Fort Hood is a sprawling base of nearly 215,000 acres, or 340sq miles, founded in 1942 in mid-Texas, between Austin and Dallas. An independent review following her death found that the command climate at Fort Hood created a permissive environment for sexual assault and sexual harassment." Mitchell, a drill sergeant assigned to the U.S. Army Medical Center for Excellence at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, was shot to death around 2:30 a.m. on New Year's Day while driving on Interstate 10 in San Antonio, according to the San Antonio Police Department. He died in 1879, leaving a troubled legacy that is only now beginning to be questioned. Club Fuego where Gregory Wedel-Morales was last seen, Killeen Tx. After over two months in which hundreds of people searched for her across large parts of central Texas, remains were found in late June, and were later identified as Guillns. Around the Guillen murals in Killeen and in Houston, I met people who had lost loved ones to the military, who felt harm done, who saw in Guillen a savior. The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) held a news conference Friday at the main gate of Fort Hood demanding an FBI investigation into Basaldua Ruizs death. Darlene Krashoc Sexually Assaulted, Murdered, and Dumped in Parking Lot in Colorado Springs; DNA Match Leads to Arrest of Michael Whyte (March 17, 1987) Captain Gordon Hess, U.S. Army Army Captain Gordon Hess Found Stabbed to Death at Fort Knox in Kentucky, Military Investigators Ruled Suicide Despite the 26 Stab Wounds to Neck & Chest Area (1998) The young couple, Georgia state prosecutors charged, was killed by Pvt. Two days after Staff Sergeant Anthony Lovell, 40, disappeared in 2017, his body was found, eyes pecked clean, face split in half, in a creek off Killeens seedy main corridor called Rancier, the same street where Specialist Freddy Delacruz, 23, was shot and killed last March. He seemed weird, Rodriguez said. Aguilar appeared in court earlier this month but did not make any statement other than to acknowledge the charges against her. Write to Jasmine Aguilera at jasmine.aguilera@time.com. In 2018, a soldier was allegedly shot and killed in her front yard by her husband at Fort Campbell, in Kentucky, which also has one of the highest rates of suicide in the Army. But survivors and advocates already know the limits of congressional advocacy. Fernandes was dropped off at his friends house the next day, never to be seen again. Nearly 200 miles away in Houston, Rogelio Guillen was entering his fourth hour of work at a nickel-plating factory when he felt a sharp spasm in his chest. ), Wedel-Moraless death was not the first from the base that may have involved bike gangs. Service members who report sexual harassment or assault risk ostracism and their career. So much for Abbott's obsession with law and order., Secretary of State Blinken Says Detention of WSJ journalist Evan Gershkovich Is Unacceptable, President Biden also demanded release of journalist from Russian custody on Saturday: let him go., Republicans Border Policy Has Apparently Escalated From Build the Wall to Invade Mexico. Information related to any possible harassment will be addressed and investigated fully," the base said in the statement. Courtesy: Fort Worth Star-Telegram archives File photo. The suicides, which reportedly jumped by as much as 20 percent across the military last year, work out to a rate of one soldier a month. Greg Abbott Is Apparently Perfectly Fine With the Murder of a Black Lives Matter Protester, The Texas governor is angling to pardon a man convicted of killing a demonstrator in the George Floyd protests. The military is necessarily an institution of state-sanctioned violence, where we teach our young to kill on our behalf in the name of ideologies such as patriotism or democracy. You have reached your limit of free articles. He had messaged his sister beforehand to tell her something felt off. Vanity Fair may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The letter also names Pvt Mejhor Morta and Sgt Elder Fernandes, whose deaths are under investigation, and the homicide investigations of Pvt Brandon Scott Rosecrans, Spc Freddy Delacruz Jr and Spc Shelby Tyler Jones. No skid marks were apparent, nor did anyone hear the crash. Her remains were found in late June 2020. Terrie Boley, whose daughter Candance became addicted to crack cocaine while serving at Fort Hood and was murdered in a motel room in 2011, told me not to drink the water. The small Texas frontier town was also a hotbed of Klan activity, according to Texas historian Gene Preuss of the University of Houston, so much so that when trains stopped in Killeen, Black passengersrelegated to colored carsknew to pull down their window shades to avoid a pelting with rocks by locals. A woman who was the only person charged in the 2020 killing pleaded guilty on Tuesday to four counts including accessory to murder after the fact. The military's highest-profile bases had the highest number of suicides, as Pentagon contends with troops dying not from enemies but their own hands. The military, Rodriguez said, had known about this but had refused to treat him. Driving into Killeen last fall, what greeted me was a deer, roadkill, that had been severed in half. Fort Hood hurriedly put up a $25,000 reward for Wedel-Morales as well. 