UPDATE: Stephanie Parze’s ex-boyfriend admitted to killing her in note before suicide, prosecutor says

The body of Stephanie Parze, a 25-year-old Freehold woman who has been the subject of massive searches for months, was recovered from a wooded area in Old Bridge on Sunday, authorities confirmed Monday.

“It is with great sadness we announce that Stephanie Parze’s remains were recovered yesterday in Old Bridge,” the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office said.

A medical examiner confirmed the identified the body discovered in the woods off Route 9. The prosecutor’s office will hold a press conference later Monday. No cause of death has been released.

Family and friends were gathering Monday morning at the Freehold home of her parents and siblings. A large sign bearing the message “Stephanie Come Home" remains in the front yard.

The discovery of Parze’s body brings to a close months of police and community-organized searches in New Jersey and New York since she was last seen by her family on Oct. 30. Flyers and road signs bearing Parze’s missing poster were scattered throughout Monmouth County homes and businesses.

“We also want to thank the public for your remarkable efforts in trying to find Stephanie for the past few months,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement. “May God bless Stephanie and her family during this terribly difficult time.”

Stephanie Parze, 25, was last seen on Oct. 30.Courtesy

Parze was found just south of Old Mill Road on the southbound side of the highway around 2:45 p.m, the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office said. Multiple police vehicles remained at the scene on Monday morning.

Stephanie Parze hasn’t been seen by her family since when she left the family’s Route 33 house after a night out in New Brunswick in October. Stephanie then drove back to her late grandmother’s nearby home on Meadowbrook Lane, where she had been residing.

The next day, Parze didn’t show up to her nannying job. Her car and phone were found at her grandmother’s house, but there was no sign of forced entry.

Police identified her ex-boyfriend John Ozbilgen as a person of interest in Parze’s disappearance. Ozbilgen, 29, was arrested on a child pornography charge after images were found on Ozbilgen’s phone as authorities investigated Parze’s disappearance, officials said.

Just days after he was released from jail on those charges, Ozbilgen was found dead in his Freehold home and authorities determined he took his own life.

Prosecutors have said Ozbilgen fired off 10 angry text messages to Parze the night before she went missing and detectives noticed marks around his neck during their investigation. Parze had also previously filed an assault complaint against Ozbilgen a month prior to her disappearance.

Police investigate a wooded area along Route 9 south in Old Bridge,NJ where the body of 25-year-old Stephanie Parze was found on Sunday.Noah K. Murray | For NJ Advance

Staff writer Jeff Goldman contributed to this post.

Avalon Zoppo may be reached at azoppo2@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AvalonZoppo.

Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ.

Find NJ.com on Facebook. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.com’s newsletters.