Photo: Army/Facebook
One suspect is reported to have died by suicide, and another has been taken into custody.
By Jaycee Levin — Written on May 05, 2021
Vanessa Guillen was a Fort Hood Texas United States soldier who went missing in April 2020. Sixty-nine days later, her remains were found in a shallow grave near the Leon River in Belton, Texas.
This week, more than a year after her disappearance, an Army investigation confirms that Guillen was the victim of sexual harassment by a superior officer — and that the Army did not take action against him.
The 264-page report read, "This supervisor created an intimidating, hostile environment. The unit leadership was informed of the harassment as well as the supervisor's counterproductive leadership, and failed to take appropriate action."
According to the site, "Find Vanessa Guillen" Vanessa had disclosed to her mother that she was having problems at Fort Hood. The website claimed that Guillen would not reveal the identity of the sergeant, and that Guillen said, “my mom told me that she would report it for me, but I told her that I knew of other female soldiers that had reported sexual harassment and that the US Army didn’t believe them.”
The family’s lawyer, Natalie Khawam stated at the time, "The facts aren't good. I don't like them. There were a few incidents where she had told her colleagues, her friends, her family about being sexually harassed but she was afraid to report it.
According to the report, the officer who harassed Guillen is a different superior than Spc. Aaron Robinson, the main suspect in Guillen's murder who died by suicide in 2020 the day her remains were found.
Of the new report, Khawam told People, "We were taken aback not because they finally admitted the truth, but the fact that it took so long for them to admit the truth — over a year after she went missing and was murdered. We were telling them the entire time she was sexually harassed and they finally admitted it."
Who is Vanessa Guillen?
Vanessa Guillen was last seen on April 22, 2020 in Fort Hood Texas. She was a 20-year-old private first-class soldier, who always wanted to join the military and serve her country.
The last place that Guillen was spotted was in Killeen, Texas, in the parking lot at the Fort Hood Army base. Her cell phone is the only personal item that is still missing.
According to Army Times, Vanessa was killed in the Armory by another solider, Aaron David Robinson.
Robinson used a hammer to kill her. He then contacted his girlfriend, a married civilian, to help him to dispose of Guillen's body.
When it was discovered that Vanessa Guillen was missing, her barrack-room key, wallet, and ID were found later in the armory room where she was working prior to her disappearance.
The only thing missing is her cell phone. She was last seen in a black shirt and purple workout pants. A full investigation began after complaints were raised by the family.
After two months of no one seeing Guillen, and her family imploring the media and the military to do something to locate her, Army Officials released a public statement saying they are committed to finding her.
What do we know about the search for Vanessa Guillen, the missing Fort Hood Soldier?
On Sunday, June 21, 2020, Fort Hood Deputy Commander Major General Scott Efflandt posted a Facebook video urging the public to offer up any helpful information or clues that will help narrow down her whereabouts.
Efflandt stated, “We want to bring Vanessa home as efficiently and rapidly as possible.
We need to bring Vanessa back to her Army family and to bring her back to her family, and we won’t stop this effort until we’re successful.”
There are countless conspiracy theories as to what happened to Vanessa Guillen.
Some believe that the Army covered up her disappearance and did not want her to be found.
A few theories connect the disappearance of Vanessa Guillen to Private Gregory Wedel-Morales. Wedel-Morales another Fort Hood soldier who went missing in August 2019 whose remains were recently discovered.
According to a statement issued by the United States Army Criminal Investigation Command, "At this point, investigators have no credible information or report that Vanessa Guillen was sexually assaulted or that this case is in any way connected to the investigation into the disappearance of PV2 Gregory Wedel-Morales, who was last seen on the night of 2 Aug. 19, 2019 while driving his car in Killeen, Texas. Both of these allegations have been widely circulated via the media and on social media."
Salma Hayek and other celebrities asked their fans to help find Vanessa Guillen.
Actress Salma Hayek promised to post about Guillen on Instagram every day until she is found.
The disappearance of Guillen grabbed the attention of many celebrities and activists that do not want this case about a woman of color to continue to go unnoticed and unspoken about.
Also, Houston rapper Baby Bash, has donated $5,000 to the reward fund.
Concrete-covered remains were found and confirmed to be Vanessa.
According to Tim Miller, Texas EquuSearch founder, authorities were given a tip to search for Guillen near Leon River in Bell County on Monday, June 22, 2020.
The remains were discovered on Tuesday, July 30, 2020 near the Leon River in rural Bell County.
Clearly, the remains were intended to be heavily hidden and were only discovered when a man who was working around the area inhaled a terrible smell.
On Wednesday, a photo of the site was shown for the first time because Miller declared that the investigators found the lid to a Pelican storage case, which prompted them to pay more attention to the area.
A witness also claimed that they saw the case being loaded into a car around 8:30 pm around the time when Guillen first went missing in April.
Interestingly, the remains were discovered around the same time that the Army declared they promoted Guillen to Specialist, even though she was missing.
A suspect was confronted and later died by suicide.
Army investigators learned Spc. Aaron Robinson was the last person to see Guillen alive. Robinson had told investigators he'd been with his girlfriend, Cecily Aguilar, all night, but a search of Robinson's phone records saw several calls to Aguilar's number.
After being questioned, Aguilar confessed to helping Robinson dispose of Guillen's body. Robinson told her he had bludgeoned Guillen to death with a hammer.
The day Guillen's remains were found, Robinson fled from Ft. Hood. As police approached, he died by suicide.
The Killeen police said in a release that, "as officers attempted to make contact with the suspect, the suspect displayed a weapon and discharged it toward himself. The suspect succumbed from a self-inflicted gunshot wound."
Vanessa Guillen’s family held a press conference on Wednesday and Guillen’s sister Mayra claimed that she met this suspect who killed himself.
Speaking about the deceased suspect related to the Vanessa Guillen case, Mayra said:
"When I first went up to that base, that subject, I met him, not knowing that he had something to do with it. I felt something was telling me that he did something, and I wasn't wrong apparently, and apparently now, he kills himself. Why? I don't know. But whoever is responsible has to pay, and we demand a congressional investigation."
Jaycee Levin is an Instagram influencer and writer who covers astrology, spirituality, love and relationships.