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. Later the same day, at 8:30 p.m., Aaron Robinsons 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. Congress will launch an investigation into sexual assault, disappearances, deaths and leadership response at Fort Hood as 28 soldiers stationed at the US army base in Texas have died this year, two leaders announced on Tuesday. Guillen was last seen on April 22 in the parking lot of her Regimental Engineer Squadron Headquarters, 3rd Cavalry Regiment, at the Fort Hood military base wearing a black shirt and purple fitness pants, according to a public statement by Fort Hood. That American imperialism is imploding, and the blast force radiates inward. Mejhor Morta, 26, and Specialist Francisco Gilberto Hernandez-Vargas, 24 died two weeks apart in what appeared to be drowning accidents in the same lake. Vanessa Guill, Pvt. Vannessa Guilln at Fort Hood led to a reckoning within the Army about sexual assault and harassment. Khawam said Army officials, accompanied by an Army chaplain, met with Guillens family on Sunday to inform them that Guillen was dead. The very next day, a Fort Hood investigation concluded that Fernandess charges of sexual assault were unsubstantiated. Isaac Aguigui, Sgt. In 2015, a sergeant with the bases sexual assault reporting unit which Guilln would have reported to had she lodged a complaint pleaded guilty to running a prostitution ring with vulnerable young soldiers. We need a neutral agency, to oversee claims of sexual harassment and assault, Khawam says, one with no stake in the game., I joined the Navy at 19. After the public remonstrations began, Fort Hood launched something it called Operation Phantom Action, a weeklong retreat of sorts that was meant to rebuild trust between soldiers and the leadership. The base might have continued to devour its soldiers had it not been for a missing soldiers family whose rage, love, and devotion would attract the attention of the media, celebrities, and later the White House, sparking congressional and military investigations. As distressing as the remains in shallow graves or the missing hyoid bone is the fatalism from soldiers and locals alike. Since being stationed at Fort Hood in November 2016, Wedel-Morales had frequented the Dollhouse, a strip club not far from where his remains would eventually be found. Fernandes, who had reported sexual abuse prior to his. The last time an American troop was executed for his crimes was in 1961, when Army Pfc. Guillns family say they learned what allegedly happened to Vanessa as the public did. She was an exceptional teammate that will truly be missed., Fort Hood shared an update Thursday, saying the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division confirmed that at this point in the investigation into the death of Pvt. I am astounded nobody is interested, the Fernandes family lawyer Lenny Kesten told me. On July 1, Fort Hood officials announced that the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID) and other law enforcement were attempting to locate a junior soldier from Fort Hood who fled the post late on June 30. The Army is about to leave the house from this visit they had. Next I passed Club Dreams, where Specialist Shelby Jones was shot, bled out, and died last March; then Guns Galore, where Army psychiatrist Major Nidal Hasan purchased a semiautomatic pistol that he would use to kill 13 people in 2009. Our thoughts and prayers are with them during this difficult time. They married in May 2017, and he took her name with hyphenation. Casteel had told Rodriguez he was getting away from the abuse.. As publication approached, it stopped responding to emails pertaining to both specific questions about individual cases as well as broader queries about the base.). On May 18, Brandon Rosecranss burning Jeep was discovered in a hilly suburb east of Fort Hood. They lied to us since day one, Mayra Guilln, Vanessas sister, said in an anguished press conference last week. Chee had joined the military in part to support the young family he was starting with his high school sweetheart turned fiance. While law enforcement agencies, minus Army CID Special Agents, attempted to make contact with the suspect, the suspect reportedly displayed a weapon and