‘My stomach just sank’: Nanny describes frantic day Connecticut mother of five disappeared

A nanny caring for five children whose mother went missing in Connecticut in 2019 recalled in court Wednesday the hectic day Jennifer Dulos disappeared, starting a search that eventually turned into a murder investigation.

The nanny, Lauren Almeida, testified in the trial of Michelle Troconis, the girlfriend of Dulos’ estranged husband, Fotis Dulos. Troconis is charged with conspiracy to commit murder and other crimes on allegations that she helped Fotis Dulos cover up the murder of Jennifer Dulos.

Almeida said Wednesday that she had four of their children with her — the other was with a friend — when she was supposed to meet Jennifer Dulos in Manhattan on the afternoon of May 24, 2019. She texted and called Dulos, but she didn’t. do not react.

“My stomach just dropped. She never failed to answer her phone,” Almeida testified in Superior Court in Stamford, Connecticut.

Almeida went to a doctor’s office in Manhattan where Dulos had an appointment, hoping to find her there.

“And so when she wasn’t there, … I was shocked, but I also thought, OK, I have the four kids in front of me and I don’t know what to do,” Almeida said. “I just walked outside and started calling people who might have heard from Jennifer.”

Police believe Fotis Dulos attacked Jennifer Dulos in the garage of her home in New Canaan, Connecticut, after she dropped the children off at school that day. Then, authorities said, he drove away in her own SUV with her body, which was never found. Fotis Dulos denied having anything to do with her disappearance. He died by suicide in early 2020, shortly after being charged with murder.

Troconis has pleaded not guilty and denies the charges, which also include tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution.

At the time she disappeared, Jennifer and Fotis Dulos were in contentious divorce and custody proceedings, limiting his time with the children to a once-a-week visit, which had to be supervised. Jennifer Dulos had moved out of the family home in Farmington, Connecticut, while Fotis Dulos continued to live there with Troconis and her daughter.

The case attracted a lot of attention and was the subject of a made-for-TV movie. Jennifer Dulos was a member of a wealthy New York family whose father, the late Hilliard Farber, founded his own real estate agency. She was also a niece by marriage of fashion designer Liz Claiborne. Fotis Dulos was a luxury homebuilder originally from Greece.

Almeida testified that she and Jennifer Dulos became afraid of Fotis Dulos after Jennifer Dulos learned about his affair with Troconis in 2017. That year, Almeida said Fotis Dulos chased Jennifer Dulos out of the house with a piece of paper and had a screaming argument with her at the Farmington home, where she ran into a room and he tried to break open the locked door.

Fotis Dulos threatened to take the children to his native Greece and never return, and he accused Almeida of kidnapping the children when Jennifer Dulos took them and herself out of the house in 2017.

When Jennifer Dulos went missing, Almeida called friends and others who might know where she was. She also called hospitals, but had no luck. She called her mother, who tried to calm her down, she testified. Then she called New Canaan police.

“We told police that a mother of five was missing and that she was going through a very contentious divorce. And I knew he (Fotis Dulos) had bought a gun, so I was scared. And they were on it right away,” Almeida said.

Judge Kevin Randolph removed the gun comment from the record after prosecutor Sean McGuinness said he did not allege Fotis Dulos had a gun. Troconis’ attorney, Jon Schoenhorn, later called for a mistrial based on Almeida’s comment, but Randolph denied the motion.

Almeida, 32, remains a nanny for the five children, who have been living with Jennifer Dulos’ mother, Gloria Farber, in Manhattan since their mother’s disappearance.

Wednesday was the fourth day of the trial. In the first few days, police testified about blood evidence found in Jennifer Dulos’ garage and her SUV, which was found abandoned in a New Canaan park.

Among the evidence expected to be shown to the jury later in the trial is police surveillance video of Fotis Dulos and Troconis driving through Hartford later the day Jennifer Dulos disappeared. Fotis Dulos gets out of his pickup and throws out trash bags at several locations while Troconis sits in the vehicle.

Police said they later recovered several bags and found clothing, zippers and other items with Jennifer Dulos’ DNA on them. Some items contained Fotis Dulos’ DNA, and one bag contained Troconis’ DNA, police said.

Prosecutors are also expected to show the jury what police called “the alibi script” — a document they say was drawn up by Fotis Dulos and Troconis detailing their actions and locations on the day of the murder and the day are described in detail below. Troconis told police that Fotis Dulos’ lawyer asked them to list their activities on those days.