The strange goings-on continue at the North Carolina's military installation.
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Quote:Fort Bragg Army paratrooper, 21, who vanished during camping trip was DECAPITATED - as cops continue to hunt his killerArchived Source:
*Autopsy report showed Spc Enrique Roman-Martinez, 21, was beheaded in May while camping in North Carolina with other
paratroopers
*The fellow soldiers he went camping with reported him missing the next night
*His severed head was found on a beach a week after his disappearance, but no other remains
were recovered and the case was ruled a homicide
*Head showed a fractured cervical spine, multiple chop injuries, a broken jaw and cuts
'A Fort Bragg Army paratrooper who was murdered during a camping trip with fellow soldiers in May had been beheaded, an
autopsy report has revealed. Spc Enrique Roman-Martinez, 21, disappeared during a stay on an island at Cape Lookout National
Seashore in North Carolina over the Memorial Day weekend.
A week later, his head washed up on a beach, sparking a homicide investigation. The rest of the slain paratrooper’s body has not
been recovered to this day.
Enrique Roman-Martinez.
This week, more than six months after Roman-Martinez's death, the Division of Forensic Pathology at East Carolina University’s
Brody School of Medicine issued the autopsy report, which lists the soldier's cause of death as 'homicide by undetermined means,'
reported Fayetteville Observer.
The autopsy relied solely on the examination of the victim’s severed head, as neither the torso nor any of his extremities were
available, according to the report. The beheaded paratrooper’s skull showed a fractured cervical spine, multiple chop injuries,
a broken jaw and cuts.
‘While decapitation is, in and of itself, universally fatal, the remainder of the body in this case was not available for examination,
and therefore potential causes of death involving the torso and extremities cannot be excluded,’ the report stated.
As of Friday morning, no arrests have been made in connection to the paratrooper's murder.
The case is being investigated by the Army with assistance from the FBI.
A $25,000 reward is being offered for information leading to a suspect's arrest and conviction.
'We remain committed to finding those responsible for the senseless killing of our teammate, Spc. Roman-Martinez,' Lt. Col. Mik Burns,
a spokesman for 82nd Airborne Division. 'We also remain in constant contact with his family to keep them informed on progress with
the case.'
Roman-Martinez was a native of Chino, California, and served as a human resource specialist in the 82nd Airborne Division's
Headquarters Company, 37th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team.
He went missing on May 22 while camping with a group of fellow paratroopers in North Carolina.
The seven or so other soldiers who were with him told investigators that they last saw him just before midnight, and the next morning
they realized that he had vanished without his cellphone, wallet, t-shirt or his glasses. 'For them to say he left his glasses was a huge
red flag,' the victim's sister, Griselda Martinez said. 'My mother and I knew something was wrong.'
Martinez said in July that the officials have not offered the family much information, and that they've been told not to speak publicly
about the case.
'They've asked us not to say anything that might impede the investigation or keep them from arresting someone,' she said.
Martinez said she believes there are people of interest in the case, but investigators haven't found enough evidence to bring any
charges. 'That's the whole problem,' she said.
Martinez said her brother joined the Army when he was 17 as a way to pay for college, and because he thought it would teach him
discipline and responsibility. 'We didn't want him to go,' she said. 'He was set on it. He thought it would be good for him.'
Roman-Martinez excelled as a soldier, earning many awards and decorations including the Army Good Conduct Medal, National
Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon and the Army Parachutist Badge.
Martinez said her brother's attitude toward the Army appeared to darken in the year before his death.
'He started saying that he didn't want to be there he just wanted to come home,' she said.
But she said that he did not sound at all suicidal as they frequently talked about their plans for the future...'
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Quote:Foul play is suspected in deaths of Special Forces soldier, 37, and a veteran, 44, whose bodies were discoveredSource Archived:
in a training area on Fort Bragg
*Bodies of Master Sgt. William Lavigne II, 37, and Army veteran Timothy Dumas, 44, who previously served
at Fort Bragg were found on the base on Wednesday
*Source said one of the bodies was found lying flat, while the other was wrapped in a blanket next to a pickup truck
*Army officials said two men were found in a training area, but their deaths were not related to official unit training
*Lavigne was a Special Forces soldier who served 19 years in the military and deployed multiple times to Iraq
and Afghanistan
'The bodies of an active-duty Special Forces soldier and an Army veteran were discovered earlier this week in a
training area at Fort Bragg, and today it was revealed that foul play is suspected.
William Lavigne II.
A statement from the North Carolina base said the bodies were found on Wednesday and that the deaths are not
related to official unit training. On Friday, one of the two men was identified as Master Sgt. William Lavigne II, 37.
He was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, U.S. Army Special Operations Command.
The other man was identified as Army veteran Timothy Dumas, 44, who previously served at Fort Bragg.
Dumas was a resident of Pinehurst, North Carolina. No additional information about him has been released.
A defense official speaking to ABC News on condition of anonymity revealed that foul play is suspected in Lavigne
and Dumas' deaths, and that no weapon was recovered at the scene. WRAL reported, citing an unnamed source
familiar with the matter, that one body was found lying flat on the ground.
The other was wrapped in a blanket near a pickup truck.
'The loss of a Soldier is always tragic,' Lt. Col. Justin Duvall, commander of HHC, U.S. Army Special Operations
Command, said in a statement. 'Master Sgt. Lavigne dedicated himself to the Army for 19 years and deployed
multiple times in the defense of our Nation. Our condolences go out to his family during this difficult time.'
Lavigne enlisted in the Army in 2001 and deployed multiple times to Afghanistan and Iraq in support of the Global
War on Terrorism. In 2007, he graduated from the Special Forces Qualification Course and was assigned to the
1st Special Forces with a follow on assignment to US Army Special Operations Command.
The deaths are being investigated by special agents from the Army Criminal Investigation Command.
Fort Bragg, covering nearly 172,000 acres, is one of the world’s largest military complexes, according to its website.
It has approximately 57,000 military personnel, 11,000 civilian employees and 23,000 family members.
The base was in the news this week after an autopsy report revealed that a Fort Bragg paratrooper who went missing
during a camping trip on a North Carolina island with fellow soldiers in May had been decapitated.
In October, Fort Bragg made headlines when a civilian worker on the base lewdly replied to pornographic content from
Fort Bragg's official Twitter account, which was later deleted
A few weeks prior, tragedy struck on the base in North Carolina when Staff Sgt. Jason Lowe, 27, serving with the 82nd
Airborne Division took his own life. Lowe's was the tenth suicide the 82nd Airborne Division has endured so far this year,
a number that stood at four last year. In 2018, six division paratroopers took their own lives; four did so in 2017...'
Edith Head Gives Good Wardrobe.
