Estranged husband of missing mom says he misses 5 children
STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) - The estranged husband of a missing Connecticut mother of five made his first public comments Wednesday since her disappearance, saying he loves and misses his children as they remain in the custody of his mother-in-law while he faces criminal charges.
Fotis Dulos, 51, briefly spoke to reporters after a hearing in his divorce and child custody court case in Stamford.
"I just want to tell my children that they're constantly on my mind and that I love them and I miss them very much," he said.
Jennifer Dulos, 50, vanished May 24 after dropping the children off at school in New Canaan. The children, who range in age from 8 to 13 and include two sets of twins, have been staying with Jennifer Dulos' mother, Gloria Farber, in New York City. Both Farber and Fotis Dulos are seeking custody of the children.
Fotis Dulos and his girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, are charged with evidence tampering and hindering prosecution, accused of disposing of items found in Hartford that contained Jennifer Dulos' blood. They pleaded not guilty and posted bail.
Fotis Dulos' lawyer, Norman Pattis, on Wednesday repeated a previous suggestion he made that Jennifer Dulos may not have been a victim of foul play.
"We are actively contemplating a revenge/suicide hypothesis as an explanation for her disappearance," Pattis said after the court hearing. "We will not comment further on our investigative activities at this time."
Pattis drew criticism last weekend when he suggested Jennifer Dulos may have staged her own disappearance in a plot similar to Gillian Flynn's 2012 novel "Gone Girl," in which a wife pretends to vanish to frame her husband for murder.
A spokeswoman for Jennifer Dulos' family called the suggestion "false and irresponsible."
Pattis previously said Jennifer Dulos once wrote a manuscript similar "Gone Girl." He also told the New York Post that Jennifer Dulos once vanished from New York and "lived for years under a false name" after an "intrafamilial dispute about money."
A spokeswoman for Jennifer Dulos' family responded that the 2002 manuscript was not similar to "Gone Girl."
Pattis also said Wednesday that Fotis Dulos is willing to speak to prosecutors about Jennifer Dulos' state of mind before she went missing.
No ruling was made regarding the custody of the children Wednesday.