A long-awaited Army report on the disappearance and death of Spc. Vanessa Guillén last year will confirm that she was being sexually harassed, just not by the man accused of killing her, Task & Purpose has learned.
The report, put together by Gen. John “Mike” Murray, the commander of Army Futures Command who was appointed last year to carry out the investigation, is being released on Friday afternoon. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy announced the investigation in September, saying it would be a “comprehensive look” at the actions taken at “every echelon of the command” in the weeks that followed Guillén’s disappearance.
Guillén, who was last seen on April 22, 2020, was reportedly in an armory room at Fort Hood, Texas, when she was hit in the head with a hammer “multiple times” by another soldier, Spc. Aaron Robinson. Robinson then allegedly took her body to the Leon River, roughly 20 miles away from Fort Hood.
Army investigators determined that Guillén was sexually harassed by a member of her unit, according to a passage of the report that was viewed by Task & Purpose and two sources with direct knowledge of the report. Robinson and his girlfriend at the time, Cecily Aguilar, allegedly buried Vanessa’s remains at the Leon River. Robinson died by suicide on the night of June 30, as law enforcement closed in on him.
It’s unclear what disciplinary action the person accused of harassing Vanessa is facing, though one of the sources said the Army is expected to announce several disciplinary steps being taken against people at Fort Hood who are implicated in the investigation. The Army declined to comment for this story.
Guillén’s family has long maintained that she was being sexually harassed prior to her disappearance, but didn’t feel comfortable coming forward. Her sister Lupe previously told Task & Purpose that Guillén told her mother about the harassment in February 2020, just two months before she was murdered. Her mother Gloria told her to “rip up” her Army contract and “come back home,” but Vanessa insisted she would “take care of it.”
The news of Guillén’s harassment brought on an outpouring of stories from women across the military who said they too faced harassment or sexual assault during their service, using the hashtag #IAmVanessaGuillén. Her death resulted in an independent committee’s review of the climate and culture at Fort Hood, which found a broken Sexual Harassment/Assault Respond and Prevention (SHARP) program and an environment that was “permissive” of assault and harassment.
The committee’s report, released in December, identified a toxic and harmful environment for women at the base. As Task & Purpose previously reported, many soldiers at the installation feared retaliation for reporting assault or harassment, and it forced women at the base “into survival mode,” while leaders turned a blind eye to a “clearly identified high risk” of sexual assault.
Lupe and her older sister Mayra have maintained over the last year that Guillén told her family she was being harassed, despite Army investigators saying last year that they didn’t find any evidence to support the claim.
“They always say she was not sexually harassed, or [use] the word alleged,” Lupe said at Fort Hood on Feb. 19. “I want to hear ‘Vanessa Guillén was being sexually harassed’ … they’re too afraid to say it because they know what will happen.”
Featured photo: An image of slain Army Spc. Vanessa Guillen and #IAmVanessaGuillen is seen before the start of a news conference on the National Mall in front of Capitol Hill, Thursday, July 30, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
