Gillian Flynn ‘sickened’ by lawyer’s ‘Gone Girl’ defence in missing woman case

‘It absolutely sickens me that a work of fiction written by me would be used as a hypothetical, sensationalised motive behind Jennifer’s very real and very tragic disappearance,’ author says

(Hearst Connecticut Media/New Canaan Police Department/AP)

Claims that a missing woman staged a Gone Girl-style disappearance have been condemned by the bestseller’s author Gillian Flynn.

Connecticut woman Jennifer Dulos has been missing since 24 May. In June the lawyer of her estranged husband, Fotis Dulos, told US media she may have acted out a plot from the book.

Police believe the mother of five was assaulted in her home, where bloodstains were found. She was in the process of a “bitter” custody dispute with her husband who has insisted via his lawyer, Norm Pattis, that he does not know her whereabouts.

In June it was reported that Dulos and his girlfriend had been arrested and charged with fabricating or tampering with evidence, and hindering prosecution. Both have pleaded not guilty.

Court documents from the custody battle showed that Jennifer Dulos had accused her husband of having revenge fantasies, exhibiting “irrational, unsafe, bullying, threatening and controlling behaviour”, CNN reports, and claimed that he had threatened to kidnap their five children and take them to another country.

Jennifer Dulos was last seen dropping off her children at school in New Canaan, Connecticut (AP)

Before her disappearance, Jennifer Dulos told officials that she was afraid of her husband, and feared her filing for divorce would enrage him.

Fotis Dulos denied making any threats or bullying her, according to court filings.

Since their mother went missing, the Dulos children, ages 8 to 13, have been living with their maternal grandmother at her New York City apartment.

Two weeks ago, Pattis said he was “investigating the possibility that this is a Gone Girl-type case and considering the possibility that no third party was involved in foul play”.


 Ben Affleck stars in the adaptation of Gillian Flynn's novel ‘Gone Girl’, about a woman who disappears to try and pin her murder on her husband 
 (20th Century Fox)

In Gone Girl, writer Nick Dunne’s wife Amy goes missing and he becomes the prime suspect. In the novel, which was adapted into a film starring Rosamund Pike and Ben Affleck, it is revealed that Amy is still alive and trying to pin her murder on Nick.

In a statement made to local television station, WTNH, Flynn said: “It absolutely sickens me that a work of fiction written by me would be used by Fotis Dulos’s lawyer as a defence, and as a hypothetical, sensationalised motive behind Jennifer’s very real and very tragic disappearance.

“This situation is so incredibly painful. I can’t imagine what her children, her family and all those close to her are going through. I am deeply sorry for Jennifer and her loved ones.”