With each passing hour, Mayra Guillen is consumed by one thought: Will Vanessa be found today?
“I don’t even know what’s keeping me going,’’ Mayra said. “Sometimes I don’t get hungry. I have my days when I feel like giving up, but then I think about it and I say, ‘What if I’m a step away? What if tomorrow’s the day?’’’
Army Pfc. Vanessa Guillen, Mayra’s younger sister, has been missing since April 22 at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas. Guillen, 20, was last seen in the parking lot of her squadron headquarters, wearing a black T-shirt and purple “fitness-type’’ pants. Guillen is of Hispanic descent. She is 5 feet, 2 inches tall, weighs 126 pounds and has black hair and brown eyes.
The Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID) is working with other law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and the Texas Department of Public Safety. More than 150 people have been interviewed, and ground and air searches have been conducted, the CID said.
Along with her barracks room key, ID card and wallet, Guillen’s car keys were discovered the day she disappeared in the armory room where she was working, the CID said.
“We are completely committed to finding Vanessa and aggressively going after every single piece of credible information and every lead in this investigation,’’ Chris Grey, CID chief of public affairs, said in a news release this week. “We will not stop until we find Vanessa.’’
The CID is offering a reward up to $25,000 in its search for Guillen, whose case has drawn the attention of, among others, actress Salma Hayek.
“We will maintain our resolve to locate Pfc. Vanessa Guillen and will continue our efforts until she is found,’’ Col. Ralph Overland, 3rd Calvary Regiment commander at Fort Hood, said in a separate news release.
A team of investigators at Fort Hood will look into allegations that Guillen was being sexually harassed, it was announced Thursday.
Guillen, the second-oldest of six children, was raised in Houston. As a child, she loved playing soccer and running. The medals from her races would hang in her room.
Vanessa and Mayra traded turns doing each other’s hair and makeup. Mayra was not surprised when Vanessa enlisted.
“She knew right away she wasn’t suited to work in an office or something in an environment where you have to sit down, just be still,’’ Mayra said. “She’s really active, so when she started looking up about joining the Army, she saw a future there. She wanted to represent the country, have some type of honor because you have to honor and respect our soldiers.’’
Vanessa was taking online classes and planned to study kinesiology, the science of human movement.
Investigators said they do not believe that Guillen’s disappearance is related to the case of PV2 Gregory Morales, who had not been seen since last Aug. 19. Morales’ remains were found Friday in a field in Killeen. An autopsy is pending.
Anyone with information about Guillen is asked to go online at https://www.cid.army.mil/report-a-crime.html or contact Army CID Special Agents at 254-287-2722 or the Military Police Desk at 254-288-1170.
“It’s something that I still can’t accept,’’ Mayra said. “I still can’t believe this happened, and I’m having to deal with it. … I still honestly believe that she’s alive and she’s waiting to be found, and by the grace of God, it’s going to happen.’’
