Found Deceased TX - PFC Vanessa Guillen, 20, Fort Hood military base, items left behind, 22 Apr 2020

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NoSI said:
Anyone familiar with the LaVena Johnson case?

I can't seem to locate a thread for her here on WS.
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10 years later, a soldier's family still grieves and questions the Army's version of her death

I had never heard of her until I started looking into VG. Disturbing to say the least. The family kept saying that the Army never gave them any info.,, it sounds similar to this case. The Army isn’t giving any info, and it’s making me really worried that it’s a similar situation. I’m praying that people don’t let this get swept under the rug.
My husband has been in the military for well over 10 yrs, and we’ve never really seen how corrupt it can be. It makes me so sad. I keep praying and thinking of those families that have had loved ones disappear or “suicided”, and not given any details. The LJ case is extremely disturbing. That poor girl. :(
 
irridescentmoon said:
10 years later, a soldier's family still grieves and questions the Army's version of her death

I had never heard of her until I started looking into VG. Disturbing to say the least. The family kept saying that the Army never gave them any info.,, it sounds similar to this case. The Army isn’t giving any info, and it’s making me really worried that it’s a similar situation. I’m praying that people don’t let this get swept under the rug.
My husband has been in the military for well over 10 yrs, and we’ve never really seen how corrupt it can be. It makes me so sad. I keep praying and thinking of those families that have had loved ones disappear or “suicided”, and not given any details. The LJ case is extremely disturbing. That poor girl. :(
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This case isn’t going anywhere, and I’m confident there will be answers in short order.

It was the middle of the day, and there would be quite a few angles to pursue (witnesses, cameras, cell phone records, financial transactions, etc).

What’s frustrating is that we’re in the dark, so we don’t know how far along things are.
 
irridescentmoon said:
10 years later, a soldier's family still grieves and questions the Army's version of her death

I had never heard of her until I started looking into VG. Disturbing to say the least. The family kept saying that the Army never gave them any info.,, it sounds similar to this case. The Army isn’t giving any info, and it’s making me really worried that it’s a similar situation. I’m praying that people don’t let this get swept under the rug.
My husband has been in the military for well over 10 yrs, and we’ve never really seen how corrupt it can be. It makes me so sad. I keep praying and thinking of those families that have had loved ones disappear or “suicided”, and not given any details. The LJ case is extremely disturbing. That poor girl. :(
Click to expand...

Thank you so much! Yes, i am just starting to read up on this case. What I have seen so far is truly unbelievable... Reminded again that i can be pretty naive. Can a terrible crime like this be swept under the rock and attributed to suicide? If that is really the case, i am speechless... That poor girl!

@MassGuy + @GordianKnot (o la la...) :D Any thoughts on this? The LJ case not the elephant in the room...:D
 
MassGuy said:
This case isn’t going anywhere, and I’m confident there will be answers in short order.

It was the middle of the day, and there would be quite a few angles to pursue (witnesses, cameras, cell phone records, financial transactions, etc).

What’s frustrating is that we’re in the dark, so we don’t know how far along things are.
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I really hope so. I’m just so shocked at how little coverage this has had. Even on Twitter, I’ve searched, and haven’t found much info.
I don’t have FB, but as a military spouse, I know first hand that those spouse pages can really have details of what’s going on on base housing.
I’d be very curious to see what people are saying. There are always wives spilling the beans or blurting out info. I bet there has to be some chatter. I can already hear people saying “well my husband’s on the case, and he said...xyz” etc.
I wish I had a fb just to research that right now. I’d bet there’s some info on there that might she’s light on what’s really going on.

ps. I do not miss living on base. We are doing a military move in the summer, and unfortunately may have to live on base again because the housing market isn’t that great there. :/
 
irridescentmoon said:
I really hope so. I’m just so shocked at how little coverage this has had. Even on Twitter, I’ve searched, and haven’t found much info.
I don’t have FB, but as a military spouse, I know first hand that those spouse pages can really have details of what’s going on on base housing.
I’d be very curious to see what people are saying. There are always wives spilling the beans or blurting out info. I bet there has to be some chatter. I can already hear people saying “well my husband’s on the case, and he said...xyz” etc.
I wish I had a fb just to research that right now. I’d bet there’s some info on there that might she’s light on what’s really going on.

ps. I do not miss living on base. We are doing a military move in the summer, and unfortunately may have to live on base again because the housing market isn’t that great there. :/
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Strangely, I haven’t come across much on Facebook.

