Army Officials Identified Fort Hood Soldier Vanessa Guillen's Remains, Family Attorney Says

The 20-year-old soldier was allegedly bludgeoned to death at Fort Hood by a fellow soldier who later died by suicide.

The army has positively identified the remains of Spc. Vanessa Guillen, her family attorney told BuzzFeed News on Sunday.

Natalie Khawam said Guillen's family was informed by the Army on Sunday, that human remains found earlier this week in Bell County, Texas, belong to the 20-year-old soldier who went missing from her base at Fort Hood in April.

The Army has not yet publicly identified the remains as belonging to Guillen and did not respond to a request for comment on Sunday.

A 20-year-old US Army specialist, Aaron Robinson, allegedly bludgeoned Guillen to death in Fort Hood on April 22, the day Guillen was last seen, according to federal authorities.

Robinson died by suicide in Killeen on Wednesday, as police officers approached him.

Federal authorities arrested Robinson's girlfriend, 22-year-old Cecily Aguilar, who allegedly helped him "mutilate and dispose of" Guillen's body.

Aguilar was charged with one count of conspiracy to tamper with evidence. She was the "estranged wife" of another Fort Hood soldier, according to Army officials.

A criminal complaint alleges Robinson told Aguilar that he had killed Guillen by striking her in the head with a hammer multiple times at the arms room where he worked at Fort Hood. According to the complaint, he also admitted to her that he placed her body in a box and transferred it to a remote site near Leon River in Bell County, the complaint said.

Robinson took Aguilar to the site and the two of them allegedly dismembered the body and attempted to burn it. They placed the body parts in three separate holes and covered up the remains, according to the complaint.

Earlier this week, army officials said investigators had found partial human remains when they returned to an "area of interest" near Leon River during the search for Guillen.

Guillen had been wearing a black T-shirt with purple fitness-type pants when she was last seen in the parking lot of her barracks on April 22.

A witness said she left the arms room where she had been working that day to go to another arms room that was controlled by Robinson, in order to confirm serial numbers for weapons and equipment, according to the complaint.

Her car keys, barracks room key, and identification card were later found in the armory room where she had been working earlier that day.

After Guillen went missing in April, her family informed Army officials that Guillen had told them, and some of her friends, that a male sergeant had walked in on her while she was in the shower in the women's locker room, Khawam told BuzzFeed News.

Khawam said Guillen had not reported the allegations to her supervisors because she feared retaliation.

Army officials said Thursday that their investigation "has not found any connection" between the sexual harassment allegations and her disappearance. Officials said there was no "credible" information so far that Robinson had sexually harassed Guillen and that they were still investigating their relationship.

On Sunday, Texas Rep. Sylvia Garcia issued a statement saying she was "heartbroken" over Guillen's death.

“Vanessa was a 20-year Latina soldier with a bright future ahead of her," Garcia said in a statement. "Sadly, that bright future was cut short while she was serving our country. I will continue to work with the family until they get justice for Vanessa and we guarantee this never again happens to another soldier.”


Skip to footer