Military investigators have discovered no foul play within the dying of Fort Hood soldier Ana Basalduaruiz, reportedly telling her household that she died by suicide — after she complained to her dad and mom about being sexually harassed by her superior and others.
The 21-year-old fight engineer was pronounced useless Monday — lower than three years after the brutal homicide of Vanessa Guillen, who had additionally endured alleged sexual harassment earlier than being bludgeoned with a hammer and butchered.
The Military Felony Investigation Division (CID), which has been trying into Basalduaruiz’s dying, mentioned Thursday that “no foul play is evident.”
“Army CID will continue to conduct a thorough investigation and gather all evidence and facts to ensure they discover exactly what transpired,” officers said. “Information related to any possible harassment will be addressed and investigated fully.”
Throughout an emotional interview with Telemundo Information, Basalduaruiz’s dad and mom mentioned they have been instructed by Fort Hood brass that their daughter died by suicide.
Alejandra Ruiz Zarco, the soldier’s mom, instructed the Spanish-language information outlet from her house in Mexico that Basalduaruiz had complained about being sexually harassed by her superior and different colleagues on the bottom.
“She told me, ‘mom, everyone wants me to sleep with them, but they are a—holes,’” Ruiz Zarco mentioned.
Of their final cellphone dialog on March 8, Ruiz Zarco mentioned her daughter sounded deeply upset and confided in her that her life was in a state of turmoil.
“She told me that she was very sad,” the mother recalled, “that things were not as normal as I thought, that she couldn’t tell me much, but that there was going to be a moment when we were going to be together and she could say everything.”
The heartbroken mother added that in that dialog, her 21-year-old daughter instructed her that she desperately needed to see her and hug her.
“And she wanted me to hug her a lot, like when she was little,” Ruiz Zarco shared.
Basalduaruiz was a Mexican-born naturalized US citizen who joined the Military in 2020, however her army coaching was postponed for a 12 months due to COVID.
She had served with the first Cavalry Division in Fort Hood for 15 months and was scheduled to finish her contract in August, mentioned her father, Baldo Basaldua, of California.
The dad instructed Telemundo Information that earlier than her dying, Basalduaruiz instructed him that “she was no longer comfortable, that her whole life was wrong, that she wanted to die.”
The person final spoke to his daughter final Saturday. She then stopped responding to his texts, and by Monday Basaldua’s messages have been not reaching his daughter’s cellphone.
“I went to look for her [satellite] location and then it appeared that she was like in a park inside the base and that was it,” the daddy mentioned. “I just put a message to her that the one who was going to die was going to be me, of anguish.”
Later that very same day, Military representatives confirmed up on the restaurant the place Basaldua works and gave him the devastating information.
Lucy Del Gaudio, an advocate for ladies within the army who’s appearing as a spokesperson for Basalduaruiz’ household, instructed CBS Information that the Military thus far has “stonewalled” their inquires concerning the younger soldier’s alleged sexual harassment.
“The Army is doing what they always do, not saying anything,” Del Gaudio mentioned, including that Basalduaruiz’s family members are demanding solutions.
Balsaduaruiz’s dying comes lower than three years after the homicide of 20-year-old soldier Vanessa Guillen after she, too, had complained about undesirable sexual advances at Fort Hood.
Guillen was bludgeoned to dying with a hammer, dismembered and buried in a shallow grave in April 2020.
Her suspected killer, 20-year-old Spc. Aaron Robinson, shot himself in June of that 12 months as police tried to arrest him.
Guillen’s slaying sparked a social media motion and ultimately led to disciplinary motion being taken towards 21 officers and non-commissioned officers on the troubled base.
An impartial overview panel tasked with trying into greater than two dozen soldier deaths at Fort Hood that befell in 2020 alone discovered that the army set up’s leaders weren’t correctly addressing sexual assault and harassment, drug use and different issues affecting personnel.
The overview additionally discovered that the Military’s Felony Investigation Division — the identical company that discovered no foul play in Balsaduaruiz’s dying — was understaffed, overwhelmed and stuffed with inexperienced investigators.
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