Police in Killeen, Texas say that a suspect in the disappearance of U.S. Army soldier Vanessa Guillen died by suicide when authorities confronted him. The military also announced that a female civilian suspect was arrested separately.
According to cops, special agents with Fort Hood’s Criminal Investigation Command contacted them and U.S. Marshals about a person of interest. Authorities say they found the suspect walking around, but things escalated quickly:
We were informed that the person of interest had left the post and was inside the City of Killeen. During the course of the investigation, information was provided on the location of the suspect. The suspect was located walking in the 4700 block of East Rancier Avenue and as officers attempted to make contact with the suspect, the suspect produced a weapon and committed suicide by shooting himself.
The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene at 1:17 a.m. on Wednesday.
Right now, this individual hasn’t been identified. Police only described him as an active duty soldier. His name was withheld as authorities with the Army Casualty Assistance Office notify next of kin.
We’ve lost a soldier. Her family, every service member, and the American people deserve to know what happened and how justice will be served. There must be a full investigation of her tragic death.
Rest in Peace, PFC Vanessa Guillen. pic.twitter.com/VyubEq7Xax
— Gina Ortiz Jones (@GinaOrtizJones) July 1, 2020
What charges this person could’ve faced remains unclear, but signs point to a homicide case.
Private first class Guillen was last seen on April 22 in a Fort Hood parkling, authorities said. The search for her seems to have ending in tragedy, with the discovery of human remains by the Leon River in Bell County, Texas. The person has to be officially identified.
Meanwhile, Guillen’s family is publicly calling out the U.S. Army, saying Pfc. Guillen had faced sexual harassment, but that she didn’t report it out of fear of retaliation.
The U.S. Army also said Wednesday that Texas Rangers arrested a civilian suspect. She was described as the estranged wife of a former Fort Hood soldier, and is at the Bell County Jail waiting for charges.
“There is still a lot of investigative work to be done and we ask for the public and media’s patience,” Army CID spokesman Chris Grey said. “There are obviously pieces of information and evidence that cannot be shared with the public during an active criminal investigation. Doing so can seriously jeopardize the charging and successful prosecution of individuals. When important investigative information is prematurely released, criminals can and will destroy evidence, conspire to change their stories, build false alibis, etc.”
[Image via U.S. Army]
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