♪ this is "nightline." tonight, dereliction of duty. vanessa guillen only wanted to serve. but the army failed her in life. >> there was another person that also harassed her. >> and in death. >> how could she go missing on a military base? >> justice for vanessa, the case that rocked the military. >> the investigation revealed that there were errors that occurred. >> her family determined her dying won't be in vain. nope nope c'mon him? oo, i like him!

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♪ since her disappearance 14 months ago, army soldier vanessa guillen's face and name -- >> say her name! >> vanessa! >> have been seared into the national conscience. >> we will not stay silent! >> despite their grief, her family has embarked on a relentless quest for answers and justice. >> it's one of the biggest military reforms in history. >> with a bombshell report from

the army exposing details of sexual harassment and how they mishandled her case from the beginning. >> i've never seen more of a botched job, more of a mishandled case in my life. >> reporter: my colleague john quinones went to texas to talk to the family. >> it seems like yesterday that she was here, no? >> reporter: vanessa guillen was a natural athlete. fierce. according to her parents, gloria and rahelio. one of six kids, born and raised in houston, texas. >> that's vanessa in the middle. >> reporter: after her parents came from mexico, vanessa had a keen sense of patriotism starting at a young age.

and in 2018, she fulfilled her childhood dream. vanessa was sent to ft. hood, stationed there as an active duty soldier. she would make the trek every weekend to visit her family in houston. that's about a three-hour drive. >> vanessa was a small arms repair soldier. so her responsibilities included ensuring weapons were maintained, helping with accountability and inventories. that was her job. >> reporter: her family says vanessa's childhood ambition turned sour about a month in. >> she said, i don't like it here. and, i hope one day you understand. >> reporter: the 20-year-old stayed in the army, though. when she got engaged, her family thought things could turn around. >> she was just smiling, looking at her parents. we were all happy. >> reporter: about a month after, sister mayra became

worried when vanessa didn't respond to texts and calls went to voicemail. >> that's when i decided to start calling the base. they told me they hadn't seen her since about lunchtime that day. i'm sitting there like, it's already been more than six hours, and nobody knows where she is? >> reporter: worried, mayra and fiance juan drove to ft. hood from houston overnight. >> it was about 3:00 in the morning. i call the staff sergeant, hey, i'm here. and he's asleep. he just tells me, oh, can you come back in the morning? and i was like, okay, i guess. when i arrive at ft. hood on the 23rd, about 8:00 in the morning, they told me that her keys, her car, her military i.d., debit cards, were there. >> the military police were contacted. and they used their resources to do local law enforcement checks. so when that search came back

without any results, then that's when cid is notified. >> in the army, they have what they call u.s. army criminal investigative division, or cid. and they basically investigate anything that's serious. >> reporter: vanessa's bam family started putting up missing poster signs and went to social media to spread awareness. >> how can she go missing on a military base? that's ridiculous. go find her, better find her. >> the meetings were useless, there was no new information. for them not to give us an answer, it's like, the problem is inside. >> we can't tell everything. we have to maintain the integrity of the investigation. >> vanessa's family doesn't feel like they're getting straightforward answers from the army, so they start holding protests outside the east gate of ft. hood. >> we started protesting every friday. >> what do we want? >> vanessa! >> reporter: according to soldiers in vanessa's unit, a

superior asked specialist aaron robinson, the person believed to have last seen vanessa, about his encounter with her. robinson said their interaction was simply professional. >> they defaulted to what they always defaulted to, which was awol. instead of looking at the facts. there was a text between robinson and vanessa saying, i'm coming, i'll be there in five minutes. when he was interviewed, they didn't extract the evidence from his mobile phone at that time. that was a missed opportunity. >> a few days later, army investigators interview specialist robinson again. he tells them that the day vanessa disappeared, he finished up his work and went to his off-post residence to spend the night with his girlfriend. army officials say when they spoke with robinson's girlfriend, she backed up his alibi. >> reporter: about a month later, two witnesses told investigators they saw robinson on the day vanessa vanished putting a large container in the back of his car.

