According to a New Haven police press statement in March 2001, "several" witnesses saw a "tan or brown" van stopped facing "east" on East Rock Road around the time of the crime at the location Jovin was found - precisely the direction in which a vehicle would be if it were ejecting a body, or if Jovin were escaping a vehicle that had stopped. This was the first time the NHPD revealed that they were looking for a suspicious vehicle. Van de Velde drove a Jeep Wrangler at the time and had offered to have it checked by the police days after the crime. It was checked, revealing no trace links or prints.
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In November, 2001, the New Haven Register reported that the New Haven Police Department had had a 1982 Dodge van--formerly tan but now painted white--in their custody for six months, and that this van was believed to be connected to the Jovin case. The van was owned by an unidentified Guilford resident at the time of the crime, who had been questioned by the police several times as of November 2001. The resident claimed no involvement whatsoever in the case, claimed he knew where his van was at the time of the crime, and agreed to provide a DNA sample. His brother, a Yale graduate student, was also questioned by the police. He refused to provide a DNA sample but also claimed no involvement whatsoever in the crime. There is no known evidence that either knew or had ever met Jovin.
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