Sports news, analysis, rumors, statistics, predictions and roster moves around the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and more.
heavy.com
Elder Fernandes: Nuclear Specialist Missing from Fort Hood
The U.S. Army and Killeen,
Texas, police department are seeking the public’s help in locating Elder Fernandes, a Fort Hood soldier who was last seen on Monday afternoon. The missing soldier was dropped off at his home in Killeen by his staff sergeant and has not been heard from since. Killeen PD
said that his family reported him missing on Wednesday.
Fernandes’ disappearance puts the troubled military base back in the spotlight. In the past year, the base has seen a string of
murders and assaults and at least five soldiers have been
found dead around the base, prompting a U.S. Army investigation into the base. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy visited the base earlier this month and
said they plan to address the “root causes” of the assaults and soldier deaths occurring on or near the base.
At the time, McCarthy said Fort Hood has “the highest, in most cases,” reports of murders, sexual assaults and harassment of all Army bases. He said:
I’ve met over the last 24 hours with soldiers of every echelon … and told them that were are sending down an independent group of investigators to understand the root causes associated with the rise of felonies, violent acts, to better understand why this is happening in this installation.
Now, a few weeks later, police and U.S. Army officials are appealing the public for help locating Fernandes, with the U.S. Army
posting that their “primary concern is to ensure his safety and wellbeing.” Here’s what you need to know about Elder Fernandes, the missing Fort Hood soldier:
1. He Was Last Seen on Monday, August 17, & Was Reported Missing By His Family on Wednesday; Both the U.S. Army & the Killeen Police Department Are Looking for Him
The Killeen Police Department published a
news release about Fernandes’ disappearance asking for help from the public. It wrote that Fernandes hasn’t been seen or heard from since Monday, August 17. The 23-year-old’s family members told officers on Wednesday, August 19, that he was last seen when he was dropped off by his staff sergeant at his home in the 2700 block of Woodlands Drive.
The U.S. Army 1st Cavalry Division also posted on its Twitter page: “We are seeking your help in locating Sgt. Elder Fernandes. Please contact the Fort Hood Military Police at 254-288-1170 or US Army CID at 254-287-2722, if you have any information on his whereabouts.” The post was accompanied by a missing soldier alert:
2. His Aunt Has Publicly Appealed for Information on His Whereabouts, Saying He ‘Has a Heart of Gold’
Fernandes is originally from Brockton, Massachusetts. According to his aunt, Isabel Fernandes, he had just signed a new lease but hadn’t yet picked up the keys to the apartment. She told
ABC13 that Fernandes’ car with his belongings was found at the base. She told the outlet:
This is very, very unusual. He has been in touch with us since last week. I personally spoke to him Friday morning. He spoke with his mom this past Sunday and he promised he would call on Monday. Monday came and went and he didn’t call, and he didn’t answer calls from anyone else. Tuesday, no calls and my sister ended up flying down there yesterday, and still we haven’t heard from him.
His aunt continued, “We are here all worried. He has a big family and we need to find him and we need to find him alive.” She also posted about her nephew’s disappearance on Facebook, writing that he is “more than my nephew, he is more like my son, someone I saw born and grow into a wonderful young man, someone that has a heart of gold, his heart is so big that he joined the Army to protect and serve.”
3. Fernandes Is a Nuclear Specialist With the 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood & His Mother Flew to Texas to Help With the Search
Fernandes is a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear specialist with the 1st Cavalry Division Sustainment Brigade, according to
CBS DFW. He has been in the military since at least 2016, as his mother, Ailina Neves, has posted Facebook photos of Fernandes in uniform as early as November 2016.
Fernandes’ mother flew down to Fort Hood to push officials in the search. Isabel, Fernandes’ aunt, wrote that Fernandes’ mother is “in agony right now in Texas, she is in an unknown city and can’t find her baby boy, she does not know where to start looking, she needs the Public and law enforcement to step up and help.” She also wrote that Fernandes’ father is in Cape Verde waiting to hear news.
Texas Equusearch, a non-profit search and rescue organization founded in 2000 and based in Dickinson, Texas, just outside Houston, has joined the search for Fernandes. Their Facebook
post about the disappearance adds that he had a full sleeve tattoo on his left arm. According to
KCENTV, Fort Hood officials have already searched the entire division area including headquarter buildings, parking lots and motor pools.
4. Fernandes Had Just Been Released From Hospital, Though No Reason Was Provided for His Hospitalization
KCENTV spoke to Fernandes’ mother, who said he had just been released from the hospital. She told the outlet, “We’ve been talking since last Tuesday. He’s been in the hospital since Tuesday. We’ve been talking every day, two-three times a day, and for him to get out of the hospital and nowhere to be found. it’s so much concern, worry. Its a nightmare right now.”
There is no confirmed information available at this time about his reason for hospitalization. According to a press release by the 1st Cavalry Division
shared by Massachusetts State Representative Liz Miranda, Fernandes is described as a “missing high risk soldier.”
5. His Disappearance Is the Latest in a String of Incidents at the Army Base in the Past Year
Fernandes’ disappearance comes after a string of publicized deaths in the past year at the army base, 11 in total with foul play suspected in five of them. The most high-profile case is that of
Vanessa Guillen, 20, who federal and military investigators say was killed and dismembered by another soldier,
Aaron David Robinson, the New York Post
reported. Guillen went missing on April 22 and her remains were found in early July, shortly after Robinson took his own life.
Officials found the remains of 24-year-old Fort Hood soldier Gregory Wedel-Morales in a Killeen field on June 19. Wedel-Morales had been missing since last August. Fox News
reported that U.S. Army officials suspect foul play in his death. In May 2020, another Fort Hood soldier, 27-year-old Pfc. Brandon Scott Rosecrans, was found dead of a gunshot wound about 13 miles from the post, Army Times
reported. His body was found near his Jeep, which had been set ablaze. A Killeen-area couple was recently
arrested and charged in connection with Rosecrans’ death.
Most recently, two Fort Hood soldiers died in separate incidents near the base. Sgt. Bradley Moore, a 36-year-old Texas Army National Guard soldier, died on August 13 during a training accident at the base. On August 12, 22-year-old Spc. Cole Jakob Aton was hit by a vehicle when he was attempting to direct traffic around a minor accident. He died of his injuries at the scene, KCENTV
reported.
www.nbcnews.com