>> that is really an important piece of information. because robinson is seen moving the container that conceivably could have a body in it. >> so the next day they go and talk to him. and that's when he agrees to have his phone searched. >> reporter: as investigators look for evidence, they enlisted the help of a search and rescue nonprofit called texas equusearch, and vanessa's family, desperate for answers, reached out to their congressman, sylvia garcia. >> i told them i would call ft. hood and set up a virtual phone call with the colonel. >> reporter: on that call, mom gloria related a stunning conversation she'd had with her daughter. >> she told her family she was being sexually harassed, but she didn't report it out of fear of retaliation and retribution.

and because you're reporting that harassment basically up the chain of command, in the end, whether someone is prosecuted or not is up to the unit commander. >> reporter: vanessa's family reached out to attorney natalie kwam who took the days pro bono. >> i was told he followed her into a shower, and another person harassed her. >> reporter: the story went viral, with celebrities like salma hyatt tweeting about her disappearance. it empowered military service members to come forward with their stories about sexual harassment and assault within the military. the search of specialist robinson's phone finds that it pinged in belten, texas, around the leon river, the morning ava nessa disappeared. >> a tip led search teams to the leon river near temple. >> we found this burn pile. on that burn pile, there was

a -- about 30% that did not burn of a tuff box. >> reporter: no human remains founl. as the search continued, congressman garcia says cid investigators disclosed they were not looking into the sexual harassment claims. >> wait a minute. what do you mean you're not going to look at sexual harassment? i mean, that could be the reason for her disappearance. it could be a motive. >> cid said it was a misunderstanding. what do you find when you looked into that case? >> we didn't see any indications that they looked at sexual misconduct or any mistreatment of vanessa guillen by any person in the army. i can't say it didn't happen, but there's no documentation of it that we saw. >> reporter: at a news conference later that day, gloria's grief spoke volumes. >> i think the army was caught

off guard by the power of that family, by the emotion of that family. >> reporter: a week later, human remains are discovered near the location where specialist robinson's phone had pinged in the middle of the night hours ava necessaafter vanessa's disappearance. >> concrete substance was poured over the remains to try to hide it. but there was a lock of hair that was sticking out that looked human. >> reporter: mayra got a call. >> i just dropped my phone and was just -- i think everything came to an end. coming up -- >> the army releasing a highly anticipated report regarding the death of vanessa guillen today. >> a rare admission of missteps from one of america's most esteemed institutions. >> there were errors that occurred, errors in accountability, respect with respect to leadership. >> how vanessa's case is forcing the army to change policy. >> it will bring the help my

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vanessa, with no luck. then all of a sudden some contractors are working near this same area. >> they smelled a horrific odor. they went to investigate. and that's what triggered them calling the local sheriffs out there. >> we arrived on scene, and we did believe that it was some type of remains. some type of concrete substance was poured over the remains to try to hide it. but there was a lock of hair that was sticking out that looked human. >> it was sophisticated because of the way they hid her so well. she blended in with the environment. >> reporter: the army wants to detain aaron robinson, but they don't want him to know why. instead, they tell him a story, that he's violated covid-19 quarantine protocols and needs to stay under watch the next 24 hours. so while robinson is being watched, officers track down his girlfriend, cecily aguilar.

>> cecily aguilar did tell us specialist robinson told her that he killed vanessa. >> assing aguilar's interview continues, she tells them aaron robinson confessed that her that soldier to death in an armory room on base, and then placed the remains inside a plastic tuff box reserve if you go into the arms room and shine luminol, it would have been a spectacular showing of blood. and that alone should have focused them in that one place that one person. >> according to a criminal complaint, aguilar agrees to help robinson get rid of vanessa's body. >> they've allegedly decided to use some type of tool. reportedly a machete of sorts. to then dismember the body. >> reporter: three days later, april 26, investigators say they come back again, bringing hair nets, gloves, and concrete. >> they allegedly go to the

