Police search body of water in disappearance of Connecticut mom
NEW CANAAN, Connecticut (WABC) -- Authorities expanded their search Wednesday for the Connecticut mother of five who has been missing for more than three weeks.
Divers from the Connecticut State Police are searching a body of water in Avon for Jennifer Dulos.
Police are also continuing to search a trash facility in Hartford for evidence related to the disappearance.
The woman's estranged husband faced a judge Tuesday, as new information was released about the case.
Jennifer Dulos, 50, was last seen driving a 2017 black Chevrolet Suburban shortly after dropping her kids off at school in New Canaan on Friday, May 24.
Now, authorities say 51-year-old Fotis Dulos' DNA was found mixed with Jennifer Dulos' blood on the kitchen sink faucet of her home.
A judge denied his motion for bail reduction, but also rejected a prosecution request to increase bail from $500,000 to $850,000.
Fotis Dulos' girlfriend, 44-year-old Michelle Troconis, was also in court. Both are charged with tampering with or fabricating physical evidence and hindering prosecution, and both pleaded not guilty.
Fotis Dulos posted bail later Tuesday and was released in the afternoon. He was forced to surrender his passport and be fitted with a location-monitoring device.
Troconis posted $500,000 bail last week
Previous court documents revealed that clothing and sponges soaked with Jennifer Dulos' blood were found in trash cans in Hartford, where surveillance cameras captured a male appearing to be Fotis Dulos wearing a baseball cap and disposing of garbage bags in more than 30 different receptacles along a four mile stretch of Albany Avenue.
Jennifer Dulos, a mother of five, had been renting a home in New Canaan and was in the midst of a bitter two-year divorce and custody battle with her estranged husband, and she had said in court papers that she was scared for her life.
"I am terrified for my family's safety," she said in the court papers. "Especially since discovering the gun, as my husband has a history of controlling, volatile, and delusional behavior."
Fotis Dulos has told police that he and his wife only had "quiet" arguments, and he denied any threatening behavior.
Jennifer Dulos and the children left their Farmington home, about 60 miles north of New Canaan near Hartford, around the time she filed for divorce in June 2017.
The Dulos' children, who range in age from 8 to 13 and include two sets of twins, have been staying with Jennifer Dulos' mother, Gloria Farber, in New York City. Farber is seeking custody of the children.
Jennifer Dulos is the daughter of the late Hilliard Farber, who ran Chase Manhattan Bank's bond trading desk before founding his own brokerage firm in 1975.
Investigators have received hundreds of tips, but they continue to ask anyone who had contact with Dulos on May 24 or has information regarding her disappearance to call the New Canaan Police Tip Line at 203-594-3544.
The following statement was released Tuesday night on behalf of the family and friends of Jennifer Dulos:
"Jennifer Farber Dulos, mother of five, daughter, sister, cousin, and friend, has now been missing from New Canaan, CT, for more than two and a half weeks. The towns of New Canaan, Farmington, and Avon have responded to Jennifer's disappearance with a steady stream of love. These gestures of empathy and kinship have helped keep us going.
As the news cycle propels the story of Jennifer's disappearance forward, we must not lose sight of the enormous human cost of this tragedy: five young children have not seen their mother in 18 days. Jennifer is the constant presence in their lives. She has sole physical custody and has devoted her full energies to their care and happiness.
Jennifer's family, friends, and above all her children are living in limbo-missing her embrace, her lilting laugh, her bedtime backrubs, her gentle strength. Please know that the children are safe and loved and supported in every respect. But more than anything in the world, they long to know where their mother is.
Someone has information about Jennifer's disappearance or her whereabouts. The New Canaan Police Department has created a website, FindJenniferDulos.com, and a dedicated email address, FindJenniferDulos@newcanaanct.gov. If you have any information at all, no matter how small, please email or call the New Canaan Police tip line at (203) 594-3544.
Our deepest thanks go out to the forces of the New Canaan and Connecticut State police for their ongoing and exhaustive efforts to locate Jennifer. Thank you also to every single person who has called in a tip. Keep the information coming. Please help us find Jennifer."
