UPDATE: Foul play not suspected in death of Fort Hood soldier (He was found a day later.) Call (254) 287-9993 or (254) 287-0106 to request a PAO escort. Fort Hood soldier found dead behind barracks - Militarytimes.com A small minority, which bikers call "one percent" groups, and which the Department of Justice calls by the regrettable acronym OMG, or outlaw motorcycle gangs, were the people Wedel-Morales had been hanging around with. He refused to send a selfie or get on a video chat and began using a strange and unfamiliar speech pattern. Photo: US Army. 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. Thirteen killed themselves. The search party arrived at Fort Hood at 3 a.m. Guillens staff sergeant told the group to come back in the morning. 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. A few hours later, Robinson, who had mostly been playing video games, escaped Fort Hood by car. The very next day, a Fort Hood investigation concluded that Fernandess charges of sexual assault were unsubstantiated. 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. "What on earth are you training for?" His killers were never looked for properly and thus never found. Specialist Justen Ogdens death in July 2017 was ruled a suicide, but the suicide note Fort Hood produced as evidence did not match his handwriting, according to his mother, Toni. 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. A 214,968-acre installation, this is the only post in the United States capable of stationing and training two armored divisions. That American imperialism is imploding, and the blast force radiates inward. His body was found nearly a month later, two miles from the barracks. There she encountered Specialist Aaron Robinson, also 20 years old but a rank above. "From the age of 18, the only thing I knew how to do was kill people," Ring wrote on the website of his father's veterans' rights organization. Here's what we know about 8 of the soldiers who died this year at Fort The next day, Wedel-Morales failed to show up for duty, and the day after that, he was classified as absent without leave, making him one of the thousand or so soldiers who go AWOL in any given year. The numbers are distressing. Spc. Frantic, she called around, to no avail. Nelda Lee Edwards. By then Wedel-Morales had grown distant from his family in Oklahoma, who had not been told of the marriage. Police reopen case into Fort Hood soldier's death - Spectrum News 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. A U.S. Army soldier, Spc. She filled out the paperwork that is the lifeblood of the Army before heading toward the arms room, a few paces away. 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. (Marine Lance Corporal Riley Schultzs death on March 15, 2019, at Camp Pendleton in San Diego County, was also ruled a suicide, despite his hyoid being broken. Army report finds Fort Hood soldier Vanessa - The Texas Tribune (The person who called in with the tip declined to collect the reward. And how well will that look on your rsum?, Im 21 now, and let me tell you. Deaths of 2 female Army soldiers probed in Texas, 1 fatally shot on 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. One of the first times she stepped onto the base, a rosary she had been carrying in the palm of her hand tore apart, its beads scattering over the concrete ground. FORT HOOD, Texas - Fort Hood officials say they do not suspect foul play in the death of 26-year-old SPC Maxwell Hockin. The dollhouse, strip club Gregory Wedel Morales frequented, Killeen Tx. So much of reporting is opening yourself up to chance, and there I was, compulsively locking and relocking the rental car door. One of the first times she stepped onto the base, a rosary she had been carrying in the palm of her hand tore apart, its beads scattering over the concrete ground. Specialist Vanessa Guillen's father, Rogelio, wondered if I shouldn't carry a gun. Army punishes 14 senior officers after murder and other deaths at Fort Hood Many complained specifically of being made to cut grass to ready for such official visits. On May 11, however, Fernandes reported to Fort Hood abusive sexual contact from a staff sergeant, whom he alleged groped him in a supply room, according to the redacted military investigation report. 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. 2023 Cond Nast. Rodriguez sensed something was off. Without any sense of purpose, the suffering at Fort Hood had started to lose its meaning. Driving into Killeen last fall, what greeted me was a deer, roadkill, that had been severed in half. Fort Hood also stated that it had completed an exhaustive search for Fernandes, and that it had interviewed all relevant parties, including the family. Soon after, the Temple police, who led the investigation, ruled Fernandes's death a suicide. Staff Sergeant Devin Schuette was found dead in his pickup truck, fitted with a hose running from the exhaust pipe to the cabin, in January 2016. Death Notices Famous Deaths Search Wednesday, March 01, 2023 Audrie Talmadge "A.T." Powell 10 hrs ago Services for Audrie Talmadge "A.T." Powell, 78, will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday at Salado. Driving into Killeen last fall, what greeted me was a deer, roadkill, that had been severed in half, 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. October 13, 2021 04:48 PM. Amid all those other deaths, on June 21, 2020, a search party found the charred lid of a cargo box along the Leon River 20 miles east of Fort Hood. Lenz's mother, Margie Taylor, said her son loved children and looked forward to having a family of his own one day. These figures eclipse American casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq in the same year. (On July 14,2020, a federal grand injury indicted Aguilar on one count of conspiracy and two counts of tampering with evidence. -. He died in 1879, leaving a troubled legacy that is only now beginning to be questioned. (On July 14, 2020, a federal grand injury indicted Aguilar on one count of conspiracy and two counts of tampering with evidence. His mother, Kim, only heard from her son when he needed money. In fact, Casteel had been convinced that CIA agents were attacking him since last June. IMCOM is not responsible for the content of links outside home.army.mil. 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. They married in May 2017, and he took her name with hyphenation. (According to Killeen police, no such vests were found at the scene of the crash. Despite 10,000 hours of investigation and 300 interviews, much about Guillen's death remained a mystery. She has become that complicated, indelible thing: a hero. Fort Hood was founded in January 1942 as a training ground for tank destroyers, selected for its varied terrain. 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. Inside the rash of explained deaths at Fort Hood. 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. It was also an ancient Comanche Native American burial ground, discovered when construction workers unearthed more than 2,200 grave sites in 1998. Boots and hat at Vanessa Guillens memorial, Killeen TX, Jeffrey Epsteins Decades-Long Relationship. Two more who had separated from. Gloria had noticed her losing weight and pressed her for why. 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. Toxic leadership is nothing new. This was true of many I met at Fort Hood, including press officer Major Gabriela Thompson, my tour guide on base, who told me she joined to pay off her student loans: It was my ticket out, she said, echoing other soldiers sentiments about how the military had rescued them from hardscrabble existences. Thirteen people were determined to have committed suicide. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. 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. 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. But when Kim called the police, they dismissed her, telling Kim that her son probably just "took off." He ultimately murdered her when she was eight months pregnant, then set her on fire before fleeing to Mexico. The wave of pain went away as suddenly as it had come on but returned again, and again, and again, over the next hour. The Army said Friday, April 30, 2021, that it has taken disciplinary action against 21 officers and non-commissioned officers at Fort Hood, Texas, in connection with death last year of Spc.. The vast emptiness that is most of the state can make you feel inconsequential, as if you could disappear and no one would know you ever lived. Police reopen case into Fort Hood soldier's death Austin December 25, 2022 Weather View Your 7-Day Forecast Here MILITARY Family hopeful for answers after police reopen case into Fort Hood soldier's death By Olivia Levada Texas PUBLISHED 4:24 PM CT Apr. Subscribers have complete access to the archive. 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.