Lawyer: Sergeant Followed Missing Soldier Into Shower

Natalie Khawam says Vanessa Guillen may have texted same sergeant before she vanished
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 24, 2020 9:03 AM CDT
Lawyer: Sergeant Followed Missing Soldier Into Shower
Lupe Guillen, younger sister to missing Pfc. Vanessa Guillen, addresses a crowd outside the gates of Fort Hood military base in Killeen, Texas, on June 12.   (Heather Osbourne/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

Foul play is suspected in the disappearance of 20-year-old Fort Hood soldier Vanessa Guillen, who's now been missing for two months. Texas Rep. Sylvia Garcia held a press conference with Guillen's family on Tuesday after meeting with Army leadership. "They are convinced now there's foul play involved and they are following all the leads that they can," Garcia said, per ABC News. "I still don't understand why it had to take a little more than six weeks for them to start taking action because we started since day one," said Guillen's older sister, Mayra. "Investigate from the top to the bottom, everyone is responsible,” added mother Gloria Guillen, per KXXV. She said she directed officials "to search barrack by barrack and they never did it" so "if my daughter appears dead, close this base immediately."

Chris Grey, Chief of Public Affairs, USA Criminal Investigation Command, says officials have been investigating since April 23 and came to suspect foul play based on information "developed in the last few days," per ABC. KTVT reports officials searched the Leon River on Monday but ultimately found nothing. Guillen was last seen April 22 in the parking lot of her military unit's headquarters. Her wallet, keys, and identification card were found in a room in which she'd been working. Her phone has yet to be found. On the day she vanished, Guillen had apparently texted the serial number of a gun she was tasked with reviewing to a supervisor, attorney Natalie Khawam tells USA Today. Per NBC News, Khawam suspects the supervisor was the same sergeant Guillen claimed had followed her into a shower while she was naked. (Another Fort Hood soldier just turned up dead.)

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