Search for Jennifer Dulos turns to Avon pond
AVON — The search for Jennifer Dulos turned Wednesday to a pond where she claimed in divorce documents that her estranged husband pushed their children to “dangerous” limits in competitive water skiing.
New Canaan Police Lt. Jason Ferraro said the Connecticut State Police dive team searched a pond on Old Farms Road in Avon, while continuing to sift through trash at a Hartford dump related to Jennifer Dulos’ disappearance.
In divorce documents, Jennifer Dulos described her husband’s affinity for water skiing as an “obsession.” She said he insisted on their children train
ing to be world-class water skiers, and had them on a strict regimen that she believed was “dangerous and excessive” and would sometimes last all day.
Before removing his Facebook page, Fotis Dulos posted numerous photos of himself on the water.
“The children have told me that they do not want to water ski at this level,” Jennifer Dulos said in the divorce documents.
“They are physically and emotionally exhausted and have begged me to do something about it. We are all terrified to disobey my husband.”
She said Fotis Dulos once threw a ski against a rock and broke it when the children refused to train, according to the divorce documents.
The body of water known locally as The Pond is tucked behind the Avon Self Storage facility on Old Farms Road.
The sudden attention to the town of less than 20,000 has quickly created a buzz.
“Day-to-day stuff is normal, (everybody’s) just kind of trying to figure out what they did with her,” Avon resident Michel Daoud said. “Everybody’s talking about it.”
The pond is located about six miles from Fotis Dulos’ home on Jefferson Crossing in Farmington.
The private enclave loaded with multimillion dollar homes has been disrupted for weeks since one of its residents — and the developer of the properties — has been suspected of Jennifer Dulos’ disappearance.
The chaos continued Tuesday evening when Fotis Dulos returned home after posting bail.
But since returning home, Fotis Dulos hasn’t shied from the attention.
One TV crew followed him into an Avon grocery store, but he walked past them without responding to the reporter’s questions.
On Wednesday morning, Fotis Dulos was seen out for a jog in the neighborhood and then cameras followed him into Hartford where he had a probation hearing to outline the conditions of his release.
Farmington police Lt. Patrick Buckley said the department has increased patrols in the neighborhood only because Jefferson Crossing residents have been concerned about trespassers on the private road.
After spending 10 nights at the Bridgeport Correctional Center since his arrest, Fotis Dulos was released late Tuesday afternoon after paying $37,150 for a $500,000 bond and turning in his passports.
Fotis Dulos is required to wear an electronic GPS monitoring device, is prohibited from contacting his five children or members of Jennifer Dulos’ family. He also cannot leave the state without permission.
Fotis Dulos, 51, and his girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, 44, are both free on bail while charged with tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution in the disappearance of Jennifer Dulos, who was last seen on May 24.
Troconis and her daughter had been living with Fotis Dulos at 4 Jefferson Crossing after Jennifer Dulos left with her children when she filed for divorce in 2017.
The property, as well as others developed by Fotis Dulos’ custom homebuilding company, the Fore Group, have been a focus of numerous searches in recent weeks.
Investigators were seen leaving the property with two boxes of evidence on June 5 after executing an emergency search warrant.
The search came hours after investigators combed through a metal dumpster outside a New Canaan home also being developed by the Fore Group. Neighbors of that home said they were woken up by the loud sounds of metal banging coming from the property in the predawn hours the morning after Jennifer Dulos went missing.
State’s Attorney Richard Colangelo announced Tuesday the finding of new evidence that he said shows Fotis Dulos’ DNA was discovered mixed with his estranged wife’s blood on the faucet of a kitchen sink in her home. A judge, however, denied Colangelo’s request to increase Fotis Dulos’ bond based on the new evidence.
Members of the state police search-and-rescue team have been using dogs trained to detect human remains to search a Hartford garbage dump.
According to arrest warrants, Fotis Dulos was seen on video throwing garbage bags into more than 30 trash receptacles in a fourmile span in Hartford the night his estranged wife disappeared. Police said Troconis was seen in the passenger seat and both of their cellphones placed them in the area at that time.
Garbage bags that were recovered contained Jennifer Dulos’ blood, the warrants said. Police have since been searching the dump for bags that had already been hauled away.
New Canaan police said Wednesday they have received about 475 tips that have come in from around the world. They have also received 80 security videos from residents and business owners.
But so far, none of it as led to Jennifer Dulos, whose family and friends remain “in limbo” about what happened to the mother of five.
“As the news cycle propels the story of Jennifer’s disappearance forward, we must not lose sight of the enormous human cost of this tragedy: five young children have not seen their mother in 18 days,” family and friends said in a statement released Tuesday. “Jennifer is the constant presence in their lives. She has sole physical custody and has devoted her full energies to their care and happiness.
“Jennifer’s family, friends, and above all her children are living in limbo — missing her embrace, her lilting laugh, her bedtime back rubs, her gentle strength. Please know that the children are safe and loved and supported in every respect. But more than anything in the world, they long to know where their mother is.”