Meriden, state police examine human remains in Waterbury during search for missing Meriden woman

The search for missing Meriden mother Perrie Mason has turned to Waterbury, where Meriden and state police located human remains that have not yet been identified.

“The identification process can take a few weeks,” Lt. John Mennone said late Wednesday night. “We are working with Ms. Mason’s family and anticipate further updates in the future.”

About 8:20 a.m. Wednesday, Meriden police notified their counterparts in Waterbury that they were sending detectives to a commercial building at 137 Brookside Road in Waterbury, Waterbury Lt. David Silverio said. The building, which is in an industrial park, is for sale, according to real estate listings.

“Meriden asked us to be out there,” the Waterbury lieutenant said Thursday. It is routine for one department to give another the heads up if it is going to have staff in the jurisdiction.

Because the case is not Waterbury’s, Silverio lacked details.

The discovery came the same day court documents revealed Mason had sent pictures of her injuries and texted her ex-boyfriend after an apparent altercation last week, just days before she went missing.

In one text message to her ex-boyfriend, Mason wrote, “You almost killed me,” recounting how Jason Watson choked her until she blacked out, an arrest warrant for Watson released Wednesday says.

Watson, 38, was held on bail of $650,000 after his arraignment in Meriden Superior Court on charges that include second-degree strangulation and first-degree unlawful restraint. He is due back in court on Sept. 12.

The truck driver and Meriden native is the prime suspect in the disappearance of Perrie Mason, Judge Thomas O’Keefe said at Watson’s arraignment. Authorities said Watson has a long criminal history dating to 2000, including convictions in domestic violence cases and for sexual assault.

The arrest warrant says Watson and Mason were communicating as late as Saturday, but no one has seen or heard from her since. Watson called police on Sunday saying Mason, 31, “might be missing,” or she may be at a friend’s house, and that “she was mad at him,” the warrant says. Police did not open a missing person case at that point.

Later that day, Mason’s sister called police to say Watson and Mason recently had split after “heated fights,” including one that was physical, but were still living together in a West Main Street apartment, police said. The woman said she had not heard from Mason in two days, which was uncharacteristic, the warrant said.

Mason’s sister showed police photographs that Mason had texted to her early on Thursday, showing red dots around her eyes, redness on her neck and a fat lip, the warrant said. Mason texted her sister that Watson had choked her until she could not breathe and she lost consciousness, police said.

On Monday, Watson contacted his probation officer, “crying hysterically,” to say he had called police because Mason was missing, the warrant says. The probation officer said she saw the text messages from Mason to Watson discussing how he choked her until she could not breathe, but Watson denied any domestic violence and told the probation officer there were no marks on Mason’s face, according to the affidavit. He said he would not harm her because she is “too small,” the warrant says.

Mason is described as a light-skinned African American woman who is 4 feet 11 and 130 pounds. She has brown hair and brown eyes. She and Watson each had two children from previous relationships. Authorities said at the arraignment that Mason’s children are in the custody of the state Department of Children and Families.

Mason has worked in the family court in Hartford for almost a year as a court monitor, recording court proceedings. Her sister said Mason never called police because she didn’t want anyone to get in trouble for the incident, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.

Police posted on Facebook Monday that they are searching for Mason. They updated the post Wednesday night, saying that human remains were found in Waterbury, and that the state police were assisting with the investigation.

Sylvana Sam, who set up a GoFundMe account to help the family, said Mason is a “responsible and loving mom.”

“All I can tell you for now, is that Perrie is beautiful inside and out and anyone, you talk to about Perrie will confirm,” said Sam, who described herself as Mason’s “bestie” in an email Thursday.

“Perrie is so beautiful on the inside that if one day, you meet her, you will feel privileged to have crossed her path because she is so special and unique,” she said.

The GoFundMe account is to fund aspects of the search and to pay for a lawyer to keep her children with Mason’s family, she said.

Anyone with information is asked to call Meriden Det. Jon Femia at 203-630-6219.

Staff writer Zach Murdock contributed to this report.

Jesse Leavenworth can be reached at jleavenworth@courant.com. Christine Dempsey can be reached at cdempsey@courant.com.