Five years have passed since Jennifer Dulos, a mother of five, disappeared.
Police have searched the state, from her home in New Canaan to Farmington, where her estranged husband lived, and beyond, but they have not located her. Last year, a probate judge declared Jennifer legally dead.
Her family and friends marked the fifth year without her by issuing a statement, saying they miss Jennifer every day and “hold fast” in their belief that her body will be found.
Michelle Troconis' Sentencing
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On Friday, Michelle Troconis will be sentenced for conspiracy to murder Jennifer and four other counts.
Troconis is one of three people who were charged in connection with Jennifer’s disappearance and presumed murder and the only one who has gone through a trial.
Troconis was dating Jennifer’s estranged husband, Fotis Dulos, when the mom of five disappeared.
Fotis was charged with murder in January 2020 but he never stood trial. He died weeks after the charges were filed after attempting suicide. Until the day he died, he denied any involvement in his estranged wife’s disappearance.
Fotis Dulos’ friend and former attorney, Kent Mawhinney, has also been charged with conspiracy to commit murder. He has pleaded not guilty and no trial has been scheduled.
After a pause during the COVID-19 pandemic, hearings and jury selection, Troconis’ trial started in January 2024 and it went on for weeks. On March 1, a jury found her guilty.
Timeline of the case
Jennifer and Fotis Dulos were going through a divorce and bitter custody battle when she disappeared on May 24, 2019.
For two years, Jennifer Dulos and her children were living in New Canaan after she moved from the family's 10,000-square-foot, six-bedroom house on Jefferson Crossing in Farmington that she had shared with her husband from 2012 until 2017.
Fotis remained in the Farmington home, where he was living with Troconis.
On the morning of May 24, 2019, Jennifer dropped her children off at the New Canaan Country School and that was the last time she was seen.
Reported missing in 2019
She was reported missing just before 7 p.m. after she missed several appointments and no one had been able to reach her for 10 hours, police said. A Silver Alert was issued for her that night.
As officers checked Jennifer’s Welles Lane home, they found what appeared to be bloodstains on the floor of the garage and on a vehicle parked inside.
Police would find Jennifer’s SUV three miles away, on Lapham Road, near Waveny Park, but there was no sign of her.
Police met with Fotis Dulos the afternoon after Jennifer was reported missing and investigators seized his phone. Based on what they found, police obtained surveillance video that would later be shown during Troconis’ trial.
They said it showed Fotis stop at more than 30 locations along a more than four-mile stretch of Albany Avenue in Hartford and place several garbage bags in different trash cans.
Suspects charged
In June 2019, Fotis Dulos and Michelle Troconis were charged with tampering with or fabricating physical evidence and hindering prosecution in the first degree.
Two days later, Jennifer’s mother filed for custody of the five children and they have been in the care of their grandmother and their nanny since.
On Jan. 7, 2020, state police charged Fotis Dulos with felony murder, murder and kidnapping and they charged Troconis with conspiracy to commit murder. Both denied the charges.
Three weeks later, Fotis died.
Farmington police responded to his home because he didn't show up for a court appearance in Stamford earlier that day and found him in medical distress. They said he had attempted to take his life.
Fotis was brought to UConn John Dempsey Hospital, then flown to Jacobi Medical Center in New York, where he died days later, on Jan. 30, 2020.
Fotis’ friend and former lawyer, Kent Mawhinney, was also arrested on Jan. 7, 2020, and charged with conspiracy to commit murder. He has pleaded not guilty. His trial has not been scheduled, according to online court records.
Troconis' trial
Troconis’ trial started in January and a jury found her guilty on March 1.
During sentencing on Friday, the court vacated one of the two conspiracy to commit tampering with physical evidence convictions.
- Count 1: Conspiracy to commit murder
- Count 2: Conspiracy to commit tampering with physical evidence (May 24, 2019 events)
- Count 3: Tampering with physical evidence (May 24, 2019 events)
- Count 4: Conspiracy to commit tampering with physical evidence (May 29, 2019 events) - this conviction was vacated.
- Count 5: Tampering with physical evidence (May 29, 2019 events)
- Count 6: Second-degree hindering prosecution
Over the last five years, the investigation has continued and Jennifer's loved ones have held out hope that she will be found.
Last week, Jennifer’s good friend, Carrie Luft, released a statement on behalf of the missing mom’s family and friends as they prepared to make five years.
“As of May 24, Jennifer Farber Dulos has been gone for five years. We miss her every day, in every way. There are so many daily reminders of Jennifer — a shared reference, a musical riff, a delighted laugh, a graceful silhouette in the distance. Her strength of character, her intelligence, and her tenacity live on in her children. She would be so very, very proud of the young adults they have become.
“For us, five years is not a milestone but a marker of cumulative loss and longing. Life goes on, yet grief goes on alongside it, a shadow, a current, the presence of absence.
“We hold fast in our belief that Jennifer’s body will be found. The investigation is active, and we are ever grateful to the Connecticut State Police and the state’s attorney’s office for their continuing work on this case.
“In Jennifer’s memory, we encourage you to hug your loved ones; take time to listen to a child; play your favorite song; or send a note to brighten someone’s day.
“We also urge those who can do so to donate to local organizations that support survivors of intimate partner violence, such as Interval House Hartford; and to organizations that work on behalf of missing and murdered women of color, such as the Black and Missing Foundation, National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center, and many others.
“Thank you very much for respecting the privacy of Jennifer’s family and loved ones.”
More on the disappearance of Jennifer Dulos
Get more background on the investigation into the disappearance of Jennifer Dulos here.
How to watch 'Inside the trial of Michelle Troconis'
Watch full episodes of "Inside the Trial of Michelle Troconis" here.
Some Associated Press content was used in this report.