took his own life, Fort Hood said in a public statement. When Ailina offered the Fort Hood authorities the contents of her sons car, including a laptop, iPad, and external hard drive, they declined to investigate further. During the day, though, it was still hot enough that if you dropped a beer bottle, the contents appeared to dry on contact. Fort Hood might not even stand out were it not for a particularly bad year among many. The Lovell case was ruled an accident despite the fact that a rival clubs biker vest, or kutte, was found hanging neatly from a tree near the crash site, while his motorcyclemirror, taillightswas found intact. Several investigations sparked by Guilln's death led to the removal of 14 base leaders in December 2020. Amid national pressure to rename such bases, a recent Military Times poll found near-50% support for such moves among service personnel. The Fort Worth Lockheed Martin plant is adjacent to the military base, where the company assembles and tests the F-35. Dozens of people were killed, died by suicide, or went missing from the Texas military base last year alone. She was talking about college. It was ruled a suicide until her father noticed her broken nose, black eye, loose teeth, and burns on her genitals. The body of Gregory Morales, another soldier who went missing in 2019, was discovered on June 19 in Killeen. I went through with mine and they all got a slap on the wrist. Rodriguez sensed something was off. Instead, her remains were sent to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware for identification. The departments estimated number of sexual assaults rose sharply between 2016 and 2018, an increase driven mostly by women aged 17 to 24, like Guilln. Last years murder of Pfc. Within days of arriving at Fort Hood, Chees clothes were stolen. He had been happy enough there that in February he reenlisted for an additional four years. Those remains, it turned out, belonged to yet another soldier, Private Gregory Wedel-Morales, who had gone missing the previous summer. Ad Choices. Women, who make up 17 percent of active-duty military, were doubly bereft, and the case files were awash with stories of the dead. On the night of August 19, Wedel-Morales went out to Club Fuego, located in a desolate strip mall about 10 miles east of Fort Hood. The family began posting online about Guillens disappearance and distributing Missing fliers. From this inauspicious start, Killeen grew into a proper military town and is now home to six strip clubs, 18 pawn shops, 35 dollar stores, and 38 tattoo parlors. An investigation is currently underway to determine whether she was sexually harassed. A second suspect, Cecily Aguilar, 22, was charged on July 2 with one count of conspiracy to tamper with evidence. Not long after Fort Hood opened, soldiers began bringing home souvenirs in the form of war brides. Published: Apr. Vanessa Guilln was 20. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. On June 30, a construction crew found shallow graves containing human remains that belonged to Guillen. Is it possible Elder was murdered? Several other investigations into conduct at Food Hood are also under way, including one examining the allegations that Guilln was sexually harassed, and another on the support given to those who report sexual harassment and sexual assault. A service of the Moody College of Communication at the University of Texas at Austin | Contact us, Kristen Cabrera, Shelly Brisbin & Caroline Covington, A service of the Moody College of Communication at the University of Texas at Austin, Texas Democrats Leave State In Effort To Block GOP Voting Restrictions, Hundreds Visited Texas Capitol Over The Weekend For Voting Bill Hearings, Johnson Space Centers New Director Leads Where No Black Woman Has Led Before. Robinson gave Guillen the serial number for a .50 caliber machine gun that needed servicing. Far from itthe military was operating as it had been intended. Staff Sergeant Jessica Mitchell is seen in this undated photo. Even then, it was she who had to scare up the $3,500 in bail money, and after Fort Hood sent two officers to pick up Casteel, officials refused to share information with Rodriguez. 