tonight on a special edition of "turning point." vanessa guillen, the murdered ft. hood soldier. now the sweeping punishments. >> effectively create a climate that treat all soldiers with dignity and respect. >> 14 members of the military disciplined, including a two-star general. how one family's fight for justice -- >> say her name. >> vanessa! >> inspired change. >> my sister's a human being. and i want justice! >> this special edition of "turning point, justice for vanes vanessa" will be right back. it shows! our new dove advanced care formula is effective... and kind to skin, leaving underarms cared for and you... more confident and carefree.

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it's following your passion to bto the very top... ...and setting the standard by which all who follow, will be measured. tequila herradura, the world's most gold medal awarded tequila. ♪ ♪ good evening. thank you for join us. tonight, all eyes on ft. hood, texas. the u.s. army taking action on a group of senior leaders and enlisted personnel at the military base where soldier vanessa guillen was last seen. her disappearance and murder ignited national outrage. here's abc's john quinones. >> wherever you are, vanessa, you are alive, you are here today, got sisters who are going to fight for you.

just remember that i love you, vanessa. >> reporter: for the family of army specialist vanessa guillen, today was a milestone in a long fight for justice. >> reporter: vanessa was the 20-year-old soldier who went missing from ft. hood nearly eight months ago, later found murdered. her family alleging she disappeared after being sexually harassed by a superior at the base. it's a claim that the army says they're currently investigating. her case gaining traction this summer, invoking outrage over sexual harassment and abuse in the military. >> we demand justice! >> reporter: launching a movement under #iamvanessaguillen. >> the murder of specialist vanessa guillen shocked our conscience and brought attention to deeper problems. >> reporter: today the pentagon took unprecedented action,

announcing that 14 top army leaders and enlisted personnel at ft. hood have been fired or suspended for failure of leadership. it follows a three-month-long investigation into the culture and climate at ft. hood. >> initial investigation into vanessa's death coupled with high numbers of crimes and deaths at ft. hood has revealed a series of missteps and multiple failures in our system and within our leadership. >> reporter: the investigating by an independent civilian ban nel determining that serious crime issues on and off ft. hood were neither identified nor addressed. it also said that the system in place designed to report and prevent sexual harassment and assault was ineffective. >> this report, without a doubt, will cause the army to change our culture. i have decided to accept all these findings. >> reporter: the independent review board uncovering many instances of unreported sexual

assault and harassment, today speaking directly to survivors. >> if any of them see this, i want them to know, we believe you. that's a really important takeaway was to believe. >> reporter: major general scott efflandt and the entire command team of vanessa's unit have been relieved of duty. the leadership of the 1st cavalry division also suspended pending future jest races. >> the kind of punishments meted out today really do mean something. they are career ending. that should send a shock wave through the army and through the military, that this is a very serious problem. >> i am greatly disappointed that leaders failed to effectively create a climate that treated all soldiers with dignity and with respect. and failed to reinforce everyone's obligation to prevent and properly respond to allegations of sexual harassment

and sexual assault. >> vanessa was truly the turning point, and all credit should go to her family. they would not let this go. >> vanessa was special. like a lot of people tell me, like, i don't know what it was about vanessa, her smile just touches me. >> reporter: vanessa guillen was the light of her family. >> she's just a joyful person. >> she's very outgoing. we just had that connection. >> reporter: one of six children beloved by her siblings and her parents. originally from mexico, raising their children to pursue the american dream.

>> i always looked up to her since i was little, always following her steps. >> reporter: even from a young age, one thing was clear. vanessa's sense of duty to her country. >> reporter: as soon as she graduated from high school, vanessa enlisted in u.s. army. >> her first training, she didn't even want to come back. she was that happy. even when she got home, she was like a new person. she was -- like her skin was literally glowing. >> reporter: vanessa was sent to ft. hood in killeen, texas, one of the army's largest military installations. she worked as a small arms repair soldier. but soon after she arrived, her family said they noticed a change.

>> she looks more sad? she was not happy at ft. hood? >> no, no. >> she would try to tell me that she didn't want to be at ft. hood. i remember this one time, she said, i don't like it here. and i hope one day you understand. on the 22nd, i find out that she's not replying at all. no phone calls. they go straight to voice mail. so i was like, let me message her, maybe the messages go through. and nothing. >> there's a 4:00 p.m. accountability check. vanessa doesn't check in. and that's unusual. and so the unit starts looking for her. >> they told me that her keys, her car, her military i.d., her license, credit, debit cards, were there. she would never leave her stuff

behind. >> reporter: after trying to reach vanessa for hours, her sister mayra takes action, driving three hours from the family's home in houston to ft. hood. >> i thought maybe she had an accident. like, we have to look for her. >> reporter: she says she arrives in the middle of the night and calls the staff sergeant. she says he tells her to come back in the morning. >> on the 23rd, the military police were contacted. >> reporter: major general donna martin is the head of cid, u.s. army's criminal investigation division. >> they wanted to make sure she wasn't hurt. so when that search came back without any results, then that's when cid is notified. >> i was like, what's going on? we think she's missing. how can she go missing on a military base? that's too ridiculous, go find

