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Speaker 1: You're listening to Facing Evil, a production of iHeartRadio and

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Speaker 1: Tenderfoot TV. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast

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Speaker 1: are solely those of the individuals participating in the show

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Speaker 1: and do not represent those of iHeartRadio or Tenderfoot TV.

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Speaker 1: This podcast contains subject matter which may not be suitable

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Speaker 1: for everyone. Listener discretion is advised.

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Speaker 2: Hello, everyone, welcome back to Facing Evil from Tenderfoot TV

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Speaker 2: and iHeartRadio. We are your host. I'm Rashia Pecuerero.

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Speaker 3: And I am even genteel and we are here as

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Speaker 3: always with our amazing producer Trevor Young.

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Speaker 2: Howdy howdy, Hey, Texon always comes out.

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Speaker 1: I'll tell you what.

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Speaker 3: So, rash what's going on with my beautiful niece, Leilani Rose?

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Speaker 2: Like what? Leilani Rose is currently sequestered up in her

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Speaker 2: room because she has COVID and her moms do not.

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Speaker 2: I had it not that long ago, so I'm the

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Speaker 2: only one that's kind of around or like allowed around

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Speaker 2: her with my mask on. But vana's a compromise, so

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Speaker 2: she cannot be around her.

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Speaker 3: Yay, yay, I mean I've had it. Trevor, did you

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Speaker 3: get COVID?

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Speaker 1: Oh? I got it? Just a couple of weeks ago

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Speaker 1: for the first time. It was not fun.

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Speaker 2: Did you do know how you got it? Because I

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Speaker 2: know I got it from my sister event, okay.

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Speaker 1: Rassia, I have no idea. I mean, so we're in

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Speaker 1: this kind of weird space now where masks are pretty

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Speaker 1: much like suggested, but not mandatory anywhere anymore, right, right,

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Speaker 1: So I don't know. You can get it anywhere now.

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Speaker 1: You can get it at the grocery store, you know,

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Speaker 1: even if you are wearing a mask yourself.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I wear them everywhere.

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Speaker 1: So I have no idea. But I don't want to

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Speaker 1: do it again.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, no, neither do I. And again I don't know

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Speaker 3: where I got it either, Russia, I know. Okay, enough

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Speaker 3: of our COVID stories, Trevor, will you takes due today's case.

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Speaker 2: For the first time, new court documents reveal a possible

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Speaker 2: motive for Vanessa Gean's murder.

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Speaker 1: The meanings of Skadi were useless.

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Speaker 2: There was no new information, and for them not to

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Speaker 2: give us an answer was like the problem is inside.

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Speaker 2: The high profile case sparked new rules about sexual assault

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Speaker 2: in the military. How can she go missing on a

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Speaker 2: military base?

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Speaker 1: That's ridiculous, go find her and better find her. On

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Speaker 1: April twenty second, twenty twenty, not long after the start

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Speaker 1: of the COVID pandemic, twenty year old U. S. Army

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Speaker 1: soldier Vanessa Geen went missing. Vanessa had been stationed at

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Speaker 1: Fort Hood, Texas, and her time there had been difficult.

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Speaker 1: There were rumors that another soldier there had been harassing her.

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Speaker 1: She told her mother that she was being stalked and

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Speaker 1: sexually assaulted, but nothing had been done about it, and

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Speaker 1: after she went missing, the military base did little to

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Speaker 1: investigate the disappearance. Then, about two months later, her dismembered

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Speaker 1: body was found inside cement near the Leon River a

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Speaker 1: few miles away. It quickly became clear that the man

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Speaker 1: who had been harassing her, another soldier named Aaron Robinson,

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Speaker 1: was her killer. He was shortly detained by military base personnel,

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Speaker 1: but then he escaped. He found a car and drove

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Speaker 1: it off of the base. The authorities gave chase, and

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Speaker 1: he was eventually cornered and trapped. Robinson then shot and

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Speaker 1: killed himself. So why didn't Fort Hood do more to

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Speaker 1: investigate Vanessa's disappearance? How many other cases are there like hers?

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Speaker 1: And what does her story reveal to us about sexism

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Speaker 1: in the military, an issue that quite often leads to violence.

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Speaker 3: So I remember hearing about this case as it was

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Speaker 3: happening in twenty twenty. I mean, we were all witness

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Speaker 3: seeing horrible things happening, you know, with COVID and all

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Speaker 3: sorts of things. But as if things weren't bad enough

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Speaker 3: in the world, we were watching this tragedy unfold at

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Speaker 3: Fort Hood and this story was all over the news.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I saw it all over social media and of

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Speaker 2: course the news. But let's be real, I get most

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Speaker 2: of my news from social media. But what grabbed me

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Speaker 2: and made me so grossed out was the negligence of

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Speaker 2: the Fortthood military base. Obviously, of course, the crime itself

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Speaker 2: was gruesome and terrible, but I kept thinking about how

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Speaker 2: all of this could have been avoided in the first place.

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Speaker 3: I know exactly. I mean, this is this is why

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Speaker 3: we're talking about this case, especially being female in the military.

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Speaker 3: I mean, we know how challenging that is. In this

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Speaker 3: case brings up an issue that we need to bring

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Speaker 3: more attention to. So Trevor, I know you have some statistics.

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Speaker 3: Can you just tell us what those numbers are?

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Speaker 1: Sure, here's a bit of research for you. So one

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Speaker 1: of the things we found was a recent survey done

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Speaker 1: by George Mason University, and they found that sixty eight

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Speaker 1: percent of women said they had experienced gender discrimination in

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Speaker 1: the military, and sixty six percent said they had experienced

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Speaker 1: sexual harassment or assault. It also showed that in twenty seventeen,

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Speaker 1: five two hundred and seventy seven service members reported being

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Speaker 1: sexually assaulted during their time in the military, compared to

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Speaker 1: just four seven hundred and ninety four the year prior

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Speaker 1: twenty sixteen.

