Local News
The remains have not been identified, but police believe they belong to a Lowell woman missing for more than a year.
Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan in 2021. (Photo by Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe)
A Tyngsborough man is facing murder charges after human remains were found buried under his garage that are believed to belong to a Lowell woman who has been missing for more than a year, prosecutors announced Monday.
Shawn Sullivan, 40, is set to be arraigned in Lowell District Court Tuesday on charges of murder, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing bodily injury, and improper disposal of human remains, Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan announced.
Jill T. Kloppenburg, who was 47 when she disappeared. National Missing and Unidentified Persons
A friend of Sullivan’s reported to Nashua, New Hampshire police that he said he had shot and killed a woman named Jill at his home around January of last year and buried her under the floor of his garage, the DA said.
Nashua police connected the report to Jill Kloppenburg, who was reported missing to Tewksbury police in February of 2025 and put in a missing persons database, the DA said.
She was last seen leaving her Lowell home on Jan. 2, 2025, according to the FBI, and she was 47 at the time of her disappearance.
“This is a person, a loved one, who was reported missing, whose disappearance remained under active investigation for over a year,” Tyngsborough Police Chief Shaun Woods said at a press conference. “This is never the outcome we want in public safety, but we take solace in the fact that through the hard work of investigators, a suspect is now in custody.”
Sullivan knew Kloppenburg, and she had been in his home and together around the time of her disappearance, investigators determined. Sullivan and Kloppenburg were friends, Ryan said.
A lawyer representing Sullivan declined to comment.
Detectives from multiple agencies searched Sullivan’s Audrey Avenue home and found “a large, patched area in the garage,” Ryan’s office said.
Scanning the garage floor using radar technology, investigators found a 5 feet by 3 feet area “that had been cut and patched.” Investigators cut through the floor, which was epoxy with cement underneath, and allegedly found a bag containing human remains, Ryan said.
“It was a very long, complicated process, because you also want to get that epoxy and the cement up. You also don’t want to disturb what might be underneath,” Ryan said during a press conference. “It was a multiple hour process working through that yesterday to remove those upper levels, and then to dig through and locate the bag, which we have now confirmed contains human remains.”
The remains have not been identified, but investigators believe Kloppenburg’s body was found. The Office of the Medical Examiner is investigating the cause of death and identifying the remains.
The investigation is active and ongoing, the DA said. Anyone with information about Kloppenburg can call State Police at 781-897-8300.
Molly Farrar is a general assignment reporter for Boston.com, focusing on education, politics, crime, and more.
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