There are several groups discussing the case, but it’s full of speculation, as we’ve had the same few facts since day one.

I think that because this occurred on base, and the primary investigative agency is CID, the secrecy has killed a lot of the news coverage. There’s just nothing new to report.

Without a major development, the family has basically been forced to make their own news in order to keep this story in the news cycle (that search/outreach today).

This is how military investigations tend to go, especially when you’re talking about NCIS or CID (In this case).

I do think we’ll hear about a development next week.
 
i honestly thought we would’ve heard something today. It’s just so strange to me that no one has really said anything on Twitter. What I mean is I’ve searched for queries containing things like “shady things on ft hood”, “I knew guillen”, etc.

there’s usually always people(esp young kids) tweeting their thoughts on issues like this. I just feel like she may not have had many friends on base- which makes me even more worried if this was indeed a stalker or fellow soldier.

I feel that it was a stalker or some kind of superior that was obsessed with her, and she didn’t have anyone to tell and/or was scared to, thus the high level of secrecy.

even on her sister’s twitter, bf Twitter, etc, there aren’t any tweets from fellow soldiers saying they knew her, or they think they know who did it, etc.

I hope that makes sense. I’m just really sad thinking she was very lonely on that base. And we(husband and I) have always known fr hood is bad. We’ve visited a few times when his uncle was stationed there, and the energy there is def not great. :/
 
NoSI said:
Thank you so much! Yes, i am just starting to read up on this case. What I have seen so far is truly unbelievable... Reminded again that i can be pretty naive. Can a terrible crime like this be swept under the rock and attributed to suicide? If that is really the case, i am speechless... That poor girl!

@MassGuy + @GordianKnot (o la la...) :D Any thoughts on this? The LJ case not the elephant in the room...:D
Click to expand...

I had never heard of that case before reading the article you linked.
Interesting.

At first blush, I don't see any similarities here with that LJ case, aside from the obvious fact that both VG and LJ were female soldiers.

For one thing, CID is pretty aggressively signaling they suspect foul play in this case.
The offer of a reward being extended appears to be rare, and I also saw that the head Army dude made a statement about VG's disappearance yesterday before a national briefing he gave about the Army's response to covid:
Army Officials Press Briefing On The Army's Role In The Defense Department's COVID-19 Efforts_ April 30.

SECRETARY OF THE ARMY RYAN D. MCCARTHY: Good afternoon, everyone. I'd like to start out this morning by talking about a missing soldier, Private First Class Vanessa Guillen, in hopes of increasing the public's awareness and assistance in finding her.

Private First Class Guillen went missing on 22 April from Ford Hood, Texas. In concert with local law enforcement efforts, the Army will continue aggressively searching for her. Our hearts go out to her family, and we will not stop looking for her until we find her.
________

They definitely aren't trying to sweep VG's disappearance under the rug; if anything, the Army appears to really be shining a spotlight on it.

The lack of information I attribute to the CID trying to protect the integrity of their investigation.
They don't want to spook any potential suspect(s).

The case that I've been reminded of is the Erin Corwin murder case out of Twentynine Palms.

It wouldn't surprise me to find out that there are some similar circumstances here in this case.

JMO.
 
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Family, friends search area for missing Fort Hood soldier

KILLEEN, Texas (KWTX) Family and friends of a missing Fort Hood soldier traveled from her hometown of Houston to Killeen on Friday, hoping to get answers in her disappearance.

050120+split+vanessa+guillen+search.jpg

Family and friends of missing Fort Hood soldier Vanessa Guillen arrived in Central Texas on Friday.

Nearly 20 of Pfc. Vanessa Guillen's loved ones arrived at Killeen's Long Branch Park just after 11 a.m.

