Authorities Discover Body of Missing Woman Beneath Garage Floor Following Tip from Informant: District Attorney Reports

In a chilling development out of Massachusetts, authorities have unearthed a body believed to be that of a woman who vanished over a year ago. This grim discovery was made beneath a garage floor, following an alleged confession by the suspect to a friend about committing murder.

Shawn Sullivan, 40, is facing murder and other charges, Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan told reporters at a press conference on Monday. Authorities are referring to the victim as “Jane Doe” until the remains — discovered in a shallow grave under a garage in Tyngsborough — are identified, but Ryan indicated that investigators believe they belong to 43-year-old Jill Kloppenburg, who disappeared in January 2025.

The missing woman, identified as Kloppenburg, was last seen on January 2, 2025, departing from her residence located on the 700 block of Broadway in Lowell. Her cellphone activity abruptly ceased almost two weeks later, and she was officially reported missing on February 26, 2025.

The breakthrough in the case came on March 10 of this year when a friend of Sullivan, the suspect, reached out to the Nashua Police Department in New Hampshire. The friend claimed that Sullivan had admitted to killing a woman named Jill around January 2025, as disclosed by Ryan at a press conference held on Monday.

Through diligent investigation of missing persons databases, police concluded that Sullivan’s confession likely pertained to Kloppenburg, given that the two were known to be friends. This led investigators to a property on Audrey Avenue in Tyngsborough, where Sullivan once resided. Ground-penetrating radar scans of the site revealed an anomaly beneath a two-car garage, according to Ryan.

Upon excavation, authorities found a body wrapped in plastic buried in a sizable area approximately 5 feet long and 3 feet wide. This discovery has brought a somber close to the search, offering a glimmer of resolution in a case that has haunted the community.

A medical examiner is working on positively identifying the body as belonging to Kloppenburg as well as a cause and manner of death, Ryan said. In addition to the Jane Doe murder charge, Sullivan is charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury and improper disposal of human remains.

He’s slated to be arraigned on Tuesday.

Friends previously told local Fox affiliate WFXT that they contacted cops after they could not get hold of Kloppenburg.

“We’re very concerned because she hasn’t checked in. No matter what is going on in her life, she has always checked in with her friends,” Ann Matlosz told the TV station.

Her uncle, Steven Kloppenburg, wrote on Facebook that cops notified him Sunday evening about finding the remains. He said his niece had a drug addiction problem and had the propensity to associate with “violent men.”

“Though we were not particularly close, I find myself walking around since with eyes watery, on the edge of tears, for her loss, for what could have been,” he wrote. “There will be a resolution.”