Cecily Aguilar is the only suspect arrested in the death of Vanessa Guillén, who was killed at Fort Cavazos, formerly known as Fort Hood, near Killeen, Texas. Aguilar was 24 years old when she pleaded guilty in November at a federal court in Waco, Texas, to one count of accessory to murder after the fact and three counts of making a false statement, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Aguilar aided boyfriend Army Spc. Aaron Robinson, 20, of Calumet City, Illinois, in dismembering and disposing of Guillén’s body in a rural, wooded area in Killeen, according to federal and state authorities. Robinson died by suicide on July 1, 2020, the day Guillén’s remains were found.

Guillén was declared missing in April 2020, when her family said they did not hear from her for an unusual amount of time after she was called in for a shift in the military base’s armory room.

According to a criminal complaint, Aguilar said she and Robinson — who authorities accuse of bludgeoning Guillén to death at the base — disposed of her body by mutilating it and hiding the remains in nearby woods.

Two weeks after Guillén’s body was found, Aguilar pleaded not guilty to conspiracy charges. Later, a judge dismissed her legal team’s attempt to throw out her confession because she said she had not been read her Miranda rights at the time her statement was taken.

Guillén’s family has said they believe she was sexually harassed during her time at the Texas military base. While Army officials have said they do not believe Robinson harassed Guillén, they admitted in a report a year later that Guillén was harassed by another soldier at the base.

Following Guillén’s death, her family’s claims that she was harassed and assaulted at the Texas base ignited a movement on social media of former and active service members who shared their experiences at military bases throughout the country using the hashtag #IAmVanessaGuillen.

Then-U.S. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said during a visit to the Texas base that it had one of the highest rates of murder, sexual assault and harassment in the Army, later adding that the patterns of violence were a direct result of “leadership failures. “

State and federal lawmakers passed legislation in 2021 honoring Guillén that removed some authority from commanders and gave survivors more options to report abuse and harassment. Army officials disciplined 21 commissioned and non-commissioned officers in connection with Guillén’s death.

The family of 20-year-old Vanessa Guillen is seeking damages on the basis of sexual harassment, abuse, assault, rape, sodomy and wrongful death.

An investigation by military officials into the death of Guillen, who was killed by a fellow soldier at U.S. Army base Fort Hood, found that she was also sexually harassed and that leaders failed to take appropriate action. The lawsuit describes two instances in which Guillen was harassed during her time as a soldier and Guillen’s suicidal thoughts as a result of coping with the harassment, which she told family that she did not report for fear of retaliation.

“This will be an opportunity for every victim to feel not only like they have a voice but that they can be made whole,” said Natalie Khawam, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the Guillen family.

The lawsuit follows a decision Thursday by a three-judge panel from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco stating that an Army colonel could proceed with a lawsuit against a former Air Force General over a sexual assault allegation. The court found that a law baring service members from seeking damages over injuries during service did not apply.

Guillen was declared missing in April 2020. Her remains were found that July, when the soldier accused of killing Guillen died by suicide following a confrontation with officers. A civilian faced charges for allegedly helping Robinson dispose of Guillen’s remains.

Guillen’s death and claims by her family that she was harassed and assaulted at the Texas base sparked a social media movement of former and active service members who came forward about their own experiences in the military with the hashtag #IAmVaessaGuillen. State and federal lawmakers have since passed legislation in honor of Guillen that removed some authority from commanders and gave survivors more options to report.

Sgt. Daniel Perry, who was stationed at Fort Hood, was booked and released on $300,000 bail, said Kristen Dark, a spokeswoman for the Travis County Sheriff’s Office.

Perry’s attorney, Clint Broden, has said the soldier was working for a ride-sharing company and acted in self-defense after Foster pointed a gun at him. Broden issued a statement Thursday expressing disappointment in the indictment and confidence that Perry would be acquitted.

“It is important to note that the standard of proof required for an indictment is significantly less than the standard of proof required for a conviction,” the statement said.

Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza said in a press conference Thursday that the grand jury returned indictments against Perry for the charges of murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and a deadly conduct misdemeanor charge in the July 25 death of Garrett Foster, 28. He said the grand jury reviewed evidence from investigations by the District Attorney’s office and a three-week investigation by Austin officers, who reviewed over 150 exhibits and interviewed 22 witnesses. Garza said Perry declined to testify before the grand jury, but that Perry’s attorney did provide a packet with information, which was shared with the grand jury with the exception of details not admissible in a trial.

Garza said his office planned to request that Perry surrender his firearms, in addition to other conditions, for his release.

Foster was killed during a night of protests and unrest in several U.S. cities. In the immediate aftermath, then-Police Chief Brian Manley said officers heard “two separate volleys of gunfire” and made their way to the crowd, where they found Foster with multiple gunshot wounds.

Perry’s attorneys have previously told The Associated Press that their client had just dropped off a rider when he turned onto a street filled with protesters who began beating on his vehicle. They said that Foster approached the car and motioned with his gun for Perry to lower his window. Perry initially thought Foster worked in law enforcement and put his window down, they said. But when Foster raised his weapon toward Perry, the soldier realized Foster was not a police officer and shot him in self-defense with a handgun in his car, the attorneys said.

Acacia Coronado is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

The bill proposed in memory of Spc. Vanessa Guillen and approved by the state Senate on April 12 would give members of the military in Texas more ways to report crimes outside their chain of command and to have those crimes independently investigated by the Texas Rangers. The bill heads next to the House. A similar proposal was introduced to Congress last fall.

“It was passed unanimously out of the Senate. There is no opposition to it,” said state Sen. Cesar Blanco, D-El Paso, who authored the Texas bill. “I think that demonstrates to Congress that this is not a partisan bill, that when Republicans and Democrats work together on meaningful reforms for military forces, that change can happen.”

Guillen, 20, was reported missing April 22, 2020, and her charred, dismembered remains were found July 1. Federal investigators said fellow Fort Hood soldier Spc. Aaron Robinson, who died by suicide during the investigation, killed her. Guillen’s family says they believe Robinson also sexually harassed her, but the Army says they have no evidence of harassment from Robinson.

Guillen’s case became a rallying cry for military sexual assault survivors to denounce their experiences, and that movement has prompted calls for cultural change within the military from Texas to Washington.

Blanco’s bill would also establish a sexual assault response coordinator outside the chain of command to provide members of the military in Texas who report accusations of sexual violence with help and resources, whether or not the report is filed with law enforcement or inside the military. It is one of multiple bills submitted to the Texas Legislature this session in honor of Guillen.

Sexual assaults are vastly under-reported in the general population, and the military has acknowledged for years that it’s a particular problem in its ranks.

Guillen’s family and their attorney, Natalie Khawam, have repeatedly said that Guillen was too afraid to report the harassment she was facing to her chain of command.

Lupe Guillen, Vanessa Guillen’s sister, said this week that Guillen’s mother told her late daughter to rip her contract and come home if she did not feel safe after her daughter told her the harassment and fear she was facing at the base.

“My sister responded, ‘Do you want me to go to jail?’” Lupe Guillen said. “Once you sign the contract you are their property, you are their number. When are we going to protect the victim and not the victimizer?”

In the year since her sister’s death, Lupe Guillen said, the family has yet to see significant change. They gathered a press conference Tuesday to continue their fight with Texas representatives and senators to mark the grim anniversary with a series of legislative proposals that would include naming part of a highway after Guillen, and a resolution for Congress to approve a similar, bi-partisan bill, the “I am Vanessa Guillen Act.” Khawam said the family expects a congressional hearing on that bill in May.

“For all voices in the military, it is very frustrating for our men and women to wonder when they will be protected, when these protections will come into place,” Khawam said. “If you are not afraid of a bullet but you are afraid to report sexual harassment, you know there is something really wrong with the system.”

Blanco, himself a U.S. Navy veteran, said the military had failed Guillen and that he wanted to ensure that Texas did not do the same.