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Speaker 2: That's crazy to me. It's so wild that most people

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Speaker 2: who are not in the military do not know about

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Speaker 2: this or don't realize how bad it actually is. But

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Speaker 2: I think that Vanessa's story is such an eye opener,

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Speaker 2: and I think it gives us a glimpse into the

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Speaker 2: realities of what it's like being a woman in the military.

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Speaker 3: Exactly rash. So let's just jump into it then, So, Trevor,

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Speaker 3: can you please tell us about Vanessa's life and her background,

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Speaker 3: just give us some information on Vanessa.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, of course. So Vanessa was born on September thirtieth,

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Speaker 1: nineteen ninety nine, in Houston, Texas. Her parents were Rohaleo

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Speaker 1: and Gloria gian and they were from Zacatecas State in Mexico.

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Speaker 1: Vanessa was one of six siblings, so pretty big family.

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Speaker 1: And by all accounts, Vanessa had a pretty normal, big

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Speaker 1: family sort of upbringing. And in twenty eighteen she graduated

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Speaker 1: from Caesar Shaves High School, where she was in the

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Speaker 1: top fifteen percent of her class, so pretty gifted kid.

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Speaker 1: Then in June of twenty eighteen, right after she graduated,

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Speaker 1: Vanessa enlisted in the Army. She trained as a ninety

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Speaker 1: one F which essentially is a small arms and artillery repairer,

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Speaker 1: so they work with weapons, and she was stationed at

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Speaker 1: Fort Hood in Colleen, Texas, one of the biggest military

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Speaker 1: bases in the country. And by all accounts, she was independent,

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Speaker 1: strong willed, and according to her friend Ashley Massias, and

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Speaker 1: listened in the army to prove herself and others that

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Speaker 1: she was capable of really anything.

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Speaker 2: Basically, it sounds like she was a badass. She was

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Speaker 2: a badass, I mean really Unfortunately, though, I think Vanessa

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Speaker 2: got a lot more than she signed up for. While

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Speaker 2: at Fort Hood, Vanessa told her mother that she didn't

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Speaker 2: feel safe there. She didn't feel safe at Fort Hood,

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Speaker 2: and she actually told her that one sergeant in particular

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Speaker 2: had been regularly sexually harassing her.

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Speaker 3: I remember reading that her mother, Gloria said that she

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Speaker 3: kept asking Vanessa to give her the name of that

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Speaker 3: particular sergeant, that Vanessa wouldn't do it. I mean, for me,

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Speaker 3: when I think about this story and just you know,

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Speaker 3: doing the research, I really feel like Vanessa was scared

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Speaker 3: to tell her mom because she if she would tell

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Speaker 3: her mom, like her mom was going to raise Hill right,

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Speaker 3: like she was going to find out what was going on,

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Speaker 3: what was happening to her daughter. I mean, what do

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Speaker 3: you guys think. Do you think she was embarrassed or

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Speaker 3: she didn't want to stir up trouble at the military.

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Speaker 3: What do you guys think?

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Speaker 1: To me? I think she was intimidated by the sort

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Speaker 1: of military personnel and the sort of politics that happened

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Speaker 1: on military basis. I have a feeling she knew that

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Speaker 1: it probably wouldn't go well for her to rite out

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Speaker 1: a fellow soldier, especially somebody that was a superior. I

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Speaker 1: think Fort Hood was really good about creating a culture

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Speaker 1: of silence inside the base. You know, they didn't really

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Speaker 1: want any sort of drama. To me, I think she

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Speaker 1: was just kind of like, you know, why bother you know,

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Speaker 1: they're not going to really do anything about it anyways,

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Speaker 1: even if I speak up and say something.

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Speaker 2: So I can totally see that, but it makes me

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Speaker 2: so sad that you know that she possibly felt that way.

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Speaker 2: You know, I was reading that Vanessa told her mom

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Speaker 2: that the base was quote unquote evil and that she

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Speaker 2: was actually having trouble sleeping at night, and she never had,

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Speaker 2: you know, trouble sleeping before. I'm sure all of everything

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Speaker 2: that you both said, you know, made it so that

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Speaker 2: she didn't want to come forward. But it's interesting to

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Speaker 2: me that, you know, she said that the base was evil.

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Speaker 1: And I'll say somebody from Texas people talk about Fort

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Speaker 1: Hood in not so flattering terms. I think it's kind

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Speaker 1: of one of those places you know, you kind of avoid,

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Speaker 1: like the play Colleen especially, like.

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Speaker 2: Has it always had a bad rap?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it's just kind of like a small town with

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Speaker 1: not a lot going on other than the base, and

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Speaker 1: it's just like kind of joyless outside of the military base,

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Speaker 1: you know, and I doubt the military base provides much

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Speaker 1: joy either, So I don't know, Yeah, it's just kind

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Speaker 1: of has a weird reputation. I can't speak specifically because

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Speaker 1: I don't know anybody who's you know, been in the

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Speaker 1: military or gone there, but I do know that those

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Speaker 1: kind of bad vibes that you're describing are very much

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Speaker 1: like felt in the state of Texas.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, especially for you growing up there, well in Austin.

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Speaker 3: But yeah, yeah, alrighty. So anyways, even though she wouldn't

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Speaker 3: tell her mom who he was, Vanessa did tell a friend,

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Speaker 3: and she told her friend, Sierra, that the man's name

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Speaker 3: was Aaron R. And that he most recently had walked

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Speaker 3: in on her in the shower. First of all, that's disgusting, yeah,

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Speaker 3: and he should have been reprimanded for.

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Speaker 2: That, oh immediately, and it could have stopped right there,

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Speaker 2: but it didn't.

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Speaker 1: Right, and then things just got even more tough for Vanessa.

