fort hood deaths 2021 list

In the same week, Private Edward Casteel, who had been missing from Fort Hood since October 6, was found in a parish jail in Louisiana, arrested after a high-speed chase. (The police opened an investigation on August 19.) The stories are gruesome, then heartbreaking, then beyond belief. Barely a week later, Private Corlton Chee, 25, died during training. A soft October wind carried the first chill of the season. Rodriguez sensed something was off. Fort Hood is a United States Army post located near Killeen, . All rights reserved. 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. My caution wasn't entirely unfounded. She had also missed her standing noon call with her fianc, Juan Cruz. October 14, 2021 Ryan Morgan. After a chase along Rancier Avenue, the same street near which Lovell was found dead, Robinson shot himself and died. 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. She had also missed her standing noon call with her fianc, Juan Cruz. 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? When his parents rushed to the hospital, they saw that Chee, lying unconscious, had bruises and scrapes on his chin and on both sides of his face. I will tell you everything. Fernandes was dropped off at his friends house the next day, August 17, never to be seen again. Later Fort Hood confirmed it was for violating quarantine. It was unclear, in 2020, what American soldiers were fighting for. Fernandes was dropped off at his friend's house the next day, August 17, never to be seen again. Namely, the military. She pleaded not guilty. 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. 1st Class Calvin T. Rockward, 38, died during physical training Oct. 27, 2021. . On August 11, a higher-up called Fernandes's mother, Ailina, to tell her that her son had not shown up for work for two days. This memory now refreshed, Gloria began asking around for a name and soon learned it through Guillens friend: Aaron Robinson, the last person to have seen her daughter. Fort Hood was founded in January 1942 as a training ground for tank destroyers, selected for its varied terrain. Robinson gave Guillen the serial number for a .50 caliber machine gun that needed servicing. A few days later, so did 21-year-old Specialist Trey Ring. Texas as of 9 July 2021; some devices had already been sold and shipped. Victoria a friend of Gregory Wedel-Morales at the site of his remains, Killeen TX. 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. And so his disappearance was no surprise, his father told me. That September, Wedel-Morales, who was from rural Oklahoma, was due to be honorably discharged from the military. Because what the military asks of its men and women is so antisocial, it must co-opt the rhetoric of the family. Frantic, she called around, to no avail. From here, wars are launched. Last December, an internal investigation found that Fort Hoods culture, environment, and leadership resulted in women feeling vulnerable and preyed upon, with no reliable recourse for their very real sense of duress. Barely a week later, Private Corlton Chee, 25, died during training. (The Boley case remains unsolved.) Why hadn't the arms room been treated like the crime scene it was? He had also gotten married without telling his family, been evicted from his apartment, and stopped showing up to work. Back in Houston, Gloria recalled a conversation with her daughter not long before, when Guillen had been home for the weekend. In death, Guillen has become a kind of patron saint for all those who feel wronged by the U.S. military. American military bases, once established, seldom shutter, and Fort Hood, which started operating during World War II, has remained open for business, its 218,000 acres spreading across two counties in central Texas near an otherwise unremarkable town called Killeen. His killers were never looked for properly and thus never found. More than 90 lawmakers earlier this month called for an independent review of how the Army handled the disappearance of Spc. Fort Hood announced that Stump had crashed his car while driving under the influence, though a toxicology report proved inconclusive. Lenz was found dead at Fort Hood on Feb. 1. In a press statement, Fort Hood officials said Hockin, 26, was initially found unresponsive outside of the barracks and was subsequently pronounced dead. Rodriguez disputes this claim. I've even lost myself." Namely, the military. "And how well will that look on your resume? 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. Later Fort Hood confirmed it was for violating quarantine. The police too told Ailina that Fernandes was an adult and that they would not report him as missing. Killeen was named after another disappointing man: Frank Killeen, an assistant general manager to the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway. But advocates for. During the day, though, it was still hot enough that if you dropped a beer bottle, the contents appeared to dry on contact. The first week I spent in Texas that October, 22-year-old Lucas Hicks-Mack went missing on base. ), Wedel-Moraless death was not the first from the base that may have involved bike gangs. The search party arrived at Fort Hood at 3 a.m. Guillen's staff sergeant told the group to come back in the morning. First it was a five-mile run, then it was a two-mile run. A few days later, they spoke again, for the last time. Chee had joined the military in part to support the young family he was starting with his high school sweetheart turned fiance. Their minds both turned to Vanessa, whose hourly texts to family members had gone silent. 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. 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. Rodriguez disputes this claim. "I am astounded nobody is interested," the Fernandes family lawyer Lenny Kesten told me. A few hours later, Robinson, who had mostly been playing video games, escaped Fort Hood by car. (Fort Hood) A soldier in the 1st Cavalry Division was found dead Saturday in his company area, according to a statement from. He had been happy enough there that in February he reenlisted for an additional four years. Before Guillen, there had been Private LaVena Lynn Johnson, who was found dead in a tent in 2005 in Iraq. She doesnt belong to the Army anymore, AnaLuisa Tapia, a local organizer, told me. 