Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / BOMBSHELL: ANOTHER FORT HOOD SOLDIER SEX HARASSED GOES MISSING AFTER VANESSA GUILLEN TORTURE-SLAY

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BOMBSHELL: ANOTHER FORT HOOD SOLDIER SEX HARASSED GOES MISSING AFTER VANESSA GUILLEN TORTURE-SLAY · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

0:05
Speaker 1: Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. After the stunning and shocking
0:13
Speaker 1: disappearance of Private First Class Vanessa again at Fort Hood,
0:19
Speaker 1: her body is discovered, dismembered, burned, and a shallow grave.
0:25
Speaker 1: But that is just the beginning of the deaths, the
0:29
Speaker 1: unexplained missing at Fort Hood, our army base, seemingly no
0:36
Speaker 1: explanations being given, and the ones we do here, I've
0:40
Speaker 1: got to say, don't make sense. Another Fort Hood soldier missing.
0:54
Speaker 1: Another This is what the ninth. They're tenth in the
0:58
Speaker 1: line of missing and dead soldiers. This is a twenty
1:03
Speaker 1: three year old nuclear specialist gone missing. After the death
1:09
Speaker 1: of eleven people this year alone linked to Fort Hood.
1:17
Speaker 1: What is happening at Fort Hood? Well, I'll tell you
1:22
Speaker 1: what kicked the whole thing off. Listen to this. They
1:25
Speaker 1: first tried to set her light her body on fire.
1:29
Speaker 1: They try to burn her body, They can't burn her body.
1:32
Speaker 1: They're having a hard time burning her body, and they
1:36
Speaker 1: decide to take the machete out and start machetting, dismembering
1:40
Speaker 1: her whole body. They try to destroy it, try to
1:44
Speaker 1: put it in different places, bury it. They use some
1:46
Speaker 1: kind of quick quick, quick dry, some kind of cement,
1:51
Speaker 1: I'm a product and try to They do a shallow grave,
1:56
Speaker 1: put the cement on it, and they get rid of
1:59
Speaker 1: basically the evidence. They threw their machette out the window
2:03
Speaker 1: by the way with her phone there. They destroyed her
2:05
Speaker 1: phone and threw out the window. They threw the hammer
2:08
Speaker 1: out the window when they're driving. This is what they're saying.
2:12
Speaker 1: This happened to a beautiful young girl, Vanessa. Again, you
2:17
Speaker 1: are hearing the voice of her family's lawyer, or Natalie Kawam,
2:21
Speaker 1: who is joining us today, who is now working with
2:24
Speaker 1: Eilena Fernandez, the mother of Elder Fernandez, twenty three year
2:28
Speaker 1: old nuclear specialists now missing. When will it end? Take
2:34
Speaker 1: a listen to more of what happened to Vanessa. They
2:38
Speaker 1: couldn't get her her dental cavity, everything with bludgens and
2:42
Speaker 1: her face in her skull that they couldn't even use
2:44
Speaker 1: her face for her skull for any kind of bone
2:47
Speaker 1: or recognition. They sicily they found her hair, though, but
2:53
Speaker 1: her face was so bludgeoned that they couldn't get the
2:56
Speaker 1: dental records or do that kind of confirmation of topsy
3:00
Speaker 1: of her face. It's just disgusting, a heinous and that's
3:04
Speaker 1: not all. Listen, he said. He grabbed the first thing
3:07
Speaker 1: he could find, and that was a hammer, and started
3:10
Speaker 1: bludgeoning her head over and over. She wasn't getting knocked
3:14
Speaker 1: down quick enough, so he kept the bludgeoning, bludgeoning, bludgeoning
3:16
Speaker 1: her head skull in the armory room. The whole place
3:22
Speaker 1: was filled with blood. He took her body and put
3:25
Speaker 1: it in I want to say, Pelican briefields. He wheeled
3:29
Speaker 1: it out. He put it on the side of the
3:33
Speaker 1: armory room. He went home. XPM comes around, He enters
3:38
Speaker 1: the base, He takes her body. He takes it to
3:42
Speaker 1: that lake or the river, puts it there and decides
3:46
Speaker 1: he can't to describe himself, he can't, you know, bury her.
3:49
Speaker 1: He needs help. He caused his girlfriend, the Cicily girl,
3:52
Speaker 1: the one who is and he caused her. He said,
3:56
Speaker 1: get in the car. She gets in the car and
3:58
Speaker 1: he tells her, I have Vanessa body in a Pelican
4:01
Speaker 1: briefel like I need your help to bury her. And
4:05
Speaker 1: after all this, another soldier goes missing. With me an
4:11
Speaker 1: all star panel to break it down and put it
4:13
Speaker 1: back together again. Tim Miller, Texas equisearch founder and director
4:17
Speaker 1: who helped find the body of Vannesse Again. Doctor Debbie
4:21
Speaker 1: Joffe Ellis, Psychologist, Professor, Columbia University at Debbie Joffe Ellis
4:26
Speaker 1: dot com, renowned criminal defense attorney, military law specialist. Our
4:32
Speaker 1: friend and colleague Joe Episcopo joining us from the Florida jurisdiction.
