Murder In America
EP. 189: TEXAS - The Murder of Vanessa Guillén: A Complete Failure At Ft. Hood
Fri, 14 Feb 2025
In 2020, a woman by the name of Vanessa Guillén went missing on the Ft. Hood military base in Killeen, TX. But as the story unfolded, people began to grow angry at just how many times military officials failed to solve the crime. - Listen to our new show, "THE CONSPIRACY FILES"!: -Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5IY9nWD2MYDzlSYP48nRPl -Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-conspiracy-files/id1752719844 -Amazon/Audible - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/ab1ade99-740c-46ae-8028-b2cf41eabf58/the-conspiracy-files -Pandora - https://www.pandora.com/podcast/the-conspiracy-files/PC:1001089101 -iHeart - https://iheart.com/podcast/186907423/ -PocketCast - https://pca.st/dpdyrcca -CastBox - https://castbox.fm/channel/id6193084?country=us - Stay Connected: Join the Murder in America fam in our free Facebook Community for a behind-the-scenes look, more insights and current events in the true crime world: https://www.facebook.com/groups/4365229996855701 If you want even more Murder in America bonus content, including ad-free episodes, come join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/murderinamerica Instagram: http://instagram.com/murderinamerica/ Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/people/Murder-in-America-Podcast/100086268848682/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/MurderInAmerica TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theparanormalfiles and https://www.tiktok.com/@courtneybrowen Feeling spooky? Follow Colin as he travels state to state (and even country to country!) investigating claims of extreme paranormal activity and visiting famous haunted locations on The Paranormal Files Official Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheParanormalFilesOfficialChannel - (c) BLOOD IN THE SINK PRODUCTIONS 2025 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chapter 1: What happened to Vanessa Guillen?
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The year 2020 was memorable to say the least. There was the COVID-19 pandemic, the Black Lives Matter movement, the Me Too movement, and it was an election year. There was a lot of division, death, and unrest. With everything going on in the United States, many news stories from around this time didn't get a lot of attention.
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Chapter 2: Why did Vanessa join the military?
But there was one that took the media by storm, and that was the story of Vanessa Guillen. Vanessa was a soldier at the Fort Hood military base in Killeen, Texas. She had wanted to join the army since she was a little girl, but her time at Fort Hood was not at all what she expected. For months, her family watched as Vanessa's smile slowly disappeared. And eventually, they found out why.
During her time at Fort Hood, Vanessa had been sexually harassed by fellow soldiers. But then in 2020, Vanessa mysteriously disappeared while working a shift at the base. Her family immediately alerted the army of her disappearance, but for months, There was no sign of her. So with nowhere else to turn, her family started sharing her story with the media.
And soon enough, the I Am Vanessa Guillen movement began. A movement that not only uncovered secrets at Fort Hood, but of the U.S. military as a whole and how they handle cases of sexual harassment and assault. So this is the powerful story of Vanessa Guillen. I'm Courtney Browen. and you're listening to Murder in America.
Vanessa Guillen was born on September 30, 1999, at the Bentob Hospital in Houston, Texas. Her parents, Rogelio and Gloria, had moved here from Zacatecas State in Mexico, shortly after they got married. They wanted a better life, more opportunities. so they settled down in Houston and started their family.
Rogelio had been working since his childhood in Mexico, quickly found a job as a machine operator, and Gloria was a stay-at-home mom to their six children, Mayra, Yovana, Guadalupe, Manuel de Jesus, Roger, and Vanessa. The Guillen family were Catholics, so they grew up going to church, and they were all baptized as children. Throughout their whole life, they always turned to God in their struggles.
and they also turned to each other. The Giants were a tight-knit bunch. Vanessa's childhood was spent running around having fun with her siblings, and according to everyone that knew her, Vanessa loved to run. There was just something about being outside, feeling your heart rate rise as you jogged for miles and miles. Vanessa loved it, which eventually led her to another passion,
Soccer Vanessa started playing soccer when she was just 11 years old. And from the start, she proved herself to be a talented athlete. But not just on the field. As Vanessa grew older, she loved any and all physical activity. And she was strong. Her brothers would later say that they would sometimes wrestle her, and even though they were much bigger, she knew how to defend herself.
Once she started high school, at Cesar E. Chavez High, Vanessa also began lifting weights. She ran track and cross country, and she joined their soccer team, proudly wearing the number 20 on the field.
One of her best friends, Frida Hernandez Lopez, said that Vanessa always tested herself physically to see how far she could go, and even after intense soccer practices, she would go lift weights in the school gym. Now, outside of athletics, Vanessa was also very sociable and well-liked by her peers.