A civilian criminal case on Guillen’s slaying remains open, and multiple investigations inside the Army into the deaths and leadership at Fort Hood continue.

Results from an independent review of the base released in December led to the suspension or firing or at least 14 people from the Texas base, inspired Operation People First by military leaders to rebuild trust and found that the Texas base had a widespread pattern of violence, including murder, sexual assault and harassment.

Acacia Coronado is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

FORT HOOD, Texas — The skepticism in the rooms was palpable when U.S. Army leaders met with soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, in recent days, to check in on the embattled base, which has been stricken with violence and eroded morale over the past year.

There were nervous looks, shakily raised hands and questions about whether any changes for the good might just disappear in a few months.

“I feel like leaders are just checking off boxes,” one male soldier said Thursday, as Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Grinston, the top enlisted soldier, visited the base on a listening tour. Another soldier told him: “I have no idea what your true intentions are.”

For Grinston, the distrust was the most discouraging part of his daylong effort to meet with a range of soldiers, from new recruits to senior leaders.

“I think we’ve lost some trust. And, you know, we’re trying to rebuild that trust,” he said in an interview with the Associated Press, as he was heading back to Washington, D.C.

More than two dozen Fort Hood soldiers died in 2020, including multiple homicides and suicides. The death of Vanessa Guillen, whose remains were found in July, triggered a social media movement of former and current military service people speaking out about sexual assault and harassment on the base. Investigators say Guillen was slain by a fellow soldier her family says harassed her.

Her death and other violence and problems at the base prompted a series of reviews, culminating in an independent report released in December that highlighted high rates of assault, harassment, leadership problems and issues with Fort Hood’s criminal investigation division. Fourteen people were fired or suspended in connection to the findings. And leaders have begun to implement changes to improve morale and commanders’ relationships with soldiers there.

Grinston’s visit was aimed at checking in on the progress.

“What bothered me the most,” he said, “is, I think we’ve gained their trust. But they said, are we going to keep up the momentum? Are we going to do this? And they were skeptical.”

The AP was allowed to have a reporter in the room for several of Grinston’s meetings with the soldiers, under an agreement that the soldiers would not be identified by name. The Army said that request was made due to concerns of retaliation.

Grinston, along with other Army leaders, met with dozens of soldiers. Most said the communication with their leaders has improved, more time and attention has been given to training, and exercises to build trust among teams are helping improve the mood.

But the distrust remained. At least half of the soldiers present during two sessions that the AP observed agreed that the push for improvement was a reaction to public outcry over high-profile deaths.

They said there is still not enough follow-up with counseling, and they are worried that things will go back to the way they were after public attention shifts.

“The whole world is looking at Fort Hood, so they want to see you come here,” one female soldier said. “Obviously it is the right thing to do, but they want to see that.”

Grinston said he was encouraged that soldiers believed things were heading in the right direction now, and that many were positive about their jobs and their fellow soldiers and commanders.

He said the soldiers he met with told him: “Don’t stop getting to know your soldiers. Don’t stop calling the families. Don’t stop doing small unit physical fitness. Do those team building events. We want to do more.”

He said he delivered those sentiments to the leaders and officers he met with.

He added that he wants soldiers “to trust that the Army is going to keep up this momentum.”

“We’ve got to maintain the momentum and keep their trust that we actually are going to keep doing this,” he added.

Sgt. Maj. Shane Munday, who assumed command of the 3rd Cavalry Regiment in December, said he recognizes the degree of distrust that remains and is working to meet with soldiers to “show them that I am here to take care of them.”

In October, Army officials announced a corps-wide initiative that aims to regain trust and address cultural problems. Sgt. Maj. Julie Guerra, an Army G-2 sergeant major at the Pentagon and one of the tri-chairs of the People First Task Force, which aims to make recommendations for improvement, was also present during the listening sessions. She said she was “disgusted” and “very discouraged” by the findings in the December report.

“I was discouraged that we had gotten to a point in our Army that there was a persistent and pervasive culture that soldiers did not feel safe inside their formations,” Guerra said.