4:37
Speaker 1: Natalie Colomb the attorney not only for Vanesse Again's family,
4:41
Speaker 1: but now for Sergeant Elder. Fernandez family special guest joined
4:46
Speaker 1: me in addition to Levipage. Crime Online dot com investigative
4:50
Speaker 1: reporter is Eilena Fernandez. This is Elder's mother, Miss Fernandez.
4:57
Speaker 1: Thank you for being with us. Thank you for having me.
5:01
Speaker 1: Mister Nandez, tell me when you realize Elder is missing. Elder.
5:11
Speaker 1: The last time I talked to Elder on Sunday, prior
5:15
Speaker 1: for him to get discharge from the hospital. Around five
5:20
Speaker 1: thirty pm we talk. He told me I asked him
5:26
Speaker 1: to do a video call with me so I can
5:29
Speaker 1: see him. He told me, Mom, I'm at the hospital.
5:33
Speaker 1: I'm using hospital phone. That day. We talked three times already.
5:39
Speaker 1: He told me Monday, as soon that I did at
5:42
Speaker 1: the hospital, I'll get myself phone old video. Jest so
5:47
Speaker 1: you give me to me, mister Nandez, I know exactly
5:54
Speaker 1: how you feel with my children when I'm away from them.
5:58
Speaker 1: I don't know what I would do without faith time
6:01
Speaker 1: because I can see them and I can know that
6:04
Speaker 1: they're okay. Oh, Miss Fernandez is breaking my heart to
6:08
Speaker 1: hear you cry. We were told that elder staff sergeant
6:16
Speaker 1: dropped him at his home in Killeen, and that that
6:21
Speaker 1: was the last time he was seen. Is that true?
6:27
Speaker 1: That's correct? So the last time he was seen he
6:31
Speaker 1: was with a Fordhood staff sergeant. Is that correct? That's correct? Yes,
6:39
Speaker 1: And after they dropped him off in front of that house.
6:44
Speaker 1: I'm assuming because ever never making to the house. No one, yeah,
6:52
Speaker 1: no one can tell me that your contact with elder
6:55
Speaker 1: nobody's elder. Now like womb with me the lawyer for
7:02
Speaker 1: the Fernandez family as well as again family, Natalie, you
7:07
Speaker 1: have had to take your fight all the way to
7:11
Speaker 1: the Oval office to try to get answers. And in
7:16
Speaker 1: the wake of all of this happening with Vanessa her
7:22
Speaker 1: body cut up with a machete, burned and cement poured
7:26
Speaker 1: onto her flesh. How could they let another young soldier
7:32
Speaker 1: go missing? You know, when I heard this story. It
7:37
Speaker 1: made me so upset because, like I had TTSC with,
7:41
Speaker 1: I can't believe this is happening again. I'm there. They
7:44
Speaker 1: just won't accept their problems, they won't fix their problems.
