A Connecticut couple has disappeared days after losing their latest appeal in a multimillion-dollar foreclosure case, a disappearance that a local police chief said appears increasingly suspicious though the pair’s family said it may be unrelated to their financial woes.
Jeffrey and Jeanette Navin of Easton, Connecticut, were last seen on Tuesday, August 4, at the refuse company they own in Westport, according to Easton Police Chief Tim Shaw.
In late July, Jeffrey Navin was denied his latest appeal in an ongoing eight-year battle over a mortgage on the family’s second home in central Connecticut, according to court documents.
Navin took out a mortgage on the home — a six-bedroom, five-bath, 8,265-square foot residence on a 10½-acre lot, according to Zillow.com — in 2005 for $1.3 million and stopped paying in 2007, the records show. The debt had grown to more than $2.2 million by the end of 2014.
Authorities cannot say yet that these issues have anything to do with the couple’s disappearance.
There is no suspicion of foul play, with local authorities working with the Connecticut State Police and the FBI to dig into the Navins’ financial records, retrace their steps and follow new leads.
“We’re looking at everything, but the longer they are missing, the more suspicious it becomes,” Shaw said.
Police found the Navins’ blue pickup truck on Sunday morning in a commuter parking lot off an exit on Merritt Parkway, Shaw said.
The truck had a broken passenger window, but investigators believe that happened either early Sunday morning or the night before because the parking lot is active and routinely checked by police.
The couple’s family said, via the Easton Police Department, that they are “shocked and saddened at the unexpected disappearance.”
“There are no words to describe the impact this has had on their parents, siblings, and children,” they said.
The family went on to challenge media reports suggesting the Navins’ financial troubles have something to do with what happened, saying there are available funds in the bank that haven’t been touched.
“Financial issues recently reported by the media have not been proven to be a factor for our family members’ disappearance,” the family said.