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Chapter 3: What were the circumstances of Vanessa's disappearance?
Vanessa had been thinking about it for years. Raised by immigrant parents, she learned the importance of a strong work ethic, determination, and resilience. all of which are needed to be a soldier. She was also in great physical health after years of working out, and she knew deep down that she was meant for this.
She even told her parents, quote, I've been given a mission, and I'm going to fulfill it, end quote.
Now, her mother, Gloria, would later admit that she wasn't thrilled about her daughter's decision to enlist, but she also knew that it wasn't her decision to make. Vanessa was grown up. This was her life, so she had to respect it. But the army wasn't the only plan Vanessa had for her life. Her parents said she was a big dreamer.
After serving her country, she wanted to go study chemical engineering at Texas A&M. She wanted to get married, start a family. Vanessa had actually been dating a boy named Juan Cruz for several years now, and things were getting pretty serious. They even talked about getting engaged soon.
But first, Vanessa wanted to graduate from high school and start her career as a soldier in the army, all of which was right around the corner.
In the spring of 2018, Vanessa would graduate from Cesar E. Chavez High School in the top 15% of her class. And just days later, she was sent to Fort Jackson, South Carolina for boot camp. Now during this period, there are a number of people who realize that the army isn't for them. For 10 whole weeks, you have to wake up before the sun,
You spend all day working out, doing training exercises, learning different skills, taking orders. It's not only physically draining, but it can be mentally draining as well. But to everyone's surprise, Vanessa absolutely loved it. During her time at Fort Jackson, she sent her family letters telling them how well she was doing. and how she had truly found her calling.
In one letter, she wrote, quote, I am the fastest female, I can tell you that, and I am recognized for that shit. I got 31 out of 40 shots with my M4, and I threw some grenades today, qualified like a G in both activities, end quote.
Her family said that during her boot camp graduation, Vanessa was glowing with happiness. Surprisingly, she was kind of sad it was over, but she was also so excited to start her career. She was even more excited when she found out that she was going to be stationed at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas.
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Chapter 4: How did Vanessa's family respond to her disappearance?
now when gloria heard this she was shocked she told vanessa that she needed to report this immediately but vanessa didn't want to to report it she'd have to go up the chain of command and in the military that's a big problem usually when it is reported nothing ever happens
Sadly, sexual assault within the military is pretty common. According to California Democratic Representative Jackie Speier, the military has around 20,000 sexual assault cases a year, but only around 7,000 of those people report it. Then, out of those 7,000 reports, only about 250 people will get convicted. So the majority of the time, reporting this doesn't get you anywhere.
But Fort Hood specifically has more sexual assaults than any other military base in the country. In 2014 alone, a study revealed that Fort Hood had 885 sexual assault victims.
The New York Times would later report that women at Fort Hood had a higher risk of sexual assault than women stationed at other bases in the United States, saying, "...using gender and workplace data, researchers found that the total sexual assault risk to Army women at Fort Hood during 2018 was 8.4%, compared with a 5.8% risk for all women in the Army."
So Fort Hood was a hotspot for these sexual assaults. Army veteran Lucy C. DelGaudio even said, Fort Hood just seems to cultivate the worst of the worst when it comes to command culture to that good old boys type of club. And before I move on, I just want you guys who are listening to this to think about that statistic.
According to the representatives and the data, out of 20,000 sexual assaults that occur every year on military bases, only 250 of the people who carry out those assaults are convicted. That should deeply alarm you. And that should also deeply enrage you. 250 people convicted out of 20,000 on average. Those statistics are what we need to work on in America.
I know this is just a little tangent, but this is something that Courtney and I really care about raising awareness about. And yeah, that's just absolutely unacceptable. And the more awareness we bring around this issue and the more we talk about it and bring it up and voice our concerns, hopefully the more change we'll see. But anyways, let's get back to the story.
Vanessa Guillen knew firsthand how Fort Hood handled these kinds of cases. After telling her mom about the sexual harassment she experienced, her mother urged her to report it. Gloria even said, give me the name and I'll report the bastard. But still, Vanessa refused. Her sister Lupe would later say, quote, she told my mom, I can't report it.
I've seen other girls pass through the same situation and they ignore them. They say that they're lying.
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Chapter 5: What were the findings of the investigation?
Her family also felt like they weren't as concerned about Vanessa's disappearance as they should have been. They didn't even really start looking for Vanessa until her family arrived and started demanding answers. And as we all know, the first 24 hours of someone's disappearance is, by far, the most important. So they were already running behind.