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Speaker 1: In the fall of twenty nineteen, Vanessa returned home after

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Speaker 1: a brief combat training stint in the Mahabi Desert in California, Gloria.

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Speaker 1: Her mom said that her daughter was very withdrawn when

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Speaker 1: she came home, and when she asked her what the

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Speaker 1: matter was, Vanessa told her quote, I am very tired, Mommy.

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Speaker 1: I just want to get out of the military.

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Speaker 2: That breaks my mind. I know.

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Speaker 3: Yeah. Well, there was at least one good thing that

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Speaker 3: did happen in Vanessa's life, and this happened in March

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Speaker 3: of twenty twenty, and Vanessa became engaged to her longtime

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Speaker 3: boyfriend one Cruise, But that was, of course, just a

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Speaker 3: month or so before she went missing. And Cruise saw

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Speaker 3: Vanessa for the last time on April nineteen, twenty twenty,

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Speaker 3: when she had to go back to Fort Hood, and

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Speaker 3: that was just three days before she went missing.

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Speaker 1: And we'll talk about what happened after we take a

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Speaker 1: quick break.

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Speaker 2: Okay, So let's talk about that fateful day, the day

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Speaker 2: that Vanessa goes missing. So on April twenty second of

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Speaker 2: twenty twenty, Vanessa is working in the arms room on

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Speaker 2: the base and she sent her last communication, which was

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Speaker 2: a text, at ten twenty three am. She sent a

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Speaker 2: text confirming the serial number of a machine gun. She

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Speaker 2: was then last seen around one pm in a parking

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Speaker 2: lot at Fort Hood. Her barracks room key, her car keys,

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Speaker 2: her wallet, and her ID were all left behind in

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Speaker 2: the arms room where she worked.

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Speaker 1: Right, And that's already suspicious. I mean, people don't just

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Speaker 1: leave their wallet and car keys behind right. Anyways, So

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Speaker 1: around six pm, a good friend of hers name Tay

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Speaker 1: high Tower says he went looking for her. Her roommate

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Speaker 1: didn't know where she was, and her jeep was still

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Speaker 1: parked in the parking lot. So high Tower, of course,

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Speaker 1: is starting to get suspicious. And then around ten pm,

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Speaker 1: High Tower found out that the last person she'd worked

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Speaker 1: with in the arms room was specialist Aaron Robinson. This

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Speaker 1: would appear to be the same Aaron R that Vanessa

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Speaker 1: had told her friend Sierra about. So Vanessa was a

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Speaker 1: private first class and that would mean that Aaron Robinson

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Speaker 1: was technically ranked above her as a specialist. High Tower

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Speaker 1: says that he called Robinson and Robinson acted like he

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Speaker 1: had just woke up, and he denied even talking to

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Speaker 1: Vanessa that day, which seems already incredibly unlikely.

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Speaker 3: I mean, come on, like, we all know, like he's lying.

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Speaker 2: I mean, at least be like, oh, the last time

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Speaker 2: I saw her was, you know, in the arms room.

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Speaker 3: This is baffling. I mean, anyone with a brain, right,

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Speaker 3: it would be clear by now that this guy is

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Speaker 3: responsible for whatever he's already done to her, Right, Yeah, okay,

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Speaker 3: let me just calm down, You're okay. So we now

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Speaker 3: know that Vanessa was summoned in the late morning by

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Speaker 3: Robinson to the armory room. Okay, she read him serial numbers,

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Speaker 3: and he supposedly gave her orders to service some weapons.

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Speaker 3: So the whole thing about him not talking to her

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Speaker 3: or knowing where she was is boushit complete and utter bullshit.

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Speaker 1: Keep in mind, you know documents that were reviewed later,

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Speaker 1: much later after the fact, about like where he was

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Speaker 1: that day, So at the time it's not confirmed that said, like,

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Speaker 1: there should have been some record of where he was working,

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Speaker 1: like on a call sheet or something.

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Speaker 2: But you know, don't you think because it's a military base, right,

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Speaker 2: you would think everything's documented.

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Speaker 3: But you would think there are cameras everywhere to know

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Speaker 3: who is coming and going from which area.

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Speaker 1: Right, Yeah, I have a hard time believing that an

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Speaker 1: arms room at Fort Hood doesn't have some CCTV on it,

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Speaker 1: I'm exactly.

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Speaker 2: So, after High Tower was looking for Vanessa, her family

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Speaker 2: by this time knows that she's gone missing. So then

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Speaker 2: Vanessa's sisters and her fiance drove up together from Houston

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Speaker 2: that night. They arrived at Fort Hood at about two

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Speaker 2: thirty am in the morning and officials made them wait

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Speaker 2: until nine am to enter. So finally they met with

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Speaker 2: military police that day, but learned nothing, nada about what

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Speaker 2: had happened to Vanessa. So of course, you know, Vanessa's

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Speaker 2: family immediately thought her disappearance was suspicious. They didn't trust

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Speaker 2: the army's investigation efforts at all, and they felt like

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Speaker 2: they were being completely left in the dark, which they

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Speaker 2: were one hundred million percent.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, they weren't being super well taken care of. I mean,

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Speaker 1: being forced to wait until nine am to enter the

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Speaker 1: base that's just there for like seven hours, is yeah, unreasonable.

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Speaker 1: So one more thing to note here is that during

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Speaker 1: this time, there were actually two people, two witnesses, who

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Speaker 1: actually saw Robinson pulling a very large what they call

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Speaker 1: a tough box which is just like a big container

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Speaker 1: box on wheels, and it looked really heavy. So he

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Speaker 1: was coming out of the arms room, the same room

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Speaker 1: where he worked and where Vanessa was, with this box,

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Speaker 1: and then he loaded the box into his vehicle and

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Speaker 1: drove away, presumably off the base.

