Vanished: Why?

Summary

20/20 Podcast Summary

Episode: Vanished: Why?
Date: October 15, 2025
Host: John Quinones (ABC News)
Main Contributors: Myra Guillen, Steve Campion, Aaron Clough

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Overview

This episode, part five in the "Vanished: What Happened to Vanessa?" series, delves deeply into the aftermath and unanswered questions surrounding the murder of Army Specialist Vanessa Guillen. With the primary suspect, Aaron Robinson, dead, the search for motives, justice, and closure continues among Vanessa’s family, investigators, and the broader public. The episode explores the pivotal night Robinson fled and died by suicide, the prosecution of Cecily Aguilar (Robinson's girlfriend and accomplice), and the emotional sentencing hearing that brought shocking new allegations to light. The central, lingering question remains: why did Vanessa have to die?

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Night Aaron Robinson Fled – Chaos and Failure

• Robinson Not Arrested: Despite substantial evidence implicating Aaron Robinson in Vanessa’s murder, he was held for a COVID violation, not arrested for murder. This mishandling allowed him to escape custody and, ultimately, take his own life.

  • "From my experience, there was enough probable cause at that point to arrest him. So that's an area that again, you have to scratch your head." – Chris Swecker (former FBI agent) [08:18]

• Cecily Aguilar’s Role: During this time, Cecily Aguilar was cooperating with law enforcement to lure Robinson, but he managed to evade capture and, fatally, shot himself when confronted by police.

  • "Aguilar is trying to help investigators locate him. He's somewhere in Killeen, Texas, and Aguilar at that point is trying to pinpoint him his location, trying to meet with him so investigators can move in and arrest him." – Steve Campion [02:48]

• Family’s Pain: Myra Guillen, Vanessa’s sister, receives the jarring news of Robinson’s suicide in the middle of a sleepless night.

  • "They just blast at me, we have two suspects. One of them is dead and one of them is alive, and it's a civilian... they told me he committed suicide." – Myra Guillen [07:18]

The Motive: Still a Mystery

• Possible Motives Explored:

  • Robinson was allegedly afraid Vanessa would expose his relationship with Cecily (adultery is a military crime), though this secret was not unknown.
    • "Cicely Aguilar did tell us that Specialist Robinson told her that he did what he did. He killed Vanessa because she saw a picture on his cell phone of her, and he feared that she would go to the chain of command..." – Myra Guillen [14:00]
  • Vanessa’s family suspects something even darker, possibly related to sexual assault or attempted abuse.
    • "Maybe he did try to sexually abuse her and she didn't give in to his advance..." – Myra Guillen [15:21]

• No Closure:

  • "We don't know what the motive was... He may have taken that motive with him to his grave." – James McPherson, Army Undersecretary [15:40]

The Investigation Shifts to Cecily Aguilar

• Aguilar’s Background:

  • Aguilar had a turbulent, difficult upbringing—foster care, homelessness, instability. Her friend, Aaron Clough, paints a portrait of vulnerability and isolation.
    • "She always had crazy colored hair... Foster care for Cecily was rough. She always stuck to herself. She was quiet. I'm pretty sure she just wanted to run away." – Aaron Clough [19:42], [20:11]

• Manipulation or Agency?:

  • "I think Cecily could have been manipulated by Aaron 100%, especially in that time in her life. She was alone, she felt alone..." – Aaron Clough [22:19]
  • Yet: "If Cecily did do the things that they are saying she did, then she deserves what she will get from it." – Aaron Clough [22:43]

• Legal Outcome: Aguilar eventually pleads guilty to accessory after the fact and lying, facing sentencing with damning evidence presented against her.

The Sentencing Hearing – “A Window No One Had Seen”

• The Courtroom Scene:

  • The sentencing in August 2023 is tense and emotional, attended by those who fought for Vanessa and covered the story from the start.
    • "There was a lot of anger, a lot of sadness, a lot of tears." – Myra Guillen [26:15]

• Prosecution’s Case:

  • Prosecutors ask for the maximum (30 years), presenting new, deeply disturbing evidence:
    • Robinson googled terms suggestive of necrophilia after Vanessa’s death; claims emerged from a jailhouse informant that he violated Vanessa’s corpse.
      • "It was silence, right? You could have heard a pin drop. It was as if, like, it couldn't get worse. And then you threw on that detail..." – Steve Campion [30:26]
    • The family is devastated by these revelations.
      • "To me, it just doesn't fit in my head to see how a person is capable of doing that to another human being. It was just... like a horror film." – Myra Guillen [30:44]

• Defense’s Argument:

  • Cecily was “manipulated,” fundamentally damaged by her upbringing and dependence on Robinson.

• Cecily's Apology:

  • Cecily addresses Vanessa’s family, expressing remorse but offering no satisfactory answer for her actions.
    • "I'm sincerely sorry, and I know sorry is very inadequate. I own up to my actions in the crime and I do take responsibility." – Cecily Aguilar [34:46]
    • The family is unmoved: "I find it hard to believe that those words had any meaning, had any remorse... I don't think there's forgiveness for any of that." – Myra Guillen [36:00]

• Sentence: Cecily Aguilar receives the maximum 30 years.

