NEW CANAAN —
After Jennifer Dulos vanished in late May, thousands took to a social media page to share news updates, court documents and research about players involved in the high-profile case.
For some, the private Facebook page, “Jennifer Dulos, Fotis Dulos, Michelle Troconis, Connecticut Case Discussion,” served as a support group for survivors of domestic violence, who felt emboldened to take action against their abusers. For others, it was simply a way to stay on top of a fast-paced case with hourly news updates in a highly-publicized investigation.
tone after “trolls” or unknown individuals either hacked into the page or were accidentally granted administrative privileges by a creator of the group.
“Somehow, some way, someone gained access to our group,” said Jonathan Riches, a Florida resident and former administrator and creator of the group. “I don’t know whether it was via a hack, or someone sort of wormed their way in to convince another admin to (give them) admin (privileges). But once they gained access to the group, they ‘unadminned’ all of us. We lost all our admin capabilities of the page, so we lost control of the page. Then they added a bunch of troll accounts or troll people and they just basically trashed the group.”
On Aug. 9, the five or six original admins were demoted to general members, and trolls began posting irrelevant content, shifting the narrative from supporting finding Jennifer Dulos, to becoming a “pro-Fotis Dulos” page, Riches said. Before Facebook shut down the page on Wednesday, one of the original admins was targeted, and trolls began posting taunting messages alongside pictures of the woman posing with her family.
Members of the Facebook group,
“Red Shoe Crime District,” have claimed responsibility for the hack.
Jennifer Dulos Facebook group shut down after ‘nasty people’ hijacked page