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Defense lawyer suggests missing Connecticut mom staged disappearance in 'Gone Girl' fashion

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Defense lawyer suggests missing Connecticut mom staged disappearance in 'Gone Girl' fashion
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As the search for a mother who went missing out of Connecticut hits the one-month mark, the lawyer defending her estranged husband suggested she might not want to be found.

Jennifer Dulos, 50, went missing May 24 after dropping her five children off at school. Since then, her estranged husband, 51-year-old Fotis Dulos, and his girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, 44, have pleaded not guilty to charges of tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution.

An arrest warrant for Fotis Dulos and Troconis, detailed how the couple is accused of dumping trash bags in more than 30 dumpsters throughout Hartford, reported CNN.

As reported by CNN, New Canaan police said it appears there was a brutal attack inside her home. When she went missing, Fotis and Jennifer had been in the middle of a bitter divorce and custody battle.

The trash bags Fotis Dulos and Troconis are accused of dumping were picked up and brought to the MIRA trash facility. Police said they found a kitchen sponge and Jennifer's blood in a dumpster.

The two are currently out on $500,000 bond and forced to wear GPS trackers wherever they go, according to reports.

The attorney representing Fotis Dulos, Norm Pattis, said his client and Troconis both have alibis for the day Jennifer went missing. But that’s not all Pattis is offering. Pattis said the defense team has a “500-page novel Jennifer wrote.”

In a statement to NBC News, Pattis described the book as “very dark” and said the defense team is also reviewing new information regarding $14,000 worth of medical bills surrounding medical tests that are dated just days before she disappeared.

Pattis said, “We don’t know what had become of Jennifer but the 'Gone Girl' hypothesis is very much on our mind."

"Gone Girl," which was originally a novel and later adapted into a movie, is the story of Amy Dunne who fakes her own death in order to frame her husband after discovering he was unfaithful.

Dulos’ family released a statement saying that she had a master’s degree from New York University but that Pattis’ theory was off base.

"It’s a classic act of desperation to slander the victim,” Anne Dranginis, the attorney for Jennifer’s mother, Gloria Farber, told The New York Post.

Authorities have been scouring the area searching for Jennifer Dulos for weeks. According to CNN, as of June 20, New Canaan police have received over 800 tips and 80 surveillance videos but still no sign of Jennifer Farber Dulos.

The attorney representing Fotis Dulos, Norm Pattis, said his client and Troconis both have alibis for the day Jennifer went missing.

In court, the state said Fotis' DNA was found mixed with Jennifer's blood on the kitchen sink of her New Canaan home.

Fotis Dulos' attorneys filed a motion for his seized property to be returned, specifically a Ford Raptor truck, a Chevrolet Suburban, a Cherokee, a server, Mac book Pro 15-inch computer, other computers, two iPhones, hard drive, two external hard drives, and personal papers.

Documents said, “The property is not contraband, the defendant needs access to it for practical reasons and in order to mount his defense, due to the exculpatory information available from the seized property, the defendant would stipulate to the use of secondary evidence in this case.”

Anyone with information about Jennifer Dulos' disappearance is asked to contact New Canaan police at 203-594-3544.


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