Female US soldier found dead in locked apartment bedroom off base
A female American soldier was found murdered inside a locked bedroom in her apartment off the Army base where she served.
The body of Private First Class Katia Duenas-Aguilar, 23, was discovered in her residence in Clarksville, Tennessee, by her friend, WTVF reported. Clarkesville detectives who responded to the residence near the border with Kentucky on May 18 ruled her death a homicide.
Duenas-Aguilar was stationed at Fort Campbell in Kentucky and assigned to the 101st Airborne Division’s Combat Aviation Brigade.
‘We are stunned by the death of Pfc Duenas-Aguilar,’ 101st Airborne Division spokesman Lt Col Tony Hoefler told Military.com. ‘In the meantime, we will continue to cooperate with Army and local investigative authorities on this matter.’
Duenas-Aguilar, of Mesquite, Texas, was the single mother of a four-year-old boy.
She shared the apartment with another person and was the only victim, police said.
‘We want to know what happened, who did it and we want to make sure that person or people are brought to justice,’ stated her family, according to CBS News.
On Saturday, Duenas-Aguilar’s family begged for the public’s help and along with the League of United Latin American Citizens announced a doubling of the reward amount to $55,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
‘She would already tell me that she’s not happy over there and I wanted her to come back so we could make more memories,’ said her sister, Cecilia Ruiz-Aguilar.
Duenas-Aguilar joined the US Army in 2018 and received her training at Fort Eisenhower. She was awarded two Army Achievement Medals, the National Defense Service Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the Army Service Ribbon.
‘We want to believe that it’s a nightmare that we can wake up and she will still be there,’ Ruiz-Aguilar said.
Duenas-Aguilar’ death comes after after three US Marines were found dead inside a parked car at a gas station near Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina where they were stationed.
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