WTF Is Going On At Fort Hood? U.S. Army Asks For Help In A Search For Another Missing Soldier

August 21, 2020 By: Rebecca Brando

Another soldier is missing from Fort Hood, Texas.

Local police and the U.S. Army have launched a search for 23-year-old Sgt. Elder Fernandes, a nuclear specialist who was last seen on Monday afternoon when his staff sergeant dropped him off at his home in Killeen, near the Fort Hood base. His disappearance follows 11 soldiers who have died or were found dead this year. Foul play is suspected in five of the 11 dead.

Fort Hood has launched a search for another missing solder, Sgt. Elder Fernandes - Photo AP

Fort Hood officials issued a missing soldier alert Thursday (Aug 20) night. Police in nearby Killeen said Fernandes was reported missing Wednesday.

Fernandes is a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear specialist with the 1st Cavalry Division Sustainment Brigade at the Central Texas Army installation. The missing soldier alert said the Army’s primary concern was "to ensure his safety and wellbeing." Fernandes also recently signed a lease on a new apartment, but never picked up the keys.

A police statement described Fernandes as 5 feet, 8 inches tall, weighing 133 pounds (60.33 kilograms) and was last seen wearing black Army physical training shorts and T-shirt with red athletic shoes. They found his car with all of his belongings, according to reports.

The high profile disappearance of 20-year-old Spc. Vanessa Guillen, who went missing on April 22, 2020, after reporting a sergeant had sexually harassed her at the base. Her disappearance made global headlines and thrusted Fort Hood into the media spotlight. They later found Spc. Guillen's remains in late Jane. It was revealed that Spc. Aaron Robinson dismembered Guillen and disposed of her remains in woods nearby Fort Hood. Spc. Robinson killed himself the day Guillén’s remains were found on July 1, 2020.

Spc. Guillen’s death would mark the grim beginning of multiple deaths and disappearances associated with Fort Hood.

Timeline of Fort Hood Deaths and Disappearances:

August 19, 2019: Pvt. Gregory Wedel-Morales, 24, disappeared. He was last seen driving his personal vehicle outside of Fort Hood days before he was due to be discharged. He was listed as a deserter by the Army one month after he was last seen.

April 22, 2020: Vanessa Guillen goes missing and is last seen in the parking lot of the base. She disappeared after telling her family she was being sexually harassed by a sergeant on the base.

May 18, 2020: Body of Army Pfc. Brandon S. Rosecrans, 27, was discovered with gunshot wounds and his Jeep was found three miles away engulfed in flames.

June 19, 2020: Search teams discover the corpse of missing soldier Wedel-Morales following a tip to Army base investigators. Remains were found in a field in Killeen, just over 10 miles from Stillhouse Hollow Lake, five miles from Fort Hood.

July 1, 2020: First parts of Giullen's remains found about 20 miles east of Fort Hood. Spc. Aaron Robinson, 20, kills himself. Officials say he killed and dismembered Guillén and had the remains disposed of.

July 17, 2020: Pvt. Mejhor Morta, 26, of Pensacola, Florida was found unresponsive July 17 in the vicinity of Stillhouse Hollow Lake, around 15 miles from the Fort Hood base.

August 2, 2020: The body of Spc. Francisco Gilberto Hernandezvargas, 24, is recovered from Stillhouse Hollow Lake following boating incident not far from where Morta was found.

August 12, 2020: Spc. Cole Jakob Aton, 22, of Kentucky died after he was hit by a car as he was assisting a minor accident scene

August 13, 2020: National Guard soldier, Sgt Bradley Moore dies during a training exercise at the base

August 19, 2020: Sgt. Elder Fernandes, 23, is reported missing after he was last seen on August 17.

Federal officials announced in June that an independent investigation will take place into the base.

Tipsters are asked to contact Fort Hood military police at 254-288-1170 or U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command at 254-287-2722.