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Speaker 3: So I mean, come on, guys like you me, Trevor,

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Speaker 3: we would all think that boom, slam dunk, this is

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Speaker 3: the guy, right.

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Speaker 1: No, they don't. Instead, on April twenty fourth, the Army

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Speaker 1: officially declares Vanessa to be a wall, which is short

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Speaker 1: for absent without official leave. And at the time of

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Speaker 1: set announcement, there was also no active protocols in place

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Speaker 1: for missing soldiers at Fort Hood, and also, since this

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Speaker 1: was the very start of the COVID pandemic, the base

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Speaker 1: was running at a limited capacity and was far less

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Speaker 1: active than normal, basically meaning they're not really planning on

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Speaker 1: devoting any resources to Vanessa's disappearance.

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Speaker 2: Which is so heartbreaking and one of the many failures

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Speaker 2: in my humble opinion of Fort Hood. But they did

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Speaker 2: at least interview Robinson, who said that Vanessa actually left

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Speaker 2: the armed room that day without him, then he went

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Speaker 2: to spend the night with his girlfriend, Cecily Aguilar, off

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Speaker 2: the base. So investigators said that Aguilar backed up Robinson's

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Speaker 2: alibi and they took it at face value, and then

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Speaker 2: they just left Robinson alone. And then for a few

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Speaker 2: months nothing.

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Speaker 1: Supposedly the investigations like ongoing, but there's not really any developments.

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Speaker 3: Right, So, yeah, this is about when I started hearing

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Speaker 3: about it on the news, and I remember it was

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Speaker 3: probably in mid June and I remember hearing that the

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Speaker 3: Army had raised the reward for info about Vanessa from

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Speaker 3: twenty five thousand to fifty thousand. And also there was

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Speaker 3: a rapper by the name of baby Bash, and I

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Speaker 3: remember that because he's from the Bay Area, Valeo born,

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Speaker 3: and he added another five thousand dollars to the reward.

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Speaker 3: And also the actress sel Mahayak posted about it. She

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Speaker 3: put up photos of Vanessa on her Instagram page every

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Speaker 3: single day.

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Speaker 2: I think it's wonderful that people like Baby Bash and

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Speaker 2: Samahayak were using platform for good. And I have to

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Speaker 2: commend Vanessa's family because they created the hashtag find Vanessa

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Speaker 2: gain and I really think they're the ones that propelled

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Speaker 2: finding Vanessa forward. I'm one of the people that love

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Speaker 2: social media. Of course, you know there's times where you

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Speaker 2: do want to turn it off, but I think this

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Speaker 2: is one of the times where it was so impactful.

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Speaker 2: I think it's one of the reasons I think that

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Speaker 2: Vanessa eventually was found.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I never really saw the celebrity stuff, but I

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Speaker 1: did see the hashtag going around.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: You know, this is like not long after the George

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Speaker 1: Floyd Yep YEP incidents were going on. So I think

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Speaker 1: there was definitely a big rallying around social media as

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Speaker 1: a way to, you know, raise awareness of certain issues

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Speaker 1: at that time. So, as you mentioned, there was a

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Speaker 1: bit of tree shaking, and then it would be about

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Speaker 1: two months after she went missing that they would finally

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Speaker 1: find something. Of course, by then it was too late,

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Speaker 1: so we need to take another break real quick. But

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Speaker 1: when we come back, we'll talk about what happened after

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Speaker 1: they found Vanessa.

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Speaker 2: So on June twenty third of twenty twenty, two months

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Speaker 2: after Vanessa's disappearance, the Army finally announces that they believe

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Speaker 2: foul play is involved, like the Just a week later,

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Speaker 2: on June thirtieth, partial human remains were discovered along the

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Speaker 2: Leon River in Bell County, Texas. So apparently investigators had

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Speaker 2: already searched the Leon River but they didn't have any

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Speaker 2: luck at that time. But on this particular day, there

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Speaker 2: were contractors that were working on a fence when they

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Speaker 2: smelled a very horrible odor nearby, and so they reported it.

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Speaker 2: They called the police, and soon the Texas Rangers and

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Speaker 2: Fort Hood c ID, which are the Criminal Investigation Division

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Speaker 2: from Fort Hood, they were all soon on the scene.

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Speaker 1: Right and it's weird to me that it had to

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Speaker 1: be contractors, right, not even lawn right, I found this,

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Speaker 1: But anyways, you can probably guess what they found. They

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Speaker 1: found three different shallow graves of human remains that had

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Speaker 1: been buried and covered in concrete, and in one of

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Speaker 1: them there was a lock of hair that was sticking

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Speaker 1: out of the concrete.

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Speaker 2: I can't even imagine, like you have this like horrible odor, right,

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Speaker 2: and then to discover that, like, I can't even imagine

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Speaker 2: being the person who found her.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, So with all of these developments, investigators start looking

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Speaker 3: again at Aaron Robinson, and they go to his girlfriend,

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Speaker 3: Cecily Aguilar, and then she, okay, get this, flat out

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Speaker 3: admits that Robinson told her that he did indeed kill

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Speaker 3: Vanessa Gean, and she also says she even saw Vanessa's

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Speaker 3: remains in the tough box that he carded out of

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Speaker 3: the arms room where he claimed to kill her.

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Speaker 2: And she still stayed with him and.

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Speaker 3: She's only been with him for two months. Oh that

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Speaker 3: I've only been in a relationship for two months.

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Speaker 2: I totally forgot about that because she was married to

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Speaker 2: somebody else and dating him.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, but now you're going to someone you hardly even

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Speaker 3: know you're gonna be an accessory to murder.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, so this gets weirder. Robinson also told her that

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Speaker 1: he struck Vanessa multiple times with a hammer in that

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Speaker 1: said arms room. Aguilar even said that she drove with

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Speaker 1: him to the Leon River to help him dispose of

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Speaker 1: the body. So she told investigators that they actively he

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Speaker 1: dismembered the body. They dug the three separate graves, and

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Speaker 1: then they came back two days later to bury them

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Speaker 1: and cover them with concrete.

