Disappearance of Vanessa Guillen

Vanessa Guillén, a 20-year-old U.S. Army soldier, disappeared April 22, 2020 in the early afternoon at Fort Hood, Texas from the parking lot of her barracks where she was stationed with the 3rd Cavalry Regiment. By June 2020, her disappearance had attracted national attention in the United States. On July 1, 2020, at a news conference, her family reported that a body found near Fort Hood was likely that of Vanessa Guillen but not confirmed. The main suspect in the case, Army Specialist Aaron David Robinson, had fled Fort Hood on June 30 and committed suicide on July 1 when he was discovered and approached by authorities in Killeen, Texas. A few weeks before Guillen went missing, she told her family that she was being sexually harassed by an unnamed sergeant at Fort Hood, and that other female soldiers had made reports but the complaints against him had been dismissed. Her mother advised her to report him, but Guillen responded that "she could put a stop to it herself" out of fear that her mother would be harmed for making a report. Her family felt Guillen disappeared under suspicious circumstances. The U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID) said there was no evidence found that Guillen was assaulted but said investigators believed foul play was involved in her disappearance. Due to her time in the service, Guillen was posthumously promoted to the rank of Specialist on July 1, 2020. Background: Guillen was born and raised in the Houston area and is of Mexican descent. Family members said that Guillen "loved to jog but has always been avid about sports and learning." Guillen graduated from Chávez High School in Houston in the top 15% of her class, "where she played soccer and remained active with other physical activities." She joined the United States Army as a 91F (Small arms/Artillery Repairer) in June 2018. Prior to her disappearance, Vanessa had expressed to her mother Gloria that she did not feel safe at Fort Hood. Vanessa told her mother that she was being stalked, harassed, and stared at by a sergeant which made her very uncomfortable. Guillen stated that the unnamed sergeant would follow her while she went jogging. Guillen stated that she had trouble sleeping, something which had never happened to her previously. She referred to the Fort Hood base as "evil". In response, Vanessa's mother stated that she would report the sergeant. Frightened for her mother's safety, Vanessa expressed she would address the issue herself. Disappearance: Guillen went missing at 1 p.m. on April 22, 2020 in the parking lot of Regimental Engineer Squadron Headquarters at Fort Hood, a U.S. military post which covers "roughly 340 square miles of Coryell and Bell counties in central Texas between Waco and Austin and is home to III Corps and the First Cavalry Division, as well as many tenant units." She was last seen wearing a black shirt and purple fitness-type pants. Guillen was described as being "of Hispanic descent, 5 feet 2 inches tall, 126 pounds with black hair and brown eyes." According to her family's website, Guillen "has tattoos of a cross with a flower on her left arm, a flower also on her left arm and a mountain with a circle on her upper left shoulder." Guillen was last seen on April 22. The Army CID was notified on April 23 that she was missing. A witness said Guillen left the arms room where she was working to visit an arms room that was controlled by Spc. Aaron Robinson to confirm serial numbers for weapons and equipment. The witness said Guillen left the arms room without her ID, bankcard, or car keys. Authorities determined through phone records that Guillen's last outgoing text message was to Robinson. He was one of the last people to see Guillen. On April 22, Robinson said he texted Guillen to inform her he was in the arms room. He said she read serial numbers for equipment and afterword, he gave her paperwork and the serial number for a .50 caliber (12.7 mm) machine gun which needed to be serviced. Spc. Robinson said Guillen left the arms room and he believed she would have gone to the motor pool. Witnesses at the motor pool prepared to receive paperwork from Guillen stated she did not arrive with the paperwork. On April 28, the CID interviewed Robinson. He told authorities that after he finished his work on April 22, he went to his off-post residence he shared with Cecily Anne Aguilar and did not leave for the rest of the night except around 6:30 p.m. when he had to come on post to sign on to a government computer to enroll in training. On May 18, two witnesses were interviewed. The two said that on April 22, they saw Robinson pulling a large "tough box" with wheels, that appeared to be heavy with weight out of the arms room where Robinson worked. The two saw him put the box in his vehicle and drive away. On May 19, Robinson consented to a search of his phone. A review showed Robinson called Aguilar multiple times during the night of April 22 and as late as 3:30 a.m. on April 23. He also received calls from Aguilar throughout the day. Aguilar was interviewed on June 19. She told authorities she was with Robinson all night. When asked why Robinson would call her after midnight if they were in the same residence, she said she could not find her phone. During a re-interview, Aguilar told authorities her previous statements were a lie. She said she did leave her residence because she likes to cope with long drives. She said she was with Robinson on the night of April 22 where they took a long drive to a park in Belton to look at the stars. She said they went home after going to the park. Robinson's phone data was then analyzed. That data showed his cellphone was in the vicinity of FM 436 and West Main Street in Belton around 1:59 a.m. on April 23. Specifically, his