Missing Dad Texted Son, 'Did You Hurt Mom?'

A missing Connecticut man told his son in a text message that he was worried the son was setting him up for murder, according to court documents.

The text was sent the same day the man and his wife disappeared.  

The son, 27-year-old Kyle Navin, of Bridgeport, is the operations manager for his family's refuse company; he was arrested Tuesday on an unrelated gun charge stemming from a police search of his home. The text message exchange was detailed in arrest documents provided to The Huffington Post by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut. 

Police say the texts were sent Aug. 4, the day Navin's parents, Jeffrey and Jeanette Navin, were last seen. Jeffrey Navin ostensibly sent his son the first text shortly after 12:30 p.m. that day, telling Kyle he was not returning to his home in Easport "till I know mom is okay."

Investigators did not reveal what may have prompted that comment, but the following text message exchange took place directly thereafter, according to an affidavit:

"Did you hurt mom?" Jeffrey Navin texted.

"No absolutely not. Why would you think," Kyle Navin responded.

"I go home and get framed for murder," Jeffrey Navin then texted.

"Oh stop," Kyle Navin texted back.

"I'm going to the police first," Jeffrey Navin said.

"Ok and reason being?" Kyle Navin asked.

Seven minutes later, Jeffrey Navin texted his son, "U R setting me up."

"Dad really what are you talking about?" Kyle Navin replied.

Family members reported Jeffrey and Jeanette Navin missing three days later. On Aug. 9, their truck was found abandoned in nearby Westport, raising concerns for police.

Authorities conducted searches  of Kyle Navin's Bridgeport home late last month, finding two firearms, ammunition and evidence he was using heroin, oxycodone and other controlled substances, according to court documents. He is now facing a federal charge of possession of a firearm by a drug user.

The documents claim Kyle Navin told police conflicting versions of his actions on the day his parents disappeared. On the day after they vanished, he allegedly bought germicidal bleach, hair and grease drain opener, stain remover and contractor cleanup bags.

Police have searched landfills around Connecticut but have found no signs of human remains.

Navin’s lawyer, Eugene Riccio, declined to comment.

Jeanette Navin is an employee of the local school district, and Jeffrey Navin is the president of J&J Refuse, a family-owned Westport sanitation company that touts itself  as "Westport's number one refuse and recycling collection company." 

State court records obtained by The Monroe Courier  show the couple is $2.2 million in debt in connection with a 2007 home foreclosure. One week before the couple disappeared, they lost a court appeal in the foreclosure case. They also reportedly owe a local electric company nearly $140,000 for overdue power bills. Relatives issued a statement last month denying the couple's disappearance is related to the debt.

"Financial issues recently reported by the media have not been proven to be a factor for our family members' disappearance," the family said in a statement released Aug. 13 by the Easton Police Department . "Information from the authorities indicates that there are available funds still in their bank accounts that are untouched."

Kyle Navin is expected to appear in court on the weapons charges on Friday. He has not been charged in connection with his parents' disappearance.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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