VANESSA Guillen was a 20-year-old American soldier posted at Fort Hood, Texas, who went missing in April 2020.
Her body was later discovered mutilated and burned before it was placed in three different holes, according to federal prosecutors.
Who was Vanessa Guillen?
Born to Mexican immigrant parents in Houston, Guillén was a 20-year-old Houston native and Specialist in the Army.
She first started Army training in June 2018 and was later stationed at Fort Hood.
According to her family she had dreamed of serving her country since she was a child and would always make the three-hour drive back to Houston every weekend to see them.
Guillen was last seen alive in the parking lot at Regimental Engineer Squadron Headquarters, 3rd Cavalry Regiment on the Fort Hood base on April 22, 2020.
Her car keys, ID card, wallet, and barracks key were later found at her work.
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What happened to Vanessa Guillen?
Human remains were found on June 30, 2022, in shallow graves, and it was later confirmed to be Vanessa.
Her dismembered remains were buried along Leon River– close to the Fort Hood military base in Texas where the soldier was last seen.
It was later confirmed the victim had been bludgeoned to death with a hammer inside the armory, with the Army identifying Aaron David Robinson as the suspect.
Police were dispatched to the 3400 block of Florence Road in Killeen, Texas, after witnesses reported seeing unknown remains, according to KTRK-TV.
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Detectives with the Killeen Police Department’s homicide unit recovered the new remains and turned them over to the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences in Dallas for examination.
Her remains were reportedly found dismembered in cement, with the evidence leading Texas Equusearch’s Tim Miller to call off the search for the 20-year-old’s body.
Miller revealed that the spot where the remains were found was well-concealed.
He told KHOU 11 News: “It appears he buried her, put lime on her, mixed up concrete, put that over her, put dirt over her, rocks and stuff.”
Who was Aaron David Robinson and did he kill Vanessa Guillen?
Following the discovery of Guillen’s body two months after her disappearance in April 2020, Crime Online reported that a military suspect, identified as Aaron Robinson, was connected to the case.
Authorities interviewed Cecily Aguilar as she was reported to be Robinson’s girlfriend at the time.
She told police that Robinson had confessed to killing Vanessa, and officers asked her to phone him so that they could record the call.
Aguilar told him: “Baby, they found pieces.”
Robinson escaped custody on June 30, 2020, and fled Fort Hood after hearing his victim’s remains had been found.
On July 1, 2020, Killeen police found the suspect but before they could apprehend him, he fatally shot himself with a handgun.
It is believed he killed Vanessa after he feared he would be caught for sexual harassment and assault after violating Army fraternization rules.
Robinson allegedly killed Guillen with a hammer in the army base’s armoury in April 2020.
It is claimed that he did so after she found out he was having an affair with a married woman, Aguilar, when she saw a picture of the woman on his phone.
He then enlisted the help of Aguilar to hide her body – with Aguilar alleging that Robinson forced her to help at gunpoint, according to ArmyTimes.
What has her family said about her murder?
Guillen’s family filed a $£35million lawsuit against the US Army, seeking damages on the basis of sexual harassment, abuse, assault, rape, sodomy, and wrongful death.
In April 2021, a year after Guillen’s death, the Army released a report confirming that officers ignored Guillen’s sexual harassment complaints.
She had reportedly verbally reported it at least twice in 2019, and the report lead to the firing or suspension of 14 Army officials.
Vanessa’s relatives have suggested that the probe exposed “toxic” failings at the base, adding that their daughter’s death would not be in vain.
Gloria Guillén, Vanessa’s mother, told press conference in December 2020: “I want a case that uncovers the truth of what truly happened.
“What happened to my daughter, why was her murdered so cruel. She was not a cockroach, she was an innocent human and they killed her.”
She added: “It wasn’t just her, they did so to various soldiers.
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“Fort Hood is corrupt, Fort Hood is the worst that could’ve happened to me because that’s where my daughter died.”
The ordeal is set to be portrayed in a new Netflix show titled I Am Venessa Guillen, which will air on November 17, 2022.