cellphone was on or around a bridge. The phone was then tracked along the Leon River in a northward direction. His cellphone then remained in that area for roughly two hours. Aguilar's cellphone data revealed she and Robinson were together near the Lean River on April 23 and April 26. That info led authorities to search the area. During the search, a burn site with disturbed soil was identified. What appeared to be burned remains of a plastic tote or tough box were found in the area where Robinson's phone was pinged. According to the affidavit, the soil beneath the burn site was remarkably softer and "moister" than the soil found at similar depths merely feet away and had an odor of decomposition. However, no remains were located. Around 1 p.m. on June 30, the CID was notified that contractors working on a fence adjacent to the Leon River in Belton discovered what appeared to be human remains. Authorities searched the area and found scattered human remains that appeared to have been placed into a concrete-like substance and burned. Authorities then interviewed Aguilar around 8:30 p.m. on June 30. During that interview, she told authorities Robinson told her that he had hit a female soldier in the head with a hammer multiple times in the arms room killing her on Fort Hood. Robinson then put her in a box and moved the box to a location near the Leon River. On the evening of April 22, Robinson picked up Aguilar at a gas station she worked at and took to a site near the Leon River and near a bridge. A box with wheels and handles was already at the site. Aguilar told authorities Robinson walked her over to the woods and opened the box, which had a dead female inside. Aguilar, on a later date, later identified the body as Vanessa Guillen. To more easily dispose of and conceal the body, Robinson and Aguilar dismembered the female's body. They used a hatchet or ax and a machete type knife and removed the limbs and head from the body. The two attempted to burn the body, however it would not burn completely. They placed her body in several spots. Special Agents from the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, along with the U.S. Marshals, Killeen Police Department, and the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force were attempting to locate the junior Soldier from Fort Hood who fled the post late Tuesday, June 30. Robinson was located walking in the 4700 block of East Rancier Avenue. As officers attempted to make contact him, he produced a weapon and committed suicide by shooting himself. He was pronounced deceased at 1:17 a.m. by Justice of the Peace Garland Potvin at the scene. Aguilar was arrested on July 1 for tampering and fabricating physical evidence with intent to impair a human corpse, a second degree felony. The U.S. Marshals are set to take custody of her. Suspects: Early on July 1, Killeen police attempted to make contact with a suspect tied to Guillen's disappearance. According to Army investigators, the suspect Aaron David Robinson killed himself after being confronted. Cecily Anne Aguilar, the estranged wife of a Fort Hood soldier was arrested by Texas Rangers and is being held at the Bell County Jail. On July 2, Bell County officials stated Aguilar would be transferred to federal custody due to being charged with one count of conspiracy to tamper with evidence by the United States Attorney's Office Western District of Texas. Reactions- Family: Guillen's mother, Gloria, informed reporters at a news conference that she did not trust the U.S. Army handling the investigation into Vanessa's disappearance. The family's attorney Natalie Khawam, stated that she believes the family is "being kept in the dark" since, as of June, few details had been released regarding her disappearance. Khawam stated: This is on a federal government base. A military base. There has to be more accountability. And there are more protections and safeguards than anywhere else. How can you not have these answers? The irony. You talk about all these gate checks and all these security checks... yet someone goes missing? This doesn't happen. And the fact that, she wasn't even supposed to be working that day. She was off that day. Why did they call her in? Hundreds of people protested at the gates of Fort Hood in June. Protest organizers stated that "it's unfathomable that in a base such as this that is federally secure they don't know who is coming in or going out or what happened to Vanessa. She did not just disappear into thin air." Others: -Salma Hayek pledged her support in the campaign to find Guillen, committing to post a photograph to her Instagram story everyday until she is found. Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia represents the Guillen family in Congress and has been helping the family since mid-May. She has committed to helping the family get justice for Vanessa and enacting meaningful change that will put an end to sexual harassment and assault in the military. She said "this is not the first time we hear of allegations of sexual assault in the armed services." -Domingo García, president of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), a leading civil rights organization for Latinos, added a $25,000 reward to the existing reward amount of $25,000 announced by the U.S. Army for finding Guillen. -Houston rapper Baby Bash pledged an additional $5,000 to the reward. -New York immigration attorney Luis Gomez Alfaro planned a vigil for Guillen in Times Square for June 19. -On July 1, a campaign was started in an effort to get the army to change the name of the base that is named after a Confederate General John Bell Hood to SPC Vanessa Guillen in honor of her service to this country and help spread the message of eliminating sexual harassment and sexual assault within the Army.