AGGRESSIVE HAZING

Missing Fort Hood Soldier Found Dead, Family Lawyer Says

Sgt. Elder Fernandes “wanted to be in the Army his whole career,” but an alleged sexual assault made it so he “didn’t want to go back.”

A Fort Hood soldier who went missing last week has been found hanging from a tree about 25 miles from the Army base, a lawyer for his family told The Boston Globe. Sgt. Elder Fernandes was bullied for reporting an alleged sexual assault, the lawyer, Natalie Khawam, earlier told Task and Purpose. Fernandes “wanted to be in the Army his whole career,” she said. But while the 23-year-old was stationed at Fort Hood, a fellow male soldier groped him in a supply room, and he “didn’t want to go back,” Khawam said. He was transferred from his unit, but soldiers in his new unit “bullied” and “hazed” him, Khawam said. He went missing Aug. 17. A spokesman for Fernandes’ unit told Task and Purpose commanding officers were “not aware of any reports of bullying or hazing.” Fort Hood officials confirmed investigations into his reports of “abusive sexual contact.” Multiple soldiers have gone missing from Fort Hood in recent months, including Vanessa Guillens, who was bludgeoned to death by a fellow soldier, according to her family’s lawyer. Guillens had reminded the soldier, Aaron Robinson, that his relationship with a colleague’s estranged ex-wife was in violation of military policy. Robinson killed himself as authorities moved to arrest him.