Detectives are searching a landfill in Putnam as part of the investigation into the disappearance of an Easton couple last seen in early August, according to a source familiar with the investigation.
State police spokesman Trooper First Class Kelly Grant said Friday detectives have been searching the Putnam Ash Residue Landfill, a 186-acre site operated by Wheelabrator Technologies, but would not elaborate on the details of the probe.
The landfill is used to dump ash from all the state's waste-to-energy plants.
A source familiar with the investigation told NBC Connecticut the search is connected to the case of Jeffrey and Jeanette Navin, who disappeared from their Easton home Aug. 4, shortly after moving from Westport.
The last calls logged on their cellphones took place that day, according to search warrants obtained by NBC Connecticut. Those phones have since been turned off.
Authorities said a state trooper found the couple's pickup truck Aug. 9 in a Westport commuter lot. Investigators took more than a dozen swab samples from the truck, which had a broken window, according to the warrants.
A second source told NBC Connecticut the couple's son, Kyle Navin, has been named a person of interest in his parents' disappearance.
Local
According to search warrants, Kyle Navin told police his parents visited him in Bridgeport the morning they vanished and asked to take him to dinner. Kyle Navin said he had a broken back and declined.
That was the last anyone heard from Jeffrey and Jeanette Navin.
Police spent Wednesday and Thursday searching their son's Bridgeport home. Neighbors said they haven't seen the younger Navin in about a week, and police have not been able to reach him since their initial interview.
Jeffrey Navin serves as president of the J&J Refuse waste management company in Westport, while Jeanette works as a school library aide in Weston.
Kyle Navin, who is listed online as operations manager of J&J Refuse, told police the family was in the process of selling the company, according to warrants obtained by NBC Connecticut.
About a week before the Navins vanished, a judge denied Jeffrey Navin's motion to reopen a case appealing more than $2.2 million in debt on a $900,000 Guilford home. Other relatives have said they don't believe the couple's finances factored into their disappearance.
Police have also searched the couple's current and former homes and one of their bank accounts. Investigators are working to obtain additional search warrants in connection with the case.