7:51
Speaker 1: They don't care about their soldiers. If anything, I think
7:53
Speaker 1: they're causing this to happen, a dereliction of duty, complete
7:57
Speaker 1: disregard of these soldiers lives and their family's lives. Last night,
8:01
Speaker 1: we're on the phone with a command and the way
8:04
Speaker 1: that they speak to this family, mister Fernandez and started
8:07
Speaker 1: up is kind and accepting as possible, but they continued
8:12
Speaker 1: to evade and be evasive and be vague about what
8:17
Speaker 1: happened the whereabouts. For example, when they were dropping off Elder,
8:20
Speaker 1: and we don't really know if he did get dropped
8:23
Speaker 1: off in front of house because it never no one
8:26
Speaker 1: ever saw this happening. So he was supposed to be
8:29
Speaker 1: handed off to his roommate, Chris. He was supposed to
8:33
Speaker 1: be handed off, and Chris was supposed to sign for
8:35
Speaker 1: receiving Elder and saying that he received them and he
8:38
Speaker 1: would be in his care. Why did he not follow
8:41
Speaker 1: it through with the protocol? He dropped them off in
8:44
Speaker 1: front of the house and somebody suicidal or there's any
8:47
Speaker 1: kind of problems of an immense from what they caused
8:49
Speaker 1: him problems because he was elder, was completely healthy, no
8:53
Speaker 1: mental health issues whatsoever. Before this solves, he dropped them off,
8:57
Speaker 1: not doing exactly what he was supposed to do, which
8:59
Speaker 1: is followed protocol sign off and give sign off elder. Okay,
9:04
Speaker 1: wait a minute, Wait a minute, Natalie Kawam, you're telling
9:06
Speaker 1: me that once again protocol was not followed because in
9:09
Speaker 1: Vanessa's case, she was murdered. In the Armory Crime Stories
9:23
Speaker 1: with Nancy Grace for those of you joining us, another
9:30
Speaker 1: soldier is missing. A twenty three year old soldier, a chemical, biological,
9:35
Speaker 1: radiological and nuclear specialist with the First Cavalry Division Sustainment Brigade,
9:41
Speaker 1: Central Texas Army installation. His car found with all of
9:46
Speaker 1: his belongings inside, last known to be with a fort
9:52
Speaker 1: Hood authority. Yet we are now being told by the
9:56
Speaker 1: family's lawyer, Natalie Kawam, protocol was not followed. Now and
10:02
Speaker 1: trying to put it all together, and the reason we're
10:05
Speaker 1: all finding out about this is because of a young
10:09
Speaker 1: lady now dead, Vanessa Geem. She goes missing. We now
10:15
Speaker 1: know she was murdered right there in the armory, and
10:18
Speaker 1: nobody noticed she was gone, Nobody saw signs of a struggle.
10:22
Speaker 1: There was obviously no forensic testing in the armory. After
10:24
Speaker 1: she went missing. She was called in on her day
10:27
Speaker 1: off for what to get murdered? Because she had been
10:31
Speaker 1: being sex harassed at Forthood? What the hay is going on?
10:36
Speaker 1: And now elder is missing too. Take a listen to
10:41
Speaker 1: this and a lot of times I got a lot
10:44
Speaker 1: of things that's talked about, and this time I done.
10:46
Speaker 1: It's still trying to digest that scene and what happened
10:51
Speaker 1: in that fire And that fire was so high, Nancy,
10:54
Speaker 1: it was burning tree Limb's fifteen feet above the damned fire.
11:00
Speaker 1: They made that fire hot. There was a tire at
11:03
Speaker 1: that fire too, and we know when you put a
11:05
Speaker 1: tire and a fire at ferns even hotter. And you
11:08
Speaker 1: know what, Nancy, there is still plastic out there that
11:13
Speaker 1: they did not take in for evidence. And I'm not
11:15
Speaker 1: saying a little bit of plastic. And it was trying
11:17
Speaker 1: to figure out why in the hell didn't they take
11:20
Speaker 1: everything that was here. All they took was that part
11:24
Speaker 1: of that lid. There was still stuff out there Yeah,
11:28
Speaker 1: this investigation was botched, terribly, terribly botched or was there
11:34
Speaker 1: a cover up? The Army insisted that they had forensically
11:37
Speaker 1: examined the armory where we now know Vanessa was blood
11:41
Speaker 1: and dead. They couldn't find one drop of blood. Joey Episcopo,
11:45
Speaker 1: criminal defense lawyer, a military law specialist. What they've never
11:50
Speaker 1: heard of Loomin all, a base is a city, and
11:54
Speaker 1: the base commander is responsible for what goes on there,
11:58
Speaker 1: and he can be easily moved. Unlike the mayor of
12:02
Speaker 1: say Portland, it can't be easily removed. Things go wrong
12:06
Speaker 1: in the city, and we've got something going wrong at
12:09
Speaker 1: this installation. But I don't see the connection between the
12:13
Speaker 1: woman's death and the disappearing really really well, let me
12:18
Speaker 1: illuminate it for you. Isn't it true? Natalie Kawam, attorney
12:22
Speaker 1: for the Game family and now the Fernandez family. Isn't
12:26
Speaker 1: it true that Elder reported sex abuse before his disappearance
12:32
Speaker 1: from the base and Vanessa Gim have been subjected to
12:36
Speaker 1: sex It bes one prvy guy actually coming in watching
12:40
Speaker 1: her as she took a shower. That's correct, they both
12:43
Speaker 1: reported it. They both were known for its. They were
12:46
Speaker 1: both being called in on their days off after reporting it.
12:49
Speaker 1: You know, the typical of harassment, revictimizing the victim, and
12:52
Speaker 1: then protocol is reached with both of them similar stories. Unfortunately,
12:59
Speaker 1: and this is why I got bove. You know, no
13:00
Speaker 1: one could give us an excuse of it's a city.