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. Just before noon, Guillen left her keys, Army ID, and bank cards in one arms room and entered another adjacent arms room, separated by a hallway. She had been working that day to confirm serial numbers for weapons and equipment. Boots and hat at Vanessa Guillens memorial, Killeen TX, Jeffrey Epsteins Decades-Long Relationship. That is the opposite of what hes been consistently saying.. A lawyer for the Guilln family told the Houston Chronicle that they provided Robinsons name to authorities. Her story, what happened to her, really resonates for me because, shes a Mexican American woman that lost her life, and that could have easily been me with the things that I went through, the sexual harassment, the attempts of assault, and dealing with the chain of command where you try to report things.. The base was named after John Bell Hood, a Confederate general from a family that enslaved people in Kentucky, who made his name by breaking a Union line at Elthams Landing in Virginia and who, by todays standards, likely suffered from PTSD. the army secretary, Ryan McCarthy, announced last week. A few hours later, Robinson, who had mostly been playing video games, escaped Fort Hood by car. On June 18, 3rd Cavalry Regiment Commander Col. Ralph Overland announced the start of an investigation into claims that Guillen was sexually harassed before she disappeared. At 9:30 p.m., Mayra, Cruz, Guillens other sister Yovana, and Yovanas boyfriend set out for Fort Hood. I will tell you everything. Fernandes was dropped off at his friends house the next day, August 17, never to be seen again. Why was Robinson not put under watch? Graham was a valued member of the Iron Eagle team and did an outstanding job for this Battalion," Wittenberg added. Who were the soldiers who had testified to seeing Guillen leave the arms room the day she disappeared? Guillen was last seen on April 22. July/August 2021 MAY JEONG DEVIN OKTAR YALKIN. Firefighters discovered Mitchell with multiple gunshot wounds after responding to what they initially thought was a car crash, police said. They also fell short in supporting grieving family members. November 2009: Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan carried out the largest mass murder at a military installation in American history, opening fire on dozens of unarmed soldiers at a medical deployment. The police too told Ailina that Fernandes was an adult and that they would not report him as missing. At the time of his first trial, Davis was believed to be the wealthiest man to have stood trial for murder in the United States. During the run, Chee, who had no preexisting health conditions, collapsed. The area, east of Killeen, was built on 109,000 acres of high bluffs, ridges, sharp slopes, and mesa-like hills covered with mesquite and chaparral. On June 21, CID, the Bell County Sheriffs Office and Texas Rangers identified a burn site and disturbed earth near Leon River, but did not find remains that day. Is it possible Elder killed himself? He wondered if it was something he had eaten and carried on with his shift. Graham, of Cherryville, North Carolina, was found unresponsive in her barracks room at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, and pronounced dead by emergency personnel, officials said. (Fort Hood refused all official interview requests for this story, citing ongoing investigations. Should inmates in Texas be eligible for early parole if they exhibit good behavior? Guillen is from Houston, a three-hour drive south east of Fort Hood, where she relocated after first being stationed in Virginia, according to Houston KPRC 2. Thirteen killed themselves. There had been a few people, then it was a group run of 11. Guilln, 20, disappeared from the Fort Hood military base in Killeen on 22 April. The purpose of this independent review is to determine whether the command climate and culture at Fort Hood and the surrounding military community reflects the armys values including respect, inclusiveness and workplaces free from sexual harassment, and the commitment to diversity, a statement said. Almost 90 lawmakers have signed a letter spearheaded by the Texas representative Sylvia Garcia calling for the defense departments inspector general to investigate Guillns disappearance at Fort Hood. The disappearance and killing of soldier Vanessa Guilln has gripped Texas, and reignited widespread outrage over sexual violence in the US military and the failures of recent reforms to address it. After 8 p.m., Guillens sister Mayra called the base. 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. Last December, a Special Forces soldier and an Army veteran were found dead at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where another soldier disappeared in May and was later found murdered. (The person who called in with the tip declined to collect the reward. FORT GREGG-ADAMS, Va. (WWBT) - What was once Fort Lee's Army base now bears the names of two Black military officers. Ana Basaldua Ruiz no foul play is evident, and will remain under investigation.. 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. The TMPC continues to advocate for Texas' military personnel and installations, while . Most of the groups were aboveboard, even as they were ruled by certain strictures for meeting attendance, dress code, and how to appropriately signal respect. Morales was reported missing in August 2019.