Police search Dulos’ former home in Avon

Investigators spend 8 hours at property; Septic tank emptied

AVON — A property where Jennifer and Fotis Dulos once lived with their children was the focus of an intense search Thursday as a convoy of state police investigators and cadaver dogs looked for evidence in the disappearance of the New Canaan mother.

Police spent about eight hours searching the home and wooded property at 44 Sky View Drive in Avon. A septic company also emptied the property’s large tank and the sludge will be examined for evidence, a source close to the investigation said.

Fotis Dulos died Jan. 30 from an apparent suicide while facing murder and other charges in connection with his estranged wife’s death and disappearance. Jennifer Dulos was last seen on May 24, 2019 and has been presumed dead based on blood evidence found in the garage of her New Canaan home, according to arrest warrants.

Jennifer and Fotis Dulos rented the Avon home until it was sold in 2010. The property has been vacant since 2017.

In 2018, Fotis Dulos was hired by the property owner and spent about four months repairing water damage to the home.

The property is located at the end of a cul-de-sac with the home situated down a long driveway and out of view from the street. The home is within 5 miles of two Fotis Dulos-owned properties in Farmington that have been at the center of the police investigation.

David Ford, who owns the Avon property, said state police notified him Thursday morning that they planned to return to the home. Ford said state police searched the home last year and he told them they could return whenever they needed.

“I told them anytime, whatever they needed to do,” Ford told Hearst Connecticut Media. “I don’t care how long they are here and if they bring in backhoes.”

Ford led the investigators on a tour of the house Thursday morning and also showed them the location of the septic tank.

“I brought them in every room and showed them every nook and cranny,” Ford said. “I told them that ‘if you want to knock down a wall, go ahead.’”

A few hours later, more than a dozen state police investigators descended on the property to conduct a more thorough search. By mid-afternoon, state police cadaver dogs were also brought to the property. Later in the afternoon, a septic company emptied the tank, Ford said.

"They left no stone unturned," he said.

Ford said Fotis Dulos worked on the home from January to April 2018. Ford is still trying to get an insurance claim settled before he gets the work completed and moves into the home, he said.

Arrest warrants outline Fotis Dulos’ movements the day of his wife’s disappearance based on cellphone data and video footage. The warrants do not mention the Avon home, but police believe Fotis Dulos made several stops that afternoon traveling back and forth between his nearby properties.

Police used video footage from residential homes, commercial businesses, state Department of Transportation cameras and school buses to trace the path they believe Fotis Dulos took in his employee’s red Toyota Tacoma from Farmington to and from New Canaan the morning his wife disappeared, according to arrest warrants.

Video showed the truck returning to Farmington that afternoon, pulling into 80 Mountain Spring Road at 12:25 p.m., arrest warrants said. The Mountain Spring Road home is owned by Fotis Dulos’ real estate development company, Fore Group, and is about 5 miles from the Avon property.

Located between the Mountain Spring Road and Sky View Drive properties is 4 Jefferson Crossing in Farmington where Fotis Dulos and his former girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, lived at the time of the disappearance.

Arrest warrants said video showed Fotis Dulos and Troconis arriving at the Mountain Spring Road home about 2 p.m. the day of the disappearance. Troconis told police she was driving a white 2014 Jeep owned by Fotis Dulos and he was driving his 2015 black Chevy Suburban, according to arrest warrants.

There is no explanation in the warrants where police believe Fotis Dulos went between 12:25 and 2 p.m. that day.

At 2:24 p.m., police said video showed the white Jeep leaving 80 Mountain Spring Road, taking a left and heading north, according to arrest warrants. The vehicle was seen returning to Mountain Spring Road at 3:55 p.m., according to the warrants, but there is no explanation what occurred during those 90 minutes.

According to arrest warrants, Troconis told police Fotis Dulos gave her paper towels that he said he used to clean a coffee spill in his employee’s pickup truck while at the Mountain Spring Road property that afternoon. However, Troconis said the substance did not smell like coffee, the warrants said.

The investigation later revealed Jennifer Dulos’ blood was found on one of the vehicle’s seats, the warrants said.

In the weeks and months following the disappearance, state and local police searched all of the properties connected with Fotis Dulos and the Fore Group. However, they have not found anything leading to the 50-year-old’s remains.

Most of the evidence investigators collected was from inside the garage of

Jennifer Dulos’ New Canaan home where police say she was attacked when she returned home from dropping off her five children at school around 8 a.m. May 24, 2019.

The state’s medical examiner determined Jennifer Dulos suffered injuries in the attack that were so severe that she could not have survived without immediate medical attention, according to arrest warrants.

One week later, state police found her blood and clothing in trash receptacles in Hartford, where Fotis Dulos had been seen dumping bags of trash the night his estranged wife vanished, according to arrest warrants.

One day after the discovery, Fotis Dulos and Troconis were each charged with tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution.

In January, Fotis Dulos was charged with murder, felony murder and firstdegree kidnapping, while Troconis and his former attorney, Kent Mawhinney, were each charged with conspiracy to commit murder.

Mawhinney, who is jailed in lieu of $2 million bond, is scheduled to appear July 9 in state Superior Court in Stamford. Troconis, who is on house arrest, is expected to next appear Aug. 6 in Stamford.