Private First Class Vanessa Guillen vanished two months ago.
A reward of up to $25,000 has been offered in the disappearance of soldier Vanessa Guillen, who vanished from her job at Fort Hood two months ago, the Army announced Monday. The 20-year-old private first class was last seen in the parking lot of her office at the Texas military base.
Since then, actress Salma Hayek as well as a congresswoman and Hispanic advocacy groups have worked to keep her name in the news as distraught relatives begged for information from anyone who knows what happened to her.
“We are completely committed to finding Vanessa and aggressively going after every single piece of credible information and every lead in this investigation,” Army Criminal Investigations Division Chief of Public Affairs spokesman Chris Grey said in a statement. “We will not stop until we find Vanessa.”
Guillen, who repaired small arms in the 3rd Cavalry Regiment, was last seen between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on April 22, in the parking lot of Regimental Engineer Squadron Headquarters, where she worked.
Her wallet, identification card, barracks room key and and her car keys were later found at her workplace, the Army said in a statement.
The Houston native knew in high school she wanted to serve her country, her family said.
“We last spoke by text the day before she disappeared,” her sister, Mayra Guillen, told NBC News. “She was talking about a car she wanted for her birthday, which is in September. Everything was fine and normal. And now, everything is a nightmare.”
Her family said Guillen had spoken of a sergeant who had been sexually harassing her, but did not say the person's name and did not report it to superiors.
Army criminal investigators said in a statement they had no credible information or reports of such incidents.
Mayra Guillen, in a press conference last week, said the FBI should take over the investigation. "This happened inside a federal building and we're still not getting answers," she said.
Army investigators have interviewed more than 150 people and said they are working with the FBI and other agencies to find Guillen.
Democratic Rep. Sylvia Garcia posted last week, "My office is working directly with the family to #FindVanessa."
Hayek wrote this week on her Instagram account, "We won't stop until you come back."
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