13:02
Speaker 1: That doesn't mean that murder should happen just because the
13:05
Speaker 1: city is big. I mean that people are breaching protocol
13:08
Speaker 1: and there's no safety and security measures there. What is
13:12
Speaker 1: his sex connections? Okay, okay, let me let me help
13:15
Speaker 1: you again, Joe Episcopo. And you know what, you're a
13:18
Speaker 1: veteran trial lawyer, you won a lot of cases, and
13:21
Speaker 1: you're a military law expert. They're both at Fort Hood,
13:26
Speaker 1: they're both in their early twenties. They both get called
13:28
Speaker 1: in on their days off. They both are experiencing sex
13:33
Speaker 1: harassment at Fort Hood. They both go missing. You don't
13:39
Speaker 1: see a connection, no, who iss is two different people
13:45
Speaker 1: harassing them? Or is it the same person? It's not
13:48
Speaker 1: clear what you're talking about here. They both go missing
13:52
Speaker 1: or die after they make a sex harassment allegation. Is
13:56
Speaker 1: that you Natalie jump in, yes, that is you know,
13:58
Speaker 1: So this is what I'm saying, I'm saying the same
14:00
Speaker 1: person is the same culprit. I'm saying that the command
14:05
Speaker 1: both of the discipline order nonsense that they keep overgurgitating.
14:09
Speaker 1: They don't follow their own orders. If they had breached
14:11
Speaker 1: protocol over and over and over and over and over again.
14:14
Speaker 1: With these soldiers. They have this order and discipline that
14:17
Speaker 1: they're supposed to follow, yet the command continues to breach
14:20
Speaker 1: their own protocol. And that's why you have all these soldiers.
14:23
Speaker 1: Let somebody can go missing for an hour. I understand,
14:26
Speaker 1: you know, maybe we're a little paranoid, but when you
14:28
Speaker 1: go missing for days, weeks, and you're still wondering why
14:32
Speaker 1: they haven't followed through and why have they haven't not
14:35
Speaker 1: provided this family any information? They continue to tell us.
14:38
Speaker 1: Hip up. I told to them yesterday, are you a
14:40
Speaker 1: healthcare lawyer? Because I am. Okay, guys, let's slow it
14:43
Speaker 1: down a moment because we're getting way, way, way into
14:45
Speaker 1: legal technicalities. I want to go back to Sergeant Elder Fernandez,
14:50
Speaker 1: mother Eilena Fernandez, miss Fernandez. I understand that Elder originally
14:59
Speaker 1: from Massachusetts. Is that correct? Yes, and that you yourself
15:05
Speaker 1: have been joining in the search. Yes, miss Fernandez, what
15:10
Speaker 1: have you been doing to help find your son? Last Saturday,
15:16
Speaker 1: I have squat him with Tim Miller from Texas squats him.
15:23
Speaker 1: We work around the woods here on the area. What
15:29
Speaker 1: they told us that they dropped out off so um
15:34
Speaker 1: so we don't have any any other place to search
15:39
Speaker 1: to be searched. The whole area around that address that
15:43
Speaker 1: they told us. I don't understand why Fort Hood is
15:46
Speaker 1: not searching for him. Why does his mother have to
15:50
Speaker 1: go out and search by foot? What did they first
15:54
Speaker 1: tell you, Miss Fernandez, when Elder went missing. When I
15:58
Speaker 1: first arrived on that Wednesday, there wasn't any belief from
16:04
Speaker 1: the Army Police Department that Elder was missing. They even
16:10
Speaker 1: told me and that day on the Army Police Department
16:14
Speaker 1: that they can they can really put an elder as
16:19
Speaker 1: a missing person until after thirty days. Because Elder is
16:24
Speaker 1: twenty three years old. He has his own right to
16:27
Speaker 1: not talking to anybody. And I told the sergeant that
16:33
Speaker 1: I haven't heard from Elder for a few days and
16:36
Speaker 1: I'm here to report him missing because he's nowhere to
16:40
Speaker 1: be found. He told me Elder is adult. The Army
16:46
Speaker 1: Department can't do anything until after thirty days. And he
16:50
Speaker 1: also told me after thirty day, when they found elder,
16:54
Speaker 1: any law enforcement that found elder will they will, they
17:03
Speaker 1: will find Elder, they will arrest him and they'll put
17:06
Speaker 1: him in the jail ahead. If I can explain, let me,
17:12
Speaker 1: let me explain that when a person goes absent without
17:16
Speaker 1: leave after thirty days, they're considered a deserter. That's when
17:22
Speaker 1: the military can get civilian police to actually arrest a
17:27
Speaker 1: military member based on that kind of warrant that they're deserter.
