A black Ford Raptor pickup truck owned by Fotis Dulos’ real estate company was in New Canaan the same day his estranged wife Jennifer Farber Dulos disappeared, but he was not driving it and state police have since seized a truck, phone and computer of the man they believe was behind the wheel, according to law enforcement sources.
Investigators looking into the disappearance of Farber Dulos believe an employee of the Fore Group was driving the Raptor owned by the company on May 24. Police have since seized the employee’s phone, computer as well as the employee’s own truck — which Fotis Dulos was driving that day, sources said.
The employee, whom the Courant is not naming, was working at a house Dulos’ Fore Group is building on Sturbridge Hill Road in New Canaan, sources said. State police searched that home last week after neighbors reported hearing banging in the house close to the time frame when Jennifer Farber Dulos disappeared. She and Fotis Dulos had been embroiled in a contentious divorce and custody battle.
The Fore Group employee returned the black Ford Raptor truck to Fotis Dulos in Farmington that same afternoon, May 24, and took his own truck home. State police have seized that truck as well, which had been in Dulos’ possession that week. It is unclear what type or color truck the employee owns.
“My client has cooperated fully with authorities, is not in any way a suspect, and is just looking forward to moving on with his life post-Fotis Dulos,” his attorney, Lindy Urso, said Thursday. Law enforcement sources confirmed the man is not considered a suspect.
Later the evening of May 24, according to police, Dulos was driving the Raptor on Albany Avenue in the North End of Hartford as he dropped at least two garbage bags filled with bloody clothes, towels and sponges into canisters. The blood on the items seized from the garbage cans matched Jennifer Farber Dulos, police say.
The trip along Albany Avenue was caught on police surveillance cameras and was cited in arrest warrants charging Dulos and his girlfriend, Michelle Troconis with tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution. The warrants say Dulos’ last stop was to stuff license plates that had been partially taped over to conceal them into a storm drain. The plates belonged to a vehicle he used to own in 2007.
Both Dulos and Trocnonis have pleaded not guilty to the charges. Dulos posted a $500,000 bond on Tuesday and returned to his Jefferson Crossing home in Farmington trailed by television cameras. Troconis has been free on bond since her initial appearance.
The black Ford Raptor is one of several cars owned by the Fore Group and state police have seized them all, sources said. The employee was driving the Ford Raptor because he was traveling back and forth to New Canaan to work on the Sturbridge Hill Road house during the week and was then returning it to Dulos on the weekends.
State police have impounded at least four vehicles that are affiliated with Dulos, sources said. They have not released descriptions of the other vehicles.
Investigators have received over 80 security camera videos from New Canaan residents after making a plea for them last week. New Canaan police asked residents and businesses to see if their surveillance video system captured vehicular activity from May 22 to May 25.
Troconis made bond after her first court appearance and has been cooperating with authorities. The warrant for her arrest says a woman matching her description can be seen sitting in the passenger’s seat of the Raptor as Dulos drove down Albany Avenue the evening of May 24. The judge continued Troconis’ case to July 18. Dulos is expected to appear in court again on Aug. 2.
Sources have said that state police know that Troconis wasn’t in New Canaan on May 24 and that she has told them she has no idea what happened to Farber Dulos and didn’t know that the trash bags her boyfriend threw out that night contained bloody items.
Jennifer Farber Dulos was last seen on May 24 dropping her children off at the New Canaan Country School. She wasn’t reported missing until 7 p.m. that night.
When New Canaan police entered the garage of her Welles Avenue home they found dark stains consistent with blood on the floor, the warrants say. A full search of the house by the State Police Western District Crime Squad revealed traces of blood in other areas of the house.
On Tuesday during a bond hearing, Stamford/Norwalk State’s Attorney Richard Colangelo said that a mixture of blood found on a kitchen faucet contained both the blood of Fotis Dulos and his estranged wife. Colangelo said there was no reason for Fotis Dulos’ DNA to be inside the house because when he visited the children on May 22, witnesses told police that he never went inside the home and only stayed in the backyard.
Jennifer Farber Dulos has been missing since May 24 when she was last seen dropping her five children off at the New Canaan Country School. Her black Chevrolet Suburban was found near Waveny Park about four miles from her home.
Police searched that park several times in the days after her disappearance but, more recently, the search moved to the Farmington and Hartford areas. They have systematically searched properties that The Fore Group owns in the Farmington area, as well as in New Canaan. On Wednesday state police divers went into a lake in Avon where Fotis Dulos frequently took his children water skiing.
They also have had detectives sifting through mountains of shredded trash at the Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority’s trash-to-energy plant on Maxim Road in Hartford’s South Meadows. They are searching through the remnants of the trash that was picked up from the Albany Avenue area on May 24.
Along with searching, they have been pushing the public for help, amassing more than 475 tips from across the globe.
The New Canaan Police Department have set up a dedicated tip line at [hidden email] or call (203) 594-3544.