FORT HOOD, Texas — Fort Hood authorities confirmed details of the Vanessa Guillen investigation that were released by her family last weekend.
Fort Hood Senior Commander, Maj. Gen. Scott Efflandt and 3rd Cavalry Regiment commander Col. Ralph Overland spoke Monday about the investigation. Overland is in charge of the investigation into sexual harassment claims by Guillen. During a news conference last week, officials said they hadn't found any evidence of sexual harassment.
Efflandt and Overland said the remains found last week were positively identified through DNA as those of Guillen. They both expressed condolences and said Vanessa will forever be treated as a member of the Army family.
Pfc. Aaron Robinson was named as a suspect in Guillen's disappearance and death. Robinson shot and killed himself in Killeen in the early morning hours of July 1.
Robinson's girlfriend, Cecily Aguilar, was named as a second suspect in the case and charged with conspiracy to tamper with evidence. Aguilar faced a judge in federal court in Waco Monday morning.
Guillen disappeared April 22 from Fort Hood. Human remains, believed to be Guillen, were discovered June 30 near the Leon River in Bell County.
According to a criminal complaint, Robinson killed Guillen in the armory room on Fort Hood then took her body to the area where the remains were found. Robinson took Aguilar with him and the two dismembered her body and buried the remains in multiple places, according to the complaint.
The Guillen family attorney, Natalie Kahwam, identified the remains as Guillen Sunday but that had not been confirmed by the Army Criminal Investigation Division.
Kahwam and Guillen's family have called for congressional hearings into how Fort Hood handled her disappearance. They also asked for a bill to be passed in her name to protect victims of sexual harassment and assault in the military.