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Speaker 2: Jesus, that's I mean, I'm like totally disgusted, of course,

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Speaker 2: but one good thing I can say that Aguilar did,

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Speaker 2: at least at this point, she actually starts working with

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Speaker 2: police and she makes a recorded phone call to her

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Speaker 2: boyfriend Robinson while police listen in. And although they don't

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Speaker 2: get much, he never actually denies anything that they did

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Speaker 2: to gienn So he didn't fully admit anything, but he

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Speaker 2: didn't deny it either.

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Speaker 3: I mean, but you'd think after all this that they

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Speaker 3: would finally arrest him, right, But no, no they don't,

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Speaker 3: and for whatever reason, Robinson was still not arrested. Instead,

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Speaker 3: he was put underwatch at Fort Hood with an unarmed

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Speaker 3: guard that was keeping an eye on him, but he

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Speaker 3: was also left to keep his cell phone.

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Speaker 2: That's just ridiculous, Trevor.

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Speaker 3: Why can you tell me why.

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Speaker 1: Why they would let him keep his cell phone. That's

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Speaker 1: unbelievable to me. I cannot believe that if they thought

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Speaker 1: he was responsible for murder, that they would give him

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Speaker 1: any form of communication to the outside world. And this

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Speaker 1: becomes a problem later because he kind of finds out

399
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Speaker 1: about this, right So, I mean, really, all you can

400
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Speaker 1: call what they're doing now is just lightly detaining him.

401
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Speaker 1: There were a couple officers who expressed concern that he

402
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Speaker 1: might run or flee, and you know, they texted a

403
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Speaker 1: few people amongst themselves at the base that should he

404
00:23:41,560 --> 00:23:44,119
Speaker 1: try to flee, that they should quote unquote tackle his

405
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Speaker 1: ass if he, you know, ran away. But in a

406
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Speaker 1: moment of again comedic incompetence, that order about tackling him

407
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Speaker 1: was not given to the person guarding Robinson at that time.

408
00:23:55,960 --> 00:23:59,439
Speaker 1: He was left out of the conversation, and so of

409
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Speaker 1: course Robinson kind of figures out what's going on and

410
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Speaker 1: he runs for it. He just runs out of the room,

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Speaker 1: he escapes and off he goats.

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Speaker 3: They're holding him. That's in air quotes okay, and off

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Speaker 3: he goes.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, clearly not very hard.

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Speaker 2: I loved what you said, Trevor, comedic incompetence.

416
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Speaker 3: Either it's comedic incompetent or somebody was helping him.

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Speaker 1: I mean, I'd say it's totally plausible that they're actively

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Speaker 1: thinking of ways to cover up the situation in this time.

419
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Speaker 1: I do think that makes a lot of sense. I

420
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Speaker 1: think this, you know, Bass has already proven that they're

421
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Speaker 1: very risk averse and don't like bad pr and they

422
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Speaker 1: don't like anything getting off the base. You know, that's

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Speaker 1: like the whole culture that they've built around Fort Hood.

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Speaker 1: So I bet in this moment, what they're thinking is like, Okay,

425
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Speaker 1: clearly something bad happened here, how do we keep this

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Speaker 1: from getting out? Of course, do we keep you know,

427
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Speaker 1: Robinson under control and calm and safe and you know,

428
00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:02,600
Speaker 1: we'll make sure everything's taken care of. But then he

429
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Speaker 1: clearly has other ideas, right right, And they weren't prepared

430
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Speaker 1: for that.

431
00:25:07,359 --> 00:25:10,720
Speaker 2: No, they were so not prepared that he got into

432
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Speaker 2: a car and he drove off the base. I know

433
00:25:14,280 --> 00:25:16,359
Speaker 2: at least one person I guess was chasing him, but

434
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Speaker 2: nobody caught him. So I mean I'll give them the

435
00:25:20,560 --> 00:25:23,960
Speaker 2: benefit of the doubt that they were in COVID, probably

436
00:25:24,240 --> 00:25:26,760
Speaker 2: had a skeleton crew, right, I.

437
00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:30,440
Speaker 3: Mean, yes, it definitely it was during COVID. But still right,

438
00:25:30,520 --> 00:25:33,879
Speaker 3: you're on a base, you are still on a military.

439
00:25:33,400 --> 00:25:36,480
Speaker 2: And you're holding someone who may have murdered someone.

440
00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:38,840
Speaker 1: To me, the weirdest thing is, regardless of how many

441
00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:41,400
Speaker 1: people you have working, there's still a line of communication

442
00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:45,760
Speaker 1: that has to be carried down through your ranks, especially

443
00:25:45,800 --> 00:25:49,400
Speaker 1: like the person most you know relevant to the situation,

444
00:25:49,400 --> 00:25:52,720
Speaker 1: which would be the person guarding him. You know, even

445
00:25:52,720 --> 00:25:54,920
Speaker 1: if you can only spare one person, that doesn't mean

446
00:25:54,920 --> 00:25:56,920
Speaker 1: that that one person should be like left out of

447
00:25:57,440 --> 00:25:59,879
Speaker 1: the sort of reality of the situation.

448
00:26:00,119 --> 00:26:02,480
Speaker 2: Yeah, and what about the front gate? Like I've been

449
00:26:03,280 --> 00:26:05,800
Speaker 2: on an off military basis just to play softball, like

450
00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:09,159
Speaker 2: the typical lesbian that I am. But you can't just

451
00:26:09,240 --> 00:26:11,360
Speaker 2: drive off a military base like you have to check

452
00:26:11,359 --> 00:26:13,720
Speaker 2: in at a gate. Like they don't just be like,

453
00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:15,280
Speaker 2: oh here by, see you later.