17:32
Speaker 1: That's the thirty day magic U absent without leave, which
17:36
Speaker 1: is the Statusy's in right now. Uh, they don't know
17:40
Speaker 1: where he is. But what about the supposed um assaulter,
17:45
Speaker 1: the person who's sexually assaulted him. I haven't heard anything
17:49
Speaker 1: about that person. Wouldn't he be a suspect, wouldn't Yeah,
17:53
Speaker 1: you would think so. And apparently he is there at
17:56
Speaker 1: Fort Hood. But once again we're not hearing any of
18:00
Speaker 1: the details. And you know what's concerning me, this is
18:03
Speaker 1: exactly the scenario that happened with Gregory wheatle Moralis. He
18:08
Speaker 1: goes missing, Fort Hood, will not declare him missing. Fort
18:13
Speaker 1: Hood does nothing except then declare him a wall. Then
18:18
Speaker 1: after his body is found in a shallow grave. They
18:23
Speaker 1: then refuse to remove the a wall status so his
18:27
Speaker 1: mother can get benefits. He's not a wall, he's dead.
18:42
Speaker 1: Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Guys, we were talking about
18:47
Speaker 1: yet another death and missing person at Fort Hood. Now,
18:53
Speaker 1: my dad was a veteran. He fought for his country.
18:59
Speaker 1: My father in law same went around the world. My
19:02
Speaker 1: dad even lied about his age to get in to
19:05
Speaker 1: go fight for his country. I am four veterans and
19:10
Speaker 1: have worked with veterans to try and help them. But
19:14
Speaker 1: whatever is happening at Fort Hood is wrong. To leave
19:19
Speaker 1: a page Crime Online dot Com investigative reporter. This is
19:22
Speaker 1: the same scenario that happened with Gregory Wheel Morales. Remember explain, yes, Nancy,
19:27
Speaker 1: you're talking about a case. On June nineteenth, during the
19:31
Speaker 1: search for Vanessa Gean, the remains of that soldier were
19:36
Speaker 1: found following an anonymous tip, Private Gregory Window Morales. He
19:42
Speaker 1: was last seen August nineteen, twenty nineteen, a year ago.
19:46
Speaker 1: Foul play is suspected. We also have another case, Private
19:50
Speaker 1: Mijor Morta, twenty six years old, a Fort Hood soldier.
19:54
Speaker 1: He was found dead July seventeenth in the US Corps
19:58
Speaker 1: of Engineers Reservoir and Vaness again. She was murdered. Her
20:03
Speaker 1: remains were found July first, they were discovered, she was burned,
20:08
Speaker 1: she was dismembered, her body set on fire. And now
20:11
Speaker 1: we have Sergeant Elder Fernandez, twenty three years old, and
20:15
Speaker 1: all of these murky details surrounding his disappearance, allegations of
20:19
Speaker 1: sexual harassment, and the last known person to see him
20:24
Speaker 1: his staff sergeant who said that he dropped him off
20:27
Speaker 1: at his roommates. But guess what, Nancy, here's the kicker.
20:30
Speaker 1: His roommate said he doesn't live here anymore, and all
20:35
Speaker 1: of his belongings were found in his vehicle that was
20:39
Speaker 1: on base. This is a very mysterious case. So why
20:44
Speaker 1: would he drop him there if he didn't live there? Guys,
20:46
Speaker 1: take a listen to this new details tonight and the
20:49
Speaker 1: disappearance of yet another fourthood soldier. Collean police and Army
20:53
Speaker 1: investigators are asking for the public's health and locating twenty
20:56
Speaker 1: three year old Elder Fernandez. Family members say they have
20:59
Speaker 1: not heard anything from him since Monday. I don't know
21:03
Speaker 1: where's that right now, I don't know what he's feeling.
21:07
Speaker 1: I don't know any he's hurt. I don't know what's
21:11
Speaker 1: going on with the hit Britain man. I just know
21:16
Speaker 1: he's a good kid. You will never disappear to not
21:20
Speaker 1: tell his family what is it. The young man was
21:24
Speaker 1: last seen by his staff sergeant Monday afternoon, when he
21:27
Speaker 1: dropped him off and his residence a clean. Officials say
21:30
Speaker 1: his car was found with all of his belongings and
21:32
Speaker 1: he recently even signed a new lease but never picked
21:35
Speaker 1: up the keys to that new apartment. You're hearing our
21:38
Speaker 1: friends at k x x V ABC twenty five to
21:42
Speaker 1: doctor Debbie Joffe Ellis, psychologist at John Professor, Columbia University,
21:47
Speaker 1: A doctor Debbie at Debbie Joffe Ellis dot com. Doctor Debbie,
21:51
Speaker 1: thank you for being with us. Why is it that
21:54
Speaker 1: so many people are afraid to report sex harassment and
21:59
Speaker 1: the workplug? Well, there could be any number of reasons, Nancy.
