Lacking definitive answers in the mystery of what happened to Jennifer Dulos, investigators nonetheless revealed evidence and a new clue in the case of the presumably murdered Connecticut mom.
In a Monday interview broadcast on Dateline NBC, Connecticut State Police Sgt. Kenneth Ventresca described what he believed was “a serious, violent assault” in the garage of the New Canaan woman’s home, based upon blood spatter found underneath the drive shaft and the passenger floor boards of two vehicles parked there.
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The evidence suggests she may have been “bludgeoned to death standing up and then fell on the floor between the two vehicles,” said Ventresca, the lead investigator in the case.
More tellingly, investigators found “zip ties that were cut and had Jennifer’s blood on them,” Chief State’s Attorney Richard Colangelo told the broadcast.
“Our theory is that they were used to incapacitate Jennifer in the garage,” he said.
RELATED: Husband of Missing Mom Jennifer Dulos — Along with His Lawyer and Girlfriend — Charged in Death
Dulos, 50, has been missing since May 24, 2019, when she disappeared after dropping off her five children at school in New Canaan, where she’d moved the family after splitting from her estranged husband, Fotis Dulos.
Connecticut State Police Sgt. Kenneth Ventresca
Dateline NBC
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Seven months later, prosecutors on Jan. 7 charged Fotis with her murder, and charged his girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, and his civil lawyer, Kent Mawhinney, with conspiracy to commit murder, according to Connecticut State Police.
Fotis Dulos, at left, and Michelle Troconis
But while out on bond after pleading not guilty, Fotis, 51, was found unresponsive on Jan. 28 after attempting suicide by sitting in his car in his garage with the engine running and a hose connected from the closed vehicle to the tailpipe, police said. He died two days later.
RELATED: Murder Charge Against Fotis Dulos is Dropped in Slaying of Estranged Wife After His Suicide
At the time Jennifer disappeared, she and Fotis were involved in a contentious divorce and custody battle. Police alleged that Fotis was “lying in wait” and attacked his estranged wife in her garage on the day she died, court documents show.
Fotis’ death, prosecutors formally abandoned the murder case against him.
RELATED: ‘I’m Afraid of My Husband’: What Missing Conn. Mom Said About Estranged Spouse in Divorce Papers
Troconis and Mawhinney both have pleaded not guilty and await trial.
Authorities continue to search for clues to Jennifer’s fate.
“You know, I have theories. I have ideas,” the state’s attorney told Dateline. “There’s a lotta property up that that Mr. Dulos owns, you know, in Farmington, Avon area.”
Said Sgt. Ventresca: “We’re still actively investigating. We still have a lot of stuff we are doing, and I’m confident we are going to find her.”