FARMINGTON, Conn. (WTNH) — Connecticut State Police Western Major Crimes is on the scene of a Farmington property searched multiple times in connection with the disappearance of Jennifer Farber Dulos.
This week, once again, investigators were called to 80 Mountain Spring Rd., which was previously owned by the Fore Group — a company owned by Jennifer’s deceased, estranged husband Fotis Dulos, for the case.
Now, troopers and Farmington police are back on the property for “investigative purposes” while “following up on old leads.” On Tuesday afternoon, investigators were seen digging in the backyard of the property.
Farmington police were blocking entry to the home and guarding the street Tuesday. Police dogs were also on scene, and investigators have been using ground-penetrating radar technology.
On Wednesday morning, state police resumed their search, and an excavator was seen arriving at the property. Later Wednesday, a septic truck was brought onto the property.
Trooper Jose Dorelus of Connecticut State Police told News 8, “Our main goal is to provide that sense of closure to the family, and since this is an ongoing and active investigation, as you are aware we are very limited in terms of what we canning cannot say.”
But at this point, we don’t believe they found anything, though it is a very large and extensive property.
“I mean it is an extensive property at six acres and it’s on the market for a couple of million dollars, and I’m sure if you were going to bury a body, there is adequate space to bury a body here,” John Carusone of Ansonia told us.
“I think they should keep looking, I don’t think they should give up, definitely don’t give up!” one man told News 8 at a nearby gas station Tuesday.
Normally, in situations when police find something they put up a tarp or a tent so they can preserve any evidence. But for now no word on whether or not they found anything.
State police will be back at the home Wednesday to continue the work they started Tuesday.
In February 2020, Brad Ragaglia was caught trespassing on the property. He had befriended Fotis while he was under house arrest over the Christmas 2019 holiday.
A nearly 470-page search warrant, released in January 2020, detailed how the Dulos’ spent the morning Jennifer went missing on May 24, 2019.
Fotis’ phone was tracked to the Farmington property that afternoon. He arrived on the property at 1:37 p.m. and remained there until 3:38 p.m. From there, he traveled to the home he had once shared with Jennifer (4 Jefferson Crossing), and then went back to the Mountain Spring property at 5:21 p.m.
He was there for 13 minutes before heading back to Jefferson Crossing — which is about a five-minute drive.
Tracking Jennifer Dulos: An inside look at her disappearance, evidence that landed Fotis Dulos in jail
Several properties on the Farmington/Avon town line, which the Fore Group had been contracted to do work on, have been part of the search for Jennifer.
On June 11, 2020, state police returned to 44 Sky View Dr. in Avon, where the Dulos’ lived in 2010, to search and drain a septic tank on the property. However, the search did not provide new evidence or clues in the case.
Fotis is the prime suspect in Jennifer’s disappearance. Before his apparent suicide attempt in Jan. 2020, he was facing multiple charges including capital murder, murder, and kidnapping.
On Tuesday, Jan. 28, police found Fotis unresponsive after he failed to show up for an emergency bond hearing. Probation officers tried to call his cellphone but it kept going to voicemail; however, his GPS monitor showed that he was inside the house. When officers arrived, they found him “slumped over” in the driver’s seat of his car.
On Jan. 30, 2020, Fotis was declared dead at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx.
Their five children have been living in New York with Jennifer’s grandmother almost entirely since the disappearance.
The day after his passing, News 8 obtained a note left by Fotis in which he maintained his innocence in Jennifer’s disappearance and death.
“I refuse to spend even an hour more in jail for something I had NOTHING to do with. Enough is enough. If it takes my head to end this, so be it. I want it to be known that Michelle Troconis had nothing to do with Jennifer’s disappearance. And neither did Kent Mawhinney.”
His attorney, Norm Pattis, said Fotis’ actions (death) should not be taken as an admission of guilt.
“To those who contend that Mr. Dulos’ death reflects a consciousness of guilt, we say no. We say it was more a conscience overborne with the weight of a world that was too busy to listen and that wanted a story more than it wanted the truth.”
Fotis’ former girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, and former attorney, Kent Mawhinney, are still facing charges in Jennifer’s case.
“All we can do is be patient and wait for sufficient evidence to be brought forth so that there is a justice that is available for Mrs. Dulos,” Carusone added. “It is a continuing saga with a great deal of sorrow felt all around.”
In October 2020, Jennifer’s family asked a judge to declare that Jennifer died the day she went missing.
Part of their request was based on an arrest warrant where state police detectives and the Chief Medical Examiner said forensic evidence shows Jennifer was injured so badly that there was no way she would have survived on the day she went missing.
News 8 has a crew on the scene and will update this story as more information comes in.
