Vanity Fair may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. Later came Koreans, Japanese, and Vietnamese, who still run sushi and pho restaurants in Killeen. After 8 p.m., Guillens sister Mayra called the base. The corpse had been dead for a while, though it was impossible to determine exactly how long. On March 5, 2020, Destanie Sawyers five-year-old daughter found her father, Specialist Christopher Sawyer, 29, after he had shot himself dead in the bedroom of their Fort Hood housing. Robinson gave Guillen the serial number for a .50 caliber machine gun that needed servicing. His body was mostly intact but for his hyoid, which was never found. They checked into a nearby hotel and returned at 8 a.m. the next day. Fernandes had just been stationed at Fort Hood in January. At 9:30 p.m., Mayra, Cruz, Guillens other sister Yovana, and Yovanas boyfriend set out for Fort Hood. Maj. Gen. Scott Efflandt. The soldiers said that Guillens belongings had been found in the arms room, but otherwise she had left no trace. Atop these sedimentary layers of desecration, displacement, and disorientation, the War Department set out to build a base that would go on to serve as a footnote to nearly every war in modern memoryKorea, Vietnam, Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan, but also Grenada, Panama, and the Cuban Missile Crisis. "Is it possible Elder was murdered? He died the evening of September 2. And how well will that look on your rsum?, Im 21 now, and let me tell you. Texas Death Records, 1890-1976 includes scanned copies of the death certificates Texas Death Records, 1977-1986 includes digitized copies of the death certificates; not yet complete. (Facebook) Two weeks later, Delacruz . The deaths of Fort Hood soldiers have gained international attention in recent months after the slaying of Vanessa Guillen, a 20-year-old Army specialist the authorities say was killed on. But advocates for. They pointed glumly to past cases, some of which there were public records for and others I could find no traces of in the official files. The base saw 26 . Army punishes 14 senior officers after murder and other deaths at Fort Hood It was also an ancient Comanche Native American burial ground, discovered when construction workers unearthed more than 2,200 grave sites in 1998. When Kim called Fort Hood inquiring after her son, she was told the case was the remit of the Killeen Police Department as Wedel-Morales had gone missing off base. Later the same day, at 8:30 p.m., Aaron Robinson's girlfriend, Cecily Aguilar, changed her story and told Army investigators that Robinson had confessed to her that he killed Guillen in the arms room, beating her to death with a hammer. Army Disciplines 21 at Fort Hood in Probe of Soldier's Death The tributaries that run through Fort Hood flow into the Leon River, where Guillen's remains were later found. It rained that night, and the drive, which should have taken three hours, was slow going. If he killed himself, don't they want to know why?". Eric Christopher Hogan and Pfc. Many complained specifically of being made to cut grass to ready for such official visits. (Killeen Police stated they have no knowledge of anyone declining to investigate.) As soon as I get out of the hospital, I will call you. None of the messages added up, nor were they how he usually speaks to me, Rodriguez told me. The 20-year-old small arms specialist, then a private first class, was supposed to be off that day, so she showed up in civilian clothesblack tee, purple leggings, and a fanny pack. The plan, Wedel-Morales told anyone who would listen, was to use the G.I. On June 30, a construction crew found shallow graves containing human remains that belonged to Guillen. The U.S. Army announced Saturday that a soldier was found dead in the . Is it possible Elder killed himself? They married in May 2017, and he took her name with hyphenation. I felt a bad vibe there, Lupe says, referring to Fort Hood. To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. "I am astounded nobody is interested," the Fernandes family lawyer Lenny Kesten told me. More than 2,200 trials over land rights commenced. So when, the following spring, Fort Hood offered a $15,000 reward for information about Guillen, then raised it to $25,000 in June, Kim called to demand the same. The 2020 numbers add to ongoing mysteries, including a 2016 case where a corpses hyoid, the U-shaped neck bone typically examined to determine whether strangulation has occurred, was missing. I asked him directly if he wasnt willing to speak because of position and he signaled yes, and he said, Id rather tell you in person. , Several days later, Rodriguez learned that Casteel had been committed to a hospital on base. Here are some of the tragic deaths that have plagued the base in recent months: Pvt. The shakeup comes after after a series of suspicious deaths and disappearances that have plagued Fort Hood. It was also an ancient Comanche Native American burial ground, discovered when construction workers unearthed more than 2,200 grave sites in 1998. Namely, the military. Fort Hood - KXXV A young soldier found dead at Fort Hood has been identified, but his cause of death remains hidden. Fort Hood Independent Review | Army People First All rights reserved. Military bases are the last piece of the homeland that soldiers see before they are deployed to fight and the first glimpse of home when they return. It installed 35 firing ranges, 18 chapels, three bowling alleys, and 1,384 barracks that would house, at its peak, 95,000 soldiers, the most densely populated military base, at a cost of $35 million. We believe that Every Life has a Story which should be told and preserved. Why hadn't the arms room been treated like the crime