454
00:26:15,440 --> 00:26:18,040
Speaker 3: Yeah, it doesn't. That little thing doesn't go up just

455
00:26:18,080 --> 00:26:20,560
Speaker 3: because you drive close, you know, and it opens up.

456
00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:23,960
Speaker 3: You have to get permission to come on and go

457
00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:27,160
Speaker 3: off the base. So that's what's so alarming.

458
00:26:27,280 --> 00:26:33,480
Speaker 2: So his girlfriend Cecily Aguilar. After Robinson made it off

459
00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:37,439
Speaker 2: the base, she helped police to figure out where he

460
00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:40,840
Speaker 2: was actually hiding, and about two hours after he left

461
00:26:40,840 --> 00:26:46,240
Speaker 2: Fort Hood, in the middle of a street, authorities converged

462
00:26:46,280 --> 00:26:51,840
Speaker 2: on Robinson. Robinson then pulled out a gun and shot

463
00:26:52,080 --> 00:26:56,479
Speaker 2: and killed himself rather than be arrested for the murder

464
00:26:56,560 --> 00:26:57,440
Speaker 2: of Vanessa Giann.

465
00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:02,399
Speaker 1: So, with Robinson now dead, we should probably tell you

466
00:27:02,520 --> 00:27:07,040
Speaker 1: very briefly what happened to his girlfriend, Cecily Aguilar. So

467
00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:11,760
Speaker 1: on July thirteenth, twenty twenty one, Aguilar was indicted by

468
00:27:11,800 --> 00:27:15,639
Speaker 1: a federal grand jury on eleven counts related to Vanessa's murder.

469
00:27:16,640 --> 00:27:18,439
Speaker 1: So some of the charges that were listening in that

470
00:27:18,520 --> 00:27:22,399
Speaker 1: indictment involve Aguilar's role in being an accessory after the fact,

471
00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:26,399
Speaker 1: of course, including destroying the body of Vanessa as we

472
00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:29,080
Speaker 1: talked about, as well as some of the records are

473
00:27:29,119 --> 00:27:33,959
Speaker 1: documents and issuing false statements in the federal case. So,

474
00:27:34,080 --> 00:27:37,120
Speaker 1: on July fourteenth, Aguilar pleaded not guilty to the three

475
00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:40,840
Speaker 1: counts of conspiracy to tamper with evidence, which is bizarre,

476
00:27:41,800 --> 00:27:43,760
Speaker 1: but as of now, as of today, at the time

477
00:27:43,760 --> 00:27:46,600
Speaker 1: of this recording. She is still awaiting a trial date.

478
00:27:47,760 --> 00:27:49,920
Speaker 2: I'd like to take a minute to talk about Fort

479
00:27:50,040 --> 00:27:54,040
Speaker 2: Hood and how they responded to this entire situation, and

480
00:27:54,119 --> 00:27:57,679
Speaker 2: of course, I think the broader conversation that needs to

481
00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:01,280
Speaker 2: be had about sexism in the military, because I think

482
00:28:01,359 --> 00:28:05,760
Speaker 2: Vanessa's story is an unfortunate reality for so many women

483
00:28:06,119 --> 00:28:10,320
Speaker 2: who serve in all branches of the military. We mentioned,

484
00:28:10,520 --> 00:28:13,000
Speaker 2: you know, some statistics at the beginning of the episode,

485
00:28:13,920 --> 00:28:16,760
Speaker 2: but it's clear that there is a long standing culture

486
00:28:17,480 --> 00:28:22,719
Speaker 2: of a patriarchy and of male dominance and sexism that

487
00:28:23,040 --> 00:28:27,200
Speaker 2: is prevalent in our United States Armed forces.

488
00:28:27,760 --> 00:28:32,800
Speaker 3: Absolutely rush and there are serious issues at Fort Hood.

489
00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:37,080
Speaker 3: In fact, there have been shocking number of crimes committed

490
00:28:37,119 --> 00:28:40,680
Speaker 3: there in many of which are still unsolved or under investigated.

491
00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:43,960
Speaker 3: For instance, like the death of Laurence Schrader in two

492
00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:48,800
Speaker 3: thousand and seven, where he died from dehydration and hypothermia.

493
00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:51,720
Speaker 3: And you know, in every case we go when we

494
00:28:51,880 --> 00:28:56,360
Speaker 3: research and I was looking up Lawrence's name and it

495
00:28:56,600 --> 00:28:59,640
Speaker 3: would not pop up, like I could not find it,

496
00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:03,480
Speaker 3: and how I mean, that's so sad. You know, There's

497
00:29:03,520 --> 00:29:08,560
Speaker 3: also been two mass shootings and a number of suicides

498
00:29:08,960 --> 00:29:09,800
Speaker 3: at Fort Hood.

499
00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:14,120
Speaker 2: So I go back to what.

500
00:29:14,040 --> 00:29:16,840
Speaker 3: Vanessa was feeling and what she told her mom about

501
00:29:17,120 --> 00:29:20,600
Speaker 3: how she felt that that base was evil, And to me,

502
00:29:21,360 --> 00:29:25,320
Speaker 3: it just feels like there's evil that is festering or

503
00:29:25,320 --> 00:29:30,280
Speaker 3: that has been festering on this particular land for a

504
00:29:30,320 --> 00:29:34,800
Speaker 3: long long time, and all of this needs to be

505
00:29:34,840 --> 00:29:35,560
Speaker 3: brought to the light.

506
00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:39,120
Speaker 1: And it would appear that the numbers tend to back

507
00:29:39,200 --> 00:29:43,360
Speaker 1: up that claim. According to Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy, Fort

508
00:29:43,360 --> 00:29:45,800
Speaker 1: Hood actually has one of the highest crime rates in

509
00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:49,520
Speaker 1: the Army of all the bases in the country. In fact,

510
00:29:49,600 --> 00:29:52,800
Speaker 1: Vanity Fair reported that in twenty twenty alone, at least

511
00:29:52,960 --> 00:29:56,720
Speaker 1: thirty nine Fort Hood soldiers died or went missing, which

512
00:29:56,720 --> 00:29:59,760
Speaker 1: means that Vanessa's case was just one of many that year.

