A nonprofit group dedicated to finding missing persons says they've found items that "brought a lot of interest" during their search for missing Fort Hood soldier Vanessa Guillen.
Guillen, a private first class soldier assigned to the 3rd Cavalry Regiment, was reported missing on April 22. She was last seen in the parking lot of her Regimental Engineer Squadron Headquarters on Fort Hood at 11:30 a.m.
The Army is currently investigating whether Guillen was sexually harassed prior to her disappearance. On Tuesday, Guillen's family met with officials from Fort Hood and the Texas Criminal Investigation Command (CID) who said that they suspect foul play in her disappearance.
A number of organizations have joined efforts to find Guillen, including Texas EquuSearch — a local nonprofit dedicated to finding missing persons.
Tim Miller says this is the fifth time he and Texas Equusearch have traveled to search the area for Guillen.
"Areas that we've searched, we've cleared," said Miller. "If she would have been there, we would have found her."
The search-and-rescue team has searched several areas in and around a 25 mile stretch between Fort Hood and the Leon River, looking for anything that could lead to Guillen.
"I'm not going to say we found evidence in the Leon River. I'm not going to say that. I am going to say we found some things that are being tested," Miller said. "So whether they have anything to do with the case, I don't know. There's certainly some things that brought a lot of interest."
Wednesday's search brought them to an undisclosed location in Bell County.
"I can't say why we're here," Miller said. "We have a reason to be here. So we want to get these fliers out and maybe jog somebody's memory. Maybe that right call will come in. This is an area that's got to be saturated. Again, I'm hoping the right person sees the flier and says, 'I need to make a phone call.'"
Miller confirmed that while investigators have an idea of where Vanessa's phone went dead, the phone has not been located.
There is a $50,000 reward combined between CID and League of United Latin American Citizens for information leading to Guillen's whereabouts. Anyone who may have information in her disappearance should call CID agents at 254-495-7767.
This story was originally published by Olivia Levada on KXXV in Waco, Texas.
