Ex-boyfriend of missing woman sent her angry texts the night before she disappeared, prosecutor says
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The on-again-off-again boyfriend of a
missing Freehold Township woman sent her 10 unanswered angry texts the night before she went missing, prosecutors revealed Tuesday shortly before a judge ordered him released from jail on an unrelated child *advertiser censored* possession charge.
Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor Caitlin Sidley told Superior Court Judge Paul X. Escandon about the derogatory texts on Tuesday while trying to convince him to keep John Ozbilgen in jail as authorities continue to search for Stephanie Parze, 25, of Freehold Township. Ozbilgen blamed Parze for the failed relationship in the profane texts, Sidley said.
“Detectives learned that this defendant was texting and Facebook messaging Parze the night before her disappearance," Sidley said. "Those messages spanned just over nine minutes long. There were 10 unanswered messages, concluding with calling Stephanie Parze (an expletive) and telling her that she ‘always has to make their relationship suck.’”
Detectives also noted marks around Ozbilgen’s neck while they were investigating Parze’s disappearance, Sidley said.
Ozbilgen was identified as a person of interest and a search warrant was executed on his phone, Sidley said. Detectives found two search terms on his browser related to child *advertiser censored*. Sidley said investigators also found an image of child *advertiser censored* on his phone and a new warrant was obtained to search Ozbilgen’s device for evidence of child *advertiser censored* in addition to the missing persons case.
Nine additional images were found of children as young as 3-years-old being sexually abused, Sidley said.
Ozbilgen, 29, has not been charged in the disappearance of Parze, who disappeared following a family outing in New Brunswick on Oct. 30. Her family said she never showed up to her nannying job the next day. Her cell phone and car were found at her home.
Ozbilgen and Parze
listed on Facebook that they were in a relationship in August, though Parze’s page last listed her as single.
Parze accused Ozbilgen of assaulting her in September. Ozbilgen’s court appearance on that charge - simple assault - had previously been postponed until Dec. 17.
Sidley noted additional domestic violence allegations against Ozbilgen from two other victims this year. She said he has an active restraining order against him from a previous “dating relationship” in New York City.
“(Ozbilgen’s) violence against women is borne out in his history as well as *advertiser censored* he seeks out of very young children. There are no conditions that can keep this community safe," Sidley said.
Ozbilgen was charged with one count of possession of child *advertiser censored*, a quantity of files under 1,000, earlier this month.
His attorney Robert Honecker Jr. said his client was relieved the judge granted his release on the child *advertiser censored* charge, while acknowledging that Ozbilgen remains a person of interest identified by police in Parze’s disappearance.
“He maintains his innocence in regard to the child *advertiser censored*. That count in and of itself didn’t rise to the level that he should be kept in custody,” Honecker said after the hearing. “He’s been held 11 days in jail on this.”
At one point during the hearing, Honecker objected to the prosecution using details from the missing persons case to advocate for Ozbilgen’s detention on the child *advertiser censored* charge.
