Many questions remain three years after the disappearance of Connecticut mother Jennifer Farber Dulos

On May 24, 2019, Jennifer Farber Dulos, a Connecticut mother of five, dropped her children off at school and was never seen again. Her case captured the attention of the nation as the details of her disappearance came to light. Three years later, many questions remain unanswered.

A picture of the brunette smiling brightly is still pinned to the homepage of findjenniferdulos.com, a site operated by the New Canaan Police Department pooling tips about what may have happened to her that morning.

Investigators across the state have been collecting clues, taking in more than 1,000 tips, watching dozens of surveillance recordings sent in by homes and businesses, and conducting weekslong searches of literal tons of trash in a Hartford dump, since they first started searching for the 50-year-old, according to police.

On May 24, 2019, at approximately 6:59 p.m., the New Canaan Police Department received a report of a missing person.

Police searched Farber Dulos’ house at 71 Welles Lane and found blood on the floor of her garage. Then they found her 2017 Black Chevrolet suburban on Lapham Road near the entrance to Waveny Park with traces of blood, police said. They combed both locations, the park and her house, relentlessly, looking for any trace of what happened to her.

Surveillance video showed a man who appeared to be her husband, Fotis Dulos, wearing a black baseball cap and driving a black truck, accompanied by a woman who appeared to be his then-girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, dumping black trash bags into various trash cans on Albany Avenue in Hartford the day she disappeared. He was also spotted shoving a FedEx package into a storm drain while Troconis sat in the passenger seat of the black truck.

State police recovered the package and found a license plate inside that belonged to a car Dulos used to own. Police also recovered zip ties smeared with Farber Dulos’ blood.

Farber Dulos and her husband, owner of luxury home builder Fore Group Inc., were in the throes of a seemingly never-ending divorce and custody battle at the time she went missing.

A police affidavit alleges that when Farber Dulos came home from her children’s drop-offs that morning, her soon-to-be ex-husband was “lying in wait” outside her home in New Canaan.

Though her body was never found, he was charged with her murder more than seven months after she disappeared, and he attempted to take his own life by carbon monoxide poisoning in his home while out on bond. He died a month later in a hospital in New York City.

Troconis and one of Dulos’ lawyers, Kent Mawhinney, are each charged with conspiracy to commit murder for allegedly conspiring with Dulos to kill his wife and helping him cover up his crimes.

Troconis is scheduled to appear in court next for a remote hearing on June 7 in the Stamford Judicial District. Her last few court appearances have been held over a video call, as she is free on bond and living in Florida. During her last appearance in March, a judge had to repeatedly ask her to turn on her camera to be visible during the hearing.

The judge ruled during that hearing that Troconis must continue to wear a GPS ankle monitor so that the court can keep tabs on her whereabouts.

Troconis is also charged with tampering with evidence and has pleaded not guilty to all charges. She insists she had nothing to do with the killing or cover-up.

Mawhinney, who represented Dulos on a variety of matters, was linked to the case by investigators who allege he was involved in stories created about Dulos and Troconis’ alibis. The lawyer was mentioned in their so-called “alibi scripts” found by police.

Police say Mawhinney was at Dulos’ house on the day Farber Dulos disappeared and later received a call from Dulos while he was disposing of the trash bags in Hartford.

The next court date for Mawhinney has not been scheduled, and he has been released on bond.

According to court records, Mawhinney’s case is on the trial list in the Stamford judicial district. Many Connecticut courts, like many across the country, have a significant backlog of trials linked to major crimes after the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered courtrooms for much of 2020.

Mawhinney was also in the midst of a contentious divorce at the time of Farber Dulos’ disappearance. Court records showed that Dulos had tried to orchestrate meetings between Mawhinney and his wife, despite a restraining order.

Mawhinney is scheduled to appear in court in Hartford on June 17 at 3 p.m. on charges of violating a restraining order, sexually assaulting a spouse, disorderly conduct and second-degree unlawful restraint, according to court records.

In May 2021, the Connecticut Senate voted overwhelmingly to expand state law regarding domestic violence to include nonviolent acts like financial and psychological abuse as the result of “Jennifer’s Law.”

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal last week held a lengthy hearing to fight for further expansion of domestic violence laws through a federal law that would close “dangerous loopholes” by prohibiting people under temporary restraining orders from buying firearms, and extending protections to people who aren’t married to their abusers.

Blumenthal said that when a victim files court paperwork against an alleged abuser, they are at their most vulnerable and are at the highest risk of being hurt or killed by their abuser.

Farber Dulos, at the time of her disappearance, had been in the middle of the divorce battle that prompted the filing of countless court motions, records show.

Carrie Luft, a longtime friend of Farber Dulos and spokesperson for the family, last issued a public statement one year ago. In it, she lauded the passage of Jennifer’s Law and shared condolences for the family of Jessica Edwards, a Connecticut mother killed by her husband.

Luft said family and friends were moved by continued interest in Farber Dulos’ case, even as years had passed, and said that Farber Dulos’s children were healthy and well.

A judge gave custody of Farber Dulos and Dulos’ five children to Farber Dulos’ mother, Gloria Farber. They live with their grandmother in Manhattan.