A massive search is underway in Texas for yet another missing solid from Fort Hood – a U.S. military base currently under investigation after a string of soldiers died and disappeared.
Local police and the U.S. Army are searching for 23-year-old Sgt. Elder Fernandes after a missing soldier’s alarm was issued Thursday night.
Fernandes was last seen Monday afternoon when his sergeant from staff dropped him off at his home in Killeen – just four miles from Fort Hood base.
At the time, he was wearing his black army training shorts and t-shirt with red trainers.
Fernandes, who is originally from Brockton, Massachusetts, was reported missing on Wednesday.
Local police and the U.S. Army are searching for 23-year-old Sgt. Elder Fernandes after a missing soldier’s alarm was issued Thursday night by Fort Hood
He is a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear specialist in the 1st Cavalry Division Sustained Brigade at the installation of the Central Texas Army.
His car was found with all of his belongings still inside, according to mass-state representative Liz Miranda.
Fernandes also recently signed a lease on a new apartment, but has never picked up the keys.
Miranda said the missing soldier’s mother was already from Massachusetts to Texas to help search for her son.
The missing soldier’s alarm said the army’s main concern was “to ensure its safety and well-being”.
His disappearance follows the deaths of 11 Fort Hood soldiers this year alone. Of the 11 dead, foul play is killed in five of those.
An independent investigation is currently underway into the embedded army base battling the string of deaths and disappearances.
Fernandes was last seen Monday afternoon when his sergeant of staff fell at his home in Killeen – just four miles from Fort Hood Base
His disappearance follows the deaths of 11 Fort Hood soldiers this year alone. Of the 11 dead, foul play is killed in five of those. An independent investigation is currently underway at the embedded army base (above) into the string of deaths and disappearances
The base was thrown into the national spotlight with the disappearance of 20-year-old soldier Vanessa Guillen, who disappeared after reporting that she was sexually harassed at the base.
She was killed and dismantled by another soldier and her remains were found in late June.
The dead are: Spc. Vanessa Guillen; her suspected killer Spc. Aaron David Robinson, 20; Pvt. Gregory Morales; Pvt. Mejhor Morta; Spc. Francisco Gilberto Hernandezvargas; Pfc. Brandon Scott Rosecrans; Spc. Freddy Delacruz Jr; Spc. Christopher Wayne Sawyer; and Spc. Shelby Tyler Jones.
Last week, Sgt. Bradley Moore, 36, died at the base during a training session. He was with the Texas Army National Guard.
Spc. Cole Jakob Aton, 22, was also killed last week when he helped at the scene of a car accident at the base. He had been standing on the road and trying to direct traffic at the accident when he was hit by a car.
Aton had previously shared petitions and messages on social media demanding answers about the dead and missing at the Fort Hood base.
Fort Hood Soldier, Pfc. Gregory Morales, was reported missing from the base a year ago on August 20, 2019.
The remains of the 24-year-old were found on June 21 in a field in Killeen and local police are still investigating his death.
Then 1 army officer found human remains that were later identified as that 20-year-old Pfc. Vanessa Guillén – a Fort Hood soldier who has been missing since April.
Her remains were found on the Leon River in Bell County, about 20 miles east of Fort Hood.
Fellow soldier Spc. Aaron Robinson, 20, killed and dismantled Guillén and had the remains seized from forests, federal and state investigators said.
Robinson killed himself on July 1, the day Guillén’s remains were found, officials said.
Cecily Aguilar, 22, of Killeen, is accused of removing Guillén’s remains for Robinson and is accused of three federal conspiracy theories related to the soldier’s death.
She pleaded guilty.
Army leaders have delayed the planned transfer of Major General Scott Efflandt, the commander of Fort Hood, to a more prestigious mission in Fort Bliss, Texas, while a team of independent investigators determined if leadership failure contributed to the deaths and disappearance.
Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy has said Fort Hood has one of the highest rates of homicide, sexual assault and harassment in the military.
McCarty announced in June that an independent investigation into the base will take place.
Five civilian experts have already been sworn in for the investigation to assess the command culture to ‘eradicate’ why there are such high cases of violence, deaths and disappearances.
Those assessment results will be released in October.
Fort Hood Soldier, Pfc. Gregory Morales (left), was reported missing from the base a year ago on August 20, 2019. The remains of the 24-year-old were found on June 21 in a field in Killeen. Then 1 army officer found human remains that were later identified as that 20-year-old Pfc. Vanessa Guillén (right) – a Fort Hood soldier who has been missing since April
.