Guerra said the task force will be taking a “critical look” at the Army’s Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention Program and a missing soldier policy has already been approved by the secretary of the Army.

A congressional investigation, which was initiated days after the Sgt. Elder Fernandes was found dead after being reported missing in August, is still pending. The investigation into Guillen’s death is ongoing.

Lolita C. Baldor reported from Washington, D.C. Acacia Coronado is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

She said authorities promised the disciplinary report would be wiped from her record if she didn’t make a formal complaint. Valentine’s decision not to file one would haunt her years later when she learned another woman had accused the same sergeant of rape.

Valentine is one of five women — two active duty soldiers, two veterans and one civilian — who spoke to The Associated Press about experiencing harassment, assault or rape by soldiers at Fort Hood, the other four since 2014.

Current and former soldiers have taken to social media with their own accounts of sexual assault and harassment at the base following the disappearance and slaying this year of Spc. Vanessa Guillen, whose family members say was sexually harassed by the soldier who eventually killed her.

“I wasn’t surprised,” Valentine said after learning about Guillen’s story. “That was the environment. I live with the regret that I did not go through with the complaint.”

Maj. Gabriela Thompson, a Fort Hood spokeswoman, told the AP she had no information about Valentine’s allegation.

Members of Congress launched an investigation of Fort Hood in September after Sgt. Elder Fernandes was found dead on Aug. 25 hanging from a tree in Temple, Texas, months after reporting sexual harassment.

Guillen and Fernandes are among 28 soldiers at the base to have died this year, including five homicides and six suicides, according to Army data. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy says that based on Fort Hood’s average of 129 violent crimes between 2015 and 2019, it has one of the highest violent crime rates among Army installations.

The Associated Press typically doesn’t publish the names of sex abuse victims, but two women who said they were sexually assaulted by soldiers at Fort Hood decided to speak on the record to describe what they say is a disturbing culture at the base. Many victims have become connected by sharing their experiences using the hashtag #IAMVANESSAGUILLEN.

Among them is Deborah Urquidez, who told the AP she was raped by the same officer, Staff Sgt. Roberto Jimenez, Valentine said harassed her more than a decade earlier.

Urquidez said her relationship with Jimenez in 2014 began consensually, but that later he raped her while a friend desperately tried to break into the room to stop him. Then came months of stalking, threatening messages and a lengthy battle in military court in which he was found not guilty, according to court documents obtained by the AP. Urquidez was given a temporary military protective order against the sergeant for an “alleged sexual assault.”

The Department of Veterans Affairs considers her permanently disabled after she reported the rape and the trauma, which included multiple suicide attempts, according to documents obtained by the AP.

“There was never justice for me,” Urquidez said. “In any other world, what more evidence do you need?”

Jimenez later filed for a protective order against Urquidez. A Fort Hood spokesperson said the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command investigated and the accused was acquitted of all charges following a military court-martial in 2017. He remains on active duty at Fort Bliss. Officials from Fort Bliss did not comment or provide a comment from Jimenez.

But Fort Bliss said the base holds the same standards against sexual harassment and sexual assault as the U.S. Army and takes all reports seriously and investigates them quickly.

Kaitlyn Buxton, a civilian, said her partner, Brandon Espindola, then stationed at Fort Hood beat her numerous times and raped her in 2018 at their off-base apartment in Killeen. On one occasion at the barracks, he pinned her down and repeatedly punched her in the face while she screamed for help, Buxton said.

A Fort Hood officer went with his wife to their apartment during one altercation after Buxton called for help. Buxton said members of Espindola’s chain of command saw her body bruised on more than one occasion.

The Killeen Police Department eventually granted Buxton a protective order and charged Espindola with assault with bodily injury and assault by strangulation, but records show he bonded out and the case was closed.

Buxton said military police have taken no action on a separate case she filed in 2018, which was briefly closed and then reopened this past August. Espindola has since been discharged from the Army on unrelated matters.

“The whole process has been a constant victimization,” Buxton said. “No matter what I do, my voice is not being heard.”