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Robinson’s Escape and Suicide – [00:42] to [06:01]
• Family Notification, Law Enforcement Critiques – [07:06] to [09:00]
• Investigative Evidence & Motive Discussion – [11:01] to [15:40]
• Cecily Aguilar’s Background & Arrest – [18:37] to [22:39]
• Her Sentencing Hearing – [24:58] to [36:40]
• Family Reactions, Forgiveness, and Closure – [37:53] to [39:17]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "If you're an experienced investigator and wonder why, because you wonder, isn't the discovery of Vanessa's body in that place where his phone pinged enough for probable cause? ...it's a little bit baffling." – Chris Swecker [08:18]

• "It was lots of anger. Having Cecily in front of us and not being able to ask her questions directly." – Myra Guillen [32:36]

• "When she apologized to the family, I remember thinking... you're not providing any details on what drove her to do it, except saying, I don't know why I did it. And that just seems so unsatisfactory." – Steve Campion [35:39]

• "Mom told me that Cecily asked for forgiveness, and my mom told her that she was forgiven... it just shows how big my mom's heart is." – Myra Guillen [38:15], [38:58]

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Emotional and Narrative Tone

• Somber and Unflinching: The narrative doesn't shy from the darkest details, nor does it rush to easy answers. Pain, bewilderment, and determination are palpable, especially in the family's voices.
• Search for Closure, Not Vengeance: The Guillen family’s quest for answers is coupled with faith and an extraordinary act of forgiveness from Vanessa’s mother.
• Lingering, Unanswered Questions:
  • "Why did it happen? Why did Aaron Robinson kill Vanessa in the room? What did Vanessa know? What did Aaron want?... that's the question that haunts the family. That's the question that haunts anybody who's covered this story." – Steve Campion [37:01]

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Conclusion & Looking Forward

The episode closes with the reality that justice, as meted by the courts, cannot replace the truth Vanessa’s family continues to seek. The case has spurred reforms within the army and raised national awareness, but the question of "why" remains. As the story continues, so does the Guillen family’s fight to ensure that no other family endures such tragedy in silence.

Next episode teaser: The podcast will explore whether the mishandled investigation at Fort Hood represents larger systemic issues—and what, if anything, is being done to prevent similar failures.

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Transcript

[Debra Roberts]

This is Debra Roberts here with another weekly episode of our latest series from 2020 and ABC Audio, Vanished what Happened to Vanessa? Remember, you can get new episodes early if you follow Vanished what Happened to Vanessa on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or your favorite podcast app. Now, here's the episode.

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[Narrator / John Quinones]

On the evening of June 30, 2020, just hours after authorities recover Vanessa Guillen's remains, Specialist Aaron Robinson is being held in a conference room on Fort H. Remember, Robinson isn't under arrest. Authorities tell him he's being confined for breaking COVID 19 quarantine protocol. Elsewhere, investigators are interviewing Robinson's girlfriend, Cecily Aguilar. And what investigators say Cecily tells them is quite incriminating for her boyfriend. Around 10pm There in that conference room on Fort Hood, Robinson is pacing back and forth, sometimes leaning against the conference room door, a soldier tells him to sit down. Robinson complies, if only for a moment, because a minute or so later, Robinson rushes out of that conference room. Then Major General Donna Martin, the guard.

[Myra Guillen]

Gives chase, but he gets in a vehicle and he flees and he leaves Fort Hood.

[Narrator / John Quinones]

Robinson vanishes into the dark. Colleen Night With Robinson on the run, investigators turned back to his girlfriend, Cecily. Remember, earlier that evening, authorities say Cecily had told them something big, that Robinson had confided in her that he killed Vanessa, and Cecily told investigators she helped hide the remains. Cecily had also agreed to call Robinson and let investigators listen in on their conversation. She now tells authorities that she thinks Robinson is going to their apartment to get a gun. With that in mind, investigators move to monitor the apartment, and Cecily continues talking to Robinson. Here's Steve Campion, then a reporter at the ABC News OWN station in Houston, ktrk.

[Steve Campion]

Aguilar is trying to help investigators locate him. He's somewhere in Killeen, Texas, and Aguilar at that point is trying to pinpoint him his location, trying to meet with him so investigators can move in and arrest him.