her, better find her. >> the meetings were useless. there was no new information. we gave them literally every single thing they asked for. for them not to give us an answer, the problem is inside. >> as a mother myself, there's nothing, there's not enough you could tell me. i would want to know everything. and we can't tell everything. we have to maintain the integrity of the investigation. >> reporter: gloria recalls a conversation she had with her daughter months before she went missing. >> reporter: her mother kept the conversation private at the time. but vanessa's sisters became the public face of the family,

protesting outside of ft. hood. >> we started protesting every friday. >> what do we want? >> vanessa! >> vanessa! >> vanessa! >> reporter: inside, the army begins to piece together vanessa's last known whereabouts. >> we know that vanessa reported to her workstation, which was in the motor pool. then we know that she came to the arms room where she did leave behind her bank card, her i.d. card, and the keys to her barracks room and her car. and then she went to the next arms room, the second arms room. and that is where we believe she came into contact with specialist robinson. we believe that specialist robinson was the last person to have seen her. >> reporter: specialist aaron robinson joined the army in 2018 and was deployed to iraq for seven months.

when interviewed by investigators, he says on the day vanessa disappeared, he finished work and then went to his off-post residence to spend the night with his girlfriend. according to investigators, his girlfriend, sicily aguilar, backs up his alibi. investigators speak to witnesses, who say that on the day of vanessa's disappearance, they saw robinson coming out of his arms room pulling a large, heavy case. >> so all of these leads lead us back to specialist robinson. we're interviewing other people in the unit as well, to find out, was there a relationship between vanessa and specialist robinson that we didn't know about? and there was none. >> reporter: soon vanessa's disappearance begins to be reported on spanish language media, where vanessa's mother, gloria, spoke publicly about the alleged sexual harassment.

>> family attorney told us she's uncovered at least two incidents of sexual harassment. the military says they've received no credible information about those allegations. >> reporter: vanessa's family keeps up their pressure on the leadership at ft. hood, demanding answers about the investigation. >> they finally admitted that foul play was involved. >> the story explodes into the news cycle. >> the army suspects foul play now. coming up, vanessa's family left searching for answers.

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military service members to come forward with their own stories about sexual harassment and assault within the military. >> the single soldier left behind? they left my sister behind. after two months they're trying their best, after two months. >> reporter: just a week after the impassioned plea from vanessa guillen's family, her remains were found near the leon river. specialist robinson's cell phone had pinged to that area the night vanessa went missing. >> reporter: vanessa was just 20 years old. investigators bring cecily aguilar, specialist robinson's girlfriend in for questioning.

she allegedly offers up a confession of sorts that would later be made public in a criminal complaint against her. >> according to investigators, he tells her that he bludgeoned vanessa to death on base with a hammer in the arms room. >> this is a huge break for investigators. after months of searching for answers, they say they now have aaron robinson's girlfriend sitting in front of them telling them what happened. according to them, robinson somehow convinced her to help him get rid of the body. >> reporter: the pair allegedly dismembered vanessa's body and covered her remains with concrete. the details so disturbing, her family decides not to tell vanessa's mother exactly what happened. >> reporter: on the day the remains were found, robinson was kept under watch on ft. hood by an unarmed escort.

while a case against him was being built. investigators say robinson watched news reports on his cell phone. >> he's watching this on his cell phone. and so he flees. >> reporter: somehow, robinson got past his escort. >> the guard gives chase, but he gets in a vehicle and he leaves ft. hood. >> reporter: robinson managed to obtain a gun. >> he pulls the gun out, and he ends his life. he dies by suicide. >> reporter: cecily aguilar is now in jail, being held without bond. she has pled not guilty to charges relating to helping dispose of vanessa's body. >> with robinson now dead, army officials say at a press conference the next day, that while the criminal investigation into vanessa's murder continues, they have no evidence that robinson ever sexually harassed her. >> we don't know what the motive was with regard to specialist robinson killing vanessa. we may never know. he may have taken that motive

with him to his grave. >> reporter: vanessa's family wants to end sexual harassment in the military. their fight takes them all the way to the nation's capital where they meet with the commander in chief and push for legislation to be introduced in congress. the "i am vanessa guillen" act was introduced in september. today her family focusing the nation's attention on what they hope will be the next step in change and reform. >> we are not going to stop until we pass the "i am vanessa guillen" act because it's necessary. i ask the public that is watching this, i ask everyone who hears about vanessa's name or hears about sexual violence in the military or anywhere to endorse the act. because this will keep my sister's legacy alive, and believe me, it will save lives.

>> vive vanessa guillen, vive! >> i am vanessa guillen. >> i am vanessa guillen. >> i am so necessavanessa guill. >> i am vanessa guillen. >> i am vanessa guillen. >> i am vanessa guillen. >> i am vanessa guillen. >> our thanks to john. we'll be right back with "the final note." where's my bounce? my glamour? my fire? all hair is beautiful. these dove shampoo and conditioners are custom formulated for different hair types. find the right dove care for your hair.

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♪ finally tonight, be sure to join our conversation with "turningpointabc." that's "nightline" for this evening. thank for the company, america. good night.