Sean Timmons, Espindola’s attorney, said his client “maintains his innocence to all allegations and charges and believes they are fabricated.” The Killeen Police Department did not respond to a request for comment. A Fort Hood spokesperson said they had no information on this allegation.

According to a federal complaint, the soldier who killed Guillen, Aaron Robinson, died by suicide in July when confronted by police. Natalie Khawam, who represents the Guillen family, told the AP that Guillen shared with family members that a soldier of superior rank walked in and watched her when she was showering. Khawam said Guillen was too scared to file a report.

McCarthy said though it is believed Guillen faced other kinds of harassment at Fort Hood, officials have found no report or evidence that she was sexually harassed. Since then, an independent inquiry of command climate has been ordered at the Texas base, in addition to the ongoing investigation into the command response to Guillen’s disappearance and death.

In a press conference the morning after Fernandes’ body was found, Lupe Guillen, the younger sister of Vanessa Guillen, said Fernandes was an example of why her sister did not report the harassment she experienced.

“How many more must die at Fort Hood for them to be held accountable?” Lupe Guillen said. “How many more have to be sexually harassed?”

Rep. Jackie Speier, a California Democrat who is among the members of Congress investigating Fort Hood, coauthored the I Am Vanessa Guillen Act. It aims to expand measures aimed at preventing sexual assault and harassment involving U.S. military personnel, including codifying sexual harassment as a crime in military law and removing decisions on whether to prosecute sexual assault and harassment out of the chain of command.

“The voices of those survivors have never been louder or more clear,” Speier said. “This is the military’s ‘#MeToo moment.”

Acacia Coronado is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

“We are calling for a congressional investigation as soon as possible,” Natalie Khawam told Military Times Wednesday afternoon. “We want to make sure the family gets the information they deserve.”

At a press conference at Fort Hood, officials confirmed that Fernandes, 23, whose home of record is listed as Brockton, Mass., was found near Lake Polk in Temple, Texas.

Khawam said the family is asking for information about investigations into whether Fernandes, 23, was sexually assaulted before disappearing Aug. 17, and why he was hospitalized for nearly a week before his disappearance. Khawam said she spoke earlier Wednesday with Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren, as well as Rep. Steven Lynch, all Democrats from Massachusetts, Fernandes’ home state.

“I am heartsick for Sergeant Elder Fernandes’ family and his hometown of Brockton,” said Warren in a statement. “I am working with my colleagues in the Massachusetts Congressional Delegation to demand a full, transparent investigation into this tragedy and the conditions at Fort Hood. Elder was a son, a brother, and a U.S. soldier, and his family deserves justice.”

Fort Hood public affairs officer Lt. Col. Chris Brautigam said in a statement earlier this week that there is an “open investigation of abusive sexual contact” involving Fernandes.

“The unit sexual assault response coordinator has been working closely with Sgt. Fernandes, ensuring he was aware of all his reporting, care and victim advocacy options,” Brautigam said in the statement. Fernandes had been transferred to another unit “to ensure he received the proper care and ensure there were no opportunities for reprisals,” he said.

The call for action comes on the heels of a letter sent Tuesday by Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., chairwoman of the House Armed Services military personnel subcommittee, and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., ranking member of the Senate Armed Services personnel subcommittee, to acting Defense Department Inspector General Sean O’Donnell repeating their July 2 call for an investigation into the disappearance and killing of Army Spc. Vanessa Guillén.

Guillén’s body was found in July after her disappearance in April. A fellow soldier killed himself after being confronted by police the day 20-year-old Guillén’s remains were found, officials said. A 22-year-old civilian woman is charged with helping that soldier dispose of Guillén’s body.

There will be a press conference at 4 p.m. in Tampa to discuss the Fernandes case, said Khawam. Guillen’s relatives, who are also represented by Khawam and were visiting her in Tampa, will also be there, she said.

Gruesome discovery

Fernandes’ body was found about 30 miles from Fort Hood, the Army base in central Texas where he was stationed, Fort Hood officials said Wednesday afternoon.

Fernandes was last seen in Killeen on Aug 17.

