Posted on Aug 26, 2020
Attorney: Missing Fort Hood soldier’s body found in Texas
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The search for him is over. RIP, SGT Elder Fernandes
Attorney: Missing Fort Hood soldier’s body found in Texas
Posted from armytimes.comPosted in these groups: 
Fort Cavazos
Death
Fort Cavazos Death
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 3
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There is something really wrong at FT Hood. I hope they get it straightened out.
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LT Brad McInnis
MAJ Byron Oyler - He reported sexual assault. Guillen had reported the same. This is the 11th dead soldier from this post... I would say there is a problem. I don't buy the "this happens at posts all over the world" argument. I was stationed at the 2 largest Navy bases, and nothing with this frequency, and we were sailors!
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MAJ Byron Oyler
LT Brad McInnis - The fact you did not hear about it does not mean it did not happen, FT Hood has simply made the blotter for the media.
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SSG Robert Ricci
This is indeed sad news but I don't believe that one can throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Fort Hood is a microcosm of our country and we see where our country is at. With nearly 46,000 soldiers and not counting civilians or dependents Fort Hood is a medium-sized city. But it has the influence of people from all around the country. Gang violence and drug sales in use are all in a day's work in this environment. Just because one can put BDUs on a criminal or a misfit it does not suddenly make them Mr. America. When given a choice of joining the military or going to jail you have a criminal in BDU's. This doesn't occur with great regularity because of course our military is all-volunteer now. It still happens just in a slightly different way.
Although the individual was sexually assaulted on post, which is described as having been groped by another male Soldier followed by extreme hazing at the new unit he was moved within the same division a Soldier going UA and committing suicide isn't really a direct reflection upon Fort Hood as a whole. I'm sure there's a psychological component there that is not being discussed publicly regarding the decedent. A diminutive man of only 5-4 in and 133 pounds, I'm sure he was the butt of a lot of jokes. He was the size of a girl. That of course made him a target I'm sure.
I can tell you this with certainty. When I was a young man I was 185 pounds and 5-9in tall. Hardly a hulk although in very good physical shape. As a military policeman, I needed to be. Emps are no different than civilian police officers with type A attitudes. Had I been groped by another male soldier I'd have pushed his ass off and made it clear that it wouldn't happen again. There would not have been a report to my chain of command. Different people though respond differently and this needs to be respected.
Been there, done that. A male soldier in my unit tried to take advantage of me when I was drunk. I settled it right then and there. Sometime later while working the graveyard shift we got a call to our own unit of a fight in progress. Upon arrival that very Sergeant came walking out of his room bleeding from the nose and mouth. Behind him came an unknown soldier. Not knowing the specifics we tackled the unknown Soldier and put him in handcuffs. Bad on us. Information disclosed that our Sergeant had invited this Soldier back to his room to continue the party after the bar closed and our Sergeant made a pass at him causing the soldier to knock him on his ass. That's when the entire unit discovered our Sergeant was gay. I already knew that.
According to reports, 12 service members have gone missing from Fort Hood this year and 6 have been found alive. Fort Hood has one of the highest crime rates any military installation in CONUS. Having been a Military Policeman assigned to 3 Corps I can agree with this statement.
Fort Hood is a microcosm of our country and we see where our country is at. With nearly 46,000 soldiers and not counting civilians or dependents Fort Hood is a medium-sized city. But it has the influence of people from all around the country. Gang violence and drug sales in use are all in a day's work in this environment. Just because one can put BDUs on a criminal or a misfit it does not suddenly make them Mr. America. When given a choice of joining the military or going to jail you have a criminal in BDU's. This doesn't occur with great regularity because of course our military is all-volunteer now. It still happens just in a slightly different way.
Although the individual was sexually assaulted on post, which is described as having been groped by another male Soldier followed by extreme hazing at the new unit he was moved within the same division a Soldier going UA and committing suicide isn't really a direct reflection upon Fort Hood as a whole. I'm sure there's a psychological component there that is not being discussed publicly regarding the decedent. A diminutive man of only 5-4 in and 133 pounds, I'm sure he was the butt of a lot of jokes. He was the size of a girl. That of course made him a target I'm sure.
I can tell you this with certainty. When I was a young man I was 185 pounds and 5-9in tall. Hardly a hulk although in very good physical shape. As a military policeman, I needed to be. Emps are no different than civilian police officers with type A attitudes. Had I been groped by another male soldier I'd have pushed his ass off and made it clear that it wouldn't happen again. There would not have been a report to my chain of command. Different people though respond differently and this needs to be respected.
Been there, done that. A male soldier in my unit tried to take advantage of me when I was drunk. I settled it right then and there. Sometime later while working the graveyard shift we got a call to our own unit of a fight in progress. Upon arrival that very Sergeant came walking out of his room bleeding from the nose and mouth. Behind him came an unknown soldier. Not knowing the specifics we tackled the unknown Soldier and put him in handcuffs. Bad on us. Information disclosed that our Sergeant had invited this Soldier back to his room to continue the party after the bar closed and our Sergeant made a pass at him causing the soldier to knock him on his ass. That's when the entire unit discovered our Sergeant was gay. I already knew that.