513
00:30:00,680 --> 00:30:04,680
Speaker 1: So thirteen killed themselves, five were murdered, and eleven of

514
00:30:04,680 --> 00:30:06,920
Speaker 1: those deaths still are unsolved.

515
00:30:07,400 --> 00:30:08,840
Speaker 2: And we've only heard about Vanessa.

516
00:30:09,400 --> 00:30:12,280
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I mean, like Avett was saying, you know,

517
00:30:12,680 --> 00:30:16,560
Speaker 1: Lawrence Trader is a case that somehow we just don't

518
00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:19,960
Speaker 1: know about and I can't find anything on and I'm

519
00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:21,520
Speaker 1: sure it's going to be just as hard for any

520
00:30:21,520 --> 00:30:23,960
Speaker 1: of those other thirty eight cases that we know little

521
00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:25,600
Speaker 1: about so sad.

522
00:30:25,680 --> 00:30:27,920
Speaker 3: I mean, I just I think of the family like

523
00:30:28,400 --> 00:30:31,480
Speaker 3: it's just it's devastating to me.

524
00:30:31,520 --> 00:30:34,880
Speaker 1: It's all just about the way that you know, military

525
00:30:34,920 --> 00:30:37,160
Speaker 1: bases work. I think they try to be really insular,

526
00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:39,720
Speaker 1: like we've been saying, and I think they want to

527
00:30:39,960 --> 00:30:44,280
Speaker 1: kind of keep all their problems contained on their borders.

528
00:30:44,360 --> 00:30:49,239
Speaker 1: And without that kind of transparency, there's not a lot

529
00:30:49,280 --> 00:30:53,240
Speaker 1: of accountability. And that lack of accountability paired with a

530
00:30:53,240 --> 00:30:55,560
Speaker 1: really like sort of toxic environment, you know, this really

531
00:30:55,600 --> 00:30:59,320
Speaker 1: male dominated environment that you were describing Russia, I think

532
00:30:59,320 --> 00:31:01,920
Speaker 1: that's like, yeah, like that's a horrible combination. That's the

533
00:31:02,000 --> 00:31:04,840
Speaker 1: kind of thing you need checks and balances on, and

534
00:31:05,320 --> 00:31:07,840
Speaker 1: the fact that they've created an environment where they don't

535
00:31:07,840 --> 00:31:10,760
Speaker 1: have to have those checks and balances is super dangerous.

536
00:31:10,800 --> 00:31:11,440
Speaker 1: As we're seeing.

537
00:31:12,400 --> 00:31:16,000
Speaker 2: There have been, though, a few changes at Fort Hood

538
00:31:16,560 --> 00:31:20,600
Speaker 2: since Vanessa's murder, so a little bit of accountability, right, So,

539
00:31:20,840 --> 00:31:24,240
Speaker 2: on December eighth of twenty twenty one, the Army announced

540
00:31:24,360 --> 00:31:29,000
Speaker 2: that fourteen senior officers would face punishment in response to

541
00:31:29,280 --> 00:31:34,120
Speaker 2: quote unquote leadership failures related to Vanessa's death, as well

542
00:31:34,160 --> 00:31:37,160
Speaker 2: as the potential harassment that she had faced. So that's

543
00:31:37,240 --> 00:31:38,160
Speaker 2: some good news.

544
00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:40,920
Speaker 1: Right right. I also want to read this quote from

545
00:31:41,080 --> 00:31:43,960
Speaker 1: CNN that I found the decision marks one of the

546
00:31:44,040 --> 00:31:48,000
Speaker 1: largest disciplinary actions ever taken by the Service, underscoring the

547
00:31:48,080 --> 00:31:51,600
Speaker 1: seriousness of the problems at Fort Hood and broader concerns

548
00:31:51,640 --> 00:31:54,480
Speaker 1: related to how the military as a whole is grappling

549
00:31:54,520 --> 00:31:58,920
Speaker 1: with issues of sexual assault, harassment, and violence within its ranks.

550
00:31:59,240 --> 00:32:02,560
Speaker 1: And I think what that's really speaking to is how

551
00:32:02,600 --> 00:32:06,080
Speaker 1: this sort of toxic culture that we've been describing impacts

552
00:32:06,840 --> 00:32:09,600
Speaker 1: female soldiers at an alarming rate, like we were talking

553
00:32:09,600 --> 00:32:10,920
Speaker 1: about at the beginning of the episode.

554
00:32:11,040 --> 00:32:15,200
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah, Well, okay, I am I like to

555
00:32:15,240 --> 00:32:17,480
Speaker 3: be the bearer of good news. So there is some

556
00:32:17,520 --> 00:32:20,960
Speaker 3: good news that came from Vanessa's case and all of

557
00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:25,560
Speaker 3: the attention on Fort Hood. So on December fifteenth, the

558
00:32:25,720 --> 00:32:30,000
Speaker 3: I Am Vanessa Gee in Act was passed finally by

559
00:32:30,040 --> 00:32:34,000
Speaker 3: the US Senate. Trevor, can you please tell us about this?

