Anonymous Tip Leads To Missing Fort Hood Soldier Gregory Morales' Skeletal Remains

Authorities have located the skeletal remains of Gregory Morales, a Fort Hood soldier who went missing last summer.

An anonymous tip to Army criminal investigators led to the grim June 19 discovery in a wooded residential area in Killeen, Texas. Foul play is suspected, according to Waco’s KXXV.

Army Special Agents and the Killeen Police Department positively identified Morales using dental records. The results of an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of his death are pending.

PV2 Morales, 24, was last seen alive off-post driving in his truck on the evening of Aug. 19, 2019.

“He didn’t go a day or a couple of days without talking to us. After he didn’t talk to us for 10 months, we figured something happened,” Morales’ brother, Nick Wedel, told Central Texas’ KCEN-TV. “We honestly took it hard. We still are right now. It hurts but it’s better to know now than have no information and still be left wondering.”

Morales vanished just days before the date he was scheduled to be discharged from the Army and was listed as AWOL instead — a decision that troubled family.

“When they just write somebody off just because they’re missing, it's wrong, especially now we know something did happen and someone did do something to him,” Wedel said. “He just ended up in a shallow grave in a field without anyone knowing where he was. They didn’t go out to look for him and that really stings.”

Investigators said they do not currently have reason to believe Morales’ disappearance and death is in any way connected to the case of 20-year-old Fort Hood Pfc. Vanessa Guillen, Army Times reported.

Guillen was last spotted outside her barracks at the Army post around 1 p.m. on April 22, according to a news release from the United States Criminal Investigation Command (CID).

Her car keys, barracks room key, identification card and wallet were found in the armory room where she had been working.

Weeks before Guillen went missing, the soldier allegedly complained to her mother that a sergeant at Fort Hood was sexually harassing her but did not want to reveal the person’s name or make a report for fear of reprisal.

CID recently launched an investigation into the claims.

“We are completely committed to finding Vanessa and aggressively going after every single piece of credible information and every lead in this investigation,” said CID spokesman Chris Grey. “We will not stop until we find Vanessa.”

Anyone with information on Gregory Morales or Vanessa Guillen can contact Army CID Special Agents at 254-287-2722, the Military Police Desk at 254-288-1170, or submit tips online.

Read more: CrimeFeed