Sunday marks one year since Jennifer Dulos disappeared and her family has issued a statement.
Jennifer Dulos has been missing for almost a year and the family of the mother of five from New Canaan has released a statement.
They said some community-based groups are organizing Candles for Jennifer on Sunday, May 24, the anniversary of her disappearance, and the family is asking people to support them in Jennifer’s honor.
They also ask anyone who can afford to do so, to donate to a local women’s shelter, family shelter, or food ban, which are struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jennifer Dulos has not been seen since May 24, 2019, after dropping her five children off at school in New Canaan.
Following is the statement from Carrie Luft, on behalf of the family and friends of Jennifer Farber Dulos:
We miss Jennifer beyond words. The ache of her absence doesn’t go away. Countless questions remain unanswered. The brutality and inhumanity of her death and disappearance continue to haunt us, without subsiding.
But the earth keeps spinning, and somehow an entire year has elapsed. We can see it, and measure it, in the growth of her children, who are taller, stronger, wiser, and more like their mom every day. And we continue to see and sense her in their expressions, their gestures, their laughter, their hugs.
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It is a testament to her deeply loving influence as a parent that Jennifer’s children are healthy and well. They are safe and surrounded by love and support. Gloria, their grandmother and guardian, is also healthy and well, for which we are so grateful during this precarious time.
In the past several months, the focus of the media has turned, as it should, to the life-threatening illness that has engulfed the globe. We know Jennifer has not been forgotten. The investigation into her death and disappearance is active and ongoing, and we remain extremely grateful to the Connecticut State Police and New Canaan Police for their commitment to Jennifer’s case. Two people have been arrested for conspiracy to murder and have yet to stand trial. That day will come.
The calls for Justice for Jennifer are powerful and moving. We urge that their scope be extended to all victims of intimate partner violence, many of whose stories are never told and who are now even more at risk. Some community-based groups are organizing Candles for Jennifer on Sunday, May 24. Please support them—in Jennifer’s honor, and in honor of all those who have died by intimate partner violence.
Likewise, for any who can afford to do so, we encourage donations to a local women’s shelter, family shelter, or food bank. These vital organizations are struggling during the pandemic, at a time when their services are more crucial than ever.
Jennifer was a very private person; she would never have wanted the details of her life to be made public. When you read about her case, we ask that you keep that in mind. She was gentle, kind, brilliant, and courageous, and we still cannot believe she is gone.
New Canaan Police Statement
New Canaan police released a statement ahead of the one-year mark since Jennifer's disappearance.
The following is the full text of the New Canaan Police Department's statement:
Sunday, May 24, 2020, marks one year since the New Canaan Police Department received a report that Jennifer Dulos, a New Canaan resident and mother of five, was missing. The last time anyone had contact with Jennifer was the morning of May 24, 2019, after Jennifer had dropped her children off at school.
New Canaan Police checked the residence of Jennifer after the initial call came in that she was missing. No contact was made with Jennifer at her home. A short time later, an officer located Jennifer’s 2017 Chevy Suburban on Lapham Road near Waveny Park. Subsequently, an investigation was launched that became the most far-reaching and complex case our Department has ever handled.
The investigation ultimately led to three defendants being criminally charged in connection with the disappearance of Jennifer. Two of these defendants have cases pending in the Stamford/Norwalk Judicial District.
Over the past twelve months, members of the New Canaan Police Department Patrol Division and Investigations Division, the F.B.I., the Connecticut State Police Western District Major Crime Squad, the Connecticut State Police Central District Major Crime Squad, the Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, the Connecticut Division of Scientific Services, the New York State Police, and the Stamford/Norwalk State’s Attorney’s Office have worked relentlessly to bring those responsible for the disappearance of Jennifer to justice. This robust team investigated countless tips, pursued all leads, gathered evidence, and searched by land, air, and water. We thank these law enforcement officials for their unwavering support and dedication.
We will never forget the impact this tragic case has had on Jennifer's mother, children, family, and friends.
On Sunday, May 24, 2020, please keep Jennifer, her mother, children, family and friends in your thoughts and prayers.
We thank the entire New Canaan Community for their incredible support during very challenging times.
This case is an open and active investigation.
Anyone that has new and unreported information regarding this case should contact our tip line 203-594-3544 or e-mail FindJenniferDulos@newcanaanct.gov
We will not rest until we find Jennifer.
Jennifer's body has never been found, but police said they have enough evidence to determine she is dead.
Jennifer's estranged husband, Fotis Dulos, was charged with her murder. He died days after trying to take his own life at his Farmington home in January. A judge agreed to nolle murder charges against him after the state asked the case to be dropped because the defendant was dead.
Michelle Troconis, who was Fotis Dulos' girlfriend at the time Jennifer Dulos disappeared last year, charged with conspiracy to commit murder in connection to the case.
She has maintained her innocence throughout the investigation and released a statement on Thursday.
Kent Mawhinney, the friend and former lawyer for the late Fotis Dulos, was also charged with conspiracy to commit murder charged connected to the disappearance.
Some of the most discussed evidence involves garbage bags recovered from Albany Avenue in Hartford. According to the arrest warrants, those garbage bags contained clothing with Jennifer Dulos' blood on them. A person matching Fotis Dulos' description can be seen putting trash bags into containers along Albany Avenue, with a woman matching Troconis' description as a passenger in the vehicle. Troconis later confirmed to police in an interview that she and Fotis Dulos were the people in the video, but said she was not sure what he was doing and make no comment on what police found in the bags.
Troconis' attorney, Jon Schoenhorn, has said he believes her statements to police may have been "twisted." He has also expressed concerns that discovery requests have not been met and that there is evidence he still needs to see.