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. February 26, 2023 (50 years old) View obituary. (Fort Hood does not count Moore in its official casualty list, as he was a member of the National Guard.). If not, what explained the false accounting? U.S. ARMY INSTALLATION MANAGEMENT COMMAND They are part of Killeen's population of 151,000, many transient and very young, two thirds of whom have military ties. Basic details of the incident kept changing. 2023 Cond Nast. The Montreal Mafia Murders: Blood, Gore, Cannolis, and Hockey Bags, Scene Stealer: The True Lies of Elisabeth Finch, Part 2. 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. On June 30, a construction crew found shallow graves containing human remains that belonged to Guillen. He had been happy enough there that in February he reenlisted for an additional four years. 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. A group of soldiers, including Robinson, greeted them. My caution wasnt entirely unfounded. (Killeen Police stated they have no knowledge of anyone declining to investigate.) 24, 2021 KILLEEN, Texas Spc. Toxic leadership is nothing new. And yet: The data is not really out of the ordinary for U.S. military bases. 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. 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. A young soldier found dead at Fort Hood has been identified, but his cause of death remains hidden. ", When I asked soldiers at Fort Hood what they thought was the matter on base, they mentioned "toxic leadership," a catholic term that seemed to encompass all: lack of care, general command climate, and so-called toxic masculinity. As distressing as the remains in shallow graves or the missing hyoid bone is the fatalism from soldiers and locals alike. 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." All are former soldiers. In 2007, also in Iraq, Specialist Kamisha Blocks death was ruled an accident by a single shot of friendly fire before the family received the body and saw that she had five gunshot wounds, including one to the head. Garrison Policies and Regulations. Robinson himself left soon thereafter, he would testify, to spend the night off post with his girlfriend. On most nights, I had nightmares. Curiously, a few hours after the officers picked up Casteel, he went silent online. Ive lost so much since Ive been in. By then, the Army, it seemed, had stopped providing Wedel-Morales with a sense of purpose, and he had turned to alternate sources of meaning, namely car and motorcycle clubs, and life beyond the base. After he returned to Fort Hood, Rodriguez managed to get Casteel on a video call. Fernandes transferred to another unit where he was called a snitch and worse. III Corps Policies and Regulations . (There was also literal toxicity on base in that some of the mold-infested barracks where soldiers lived were "technically condemned," according to Maureen Elliott, a military spouse and a housing advocate.). At first blush, such violence at a base that calls itself the Great Place may seem extraordinary, inexplicable even. Fort Hood Weather. Robinson himself left soon thereafter, he would testify, to spend the night off post with his girlfriend. Hockin was found dead behind his company barracks. Toxic leadership is nothing new. 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. These figures eclipse American casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq in the same year. 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. 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. He told his sister there were three white soldiers who did not like him. On August 28, Chee was called into a training run. When Ailina offered the Fort Hood authorities the contents of her son's car, including a laptop, iPad, and external hard drive, they declined to investigate further. They checked into a nearby hotel and returned at 8 a.m. the next day. His mother, Kim, only heard from her son when he needed money. "That is the opposite of what he's been consistently saying.". That most soldiers enlist when they are still teenagers, their yet-unformed minds taught to kill. Spc. Ever since returning from a deployment to Iraq in February 2019shipped off two months after basic training for a nine-month tourRing had become withdrawn, developed a drinking problem, and had been arrested for drunk driving. By. At the Dollhouse, he got to know Penny Morales, a dancer and mother of two. Why was Robinson not put under watch? The family began posting online about Guillens disappearance and distributing Missing fliers. Justice for Vanessa Guillen. Bill to attend technical school in Houston to work on wind turbines or oil rigs off the coast of Louisiana. 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. His body was mostly intact but for his hyoid, which was never found. Is it possible Elder was murdered? [2] After he returned to Fort Hood, Rodriguez managed to get Casteel on a video call. he asks, then answers. When the family exhumed his body in November 2020 for want of a second opinion, the independent autopsy revealed that the bone had in fact gone missing.) "Is it possible Elder was murdered? Those remains, it turned out, belonged to yet another soldier, Private Gregory Wedel-Morales, who had gone missing the previous summer. (Facebook) Two weeks later, Delacruz . 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. SHARE. We believe that Every Life has a Story which should be told and preserved. On April 30, 2021, Fort Hood found that Guillen had indeed been sexually harassed by a soldier, but not Robinson.). Fernandes's family told me they have never been interviewed. Courtesy | Margie Taylor Spc.. Yet instead of being taken into custody, Robinson was placed in a conference room on base, initially, it was said, for committing adultery, which is against the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Spc. Chris and Moses friends of Gregory Wedel-Morales at the site of his remains, Killeen TX. (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. Fort Hood informed Rodriguez that he had asked for this. And on June 19, skeletal remains were found in a field behind a cul-de-sac of a residential neighborhood in Killeen. 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.