According to a Fort Hood media release:

When he was reported absent on Aug. 18, Soldiers from his unit initiated a thorough search for him, both on and off post while cooperating with the Killeen Police Department and U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID) in an attempt to find him. The unit distributed his photograph, searched motorpools, parking lots, barracks, and headquarters buildings. Members of his unit visited local hotels and hospitals throughout Central Texas trying to find him as they expanded their search efforts.

The unit is cooperating with local authorities from the cities of Killeen and Temple as this incident remains under investigation.

Fernandes is the third soldier from Fort Hood to go missing in the past year. Two have been found dead this summer.

Temple police received a medical call at 5:36 p.m. saying a male had been seen near some railroad tracks, according to the statement. When officers arrived, they determined the man was dead.

Foul play is not suspected, police said, but the investigation is ongoing. His identification was found with the body. Forensic confirmation of the identification is pending and an autopsy has been ordered.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the Fernandes family during this challenging time,” Temple Police Chief Shawn Reynolds said.

Fernandes was reported missing by Killeen and U.S. Army police on Aug. 19. He was last seen Aug. 17, when officials said a superior dropped him off at his house. Fort Hood officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

Isabel Fernandes said her nephew was happy in the Army and had just renewed his contract until 2024. But she said things changed when, according to the accounts they have gathered from multiple people close to Elder Fernandes, he filed a sexual-assault claim against a superior on May 11. She said the family has also learned he was bullied, harassed and hazed when he was moved to a new unit following the assault.

Army Criminal Investigations Division special agent Damon Phelps confirmed Wednesday that Elder Fernandes reported that someone had “reached out and touched his buttocks.” Phelps said an investigation was completed, no witnesses were found and the allegation was determined unsubstantiated. Officials declined to give the identity of the accused, who they said took a polygraph test.

Officials said in a previous statement that Fernandes was transferred to a different unit within the brigade following the report and they are unaware of reports of bullying or hazing.

According to Isabel Fernandes, the family was told by Army officials that a different superior signed her nephew’s hospital release. The superior dropped him off outside of a house belonging to a former roommate of Elder Fernandes.

But Fernandes never made it to the friend’s door.

The Army and the Fernandes family had asked the public for help finding the missing soldier.

Fernandes’ mother, Ailiana Fernandes, and aunt Isabel Fernandes spoke to The Associated Press late Monday, less than a day before the police announcement. His mother said she last heard from her son on Aug. 16, the evening before he was set to be released from Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center, where he was getting psychiatric care. He told her he would call the next day, but she never heard from him again, she said.

Isabel Fernandes said the family has not been told the reason for his stay in the psychiatric wing at the Army medical facility or whether it was voluntary. She said the family has not seen his medical records due to privacy protections.

“I am saddened that another soldier who served the country has been destroyed by sexual assault and sexual harassment and this toxic culture in the military that exists,” said Khawam.

In a visit to Fort Hood earlier this month, U.S. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said the central Texas base has some of the highest numbers of sexual assault, harassment and murder. He ordered an independent probe of Fort Hood in July, after authorities said Guillen was slain.

A soldier since 2016

Fernandes entered the Army in September 2016 as a chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear specialist and has been assigned to the 553rd Combat Sustainment Support Battalion (CSSB), 1st Sustainment Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division since April 2019, according to the media release.

Fernandes’ awards and decorations include the Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and Army Service Ribbon.

“The Wagonmaster Family is heartbroken with the news of Sgt. Fernandes’ passing,” said Col. Patrick Disney, commander of the 1st Cav. Div. Sust. Bde. “Since his absence was reported, we have made a significant, concerted effort to search for him throughout Central Texas. We are grateful for the outpouring of support and assistance we received as we worked to find him. We send our deepest and most heartfelt condolences to his Family and friends.”

Horrific coincidence

Khawam told Military Times she learned about the probable discovery of Fernandes’ remains while dining in Tampa, Florida, with Guillen’s family.

“Last night, Vanessa Guillen’s sisters flew into Tampa,” she said. “I told them to come here, take a little getaway.