scene it was? The military, Rodriguez said, had known about this but had refused to treat him. Yes, flower arrangements are fulfilled and delivered by local florists from Fort Hood. The death was ruled a suicide despite the fact that the blanket stuffed around the window to hold the pipe in place had been doused in Schuette's own blood, and Schuette was found with nine stab wounds across his body, including his forearm and his left hand. In 2020 alone, 31. She has become that complicated, indelible thing: a hero. Joshua Diamond, 35, of Plymouth, Massachusetts, and Pfc. (Fort Hood does not count Moore in its official casualty list, as he was a member of the National Guard.). It is unclear if Killeen even bothered to visit his namesake town, which, by the early 1880s, comprised 40 people living across 360 acres, mostly working in the two cotton gins, two gristmills, and two saloonsit had the most saloons, gamblers, and shootings per capita in Bell County, according to historian Martha Bowmer. The police too told Ailina that Fernandes was an adult and that they would not report him as missing. On April 30, 2021, Fort Hood found that Guillen had indeed been sexually harassed by a soldier, but not Robinson.). Reformers would say that the military had failed its men and women. Without any sense of purpose, the suffering at Fort Hood had started to lose its meaning. In a press statement, Fort Hood officials said Hockin, 26, was initially found unresponsive outside of the barracks and was subsequently pronounced dead. Fernandes wouldn't share much, nothing about what had caused him to be hospitalized, and said that he was using an insecure base hospital line. Give me the name and I will report the bastard, Gloria told her daughter, who refused to tell her mother more for fear of worrying her, and also, Gloria later suspected, for fear of reprisal. And being mission-ready, the perpetual vigilance it requires, ensures a kind of endless possibility of war, which in turn justifies the $740 billion annual defense budget. Fort Hood soldier found dead outside barracks - American Military News The new family, like more than 70 percent of all Fort Hood service members, lived off post, but after two dead bodies were found on their street, they moved into base housing. Yes, simply click Add a photo located underneath the main photo of the obituary then upload the photos/videos you wish to share. ), On July 3, a fortnight after Wedel-Moraless body was found, Specialist Miguel Yazzie, 33, died at Fort Hood after his repeated requests to see a doctor were denied, according to Carma Johnson, whose brother died at Fort Hood. On May 18, Brandon Rosecrans's burning Jeep was discovered in a hilly suburb east of Fort Hood. Reformers would say that the military had failed its men and women. The day after Guillen disappeared, Private Gavin Chambers, 21, died on base. He refused to send a selfie or get on a video chat and began using a strange and unfamiliar speech pattern. On August 25, a rail worker in Temple, Texas, 26 miles east of Fort Hood, saw a body hanging from a tree across from a burned-out warehouse near the tracks. Fort Hood soldier found dead behind barracks, investigation underway Four days later, an anonymous tip directed investigators to an urban prairie at the end of a residential street where Penny Morales used to live. (On July 14, 2020, a federal grand injury indicted Aguilar on one count of conspiracy and two counts of tampering with evidence. There was a deep cut above his left eye, and cuts all over his legs. Casteel had told Rodriguez "he was getting away from the abuse.". That gun safety is a distant concern in a community where the Second Amendment tops the Maslow charts. (Fort Hood) A soldier in the 1st Cavalry Division was found dead Saturday in his company area, according to a statement from. Fort Hood's Vanessa Guillen Tragedy Leads to Army-Wide Overhaul of Here's what we know about 8 of the soldiers who died this year at Fort Hazel Buck Blackwell, whose family lost their farm, homestead, barns, orchards, and adjoining land when the base took over, said the "closest thing might be the unexpected death of someone you loved very much." "I guess my point is," Rodriguez told me, "if everything was 'fine,' the way Fort Hood officials would lead us to believe, then why would this soldier, out of character, leave base without permission, and [why] did he not feel comfortable enough to call his captain or anyone on that base once he was arrested for speeding? ", "I'm 21 now, and let me tell you. Ive even lost myself. (Ring returned to base of his own accord later that day.). Fort Worth (817) 293-8477 Laurel Land Funeral Home and Cemetery 7100 Crowley Road, Fort Worth . Later, Robinson would tell investigators that Guillen completed her task and exited the building. Later that year, Private Dakota Lee Stump left his barracks to report for work less than a mile away but never arrived for formation. She has become that complicated, indelible thing: a hero. Mayra wept during the journey, already fearing the worst. Congress launched an investigation of Fort Hood citing the deaths and other felonies that occurred on the fort between 2014-2019. . The sense of dehumanizing alienation soldiers complained about was not a symptom of a malfunctioning system, it was its original design. Last year, at least 39 Fort Hood soldiers vanished or died, including 13. The 2020 numbers add to ongoing mysteries, including a 2016 case . Texas Obituaries - Online Obituaries, Funeral Notices and Death Records III Corps Inspector General. All are former soldiers. But then certain details start illuminating the mystery: that one out of three women soldiers have experienced sexual harassment, according to a recent survey.