Houston soldier missing from Fort Hood
‘Please help us find her’: Family makes plea as Army offers a reward of up to $15,000
A week has passed since 20year-old Vanessa Guillén went missing from her post at Fort Hood, and her Houston family continues to worry.
“Please help us find her,” said Mayra Guillén, the soldier’s older sister. “It’s like a week now, and I don’t know anything (about) what happened to my sister.”
Private First Class Guillén was last seen about 1 p.m. on April 22 in the parking lot of her barracks, according to the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, which is offering up to $15,000 reward for information leading to her whereabouts.
No information was provided about who was the last person who saw her or if surveillance cameras captured her at the parking lot. Requests for comments from the investigation command were not provided by deadline.
Guillén’s car keys, barracks room key, identification card and wallet were later found in the armory room where she was working earlier that day, the Army said in a news release. The Army said civilian and military law enforcement have conducted an extensive search in the area. The base, in Killeen, covers roughly 340 square miles, crossing two counties in central Texas.
The circumstances of Guillén’s disappearance have raised questions, including on social media closed groups of people with experience in the military, about potential foul play inside the base. Officials have not made comments about such a possibility or on any detail of the investigation.
“Something is not right,” Mayra Guillén said in a Facebook post. Vanessa Guillén’s boyfriend has also posted calls for help with the search in social media.
Vanessa Guillén joined the military recently after graduating from high school. She is described by her family as a person with passion for working out and playing soccer with friends.
The Austin American-States
man reported that Mayra Guillén said she communicated with her sister by text message the night before her disappearance without noticing anything suspicious. The soldier told her she was planning to buy a new car. The soldier’s current vehicle was still at the base when she vanished, the Army said.
Vanessa Guillen was last seen wearing a black shirt, light purple leggings and black shoes. She is 5 feet, 3 inches tall with light brown eyes and long dark hair.
A year ago on March 29, another female soldier, Spc. Erica Demetria Atkinson, was found dead at the Army base.
The Army Criminal Investigation Command said at the time that foul play wasn’t completely ruled out.