New Details As Missing Freehold Twp Woman's Ex-Boyfriend Released

FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP, NJ — The ex-boyfriend of a missing Freehold Township woman was released Tuesday to await trial on a third-degree child pornography charge, officials said, even as he remains a person of interest in her three-week-old disappearance.

John Ozbilgen, 29, of Freehold Township, was ordered released Tuesday on the third-degree child endangerment charge, said Charles Webster, a spokesman for the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office. "There are no updates in the (Stephanie Parze) case," he said by email.

Ozbilgen was arrested Nov. 9 after a child pornography photo was found on his iPhone during a forensic review of his phone after authorities searched his home in connection with the Oct. 30 disappearance of Stephanie Parze, 25. Webster has said the child pornography charge is unrelated to the Parze case.

Ozbilgen has not been charged in her disappearance.

He remains a focus of the investigation, however. Prosecutors told Superior Court Judge Paul Escandon on Tuesday that Ozbilgen sent 10 angry text messages to Parze the night before she disappeared, NJ.com reported. Parze never answered the texts, which concluded with one calling her an expletive, the report said.

News 12 New Jersey reported prosecutors also told the judge Ozbilgen has three prior domestic violence cases filed against him. Two were filed in New York. The third was filed in September when Parze told police Ozbilgen hit her on the head, the report said. That case is still in the courts.

News 12 also reported the child pornography involved 10 images that were described as violent.

Parze, 25, was last seen about 10 p.m. on Oct. 30, after a night out with her family in New Brunswick. Investigators found her car, cell phone and dog, Jazmine, at her home, and there was no sign of struggle.

There have been two searches for her in a wooded marsh in Staten Island, including one last week that involved more than 200 volunteers, the Asbury Park Press reported.

Another search has been organized by Parze's father for Wednesday, the day that marks three weeks since she disappeared, the Press reported.

Ozbilgen, a 29-year-old stockbroker, is originally from Staten Island and worked for a Staten Island brokerage firm until recently; News 12 reported prosecutors said he had been fired.

Multiple Facebook groups have sprung up as people who know both Parze and Ozbilgen trade information in the search to find her.

In a public group named "Stephanie Parze Disappearance," posters shared photos and continued prayers that she will be found.

"... know that a lot of us are advocating on your behalf, praying for you, crying for you and family, hoping, wishing for a miracle! We will find you no matter what it takes ... will move mountains and walk through the oceans just to find you ... we will not give up!!

Parze is described on a flyer circulating as 4 feet, 11 inches tall, 115 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.

The prosecutor's office is asking anyone who has information about Parze or her whereabouts to contact Detective Shawn Murphy of the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office at 732-431-7160, ext. 7032, or Detective Daniel Valentine of the Freehold Township Police at 732-462-7908.

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