Stephanie Nicole Parze was a student-athlete and a talented artist. From Freehold Township. She loved doing makeup. And she loved children. She would spend a lot of time at the beach, on the river or fishing, and enjoyed chilling on the sand, rafting or crabbing.
During the summer of 2019, Stephanie became involved with a young man. During this time she had been extremely sick and he was very attentive; however, what started out as an apparently caring relationship turned into violent physical, sexual and emotional abuse during their on-again off-again relationship.
Stephanie disappeared on Oct. 30, 2019. For 87 days the Parze family formed groups consisting of thousands of people at different times to search for her. The accused perpetrator took his own life a short time after these searches started after being released from jail on unrelated charges.
Friends and family later learned that Stephanie had been murdered in an act of domestic violence. Their worst nightmare was confirmed. Her body was found on Jan. 26, 2020.
Her family learned of the epidemic that is domestic violence firsthand. Stephanie’s life was cut short just shy of 26 years.
All of this information is chronicled on the website for The Stephanie Nicole Parze Foundation for Domestic Violence and Missing Persons Support, whose mission is to provide education, intervention and support to families and individuals dealing with domestic violence, sexual abuse and missing loved ones.
The group came together shortly after Halloween 2019 when Stephanie went missing. “We had no idea where she was or if she was alive. The bond that grew between us was strong” a message on the website states.
Their motto is “We are a family – whether by blood, by marriage or by common cause.”
Over 10 million adults experience domestic violence per year in the U.S. More than 1 in 3 women (35.6%) and more than 1 in 4 men (28.5%) in the U.S. will experience rape, physical violence and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime. Nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States.
Stephanie’s father Ed, who has been very vocal in her absence, said, “We all know that sharing Stephanie’s story saves lives. Although tragic we continue to do so in that effort to do just that. Also, by shedding awareness on domestic violence and sexual abuse we hope to end the violence once and for all.”
As president of the Stephanie Parze Foundation (SNP) , Ed Parze has been working to pass several bills into law.
Bill S3712, titled “Stephanie’s Law,” requires the Administrative Office of the Courts to establish a publicly-accessible domestic violence registry, and requires law enforcement officers to search the state’s domestic violence registries when conducting an arrest. It is spearheaded by State Sen. Vin Gopal, whose district 11 oversees Freehold Township.
Bill S3713 would require law enforcement officers to conduct a danger assessment of domestic violence victims and provide assistance to high-risk victims.
“These bills, if put into law, will save countless lives. I know that if this information was available to my daughter it may have saved her life,” Parze said.
Saving lives
Ways in which the foundation raises funds is through its annual charity golf outing, held the past four years; a vendor fair held outside of the Freehold Raceway Mall; and SNP tents at local fairs such as Olde Freehold Day, the Monmouth County Fair, the Red Bank Street Fair, Point Pleasant Beach Festival of the Sea, AsburyFest and Allentown Fall Festival. 94.3 The Point helped the Parzes spread their message every Tuesday night in July and August at their tent at the Freehold Raceway Mall’s Summer of Fun concert series. And they’ve held a color run at Lake Topanemus Park.
Booths were at the Foodstock in Freehold Township on Oct. 14 and the United Way Food Truck Festival in Downtown Freehold on Oct.22. A dinner buffet and comedy show is planned at Stress Factory in New Brunswick on Nov. 19, and Stephanie’s Bling Bingo and Stephanie’s 30th Birthday Bash at Howell Lanes will be planned for February of next year.
As an effort of their fundraising, the organization will be able to donate a forensic dental x-ray machine and a search and cadaver dog to the State Police Missing Persons Unit and Forensic Anthropology Unit.
“We will be naming this State Police K9 officer and our Missing Persons Family Assistance Unit patch will be displayed on its K9 vest,” Parze said.
The 5K Color Run is one of the many events that the Stephanie Nicole Parze Foundation runs in their continued efforts to protect victims of domestic violence.
Parze and his team present the “Wide Awake” presentation to high schools, colleges, businesses and any other group that request it, and hold T.A.P. (training, awareness and protection) classes on the third Wednesday of every month.
The Circle of Angels Program (C.O.A.P.) sessions help survivors deal with their situation. Other outreach efforts are with Nick Luciano’s Safe Way Out program, which provides protection, security equipment and self-protection training to empower those living in fear; and the Angel Alert Program – POM (Peace of Mind) which provides an emergency assistance device that when activated notifies the authorities to a GPS-tracked location.
To further its mission, the SNP Foundation will officially roll out its Breaking Free Program in January 2024. This program’s sole purpose is to assist current victims break free from their abuser by providing temporary emergency shelter, transportation, immediate essentials, life critical medications, protection equipment and more.
Another major initiative that will be developed in the near future is Missing Persons Family Assistance Units. Once completed, each of the 21 counties in New Jersey will have a five-person unit assigned. These units will consist of a family liaison (unit leader), logistics officer, Search and Rescue or Recovery (SAR) liaison, media officer and a law enforcement liaison. These team members will assist and support the families of the missing in any way they can.
“We believe that this foundation and Stephanie’s story save lives and hopefully prevent things like what happened to Steph from reoccurring,” Parze said. “Our presence throughout the communities, if not for anything else, brings much-needed awareness about these three epidemics and what they can do to families and individuals having to deal with them. By shedding light on domestic violence, sexual abuse and missing persons, our communities become stronger and wiser to these threats. They stand up and fight to prevent them. They become more mindful about becoming complacent and they fight back when necessary. They become more observant and when they see something, they say something.
“We believe that together we can all make a difference and we stand by our mission to do just that.”
If you are interested in joining SNP Foundation as a regular member, you must be at least 18 years old, complete and pass a criminal background check, and commit to attending or participating in at least two regular business meetings, special meetings, committee meetings, events or any combination thereof per year.
You also have the option of being an approved volunteer if you are at least 13 and complete a background check. You would be placed on a call roster and be called whenever the foundation is in need of volunteer assistance, and participate in at least one function per year.
For more information on the foundation, visit www.snpfoundation.org.
The National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233).
The National Sexual Abuse Hotline is 1-800-656-4673.
The NJ State Police Missing Persons Unit is 609-882-2000, ext. 2554.
**
