PICTURED: Soldier, 20, who 'beat Vanessa Guillen to death with a hammer in Fort Hood armory and civilian woman who helped him mutilate her body and bury it in concrete' (12 Pics)
The key suspect in the death of Fort Hood soldier Vanessa Guillen has been identified as a 20-year-old soldier who committed suicide hours after her body was discovered.
Authorities say Spc. Aaron David Robinson fled Fort Hood on Tuesday night before he could be arrested by Army criminal investigators. He shot himself when officials caught up with him early Wednesday morning.
Cecily Aguilar, 22, the estranged wife of a Fort Hood soldier, has been arrested on suspicion she helped Robinson dismember and dispose of Guillen's body. She is being held on a conspiracy to tamper charge at Bell County Jail and could face 20 years in jail and a $250,000 fine if convicted.
Authorities say Spc. Aaron David Robinson (right) fled Fort Hood on Tuesday night before he could be arrested by Army criminal investigators. Cecily Aguilar, 22, (left) the estranged wife of a Fort Hood soldier, has been arrested on suspicion she helped Robinson dismember and dispose of Guillen's body
Vanessa Guillen, pictured, was last seen at the Fort Hood Army Base in Killeen, Texas, on April 22 wearing a black t-shirt, light purple leggings and black Nike sneakers
CID Senior Special Agent Damon Phelps said in a press conference Thursday that investigators were looking into Robinson's connection with Guillen. While both were at Fort Hood, they were not in the same command and did not work in the same building.
Phelps dismissed the claims of Guillen's family that she was sexually harassed by a sergeant shortly before her disappearance, saying there was 'no credible information' to support their claim
Guillen, 20, was seen alive at the Texas Army base on April 22 after telling her family she was being harassed by the sergeant.
On Wednesday, US Marshals, Killeen police and the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force tracked down Robinson who had abandoned his post and was walking through at city a few miles from the base.
As they tried to confront him, he killed himself, CNN reports.
'As officers attempted to make contact with the suspect, the suspect displayed a weapon and discharged it toward himself. The suspect succumbed from a self-inflicted gunshot wound,' the Killeen Police Department said.
A few hours earlier, investigators discovered the partial remains of her body near the Leon River in Bell County.
The lawyer for the family of Guillen say he young woman was killed with a hammer on base before being dismembered and buried in concrete.
Natalie Khawam said that she had discussed the case with the Army's Criminal Investigations Division recently who told her that Robinson and Aguilar worked together to dispose of the body.
She alleges that they used a machete to dismember the 20-year-old after trying to burn her.
Khawam made the claims as a suspect in the case who killed himself when approached by police in the early hours of Wednesday morning was named as combat engineer Specialist Aaron Robinson.
In a press conference Thursday, the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID) revealed Robinson, 20, was stationed in the building adjacent to Guillen on the Texas base.
Guillen's (left and right) family says that she had accused an unnamed sergeant of sexually harassing her and claimed she felt unsafe before she disappeared
CID Special Agent Damon Phelps confirmed Robinson as a suspect in her disappearance in a press conference Thursday but said there was no evidence he harassed her
Any relationship or interactions between Guillen and fellow soldier Robinson could not be confirmed because of the ongoing investigation, Fort Hood CID Special Agent Damon Phelps said at the press conference.
Further information about the role he played in the Houston native's disappearance was also not revealed.
Guillen had allegedly made complaints about a superior officer, but officials said Robinson was not in her chain of command.
Army officials said they had come across no evidence of Guillen being sexually harassed after opening a separate investigation into the claims last week but encouraged anyone with information on the allegation, or on her disappearance, to come forward.
Aguilar, 22, of Killeen, was arrested by Texas Rangers as is currently being held at the Bell County Jail.
Officials were questioned about whether she had been released on bail but they could not confirm, nor could they confirm her relationship to Robinson.
In a separate press conference Thursday, the victim's family lawyer Khawam claimed that Aguilar was Robinson's girlfriend.
Khawam claimed Guillen was working in the armory with the suspect when she told him she was going to report him for breaking a military rule.
She said the man then grabbed a hammer and began 'bludgeoning her head over and over'.
She said she was told by officials that the other soldier cleaned up the area where Guillen was killed, placed her body in a container and wheeled her out to his car.
Later that afternoon, Khawam said, the soldier drove to pick up a woman and took the body to a nearby river. There, Khawam said, the pair tried to burn Guillen's, but later dismembered it with a machete. Then, they put cement on the body and buried the remains.