Now, the people in charge of this investigation were the CID, which is the United States Army's Criminal Investigation Division. And unfortunately, most of the people who worked for CID at the time did not have a lot of experience. They were also understaffed, with a lot on their plates.
The Guillen family was not happy with how the investigation was going, so after filing a missing persons report with local law enforcement, They took matters into their own hands. They posted flyers with Vanessa's picture all over Colleen. Her sister Myra even posted the picture to social media with a caption that read, I promise I'm going to find you, even if it's the last thing I do.
I ask you guys for prayers for my sister. If anyone has seen her, please let me know. Please Twitter do your thing. Sadly, because this was in the middle of the pandemic, her posts didn't get a lot of attention.
In the meantime, the CID started their investigation by interviewing soldiers who were working that day. Like we mentioned, they didn't have cameras to look at, so eyewitnesses were the best they could do to get answers. And they started with the people who were working in the arms room with Vanessa.
Now the supervisor who was with her that morning said that shortly after arriving, Vanessa left to go check the serial number in that second arms room. Minutes later, she texted him the serial number and that was the last he heard from her. So next... The CID look at the soldier who was working in that second arms room. His name was Specialist Aaron Robinson.
Like Vanessa, Robinson was 20 years old, but he was one rank above her. He was also the only soldier in the arms room that day. So from what they could tell, he was the last person to see Vanessa. Now, when investigators spoke to Robinson, he was adamant that she had come in to get the serial number, And then she left. Investigators then asked him what he did for the remainder of the day.
And Robinson said that after work, he went home and was with his girlfriend all night. Now his girlfriend was named Cecily Aguilar. And when investigators spoke to her, she confirmed that story, that they were together all night long. Investigators were also able to rule Robinson out after they spoke with another soldier who said that they saw Vanessa in the parking lot that day at around 1 p.m.
So for the time being, it seemed as if Vanessa walked out of the arms room, went out into the parking lot and then vanished. Investigators speculated that maybe somebody picked her up or maybe she left on her own free will. But her family was adamant that something bad happened because Vanessa would have shown up by now.
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Chapter 6: How did the media and public react to Vanessa's case?
For the Guillen family, the response was shocking. Before they knew it, protests were being held in Houston, Austin, California, and all over the United States. Murals of Vanessa were being painted everywhere. People were outraged at how the military was handling these cases, and they were demanding change. Here is Vanessa's sister Lupe during these protests.
Two to three soldiers, female soldiers, get raped, abused, harassed in this base. They have racial inequality.
How can they not, like... How can they not find my sister? They close... a base for just looking for the most precious, valuable object. My sister's a human being. She's more than that. The money's not the problem. How can you not go to the base and find someone? How can you not see someone's personality change, their face change? How can you not see someone changing after my sister disappeared?
It's not only one person, it's various people that kidnapped my sister. They took it too far. I don't know what makes them think they have the right to harass my sister. They all have a grandma, a sister, a mother, a daughter. Would you like them to be sexually harassed? No! I don't even, I don't like my sister taking this from me! I don't like this!
So what makes you think they have an opportunity to do that? And it's not my fault they did that because they have a brain to think. So if they have a brain to think, think of what you're doing. You see me crying, you see my mother crying. No mother deserves this. And I want my sister back and I want her alive because that base is called the Great Place.
Do you think that base deserves that name where they murder? They testify suicide soldiers. They abuse mentally and physically from them. They abuse, harass, rape women. My sister came into this base to serve and protect the country. She came here for us and that's why they returned it? Not even trying
And now with the national spotlight on Fort Hood, disturbing stories about the military base started to hit the media. It would soon be revealed that Vanessa was just one of many victims at Fort Hood. In fact, years prior to this, in 2013, three female privates at Fort Hood came forward saying that a sergeant on base named Gregory McQueen had sexually assaulted them. Disturbingly,
Sergeant McQueen was actually a sexual assault prevention officer at the base, the person in charge of making sure these things don't happen. In addition to this, McQueen was also running a prostitution ring at Fort Hood. Two girls would later come forward and say that they had talked to McQueen about money issues they were having.
And in response, he took some naked photos of them and then showed them to all of these high ranking officers who would eventually pay the girls for sex. And keep in mind, this is the man that Fort Hood hired for sexual assault prevention on the base.
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Chapter 7: What happened to Aaron Robinson?
And she started a secret relationship with her husband's friend and roommate, Aaron Robinson. Eventually, Cecily moved out of their home and Aaron moved out with her. Then from there, the two started dating. So at the time of our story, Cecily was still technically married to Keon, but they were estranged.
