Officials at Fort Hood in Texas are searching for Pfc. Jennifer Sewell, a soldier who's been missing since last Thursday
A female soldier based at Fort Hood in Texas has gone missing and officials are asking for help from the public in an effort to find her.
Jennifer Sewell was last seen around 4pm on Thursday leaving her barracks according to the Fort Hood Directorate of Emergency Services. She has not been seen since.
Sewell, a private first class soldier at the base, was reported missing after she failed to show up to work.
She has not responded to repeated calls by law enforcement, her superiors or her worried family.
'Initial investigation appears that Sewell left for unknown reasons on her own accord,' a statement explained, noting she does not own a vehicle.
Officials reached out for help on Saturday describing her as an 'African American female, 5 feet 5 inches tall, with brown hair and brown eyes'.
Sewell was last seen leaving her barracks around 4pm on October 7 and also failed to report to work that day. Law enforcement, Sewell's superiors and her family have been unable to contact her in the time since she vanished
At this stage, it is not known why she decided to leave the base.
Sewell, whose age is currently unknown, is just the latest soldier to disappear from the base over the past few years.
39 Fort Hood soldiers died or went missing, including 13 who died by suicide in 2020.
The deaths have brought increased attention to the reports of toxic culture and abuse on the base just outside Killeen, Texas.
Spc. Guillen, 20, disappeared from the Killeen, Texas base in April 2020 and her dismembered and buried remains were found on June 30 that year near the Leon River
They include 20-year-old Spc. Vanessa Guillen, who disappeared in April 2020 and was later found to have been bludgeoned to death with a hammer in the armory where she worked.
The main suspect in her disappearance who was another soldier, killed himself when investigators confronted him.
The string of deaths led to an independent review of the climate and culture at Fort Hood and led to the punishment of 14 senior officers.
The Army later released a report on their findings, which revealed Guillen was sexually harassed and reported it two times.
It said Guillen’s leaders didn’t take appropriate action and the allegations were not moved up the chain of command.
Her family has continued to push for change leading to federal lawmakers introducing legislation on how to handle sexual assaults outside of the chain of command and to give them to independent military prosecutors.
Anyone with information about Jennifer Sewell might be is asked to contact Fort Hood Military Police on 254-288-1170.
Spc. Guillen, 20, (left) disappeared from the Killeen, Texas base in April 2020 and her dismembered and buried remains were found on June 30 near 2020 the Leon River. Officials said fellow soldier Aaron Robinson, 20, (right) was the main suspect in her killing. He shot and killed himself as police honed in on him on July 1 2020
Fort Hood's grim death toll: 31 soldiers died in 2020 alone
It was Vanessa Guillen's high-profile death that captured the attention of the nation and led to a reckoning