22:04
Speaker 1: One might be fear of retribution. The other might be
22:09
Speaker 1: being part of a circle of let's say friends, and
22:14
Speaker 1: it's just not considered acceptable to do so. Some might
22:19
Speaker 1: consider if they look like they're aligning with someone who's
22:23
Speaker 1: been bullied or is considered lesser than for some ridiculous reason,
22:29
Speaker 1: that that brings them down in their little social pyramid.
22:36
Speaker 1: So there could be any number of reasons. And one
22:39
Speaker 1: of the tragic elements of these happenings, these murders and
22:44
Speaker 1: so far the murderers they're not found, is that there's
22:49
Speaker 1: the potential for soldiers there to live in anxiety, to
22:54
Speaker 1: live in fear. Some of them might already have pre
22:56
Speaker 1: existing anxiety and fear, and this can exacerbate things to
23:02
Speaker 1: the points of wanting to attempt suicide. I am not
23:08
Speaker 1: for one minute referring to Elder when I say that
23:11
Speaker 1: I don't know enough to Joe Episcopo, criminal defense attorney,
23:15
Speaker 1: no stranger to a courtroom. He is a military law specialist.
23:20
Speaker 1: I'm looking at these stripes. I'm looking at a chestful
23:22
Speaker 1: of metals. This guy didn't just disappear. Elder didn't just
23:29
Speaker 1: go a wall. All this means something. This means he's
23:33
Speaker 1: in it to win it. He's into the army. This
23:36
Speaker 1: is what his goal is. He was proud about the
23:40
Speaker 1: classes he were taking complete and he was building his
23:43
Speaker 1: life in the army. He is not a wall. He's
23:47
Speaker 1: not a wallens to you know what, Let's find out.
23:53
Speaker 1: Natalie Kawam what can you tell us about his sex
23:57
Speaker 1: harassment claim? I mean, this I is dying in the
24:01
Speaker 1: wool army. It must have taken a lot for him
24:05
Speaker 1: to make a complaint like that because you'll totally get blackballed. Correct.
24:09
Speaker 1: So he was especially assaulted in the supply room by
24:12
Speaker 1: by his sergeant. Who is that the same guy that
24:16
Speaker 1: dropped him off? Not that we know of, I mean
24:20
Speaker 1: we really, honestly, you don't even know if he was
24:22
Speaker 1: dropped off. Let's just be honest. Who saw him being
24:24
Speaker 1: dropped off? No one, so that guy could be telling
24:26
Speaker 1: us he dropped them off for all we know. First
24:28
Speaker 1: of all. Secondly, the guy that especially assaulted him with
24:32
Speaker 1: his staff sergeant as a guy named Kim laughing Kim
24:36
Speaker 1: ready for this? This is what's really horrible. They said
24:39
Speaker 1: they couldn't give this guy Kim a polygraphed test because
24:45
Speaker 1: he's Korean and didn't speak English. So I find out
24:49
Speaker 1: later that this guy speaks perfect English. They even wanted
24:52
Speaker 1: they want trying to protect him by saying that he
24:55
Speaker 1: didn't speak English and they need someone who spook Korean
24:57
Speaker 1: to give a polygraph test. So no waging to come
24:59
Speaker 1: out to show his guilt so they're Herbert. Who who
25:04
Speaker 1: is this they you're talking about that are protecting the shark?
25:08
Speaker 1: Who's the sharp people? The same people who is running
25:10
Speaker 1: sexual sex trafficking Onthood years ago. I mean, I gotta
25:15
Speaker 1: tell you, I've never heard anything like this in my life.
25:16
Speaker 1: Would you think that this would happen in the real world,
25:19
Speaker 1: that you don't give someone a polygraph test because they
25:21
Speaker 1: lie and they say that he doesn't speak English when
25:24
Speaker 1: they know he's the staff starging he has to speak English.
25:39
Speaker 1: Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Guys, we are talking about
25:43
Speaker 1: the disappearance of yet another young soldier at Fort Hood.
25:47
Speaker 1: This is Sergeant Elder Fernandez. He's got a chest ful
25:51
Speaker 1: of metals, three stripes on his arm, so proud, so
25:55
Speaker 1: proud of being in the Calvary. So what did it
26:00
Speaker 1: take for him to report sex harassment and allege sex
26:05
Speaker 1: assault on him by his sergeant, a male? And what
26:12
Speaker 1: we now learn, according to Nellie Kawam, the lawyer for
26:16
Speaker 1: his family, is that the Army tells her the sergeant
26:21
Speaker 1: could not be polygraphed because he's Asian. Now to you,
26:27
Speaker 1: Joe Episcopo, isn't it true that even if someone speaks
26:32
Speaker 1: a language other than English. You simply have someone of
26:36
Speaker 1: their native tongue performing the polygraph. It's really not that hard, Nancy.
