(Peter Casolino — Register file photo) Jan and Bill Smolinski of Cheshire, are still looking for answers in the disappearance of their son, Billy, who has been missing since 2004.

By Michelle Tuccitto Sullo
Investigations Editor

HARTFORD >> The state Appellate Court has upheld a judge’s ruling that two family members of missing Waterbury man William “Billy” Smolinski Jr. should have to pay a $52,666 judgment to Smolinski’s former girlfriend.
Madeleine Gleason of Woodbridge, who dated Smolinski until they broke up just prior to his 2004 disappearance, sued his mother, Janice Smolinski of Cheshire, and his sister, Paula Bell, in 2006, claiming they harassed, defamed and falsely accused her of involvement in his disappearance.
Superior Court Judge Thomas Corradino in 2012 awarded $52,666 to Gleason, for intentional infliction of emotional distress, defamation and punitive damages.
This Appellate Court decision upholds Corradino’s award.

Read more here. 

Jan and Bill Smolinski stand in a wooded area behind the home at 69 Wigwam Drive in Shelton, where the homeowner remembers seeing a car and truck driving behind her home around August of 2004. Their son, Billy Smolinski Jr. disappeared from Waterbury in 2004, and his parents are pushing police to investigate the area for more answers. Peter Casolino/Register

By Michelle Tuccitto Sullo, Investigations Editor

and Andy Thibault, Contributing Editor

The family of missing man William “Billy” Smolinski is pushing for police to do a more thorough search of a large wooded area off Wigwam Drive in Shelton, where a resident believes she spotted Smolinski's truck being driven into the woods around the time of his 2004 disappearance.

“There are other places of interest, but this one is top on the list,” said Janice Smolinski of Cheshire, Billy’s mother.

Just this week, state police examined bones which had been found by volunteer searchers at the Wigwam site in February, but the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner determined Tuesday they were animal bones.

Read more here.

By Andy Thibault
Contributing Editor
and Michelle Tuccitto Sullo
Investigations Editor
SHELTON — On a summer evening about eight years ago, cardiac nurse Jean Petrucelli — still dressed in scrubs after work — relaxed as she grilled dinner off her back deck overlooking the woods.
The woods are a refuge for Petrucelli, a place where she gains peace just breathing air and listening to the singing birds. Occasionally the sounds of all-terrain vehicles wreck the calm throughout the natural setting of about 150 relatively unspoiled acres off Wigwam Drive.
A bizarre sight jarred her.

Read more here.

By Michelle Tuccitto Sullo
Investigations Editor
A man who gave police information that led to a massive, unsuccessful search for the body of missing man William “Billy” Smolinski Jr. in Seymour has fled from a halfway house where he was serving the remainder of his sentence, an official said Friday.
Department of Correction spokesman Andrius Banevicius said Chad Hanson, 32, escaped from a community release program Dec. 19.

Read more here.