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Private Ana Basaldua Ruiz's family is demanding answers after U.S. Army investigators claimed no foul play was involved in her death. Ana's body was found on Monday, March 13, 2023, at the Fort Hood military base in Texas, and her death was ruled a suicide.
The Fort Hood Military base issued a statement about Ana's death on Wednesday, March 15, 2023. The statement said that the 21-year-old was a combat engineer who served with the 1st Cavalry Division for the past 15 months.
She joined the Army in 2020, but because of the coronavirus outbreak, she didn't start military training until the following year at the Army Base in Central Texas.
A news release, written by the commander of the 91st Engineer Battalion, Lt. Col. Patrick Sullivan, read:
"Army CID will continue to conduct a thorough investigation and gather all evidence and facts to ensure they discover exactly what transpired."
Sullivan also noted that the information about "any possible harassment" will be addressed and investigated as well. It was reported that Ana had spoken to her mother about being s*xually harassed on the base by some people.
Army investigators also shared that no foul play was evident at the moment but that they would continue their investigation. As per Telemundo News, Basaldua Ruiz's parents revealed that they were informed that their daughter had died by suicide.
Calling her an exceptional teammate, the team sent their condolences to Ana Basaldua Ruiz's family.
Ana Basaldua Ruiz allegedly told her mother about facing s*xual harassment
Ana Basaldua Ruiz's mother, Alejandra Ruiz Zarco, stated that her daughter had complained about being s*xually harassed on the base by an Army senior and others.
As per CBS News, a spokesperson for the family, Lucy Del Gaudio, stated that the family of the deceased is still short on details as to how Basaldua Ruiz died. Lucy added that no one really has a "valid timeline" about the death and what happened to Ana.
Del Gaudio is the COO of the Texas-based NGO Pink Berets, which helps women in the military battling trauma. She added that the Army investigators had "stonewalled" Ana Basaldua Ruiz's family when it came to s*xual harassment allegations.
She said:
"The Army is doing what they always do, not saying anything."
Del Guadio added that at the time, Ana's family needs support and they want to know how they can get answers about Ana's death.
As per KWTX News, Ana's father last spoke to her on March 12 after which she did not respond to his messages. He said:
“The next day [March 13] I sent her messages and they didn’t reach her anymore, the delivered one no longer appeared.
Basaldua Ruiz's father said that he looked for her satellite location and saw that she was in a park at the base and "that was it." He said that he sent her another message saying that he was the "one who was going to die" from anguish about not knowing anything about her.
As of writing, the case is under investigation and no further updates have been provided.