26:42
Speaker 1: You can't make someone take a polygraph. You can't order it.
26:47
Speaker 1: You have to voluntarily take it. Okay, even in the
26:52
Speaker 1: Army language, you cannot order someone to take a polygraph.
26:56
Speaker 1: It's invalid. The polygraph must be done voluntarily, even in
27:00
Speaker 1: the army. Even in the Army, Yeah, you can't. Okay,
27:04
Speaker 1: let me just go with what you're saying. They can't
27:07
Speaker 1: force him to take a polly. But then instead of
27:12
Speaker 1: saying he would have taken the poly they came up
27:16
Speaker 1: with a story, we can't polygraph him because he doesn't
27:20
Speaker 1: speak English. But yet he does. And even if he didn't,
27:22
Speaker 1: you can still you can still polygraph a non English
27:26
Speaker 1: speaking person. I've had it done a million times. Well,
27:29
Speaker 1: if you want to a lawyer, the lawyer would tell
27:31
Speaker 1: him not to take it. That may be true, but
27:33
Speaker 1: that's not what the army told Kawam. The Army told
27:37
Speaker 1: her they couldn't poly him because he didn't speak English. Natalie,
27:42
Speaker 1: help me, it wasn't me when they told They told
27:44
Speaker 1: the mom or a Lina or your sister is about correct.
27:48
Speaker 1: They told me, and Elison's Fernandez. What did they tell you,
27:52
Speaker 1: miss Fernandez? They told me that is the investigation is
27:57
Speaker 1: still going on because they the personal who arrests Older
28:04
Speaker 1: does not speak English and they don't have anybody to
28:08
Speaker 1: translate it when they do the Okay, there you go,
28:12
Speaker 1: Joe Piscopo. You want to say the mom's Lyne. Good
28:15
Speaker 1: luck with that, buddy. I'm not saying that. Yeahbody's lying.
28:19
Speaker 1: I'm telling you you cannot make someone take up I know, granted,
28:24
Speaker 1: I'll go with you on that, but then why come
28:27
Speaker 1: up with a cockamamy story. We couldn't polygraph him because
28:31
Speaker 1: he doesn't speak English. That's total byes. Now that's a
28:34
Speaker 1: technical legal term, Piscopo. I don't know if you've ever
28:36
Speaker 1: heard of that before. Of course it is. And of
28:39
Speaker 1: course his attorney, who would have stepped in and say,
28:41
Speaker 1: what do you mean he doesn't speak English. That's where
28:45
Speaker 1: the attorney comes in. That's where the attorney gets in
28:47
Speaker 1: the face of these people and tells them, Okay, get tough, attorney,
28:53
Speaker 1: represent your client, get in there, kick some ask well.
28:56
Speaker 1: I appreciate all that, appreciate the reality at this point,
29:03
Speaker 1: thank you. At this point, Joe, we are still trying
29:06
Speaker 1: to find Elder. I mean, for at this point what
29:08
Speaker 1: they're telling the family, and I'm not there with the family.
29:10
Speaker 1: This is a case I literally took because my heart
29:14
Speaker 1: and it again. But I told them I'm not able
29:17
Speaker 1: to travel down to Texas this week. So I'm on
29:20
Speaker 1: the phone with these idiots, numb nuts on the phone
29:23
Speaker 1: yesterday and they keep on giving these evasive answers with him.
29:27
Speaker 1: So that's when I said, you know what, I will
29:29
Speaker 1: call the Secretary Defense if I have to call the
29:31
Speaker 1: President about this. Wha wait, wait, wait, wait wait, bring
29:35
Speaker 1: it down before we dragged the president and the Oval
29:39
Speaker 1: office into this. Let me understand very samply, Natalie Kawan,
29:45
Speaker 1: who did Elder say sex assaulted him? I think you
29:52
Speaker 1: said in the supply room? Who correct? It was staff
29:56
Speaker 1: stargeant Kim Kim? Is that a man or a woman?
29:59
Speaker 1: It's a okay. Do you know what the nature of
30:03
Speaker 1: the assault was. What did Elder claim the sergeant did?