The first image of the site where evidence was found was released on Wednesday. Remains were found nearby on Tuesday and Wednesday but have not been confirmed as Guillen
The search had continued in this area along the Leon River about 20 miles from the Fort Hood base after the first evidence connected with Guillen's disappearance was found last week
She added that the remains were so badly damaged that medical officials were unable to use her face or skull for bone recognition or for dental record confirmations.
The remains found on Tuesday and Wednesday in the woods near Leon River have not been confirmed as Guillen but earlier Thursday, they revealed they were hidden under concrete.
Texas Equusearch's Tim Miller, who was assisting in the search for Guillen, said that attempts had been made to keep the body well-concealed and it was discovered only after a man working in the area noticed a foul smell.
'It appears he buried her, put lime on her, mixed up concrete, put that over her, put dirt over her, rocks and stuff,' Miller told KHOU.
The investigation found its first piece of evidence last week which led them to believe that Guillen may be close by.
On Wednesday, a picture of the site was revealed for the first time as Miller announced they found the lid to a Pelican storage case which prompted them to continue the search in the area.
A witness had previously said they saw a case being loaded into a car at around 8.30pm close to the time that Guillen first disappeared in April.
The investigation continues after remains were found at this site Tuesday and Wednesday
A case lid had been found at the site last week which prompted the search to continue
Guillen's sister Mayra (pictured speaking), told reporters in DC she met the suspect who killed himself when she went to the Fort Hood base and that he laughed in her face
The discovery was made as the Army announced they were promoting Guillen despite her missing status.
She was promoted to Specialist on Monday.
The soldier's family held an emotional press conference Wednesday in which Guillen's sister Mayra claimed that she met Robinson during a recent visit to the base.
'When I first went up to that base, that subject, I met him not knowing that he had something to do with it. I felt something was telling me that he did something. He still had the nerve that same day to laugh in my face and apparently now he kills himself,' she said.
'Why? I don't know, but whoever is responsible has to pay.'
The family added that they had believed Robinson to be the person who sexually harassed Guillen before she vanished but Army authorities insisted Thursday that they had found no evidence that this is true.
The Army has said it will hold back on releasing information as Guillen's family call for the whole base to be closed down and investigated.
The Army has defended its decision not to release information saying that 'doing so can seriously jeopardize the charging and successful prosecution of individuals'.
'We have made significant progress in this tragic situation and are doing everything possible to get to the truth,' they added in a statement to ABC Houston.
Remains were found for the second day in a row Wednesday as the search for Guillen continued along the Leon River about 20 miles from the Fort Hood base.
Guillen's family has said they believe their loved one is dead and that the serviceman who killed her is the same individual who turned a gun on himself when police tried to make contact with him early Wednesday morning, now named as Robinson.
'We have a dead person because of sexual harassment,' the family's attorney Natalie Kahwam said at the start of the press conference.
Guillen was last seen at the Fort Hood Army Base in Killeen, Texas, on April 22 wearing a black t-shirt, light purple leggings and black Nike sneakers.
Her car keys, barracks room key, identification card and wallet were later found in the armory room where she was working earlier in the day.
Volunteer group Texas EquuSearch came across the remains in an undisclosed area in Coryell County, not too far from the site where the remains of missing soldier Gregory Wedel-Morales were found on June 19.
Morales, who was also known as Gregory Wedel, was last seen on August 19, 2019 driving his personal vehicle outside of Fort Hood.
He was to be discharged within days after his disappearance, the Army said.
A $25,000 reward is being offered for information about his death. Morales disappeared about eight months before Guillen vanished from the base and they are not thought to be linked.
According to a statement from the Killeen Police Department, authorities located Robinson in the 4700 block of East Rancier Avenue (area pictured) around 1.29am Wednesday morning
Fort Hood soldier Vanessa Guillen's family has said they believe their loved one, pictured, is dead and that the serviceman who killed her is the same individual who turned a gun on himself when police tried to make contact with him early Wednesday morning
Police release information about suspects connected to Vanessa Guillen's disappearance
PICTURED: Soldier, 20, who 'beat Vanessa Guillen to death with a hammer in Fort Hood armory and civilian woman who helped him mutilate her body and bury it in concrete' (12 Pics)
![PICTURED: Soldier, 20, who 'beat Vanessa Guillen to death with a hammer in Fort Hood armory and civilian woman who helped him mutilate her body and bury it in concrete' (12 Pics)]()
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July 03, 2020
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