The Disappearance of Jennifer Dulos

Jennifer Dulos was a 50-year-old mother of five in Farmington, Connecticut, who went missing on May 24, 2019, after dropping her children at school. Evidence of a violent struggle was discovered at her home, and surveillance footage captured her estranged husband Fotis Dulos and his girlfriend Michelle Troconis driving around Hartford that evening, disposing of garbage bags containing clothing stained with Jennifer's blood and DNA. Jennifer's body has never been found.

Fotis Dulos was charged with murder, kidnapping, and tampering with evidence. He and Troconis were arrested multiple times as the investigation developed. Jennifer's disappearance occurred amid a bitter divorce and custody dispute — she had filed for divorce in 2017 and had described in sealed court documents her fear of Fotis and his potential to harm her or the children if the marriage ended. Those documents became public after her disappearance and painted a deeply troubling picture of the relationship.

In January 2020, Fotis Dulos was arrested on murder charges. Days after making bail, he was found in his car with a running engine and charcoal burning — consistent with carbon monoxide poisoning in an apparent suicide attempt. He was hospitalized and died two days later on January 30, 2020, without ever going to trial. Michelle Troconis was tried separately and convicted in January 2024 of conspiracy to commit murder, among other charges, and sentenced to over fourteen years in prison.

Jennifer Dulos's body has never been recovered despite extensive searching. Her five children, who were in the custody of her mother following her disappearance, were subjects of prolonged legal proceedings. The case became a prominent national example of intimate partner violence escalating to murder and the way legal systems can fail to protect victims despite documented warnings of danger.