From there, they walked the streets of Killeen holding signs with Guillen's photo and messages including "Bring Vanessa home" and "We love you and we're praying for you #FindVanessaGuillen."

"Vanessa, you're going to be found. We're going to find you, we're going to do whatever it takes. God knows how many sleepless nights we've had. We're so desperate for answers," said Frida Hernandez.

<snip>

The Army Criminal Investigation Command confirmed Friday authorities have, "conducted dozens of interviews, followed up on all credible investigative leads and assisted with extensive searches by air and ground of Fort Hood."

Officials say the FBI, Belton Police Department and the Texas Department of Public Safety are assisting.

"They are committed to finding Pfc. Guillen and will not stop until they do," Chris Grey, Chief of Public Affairs, said in a statement.
 
bancam said:
Her job speciality was small arms repair. This makes her skillset an extremely valuable commodity to gangs and organized criminals. I can only speculate of course, but I think a very plausible explanation is that she was snatched for her skillset, and I don’t believe that it would be at all difficult to smuggle her off base - it would’ve been a carefully orchestrated grab.

Incidentally, I was quite shocked to read some of the FB comments that seem likely to be from genuine base insiders - everything from details about surveillance camera positioning on buildings at the base (surely unwise in the interests of national security on a public FB page), to personal details of other missing service members from the same base, to suggestions of trafficking activities that are referenced to ranked service members, women locked in cupboards, gang related activities etc. Although all unverified by the very nature of FB, so many “wow” moments just reading through them. If military investigators are doing their job properly, they’ll have plenty of other things to be looking into at Ft Hood as well.
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My best friend since childhood (male, he's like my unofficial "little brother") worked for Army CID for years. The breadth of the types of investigations they dealt with would astound most people.
 
bancam said:
Her job speciality was small arms repair. This makes her skillset an extremely valuable commodity to gangs and organized criminals. I can only speculate of course, but I think a very plausible explanation is that she was snatched for her skillset, and I don’t believe that it would be at all difficult to smuggle her off base - it would’ve been a carefully orchestrated grab.

Incidentally, I was quite shocked to read some of the FB comments that seem likely to be from genuine base insiders - everything from details about surveillance camera positioning on buildings at the base (surely unwise in the interests of national security on a public FB page), to personal details of other missing service members from the same base, to suggestions of trafficking activities that are referenced to ranked service members, women locked in cupboards, gang related activities etc. Although all unverified by the very nature of FB, so many “wow” moments just reading through them. If military investigators are doing their job properly, they’ll have plenty of other things to be looking into at Ft Hood as well.
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Her job was control and inventory. Possibly something was not kosher at the armory.
 
Whether or not searchers are wearing masks has absolutely nothing to do with her disappearance.

The only potential relevancy masks may have to VG's disappearance is that if she was seen with someone in the parking lot that day, that person may in fact have been wearing a mask, potentially making it harder to identify them, especially if they were out of uniform and/or left with her on foot vs. in a vehicle.

JMO.
 
Early on her sister mentioned that VG was interested in getting a new car. Since she was last seen in the parking lot, could someone have contacted her about a car to look at? Go for a test drive?
 
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MassGuy said:
This case isn’t going anywhere, and I’m confident there will be answers in short order.

It was the middle of the day, and there would be quite a few angles to pursue (witnesses, cameras, cell phone records, financial transactions, etc).

What’s frustrating is that we’re in the dark, so we don’t know how far along things are.
Click to expand...
I think we're even going to be even more in the dark in this case with her being military and all and the possibility the crime was committed on base with other military personnel. There won't be press briefings and stuff like that I'm afraid.
 
hey-Debbie said:
I think we're even going to be even more in the dark in this case with her being military and all and the possibility the crime was committed on base with other military personnel. There won't be press briefings and stuff like that I'm afraid.
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I’m a bit surprised they even released that statement last night, although I’m glad they did.

They aren’t messing around here, and there are multiple agencies involved, to include the FBI.

I don’t think we’ll hear much until there is a major development (arrest, body), but I do think that will happen relatively soon. This doesn’t have the elements of becoming an enduring mystery.
 
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