The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Neighborhood security increased
NEW CANAAN — An extra layer of security was added to Jennifer Dulos’ neighborhood Friday as the search for the 50-year-old mother of five entered its third week.
In addition to the police officer stationed at Jennifer Dulos’ Welles Lane home, private security was added Friday. The man said he was there to help secure the home.
Jennifer Dulos was last seen around 8 a.m. May 24 dropping off her children at New Canaan Country School. The children, who range in age from 8 to 13, have been staying with their maternal grandmother, Gloria Farber, in New York City. Farber is seeking custody of the children.
New Canaan Police Lt. Jason Ferraro said he did not expect new details about the investigation to be released Friday.
“She is still considered missing and, as stated previously, an active criminal investigation is occurring,” Ferraro wrote in an email.
Jennifer Dulos’ estranged husband, Fotis Dulos, 51, and his girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, 44, have been charged with evidence tampering and hindering prosecution. While Fotis Dulos remains jailed on $500,000 bond, Troconis is being monitored by an electronic bracelet while free on bail.
A source close to the case confirmed Troconis and her Westport attorney, Andrew Bowman, met Thursday with State’s Attorney Richard Colangelo and state police investigators.
Colangelo declined to comment about the meeting.
Eugene Riccio, Fotis Dulos’ criminal defense attorney, also declined to comment.
"It would not be productive for me to make any statement regarding that report,” he said Friday.
Riccio also declined to comment on the motion filed Thursday by Michael Rose, who has asked to be removed as Fotis Dulos’ divorce attorney.
“Good cause exists to grant this motion because considerations other than compensation prevent the firm from continuing to represent the defendant,” the motion states. “Counsel represents that the withdrawal will have no effects on the client’s interests.”
In another court filing, Jennifer Dulos’ mother has removed her daughter’s name from a lawsuit against Fotis Dulos regarding the repayment of a loan. Gloria Farber and her late husband’s estate have accused Fotis Dulos of failing to repay about $2 million in loans for his custom homebuilding company, the Fore Group. Jennifer Dulos was named in the lawsuit because she signed a promissory note.
Authorities have refocused their latest searches on properties connected to the Fore Group.
State police have returned several times to Fotis Dulos’ primary residence on Jefferson Crossing in Farmington. They spent several hours there Friday after they were seen leaving the property late Wednesday with several boxes of evidence.
Earlier on Wednesday, state police searched a metal dumpster outside 61 Sturbridge Hill Road in New Canaan also owned by the Fore Group. Neighbors said they heard the loud sounds of metal banging during the pre-dawn hours on May 25 — the day after Jennifer Dulos was reported missing. One neighbor said police have been to the neighborhood three times in the past two weeks.
The property of the 7,000square-foot home, listed at $4.8 million, is still being developed. A trailer with Fore Group’s name on the side and the dumpster remain on the property.
State police using cadaver dogs spent the week searching a Hartford garbage dump where trash was hauled from receptacles where police say Fotis Dulos was seen throwing garbage bags containing items with his estranged wife’s blood on them the night she disappeared.