Connecticut mother Jennifer Farber Dulos declared legally dead, more than 4 years after disappearance
Jennifer Farber Dulos, the Connecticut mom who disappeared more than four years ago, has been declared legally dead, according to multiple reports.
Probate Judge William P. Osterndorf filed the paperwork on Oct. 24, CT Insider reported Tuesday.
Farber Dulos, who disappeared at age 50, has been presumed dead for years. Her mother, Gloria Farber, had previously asked the court for the declaration for estate purposes.
Farber, 88, has been caring for her daughter’s five children since she disappeared on May 24, 2019. Farber Dulos’ will left all her assets to the children.
The will did not name her husband, Fotis Dulos. Dulos, a tri-state area real estate executive, was charged with killing Farber Dulos. He died by suicide in January 2020 while out on $6 million bail.
Police said Dulos attacked his wife in the garage of his Farmington home as the couple went through an acrimonious divorce. Investigators said blood in the garage suggested a “serious physical assault” and that Dulos was spotted around Hartford dropping items stained with his wife’s blood into various trash receptacles.
Farber Dulos’ body has never been found.
Her family previously sought to have her declared dead in October 2020, but a judge rejected that request in May 2021. Connecticut state law typically requires someone to be missing for seven or more years before they are legally declared dead.
But Gloria Farber wanted to speed up the process given her advanced age, according to CT Insider.
“As long as Jennifer’s status was undecided, then the children could not inherit from her or from her mother,” Farber’s attorney Richard Weinstein told the outlet. “We were concerned, obviously, with Mrs. Farber being 88 years of age, needing to wait the seven years.”
Meanwhile, Michelle Traconis, the girlfriend of Fotis Dulos at the time of the murders, will stand trial later this week on several charges related to Farber Dulos’ death. She has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit murder, tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution.
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