The family of missing Connecticut mom Jennifer Dulos have called ‘the situation dire’ as the search for her continues four weeks after she vanished.
In a statement Jennifer’s family said ‘each passing day intensifies the impact of this tragedy on Jennifer’s children’, adding: ‘None of this feels real’.
Her estranged husband Fotis Dulos, 51, and his girlfriend Michelle Troconis, 44, have both been charged with evidence tampering and hindering prosecution in connection with her disappearance. They both have pleaded not guilty.
Fotis’ lawyer today claimed Jennifer, 50, is ‘deeply troubled’ and ‘had a troubled past’.
Norm Pattis told Fox News writer Jennifer ‘wrote a manuscript similar to Gone Girl’, a book in which a wife fakes her disappearance to try and frame her cheating husband.
Pattis added that his client is ’emotional, tired, distraught’ over the ‘exhausting ordeal’.
The family of missing Connecticut mom Jennifer Dulos, pictured, have called ‘the situation dire’ as the search for her continues four weeks after she vanished
Estranged husband Fotis Dulos, 51, left, and his girlfriend Michelle Troconis, 44, right, have both pleaded not guilty to charges in connection to her disappearance
Jennifer and Fotis were going through a contentious divorce and custody battle at the time of her disappearance, where she had claimed in court filings that she and her children were afraid of her husband.
A statement from Carrie Luft, on behalf of the family and friends of Jennifer called her ‘brilliant and creative’ a month after her disappearance.
Jennifer, who they say graduated with honors from Brown University, is a ‘deeply genuine person, compassionate and trustworthy’, they add.
The statement goes on: ‘She is also subtly hilarious. She loves silly movies as much as she loves great literature.
‘An avid traveler, she delights in learning about other people and has imbued her five children with this love of discovery. She cares about her children more than anything in the world.
‘Four weeks have elapsed since Jennifer Farber Dulos disappeared. None of this feels real. We tell ourselves that this kind of nightmare happens to people in stories, not to those we know and love.
‘But this situation is real, and it is dire. Each passing day intensifies the impact of this tragedy on Jennifer’s children, who have not seen their mother—the guiding presence in their lives—in 28 days.’
Her loved ones add that her five young children as ‘safe and surrounded with love’.
Jennifer and Fotis were going through a contentious divorce and custody battle at the time of her disappearance, where she had claimed in court filings that she was afraid of her husband
Jennifer, who they say graduated with honors from Brown University, is a ‘deeply genuine person, compassionate and trustworthy’, her family said in a statement
Jennifer was last seen dropping her five children off at school in New Canaan, Connecticut at 8.30am on May 24.
At noon, a housekeeper went to her home and did not report anything suspicious. She was reported missing at 7pm that evening after missing appointments in New York at 11am and 1pm.
Police later found dark patches in the garage of Jennifer Dulos’ home which they said are consistent with blood stains. Blood spatter was also found, indicating a ‘serious physical assault’ had taken place, police said.
State’s Attorney Richard Colangelo said at Fotis Dulos’ bond hearing that lab results from police investigators showed that Fotis Dulos’ DNA was mixed with Jennifer Dulos’ blood on a faucet in her kitchen.
It was also revealed that a black pickup truck belonging to Fotis Dulos was seen in New Canaan on May 24 – but he was not at the wheel, police sources told the Hartford Courant.
The black Ford F-150 Raptor truck, which belongs to Fotis’ home-building company, Fore Group Inc., was in New Canaan on the day his estranged wife vanished but was being driven by a company employee, who DailyMail.com is declining to name.
Police seized the employee’s phone, computer and his truck which Fotis Dulos was driving on May 24, before switching back to his own Ford Raptor later in the day.
The Fore Group employee is not being treated as a suspect and did not respond to requests for comment. His attorney, Lindy Urso, told DailyMailTV that his client is not interested in commenting and his privacy is of the utmost importance to him.
Urso said on Thursday: ‘My client has cooperated fully with authorities, is not in any way a suspect, and is just looking forward to moving on with his life post-Fotis Dulos.’
The employee was in New Canaan to work on a property that the Fore Group is developing at 61 Sturbridge Hill Road. The home has also been the subject of police searches for Jennifer Dulos.
On the evening of May 24, police said they have surveillance footage of the Ford Raptor being driven by a man resembling Fotis Dulos, with a woman, resembling Michelle Troconis, in the passenger seat.
Dulos was reportedly seen dropping at least two garbage bags filled with bloody clothes, towels and sponges into garbage cans on Albany Avenue in Hartford, Connecticut.
Police seized those items and found that the blood matched Jennifer Dulos.
State Police conduct a search of Fotis Dulos developement properties after Jennifer was last seen dropping her five children off at school in New Canaan, Connecticut at 8.30am on May 24
Police, pictured at the home of Fotis Dulos, later found dark patches in the garage of Jennifer Dulos’ home which they said are consistent with blood stains
Attorney Pattis said that Troconis had passed a polygraph test and Dulos has an ‘enormous’ alibi, claiming that he was meeting with an attorney at his Farmington home on the morning that his wife went missing and that cell phone and computer records will place him 70 miles from where she disappeared in New Canaan.
Anyone with information about Jennifer’s disappearance should call the New Canaan police tip line at (203) 594-3544 or email FindJenniferDulos@newcanaanct.gov.