remains, attempt to further break up the body. burn it. then decide to cover up the body with concrete. >> reporter: as robinson sat under guard in an army conference room, he was allowed to talk on his cell phone with his girlfriend, unaware she was already talking to authorities. >> they essentially say, hey, we need your help, we need to call him, we need to tape this conversation. >> and during that call, robinson doesn't deny anything. >> in fact, according to authorities, during these calls, robinson actually texts aguilar news articles about those remains recovered by the leon river. >> at around 10:00 p.m., robinson is heard talking on the phone, apparently to his mother, saying, don't believe what you hear about me. moments later, he rushes out of the room. >> he gets in a vehicle, and he flees. and he leaves ft. hood. >> and there is this incredible scene in the middle of this street where they're trying to

go after aaron robinson. they converge on him. >> he feels the pressure's on. he's being surrounded by law enforcement. he pulls out a gun. he shoots himself. and dies by suicide. >> we want justice! >> a federal judge denied bond for cecily aguilar today. >> aguilar charged with conspiracy to hide and destroy evidence. >> she pleads not guilty. >> reporter: aguilar's lawyers have filed a motion to throw out the case. they've filed a motion to suppress the statements officers say she made. they claim aguilar was in custody and should have been read her miranda rights sooner. they don't concede any of her statements are accurate. but prosecutors say aguilar spoke to law enforcement voluntarily and was not in custody. her next court appearance is june 16th. an independent review panel looked at the command climate at ft. hood. >> the findings of the committee

identified the command climate at ft. hood that was permissive of sexual harassment and sexual assault. >> the committee found that the criminal investigative division detachment workforce was unstable, underexperienced, overassigned, underresourced. >> reporter: and then in april, a command investigation detailed mistakes and missed opportunities in the army's including an admission that vanessa had been sexually harassed. though not by robinson. >> i was astonished that they had so much information and deta details. >> in all, 21 army leaders have been disciplined as a result of both the independent review and command investigation. >> reporter: my colleague john quinones sat down with major general eugene labeouf, the first time he's addressed the investigation on camera. >> 11 of those 21 have been removed from their positions permanently. >> was this a botched

investigation by the u.s. army? >> no. we don't believe so. because we were able to find probable cause to link specialist robinson to the disappearance and death of specialist guillen. >> you have to admit that early on in the investigation, there were too many mistakes, too many blunders. >> the investigation revealed that there were errors that occurred. we'll never forget vanessa guillen, john. there's a gate named ava nessa guillen at ft. hood, texas. >> today action one year ago, was the last time my family and myself saw her alive. >> everyone that passes through that gate will see my sister's name, my sister's picture, and remind themselves about how sexual harassment and assault has to be taken seriously and about the way she was murdered. >> there is a seismic change at

ft. hood in terms of the way they are treating their soldiers. >> i know i can go back to the guillen family and let them know that progress is being made and vanessa was a part of that change. >> i am vanessa guillen. >> i am vanessa guillen. >> i am vanessa guillen. >> i am vanessa guillen. >> i am vanessa guillen. >> i am vanessa guillen. >> i am vanessa guillen. ♪ ♪ to make a change ♪ >> when we come back, a final thought.

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♪ in may, the "i am vanessa guillen" act was introduced in

congress. it would allow sexual harassment reported confidentially, and move investigations into sexual harassment and assaults outside the military chain of command and put them in the hands of an outside prosecutor. it's expected to come up for a full vote on the house floor sometime this summer. >> it's one of the biggest military reforms in history. and it's so important, because it will bring the help my sister never obtained. it will bring the voice my sister never had. >> the guillen family sparking change in the military already. that's "nightline" for tonight. watch all our full episodes on hulu. hulu. we'll see you right back here is your family ready for an emergency? you can prepare by mapping out two ways to escape your home, creating a supply kit, and including your whole family in practice drills. for help creating an emergency plan, visit safetyactioncenter.pge.com