next question would be ‘Why not? Don’t you want her found?’”
In a note left in his car the day of his suicide attempt, Fotis Dulos denied killing his wife and lashed out at police, who he accused of fabricating evidence.
“I refuse to spend even an hour more in jail for something I had NOTHING to do with,” Dulos wrote. “If it takes my head to end this, so be it ... Enough is enough. If it takes my head to end this, so be it.”
The investigators said they went where the evidence took them.
“I certainly don’t take offense at what he said, but I disagree with it,” Kimball said of Dulos’ note.
He said there wasn’t one piece of conclusive, “smoking gun” evidence or major development that prompted Fotis Dulos’ arrest on murder charges.
“I would say there's probably two that may have put us over the edge,” Kimball said.
The first — finding Jennifer Dulos’ blood and DNA on garbage her estranged husband was accused of throwing out in Hartford around the time she was reported missing, Kimball said.
“That’s a problem, being that Jennifer’s still missing,” he said.
The second occurred last August, when Dr. James Gill, the state’s chief medical examiner, concluded that Jennifer Dulos had suffered injuries he considered “non-survivable” without medical intervention.
“There’s no record of her obtaining medical intervention, so basically we have blood evidence and the belief that Jennifer Dulos was not just missing, she was deceased,” Kimball said.
Attention focused on Fotis Dulos and his associates over time as more evidence implicated them, police said.
Like when a public call from police for doorbell camera footage led to video of a man who looked like Fotis riding what appeared to be a vintage French bicycle he owned in the direction of his estranged wife’s house the morning of her disappearance, Kimball said.
Kimball recalled another state police detective discovering the footage while looking through evidence at the Troop G barracks in Bridgeport.
“He literally jumped up and said, ‘John, come here, I want to show you something,’” Kimball said. “So he was excited.”
None of the evidence discovered thus far, however, has led to Jennifer Dulos. Kimball and Patten said they’re still hopeful of finding her.
“There are certainly things that we need to follow up on that may lead us to her whereabouts,” Kimball said.
“And there might be more information out there that somebody has that comes forward and be that last bit of evidence that we need,” Patten said.