30:08
Speaker 1: From I understand from his roommate, he grabbed his buttocks
30:13
Speaker 1: and then started harassing him. I didn't get all the details,
30:15
Speaker 1: but he started harassing him following him places, making his
30:19
Speaker 1: life really really troubled. And then they removed Elder, not
30:24
Speaker 1: the sergeant, out of the unit. And that's when everything
30:27
Speaker 1: started getting bad downhill. So they told Elder, oh, no
30:30
Speaker 1: one was there to see that. You know, it's just
30:32
Speaker 1: you two there. You know, they started doing that whole
30:35
Speaker 1: let's question the victim kind of thing, and that's when
30:38
Speaker 1: Elder's literally spirit, they broke his spirit. Afterwards, they just
30:43
Speaker 1: continued to harass him. We understand the Too movement hasn't
30:47
Speaker 1: hit Fort Dix, but normally the victim now is believed
30:51
Speaker 1: regardless of what the allegation is, according to the Me
30:55
Speaker 1: Too movement. So you know what, Episkipa, Paula ticks have
31:01
Speaker 1: nothing to do with Elder's disappearance. And I want to
31:05
Speaker 1: go back to Levi page Crime online dot Com investigative
31:08
Speaker 1: reporter Levi. I understand the Army says they are searching
31:12
Speaker 1: for missing Ford Hood's soldier, Sergeant Elder Fernandez, just twenty
31:18
Speaker 1: three years old. Did they also say they were searching
31:22
Speaker 1: for Vanessa again, Yes, Nancy, But here's the thing. The
31:25
Speaker 1: Army's not searching for him. And the statements that they've released,
31:29
Speaker 1: they have said that they think that he left on
31:32
Speaker 1: his own. But here's the problem with that, Nancy. As
31:35
Speaker 1: I mentioned earlier, he was last seen by his staff
31:38
Speaker 1: sergeant Monday afternoon, August seventeen, when he was dropped off
31:43
Speaker 1: at an apartment complex in Kaleen. His roommates said he
31:47
Speaker 1: no longer lived here, and he never entered the apartment complex.
31:51
Speaker 1: So someone is lying and he was reported missing two
31:55
Speaker 1: days later. This all happened after he accused someone of
32:00
Speaker 1: sexual harassment sexual assault, and he was hospitalized, and the
32:05
Speaker 1: Army has not nailed down this timeline. They're not taking
32:10
Speaker 1: this seriously. They're not searching for him, and they're claiming
32:14
Speaker 1: that he walked away, and that is very okay. If
32:16
Speaker 1: Ford Hood official has said we are actively searching to
32:19
Speaker 1: locate him and staying in contact with his family, friend
32:22
Speaker 1: and law enforce, actually EQUA searches the one searching the
32:26
Speaker 1: army is that was an official Fort Hood statement. I
32:28
Speaker 1: don't know if that's true or not. I also want
32:31
Speaker 1: you to know that we are reaching out to the
32:35
Speaker 1: sergeant who allegedly sex harassed Sergeant Elder Fernandez to miss Fernandez,
32:47
Speaker 1: what is your message today? My message is to find
32:52
Speaker 1: the elder I need any help that I can get
32:55
Speaker 1: to find the elder. I have a small children back
32:59
Speaker 1: home waiting for me. He's at the babysitter. Since I
33:03
Speaker 1: last I needed to find Alder. I can't leave taxes
33:07
Speaker 1: without Alder. My life will never go back together. Will
33:12
Speaker 1: tell my fun I need to know what Elder's at,
33:17
Speaker 1: any information, and I'm not accusing anybody. I just need
33:20
Speaker 1: everybody to help me find Elder. I need information. I
33:25
Speaker 1: need the military Department to tell me anything that they
33:29
Speaker 1: know to help me find my son. Miss Fernandez, what
33:35
Speaker 1: was the last thing Elder said to you? He told me, Mom,
33:39
Speaker 1: I promise you that I get my cell phone on Monday.
33:43
Speaker 1: I will call you. How to be Nancy. A sad
33:48
Speaker 1: update to this hour story, police now telling us that
33:51
Speaker 1: the body of a man found near some railroad tracks
33:54
Speaker 1: in Temple, Texas, believed to be that of Sergeant Elder Fernandez.
34:00
Speaker 1: Police responded earlier to a medical call in the area
34:03
Speaker 1: after a caller said that a man was observed near
34:06
Speaker 1: the railroad tracks. When the officers arrived, they determined that
34:10
Speaker 1: the man had been deceased for some period of time.
34:13
Speaker 1: Investigators say that identification a military ID and a driver's
34:18
Speaker 1: license at the scene indicate that the victim maybe and
34:23
Speaker 1: is most likely the missing Forthood soldier twenty three year
34:27
Speaker 1: old elder Fernandez. Now, no forensic confirmation has been made
34:31
Speaker 1: at this time in the investigation, and at this point
34:34
Speaker 1: foul play is not suspected, of course, Please stay with
34:38
Speaker 1: crime online dot com throughout the day and overnight for
34:41
Speaker 1: the very latest on this story. Nancy Grace signing off,
34:46
Speaker 1: goodbye friend.