Search for missing Freehold woman returns to Staten Island

Investigators returned to Staten Island on Wednesday in connection with the search for a Freehold Township woman who has been missing for nearly two weeks.

Stephanie Parze has been missing since Oct. 30. A search for the 25-year-old has resulted in one arrest, although not for a crime involving her disappearance. A man she has identified online as her boyfriend was charged last week with possession of child porn after police confiscated his phones as part of their search for the missing woman.

Several days after she vanished, investigators from Monmouth County and the NYPD conducted a search in Long Pond Park, a 91-acre city park not far from Route 440 and the Outerbridge Crossing.

Prosecutors on Wednesday confirmed in a written statement that they once again were "conducting a search on Staten Island Wednesday related to the the missing persons case of Stephanie Parze." A spokesman would not say what they are looking for or where exactly they are looking.

Parze's parents called police on Oct. 30 after they couldn't get a hold of her at her late grandmother's home where she'd been living, according to the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office. Parze had left behind her car, phone, purse and shoes that she wore that night. Earlier in the evening, she had gone with family and friends to see a medium in New Brunswick.

SILive.com reported on Wednesday that the search using dogs and helicopters was focused in the area of the park near Adelphi Avenue and Eugene Street in the northwest corner of the park.

Police on Friday arrested John Ozbilgen, 29, on a charge of third-degree possession of child pornography.

Prosecutors initially said that the arrest was not related to the search to Parze but later clarified that their search of Ozbilgen's home was part of an investigation into Parze's disappearance.

Police said they had confiscated two electronic devices from Ozbilgen. Investigators said that an "extraction" of his iPhone X contained an image of child sexual exploitation.

Ozbilgen says on Facebook that he is from the Staten Island neighborhood of Woodrow.

Ozbilgen was being held at the Monmouth County jail on Wednesday awaiting a detention hearing scheduled for Nov. 19. On Tuesday, the courts did not have an attorney on file for Ozbilgen.

The Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office asked anyone with information about Parze's whereabouts, or anyone who recently has had contact with Parze to call their office at 732-431-7160 ext. 7032, or Freehold Township police at 732-462-7908.

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