Shortly before 10 p.m., Khawam said she received a phone call that the Army had called the Fernandes family and asked to meet them at the Killeen police station, near Fort Hood, to talk about the case. In subsequent phone calls, the family told Khawam that Fernandes’ body had been found by a railroad employee about 30 miles east of Fort Hood. Fernandes was hanging from a tree, she said. His military ID was in his pocket and his driver’s license in a backpack near his body.

Khawam said that after finishing dinner, she informed Guillen’s sisters about the discovery.

“Mayra Guillen told me she wanted to vomit after hearing the news,” said Khawam. “I did, too.”

Identification found with the body in Temple, Texas, indicates the man may be missing Fort Hood soldier Sgt. Elder Fernandes, according to a statement from local police. Forensic confirmation is pending.

Fernandes is the third soldier from Fort Hood to go missing in the past year, and two have been found dead this summer.

Temple police received a medical call at 5:36 p.m. saying a male had been seen near some railroad tracks, according to the statement. When officers arrived, they determined the man was dead.

Foul play is not suspected, police said, but the investigation is ongoing. An autopsy has been ordered.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the Fernandes family during this challenging time,” Temple Police Chief Shawn Reynolds said.

Natalie Khawam, who is representing the Fernandes family, said Army police told family members about the discovery late Tuesday night. She said the body was found hanging in a tree.

Fernandes’ backpack was with him, Khawam said, and police found the 23-year-old man’s driver’s license inside.

Fernandes was reported missing by Killeen and U.S. Army police on Aug. 19 after he was last seen on Aug. 17, when officials said a superior dropped him off at his house. Fort Hood said in a statement over the weekend that Fernandes had transferred units after reporting sexual abuse, an Army official said in a statement.

Fort Hood officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. The Army and the Fernandes family, from Massachusetts, had asked the public for help in finding the missing soldier.

“I am saddened that another soldier who served the country has been destroyed by sexual assault and sexual harassment and this toxic culture in the military that exists,” said Khawam, who is also representing the family of Vanessa Guillen, another Fort Hood soldier who went missing and who was found dead.

The Army said a fellow soldier killed her.

U.S. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said in a visit to Fort Hood earlier this month that the Central Texas base had some of the highest numbers of sexual assault, harassment and murder. He ordered an independent probe of Fort Hood in July, after authorities said Guillen was slain.

Vanessa Guillen, who was last seen on April 22, was memorialized nearly four months after she is said to have been killed by a fellow soldier at Fort Hood, a U.S. Army base in Texas. Mourners gathered at Cesar Chavez High School in Houston, where Guillen grew up playing soccer and dreaming of joining the military.

“She’s very happy where she is next to God and the Virgin Mary,” Lupe Guillen said. “We are not here for justice or politics today. We are here to remember, honor and respect Vanessa Guillen and her beautiful life, her tender heart and her beautiful face.”

In a private moment just before entering the school’s auditorium — where flowers in green and yellow hues, balloons, religious images and pictures of Guillen adorned the stage — family and friends walked behind the casket, accompanying Guillen on a last lap around the field she frequented as a teenager. Guillen’s mother and grandmother grasped each other as they prayed over the casket through sobs.

Standing in front of the casket, Guillen’s grandmother shared a story about the chocolates she carried in her purse. She said they were her granddaughter’s favorite, and she brought them for her from Mexico every visit. Her last memory of her granddaughter is from December, when Guillen was leaving to work and turned back, gave her a hug and money and told her to buy herself a treat, a soda, or something she liked that was just for her to enjoy.

“Now, I am here to lay these, her favorite chocolates, at my Vanessita’s grave,” Guillen’s grandmother said in Spanish.

Guillen’s best friend, Jocelyn Sierra, said they met at Cesar Chavez High School five years ago. She said although it has been 114 days since Guillen died, she feels her presence with her every day. Sierra said the last time she saw Guillen was a week before she went missing, when they ate pizza together and watched the movie “G.I. Jane.”

