Series of missing soldiers in Texas: "He would never just disappear"

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Missing Elder Fernandes in a photo released by the US Army on August 20

Sergeant Elder Fernandes was last seen last Monday. A soldier from the Texas military base Fort Hood dropped the 23-year-old at his family home in the town of Killeen, about 70 kilometers north of Austin. Since then, there has been no trace of him.

Fernandes, a nuclear, bio and chemical specialist in the First Cavalry Division according to Fort Hood, wanted to report to his aunt Isabel on Monday. He did not do it. "That is very, very unusual," said Isabel Fernandes the regional broadcaster KTRK. Her nephew did not contact anyone else either. He has been officially reported missing since Wednesday. The army and police are feverishly looking for him and have asked the public for assistance. Finding Fernandes has "top priority".

There is speculation in the US media that Fernandes may have been the victim of a crime - possibly also because he had reported to a complaints office before his abrupt disappearance that he had been the victim of sexual abuse on the military base.

Relocated - to protect against reprisals

The responsible press spokesman for the cavalry division, Chris Brautigam, has now confirmed this to the news channel CNN. Brautigam said the sexual assault prosecution coordinator had "worked closely" with Fernandes to "make sure" that he was informed of "all care options" and his rights. In addition, they recently helped to transfer Fernandes to another unit to protect him from possible revenge or reprisals.

Fernandes' family nevertheless spoke of a "nightmare" and apparently feared bad things. The mother, Ailina Fernandes, told the regional TV station KXXV in desperate tears: "I don't know where he is at the moment. I don't know what he's feeling, I don't know if he's hurt. I don't know what going on. I just know he's a good boy. He would never go away and tell his family where he is. "

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The Fort Hood military base in Texas is a proud small town in itself, with more than 36,000 soldiers

The case causes a lot of excitement because the huge military base Fort Hood - almost a small town - has repeatedly made the headlines with missing and killed soldiers. CNN reported in July 2020, citing official sources, that there were 23 deaths among the 36,500 soldiers stationed at Fort Hood last year - including seven suicides and four murders.

"Fear of revenge"

The most famous case occurs on April 22nd of this year and sparked a debate about violence in the US Army because of its brutality in the US. 20-year-old soldier Vanessa Guillen was last seen in a Fort Hood unit parking lot that day. It was easy to guess that she had not simply left the troops: Guillen’s car key, the key to her room in the barracks and her wallet and ID card were found in the room where she had been working on the day she disappeared.

In July, fears were confirmed when investigators found the soldier's remains, dismembered and buried in holes outside Fort Hood. Apparently Guillen had been killed with a hammer. "The whole thing is devastating, cruel, barbaric," said Natalie Khawam, lawyer for Guillen's family, at the time.

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Candles and wreaths of flowers in front of the likeness of the murdered soldier Vanessa Guillen

Guillen, like Fernandes, is said to have been sexually molested before she disappeared. Her supervisor is said to have followed her into the shower, so the allegation. Guillen did not file a complaint. "The sexual harassment came from a manager, so she was afraid of revenge," said lawyer Khawam. "We believe the person who killed them is the person who sexually molested them."

"Nobody will believe you"

When the police wanted to question the main suspect Aaron David Robinson after the body was found, the soldier shot himself on the spot. His girlfriend, who allegedly helped him to make the body disappear, has been charged. The verdict is still pending; she faces up to 20 years imprisonment.

Outside of Texas, too, the murder caused great horror. Similar to the #MeToo movement, numerous women soldiers soon reported under the hashtag #IAmVanessaGuillen who reported assaults during their time in the army.

"I was sleeping. Drunk marines kicked the door of my barracks and raped me," wrote one victim. In the end, the perpetrators would have shouted: "Nobody will believe you."

The dead deserter

In Texas, the media are now recalling another case in addition to Guillen: The 24-year-old soldier Gregory Wedel-Morales was reported missing in August 2019. In June 2020, his remains were discovered in a shallow grave outside Fort Hood. The army had long assumed the man had simply deserted.

It was only after pressure from members of the Wedel-Morales family that Fort Hood offered a reward of 15,000 and later 25,000 US dollars in May 2020, reported the Washington Post. The body was discovered shortly afterwards. The family was told that Wedel-Morales had been shot in the face; the cause of death has not yet been officially clarified.

Now, in the Fernandes case, Fort Hood is apparently trying to avoid the impression of taking the Fernandes case lightly or even deliberately dragging it off. This is also necessary, because Fort Hood's reputation is devastating by November 5, 2009 at the latest: At that time, the military psychiatrist Nidal Hasan committed a massacre on the grounds of the military base and shot 13 people.