According to reports, 12 service members have gone missing from Fort Hood this year and 6 have been found alive. Fort Hood has one of the highest crime rates any military installation in CONUS. Having been a Military Policeman assigned to 3 Corps I can agree with this statement.
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LT Brad McInnis
MAJ Byron Oyler - I was on leadership of base security on both of them, so yeah I would have.
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Foul play is not suspected, police said, but the investigation is ongoing. An autopsy has been ordered.
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.
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.
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SGM Joel Cook
SSG Robert Ricci - yes I am familiar with the area as I currently live in Killeen. The first report I heard of his discovery and recovery was he was found laying near the RR tracks. Then the next day they expanded to, "Hanging in a tree near the RR tracks". As I mentioned below I am not at all convinced no foul play was involved. As you know law enforcement will often tell false tails in an attempt to fool criminals into making mistakes. Way too many fishy stories being told by NCOIC and Command elements talking with soldiers mother. When over 12 soldiers die or disappear in a year I would like to think everyone would get serious about attention to detail and get their shit together, but that obviously has not occurred. Yesterday on tv, PFC Guillen's sister was calling for the Relief for Cause of a certain Major, by name, who was SGT Fernades's CDR. I think he will be lucky if his head doesn't roll if this case goes any further off track.
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SSG Robert Ricci
SGM Joel Cook yes, I am familiar with the trick of putting false Tales out there in an attempt to trip up an assailant. But the investigation is closed.
12 people disappeared from Fort Hood and 6 have been located alive. That means they're still on track for their numbers last year.
With all respect to SP Guillien's sister demanding the removal for a cause of a particular major, she's not in any position to know any of the facts surrounding the case. She's going to be one of those just going to be a blowhard and tell her 15 minutes of unfortunately gained fame have ended. The two were not even in the same command.
As far as fishy Stories being told by NCO's and Command Staff to the parents of Sergeant Fernandes they are here safe. There's no way to verify them one way or another from our end. Bear in mind that I am an ex police investigator and I tend to think everybody's lying. But I also know to approach self-serving statements like this carefully. If as you say it was a major that was involved, I would find it highly unlikely. But stranger things have happened. We had a second lieutenant in my unit that everybody at least thought was a lesbian. Maybe she swung both ways. But she was at a party once that got pretty wild and several guys had a shot at her. Just because they pin officers rank on their lapels doesn't change who they are on the inside.
Remember that CID cleared the suspect. Remember also that information disclosed that Sergeant Fernandes alleges that he was assaulted in April but didn't report it until May. It has been said that he had begun acting in an unusual manner even before April. That brings to question what was going through his mind throughout all of this. After all, he took a rather drastic step at the end. Under the SHARP program if he could demonstrate a serious concern for his safety an officer well above a Major could have had him gone the next day.
12 people disappeared from Fort Hood and 6 have been located alive. That means they're still on track for their numbers last year.
With all respect to SP Guillien's sister demanding the removal for a cause of a particular major, she's not in any position to know any of the facts surrounding the case. She's going to be one of those just going to be a blowhard and tell her 15 minutes of unfortunately gained fame have ended. The two were not even in the same command.
As far as fishy Stories being told by NCO's and Command Staff to the parents of Sergeant Fernandes they are here safe. There's no way to verify them one way or another from our end. Bear in mind that I am an ex police investigator and I tend to think everybody's lying. But I also know to approach self-serving statements like this carefully. If as you say it was a major that was involved, I would find it highly unlikely. But stranger things have happened. We had a second lieutenant in my unit that everybody at least thought was a lesbian. Maybe she swung both ways. But she was at a party once that got pretty wild and several guys had a shot at her. Just because they pin officers rank on their lapels doesn't change who they are on the inside.
Remember that CID cleared the suspect. Remember also that information disclosed that Sergeant Fernandes alleges that he was assaulted in April but didn't report it until May. It has been said that he had begun acting in an unusual manner even before April. That brings to question what was going through his mind throughout all of this. After all, he took a rather drastic step at the end. Under the SHARP program if he could demonstrate a serious concern for his safety an officer well above a Major could have had him gone the next day.
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SGM Joel Cook
I had not heard that the investigation was closed. I guess I should ask which case you are referring to. The sexual assault case or SGT Fernandes's cause of death, disappearance case? On last nights news they said, " no foul play was indicated but the investigation is continuing". Thanks for your input and insight. It was very informative.
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Something smells fishy about this case. The soldier who was accused by SGT Fernandes of sexual assault was given a lie detector test and passed it. Very soon afterward SGT Fernandes was released from the hospital and dropped off in Killeen; supposedly at the wrong address, at his old residence where he hadn't lived in weeks. He got out of his NCOICs vehicle dressed in PT gear and lit up a cigarette and started smoking in the sidewalk area. The other NCO drove off without ever seeing SGT Fernandes enter the house, nor did his former roommates ever see him enter the house. SGT Fernandes then disappeared and is found hanging in a tree by the railroad tracks 28 miles away in Temple some five days later. My gut tells me he was abducted and killed to silence him from making future accusations. However in the back of my mind there is the possibility that he felt there was no justice to be found on Fort Hood and he had nothing to look forward to but ridicule and hazing from fellow soldiers, so he ended it by committing suicide. I feel like 70% murder to 30% suicide.
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