A body found below a man’s garage floor is believed to be Jill Kloppenburg, a missing Massachusetts woman who vanished last year, authorities said.
Kloppenburg, 47, was last seen leaving her home in Lowell — where she was temporarily living with roommates — on January 2, 2025, according to the FBI. She was later reported missing on February 26, 2025.
She “has not been seen or heard from since,” the FBI said in an alert on her disappearance.
Her remains were possibly found at a home in Tyngsborough on Sunday, March 15, Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan announced on Monday, March 16, WCVB-TV reported.
A suspect, Shawn Sullivan, who lives at the home, was taken into custody on a murder charge in connection with the discovery, Ryan said, according to the TV station.
Sullivan, 40, was arrested after his friend called police in Nashua, New Hampshire, on Tuesday, March 10, to report that Sullivan admitted to killing a person named “Jill,” according to Ryan, the TV station reported.
The friend told authorities that Sullivan “claimed that he had shot her and then buried her under the floor in a garage,” Ryan said, according to the TV station.
The tip led to police visiting Sullivan’s home, where he lives with his family, Ryan said, according to CBS News.
While carrying out a search, police used radar technology and spotted what turned out to be human remains in a plastic bag under Sullivan’s garage, according to Ryan.
Authorities started digging up the garage and reached the remains, Ryan said, according to CBS News. They’re now working to positively identify the body.
Kloppenburg’s uncle, Steven Kloppenburg, wrote in a Monday, March 16, Facebook post that officers visited him the evening of March 15 and said “they were 100% positive the remains were [Jill’s] though they still have to confirm it with DNA and an autopsy has to be done to try to determine a cause of death.”
“She was a lost soul and may finally be at peace now,” Steven wrote of Jill.
Jill and Sullivan are believed to have known each other, according to authorities, WFXT reported. The exact nature of their relationship was unknown at press time.
Sullivan will also be charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury as well as improper disposal of a body, authorities said, according to the TV station.
It was not currently clear whether he had retained an attorney who could comment on his behalf as of March 16.
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