Now, like Erin Robinson, there isn't a ton of information out there about Cecily. We do know that she grew up in Jackson, Michigan, and that she had a pretty tough life. At just 12 years old, Cecily was put into foster care, and by 16, she had run away and was living on her own. Eventually, she would move to Texas, meet Keon Aguilar, and get married.
But like we mentioned, they separated and she started dating her husband's friend, Erin Robinson.
So how does Cecily come into this story? Well, after finding out that Robinson was last seen pulling that large black tough box on the day that Vanessa went missing, investigators were thinking one thing, either Aaron Robinson had something to do with Vanessa's disappearance and Cecily was covering for him, or it was all one big suspicious coincidence.
Now keep in mind, during this time, there are still search parties going on to help find Vanessa. Tim Miller from the Texas AquaSearch even offered up his resources to find her. And he's the best of the best. But for months, there was nothing. However, in June of 2020, a search party was out in Killeen once again, this time focusing on a field near the 3200 block of Florence Road.
And as they walked through looking for any clues, they began to smell the unmistakable smell of death. The searchers began following the smell and with every step it got stronger until they eventually found the source. Deep in that field, searchers would locate a set of human remains. Everyone's hearts sank. Was the search for Vanessa finally over?
Now, as we know, they would first have to identify the body, but everyone was pretty sure it was her. Well, that is until the professionals arrived. After looking at the body, something seemed off. This set of human remains was extremely decomposed. And Vanessa had been missing for several months now, so if she had died on the day of her disappearance, she too would be fairly decomposed by now.
But not nearly as decomposed as this body. As investigators looked at the scene, they realized that this couldn't have been Vanessa. It was the body of someone else.
Soon enough, word was spreading quickly around Colleen that a set of human remains had been found. But before the news could get to Vanessa's family, investigators called them to let them know that it likely wasn't Vanessa. And they were right. After taking the body to the medical examiner, they learned that the remains belonged to 23-year-old private Gregory Weddle Morales.
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Chapter 8: What is the legacy of Fort Hood regarding sexual assault?
And now that Vanessa's body was found, everyone could now focus on getting her justice. And they all knew exactly who was responsible, Specialist Aaron Robinson. The evidence against him was damning. Not only was he seen pulling that black tough box that was later found in a burn pile near her remains, but his cell phone records also placed him there on the night of Vanessa's disappearance.
However, there was still one big question mark to this story. And it had to do with Robinson's girlfriend, Cecily Aguilar. Like we mentioned in the beginning of the investigation, she had given Robinson an alibi that night. They both said that they had been together at his house all night long on the day that Vanessa went missing. And clearly that couldn't have been true.
So what exactly did Cecily know? What was her part in all of this? Well, investigators were about to find out. After finding Vanessa's remains, they brought her in for an interview. And one of the first things they brought up was the fact that Cecily said she and Robinson had been together that entire night, sitting across from investigators.
She once again confirmed this, but in response, the detectives asked, well, if that was the case, then why did Robinson call you over and over that night? Cecily had been caught in a lie. Phone records show that Robinson called her several times, but if they were together that whole time, then why was he calling her? Cecily was nervous.
Thinking quickly, she told investigators, well, I couldn't find my phone. It was lost somewhere in his house, so he was calling me so we could find it. Now, in theory, this would make sense, but then investigators bring up the fact that their cell phones showed They weren't at home. How do you explain that? They ask. Cecily gets even more nervous and she quickly changes her story.
This time she says, well, we weren't actually at home. We were driving. My phone got lost somewhere in his car while we were driving down the road. And once again, he called me so we could find it. Investigators then ask, so why were you driving around at five in the morning? Cecily said that she and Robinson had gotten into an argument. So they decided to clear their heads and take a drive.
Now, obviously, investigators didn't believe a word coming out of her mouth and they started turning up the heat. At one point, the detective turned to Cecily and said, do you smell that? The smell of decomposition in this room? That's the smell of Vanessa's body. We've been out there all day working this crime scene. So how about you start the story over and tell the truth this time?
Cecily knew she was backed into a corner. she couldn't keep up with this lie anymore so finally she uttered the sentence quote robinson killed the girl from here cecily told investigators that on the night of april 22nd she was working a shift at the gas station when robinson walked in and picked her up she said that after they left he just started driving towards the leon bridge
And along the way, he told her why. According to Robinson, he said that during a shift that day within the arms room, he grabbed a hammer and he bludgeoned Vanessa to death. After killing her, he shoved her into that black tough box and he brought her out to the Leon River.
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