One of the longest open-homicide cases involving the Peninsula can hopefully come to a close soon. The husband of Elizabeth Sullivan, a Navy mom who went missing in October 2014 and whose body was found 2 years later, has been arrested as the chief suspect in her murder.
On Wednesday, Jan. 31, police arrested her husband, Matthew Sullivan, 32, outside his home in Wyoming, Delaware, San Diego police announced. Formerly in the Navy, Sullivan was charged with her murder and jailed; he’ll be returned to San Diego after an extradition hearing.
The couple had two daughters and the husband had custody at the time of his arrest.
The OB Rag has followed this story from day one; here’s some of our earlier reports:
Elizabeth Michelle Sullivan, 31, has been missing since October 13th, where she was seen at or near her home in Liberty Station. A text message sent on Oct. 13 was the last contact she’s had with friends or family. Her phone has since been turned off. Her vehicle was found at home.
It wasn’t until October 6, 2016 – 2 years nearly to the day since she went missing – that here body was found in waters off Liberty Station. An autopsy confirmed she had been killed but it wasn’t until December 7th that her identify was confirmed; police then reopened their investigation.
In a news report today, Feb. 1, from the San Diego Union-Tribune we learned Elizabeth had met with a divorce attorney the same day she went missing, and more:
Elizabeth Sullivan had met with a divorce attorney on the same day she went missing, a friend of hers said in a December 2016 interview with CBS8. The friend, Nathan Caracter, told the TV station there had been a history of domestic violence and infidelity in the marriage.
NBC 7 reported it had obtained police records that showed that Matthew Sullivan had called 911 on the same day his wife had vanished. The station said Sullivan had reported that she was “going to frame him and have him arrested,” and also claimed she had made a mess at their home.
Credit must go to the San Diego police for their diligence and perseverance in this case. San Diego police Lt. Mike Holden stated to the press initially the case was assigned to missing-persons detectives, who worked it for several weeks, but then was transferred to homicide detectives in December 2014. Holden said:
“The same team has worked it for three years. I think early in our investigation we assigned it to a homicide team because we felt there were some suspicious circumstances back then. In those cases, we always hope our suspicions are wrong and we can locate the person alive. Obviously, she wasn’t located alive.”
Holden did not describe how she died or how police figured out her former husband was the suspect.
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