YWCA to hold supportive session
GREENWICH — The mystery surrounding Jennifer Dulos’ disappearance, nearly two weeks after she vanished, continues to grip Connecticut and the rest of the nation.
The mother of five, a writer and journalist, was last seen dropping off her children at New Canaan Country School the morning of May 24 before her car was found later that night on Lapham Road.
Police began by distributed missing person’s flyers as the search intensified, expanding to Waveny Park, near where her car was located. Since then, details have emerged in the case, daily, if not, hourly.
Those developments include the arrest of Jennifer Dulos’ estranged husband Fotis Dulos and his girlfriend Michelle Troconis. Both are
charged with tampering with or fabricating physical evidence and first-degree hindering the prosecution.
“In our entire community, and across the nation, we’ve all been gripped with this story of Jennifer Dulos and we’re all incredibly concerned,” said Meredith Gold, director of Domestic Abuse Services at the Greenwich YWCA.
While Fotis Dulos has not been convicted of domestic abuse and his role in Jennifer Dulos’ disappearance is unclear, the actions of her estranged husband, as described by Jennifer Dulos and her attorney in divorce documents filed in Stamford Superior Court, include many red flag warnings that advocates, like Gold, say show signs of escalating domestic violence in their relationship.
“What we’ve found is that many people in the community are really wanting to talk about this and have questions about — How did this happen? How can we prevent this from happening to someone else? Looking back on the timeline and where could an intervention have taken place to avoid getting to the place where we are today?” Gold said.
Spurred on by the disappearance of Dulos, the Greenwich YWCA will host a community event to talk about the trauma of the Dulos case and to provide support to those who are triggered by this case on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m., at its facility, 259 East Putnam Ave.
Gold, along with Louisa Winthrop, clinical supervisor of Domestic Abuse Services at the YWCA, will provide facts about intimate partner violence, safety planning, dialogue about supporting victims and survivors and details about the organization’s available services including its 24-hour hotline, group and individual counseling, criminal victim advocacy, its emergency shelter and more.
“I think this case has really touched a nerve with people for many reasons given the background of the family, their high education level and their social status,” Gold said. “We still we have this myth to break that domestic violence impacts people of all backgrounds and all educational, socioeconomic, race (and) ethnicity categories.”
The event, open to the public, will be the first community discussion led by the Greenwich YWCA since Dulos’ disappearance. The goal is to give people the opportunity to express feelings of rage, fear and sorrow amid an uncertain time, Gold said.
“There have been almost hourly news updates around this case, around the clock, and a lot of people are spending a lot of time refreshing their phones, refreshing their computers, to see what’s the latest news,” Gold said. “That can be sort of traumatic for us as a community.”