The Roman Catholic service was open to the public and was being streamed online. The memorial was scheduled to last until 8 p.m., with praise sessions, prayers and testimonials. Guests included U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Texas, and friends of the Guillen family. Guillen’s remains will be laid to rest after a private ceremony Saturday.

Guillen’s story has renewed a push for changes in the way the military handles sexual abuse and harassment from Fort Hood to Capitol Hill.

Natalie Khawam, who is representing the Guillen family, said the family is thankful to President Donald Trump because the White House helped to expedite the process of giving Guillen’s remains to relatives so they could have a funeral.

Guillen disappeared from Fort Hood, where she was stationed, on April 22, and Army officials confirmed July 6 that her remains had been found. Investigators said she was bludgeoned to death on base by a fellow soldier, who later killed himself, according to a federal complaint.

Civilian Cecily Aguilar, 22, is charged with a federal count of conspiracy to destroy evidence in helping dispose of the body. She has pleaded not guilty and is being held at the Bell County Jail.

Guillen’s family has said she was sexually harassed by the soldier suspected of killing her, but the Army has said there is no evidence of that.

The Army is investigating Guillen’s death. Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy ordered an independent review of the command climate at Fort Hood following Guillen’s slaying.

Members of Congress have joined advocates for women demanding systemic shifts in military culture. Some have invoked the hashtag #NiUnaMas, meaning “not one more woman dead,” a rallying cry in Mexico against the killing of women.

Acacia Coronado reported from Austin.

This story has been corrected to show that Guillen’s family has said the solider suspected of killing her also harassed her.

The law firm Broden & Mickelsen said Thursday night that it is representing Sgt. Daniel Perry, who is on active duty with the U.S. Army.

Perry has not been charged, and Austin police have not named him as a suspect in their investigation. Police asked the public for tips and video Thursday to help in their investigation of the killing of Garrett Foster, 28.

Foster was shot July 25 as demonstrators marched through downtown Austin. He was taken to a hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

The law firm said Perry was in Austin that night driving for a ride-share company. Perry dropped off a client and was waiting for his next rider when he turned right onto a street and encountered the protest that he didn’t know was happening, according to a statement from attorney Clint Broden.

“When Sgt. Perry turned on the Congress Avenue, several people started beating on his vehicle,” the law firm’s statement said. “An individual carrying an assault rifle, now known to be Garrett Foster, quickly approached the car and then motioned with the assault rifle for Mr. Perry to lower his window.”

Perry initially thought Foster worked in law enforcement and put his window down, the law firm said. But then Foster raised his weapon toward Perry, according to the law firm, and Perry realized Foster was not a police officer.

The statement said several witnesses confirmed this account.

Perry, who carried a handgun in his car, fired at Foster in self defense, Broden said. Someone in the crowd then fired at Perry’s vehicle, so Perry drove to away and called the police.

Perry is cooperating with the police investigation, Broden said, and offered sympathy to Foster’s family on his client’s behalf.

“Sgt. Perry is devastated by what happened,” Broden said.

Austin police did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday. A day earlier, the department said it would not be releasing or confirming the identity of the person who shot Foster, citing an ongoing investigation.

U.S. Army officials confirmed that Perry is on active duty and assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood.

“The unit continues to cooperate with the Austin Police Department in their ongoing investigation,” Army officials said Friday in a statement.

Perry is a decorated soldier from North Texas who has served in the military for eight years, Broden said.

Police said witnesses told them a disturbance began when a vehicle started honking at protesters. The vehicle stopped as protesters crossed the street and Foster, who was holding an AK-47 type assault rifle, approached the driver’s side window. He was shot from inside the vehicle.

Witness Michael Capochiano said the car sped through the protesters before it apparently hit an orange barrier and stopped, told the Austin American-Statesman.

In video that was streamed live on Facebook, a car can be heard honking before several shots ring out and protesters start screaming and scattering. Police can then be seen tending to someone lying in the street.

Austin police say they have interviewed the person who shot Foster and have the gun used in the confrontation secured as evidence.

Acacia Coronado is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.