‘No criminal evidence’ in case of stained rug pulled from Farmington River

FARMINGTON, CT (WFSB) - Farmington and state police looked into a stained rug that was found in the Farmington River by a social media influencer.

Troopers announced on Monday morning, however, that there was no criminal evidence related to it.

Investigators were called to the area of 1317 Farmington Ave. around 2 p.m. on Sunday.

A group of people were live on the TikTok app where they showed that they found what looked like a rug with an unidentified stain on it.

Social media influencer and self-proclaimed paranormal investigator Sean Austin, and his friends, seemed to believe it might have had something to do with the disappearance of New Canaan mother Jennifer Dulos. Jennifer Dulos disappeared in May 2019. Her estranged husband had a home in Farmington.

The location of Sunday’s investigation was around the 1300 block of Farmington Avenue. Public entrances to the area were closed off.

The group that found the rug left to give their official statements around 7:30 p.m.

State police had assisted with the investigation.

“After investigating for several hours, detectives tested several large, irregular brownish-red stains on the rug and a presumptive test determined they were not blood,” troopers said in a news release. “Detectives have found no evidence of the rug being related to any criminal case.”

Detectives actually found a number of rugs in the area. After speaking to local kayakers, they learned that the rugs are used to launch and retrieve kayaks, and to keep vegetation down at that particular spot on the Farmington River.

“We ask members of the public who find what might be evidence in a criminal investigation to contact 911 so that items can be processed and investigated by detectives and so that no potential evidence is contaminated,” state police said.

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