560
00:32:34,560 --> 00:32:38,160
Speaker 1: Yeah, So, the bill essentially strips the military's authority to

561
00:32:38,520 --> 00:32:42,080
Speaker 1: prosecute sexual assault cases if they've been accused of ignoring

562
00:32:42,080 --> 00:32:46,520
Speaker 1: complaints or sweeping them under the rug. So now soldiers

563
00:32:46,520 --> 00:32:50,920
Speaker 1: can report incidents of harassment to outside third party authorities

564
00:32:50,920 --> 00:32:53,880
Speaker 1: who can then take on the case themselves and investigate

565
00:32:53,880 --> 00:32:56,040
Speaker 1: them properly. So when the military is not doing their job,

566
00:32:56,440 --> 00:32:59,800
Speaker 1: there's now a separate agency who can receive these sorts

567
00:32:59,800 --> 00:33:03,040
Speaker 1: of complaints on issues and actually do something about it.

568
00:33:03,080 --> 00:33:05,840
Speaker 1: And that's great, Like, that's the accountability that we needed.

569
00:33:05,960 --> 00:33:08,240
Speaker 2: I was just about to say accountability.

570
00:33:08,800 --> 00:33:11,360
Speaker 3: Yes, that's huge, that's huge.

571
00:33:12,160 --> 00:33:15,240
Speaker 2: And the bill was signed into law by President Biden

572
00:33:15,320 --> 00:33:18,600
Speaker 2: and it took effect on January first of twenty twenty two.

573
00:33:19,120 --> 00:33:23,040
Speaker 2: And I have to say, I think it's so beautiful again.

574
00:33:23,160 --> 00:33:26,400
Speaker 2: You know me with my hashtags, the hashtag I am

575
00:33:26,600 --> 00:33:31,360
Speaker 2: Vanessa Gienne. People have been using that hashtag to report

576
00:33:31,440 --> 00:33:35,200
Speaker 2: their own sexual harassment, So even if they're not confident

577
00:33:35,320 --> 00:33:37,840
Speaker 2: enough to say it to authorities, they're at least doing

578
00:33:37,840 --> 00:33:42,840
Speaker 2: that on social media and they're inspired by Vanessa. So's

579
00:33:43,280 --> 00:33:45,760
Speaker 2: it's amazing. And then now there's actually a bill that's

580
00:33:45,760 --> 00:33:49,920
Speaker 2: signed into law that can help the Vanessas of the world, right,

581
00:33:50,000 --> 00:33:53,640
Speaker 2: who are too afraid to report the horrible things that

582
00:33:54,160 --> 00:33:58,120
Speaker 2: happened to them, and I love that right, or who

583
00:33:58,160 --> 00:34:01,080
Speaker 2: are afraid of any type of retail. Now they have

584
00:34:01,200 --> 00:34:04,640
Speaker 2: a place that they can go and people will hear them. Yes,

585
00:34:11,880 --> 00:34:14,600
Speaker 2: all right, it's time for our last segment of the day,

586
00:34:15,040 --> 00:34:17,640
Speaker 2: our emua, and that is right.

587
00:34:17,840 --> 00:34:21,680
Speaker 3: We want to dedicate this emua to all our female

588
00:34:21,680 --> 00:34:26,880
Speaker 3: soldiers and service women who take great pride in serving

589
00:34:27,120 --> 00:34:31,719
Speaker 3: our country and protecting us. Our hope is that your

590
00:34:31,800 --> 00:34:36,200
Speaker 3: country will start to take great care and pride in you.

591
00:34:37,000 --> 00:34:41,560
Speaker 2: Absolutely, you deserve to be safe, to be respected, to

592
00:34:41,640 --> 00:34:45,080
Speaker 2: be honored, so we hope that more positive changes are

593
00:34:45,080 --> 00:34:48,239
Speaker 2: made soon to honor your needs. We want to pay

594
00:34:48,280 --> 00:34:51,160
Speaker 2: our respects to the soldiers who have been killed or

595
00:34:51,200 --> 00:34:55,480
Speaker 2: gone missing, like Vanessa. Onward and upward.

596
00:34:56,600 --> 00:35:01,960
Speaker 3: Emua emua.

597
00:35:04,920 --> 00:35:07,839
Speaker 2: Well, that's our show for today. We'd love to hear

598
00:35:07,920 --> 00:35:10,480
Speaker 2: what you thought about today's discussion and if there's a

599
00:35:10,520 --> 00:35:12,920
Speaker 2: case that you'd like us to cover, find us on

600
00:35:12,960 --> 00:35:17,840
Speaker 2: social media or email us at facingevilpod at tenderfoot dot tv.

601
00:35:18,600 --> 00:35:23,239
Speaker 3: And to all our servicemen and women who serve with integrity, dignity,

602
00:35:23,719 --> 00:35:28,280
Speaker 3: and honesty, we salute you and we thank you. Until

603
00:35:28,360 --> 00:35:28,920
Speaker 3: next time.

604
00:35:29,640 --> 00:35:38,799
Speaker 2: Aloha.

605
00:35:47,040 --> 00:35:50,760
Speaker 1: Facing Evil is a production of iHeartRadio and Tenderfoot TV.

606
00:35:51,640 --> 00:35:54,680
Speaker 1: The show is hosted by Russia Pacquerero in a Vetchintile

607
00:35:55,480 --> 00:35:59,200
Speaker 1: Matt Frederick and Alex Williams our executive producers on behalf

608
00:35:59,200 --> 00:36:04,000
Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio, with producers Trevor Young and Jesse Funk. Donald

609
00:36:04,040 --> 00:36:07,279
Speaker 1: albright In Payne Lindsay our executive producers on behalf of

610
00:36:07,280 --> 00:36:13,160
Speaker 1: Tenderfoot TV, alongside producer Tracy Kaplan. Our researcher is Claudia Dafrico.

611
00:36:14,040 --> 00:36:17,640
Speaker 1: Original music by Makeup and Vanity Set. Find us on

612
00:36:17,680 --> 00:36:22,360
Speaker 1: social media or email us at facingevilpod at tenderfoot dot tv.

613
00:36:23,320 --> 00:36:27,279
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614
00:36:27,280 --> 00:36:31,359
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615
00:36:31,400 --> 00:36:34,080
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