[Narrator / John Quinones]

Authorities begin pinging Robinson's cell phone. They know that he fled the base by car. But as authorities listen to Cecily's calls with Robinson, it sounds to them like he's walking, not driving. And indeed, the car he was suspected of driving is Found abandoned in Killeen. Meanwhile, Robinson is asking Cecily where she is. Of course, the truth is she's with law enforcement in an interrogation room. But she tells Robinson that she's walking to the base to turn herself in. Investigators actually have her go outside and send a selfie to Robinson as proof. Remember, by this time, Robinson knows that human remains have been found near the Leon River. It's all over the local news. According to investigators, he tells Cecily baby they found pieces. Eventually, Robinson tells Cecily he will turn himself in too, if she meets with him first. He asks her to come to a gas station near the base. Authorities coordinate for officers to be waiting nearby. But that gas station meeting never happens, according to a police report. Sometime after midnight, police spot a figure, a male on foot in shorts and a hoodie. A cell phone in his left hand illuminates his face. Around 12:33am an officer approaches him. He draws his gun and tells him to get on the ground. Instead, the man stops walking and reaches into his pockets. According to the police report, the officer orders him to show his hands. When the man pulls his right hand out, he's holding a black pistol, and he raises it toward the officer. The officer yells, gun. And takes cover. The man points the pistol at the officer and then at his own head. A single shot rings out, and specialist Aaron Robinson falls slowly to the ground. Soon, authorities descend on the area. They cordon off that stretch of road, now aglow with squad cars. Red and blue, light yellow. Police tape is strung five lanes wide. A small crowd of onlookers forms, and a bystander films some video. In it, you see a white body bag on a stretcher being loaded into a white minivan.

[Aaron Clough]

The saddest thing I've ever seen.

[Narrator / John Quinones]

Earlier that day, Vanessa's remains had been found. They were found near where authorities determined Aaron Robinson's cell phone pinged the night she disappeared. Vanessa's remains discovered where Robinson apparently was. It was damning evidence. Later, some critics would say there was enough evidence to place Robinson under arrest there in that conference room on Fort Hood. But that didn't happen. And now Aaron Robinson is dead. Potentially so close to accountability. The man authority suspected of murdering Vanessa Guillen is lost forever. Just hours earlier, Myra Guillen learned that her sister's remains had been found. It was a moment Myra described as when everything came to an end.

[Myra Guillen]

And now, shortly after I go to bed and my phone starts ringing again at about three in the morning, investigators.

[Narrator / John Quinones]

Are calling her again.

[Myra Guillen]

It's Cad. And they just blast at Me, we have two suspects. One of them is dead and one of them is alive, and it's a civilian. And I'm like, what do you mean one of them is dead? And they told me he committed suicide.

[Narrator / John Quinones]

It's a major mistake on the part of the army in not arresting him or confining him. That's Chris Swecker, the former FBI agent who led that independent review of Fort Hood's command climate. The review committee's publicly available report does not analyze the decision to not arrest Robinson. But for Swecker, who spent 24 years working in the FBI and who retired as the assistant director of the Bureau's Criminal Investigation Division, the Army's inaction was perplexing. From my experience, there was enough probable cause at that point to arrest him. So that's an area that again, you have to scratch your head. If you're an experienced investigator and wonder why, because you wonder, isn't the discovery of Vanessa's body in that place where his phone pinged enough for probable cause? Yeah, at that point, it's a little bit baffling. Back in 2021, army officials told us that investigators judgment at the time was, was that there was not probable cause to arrest Robinson and that they were working together more information helpful to the case. An internal army report acknowledged that the army personnel could have done more to prevent Specialist Robinson from fleeing. CID failed to clearly communicate that Specialist Robinson was a soldier of heightened interest rather than just another soldier. For a follow up interview this month, when ABC News asked CID to respond to criticism it should have arrested Robinson, an Army spokesperson told us Army CID has undertaken significant reforms and improvements to its investigative processes based on the findings of the Fort Hood Independent Review Committee, Unquote. That's the committee led by Chris Swecker. Aaron Robinson's death makes it much harder to solve the mystery at the center of this story. The mystery of why. Why was Vanessa murdered? But the investigation continues and authorities pursue that question. Why? And out of their investigation and out of the backgrounds of Aaron Robinson and his girlfriend Cecily Aguilar, there emerge clues. Clues as to how such a heinous crime could have come to pass. The investigative efforts all culminate with Cecily Aguilar's day in court and with the shocking new evidence prosecutors hope will help put her away for decades. From ABC Audio and 20 20, this is vanished. What happened to Vanessa? I'm John Quinones. This is episode five.

[Steve Campion]

Why.

[Narrator / John Quinones]

In the hours after Cecily Aguilar told investigators that Aaron Robinson had killed Vanessa Guillen authorities returned to the arms room where Robinson had encountered Vanessa on that morning in April. They used a chemical that glows blue when it reacts to traces of blood. And sure enough, there it was, the telltale glow. Bloodstains were found elsewhere in the arms room. Authorities swabbed some blood and sent it off to an FBI lab for. For testing. And indeed, a DNA test later found an extremely high likelihood that the blood was Vanessa's. It was yet more evidence linking Aaron Robinson to Vanessa's death. But now, of course, Robinson is gone, unable to explain what happened and why. So to try to understand the crime, we started trying to understand Robinson, who he was and where he came from. It was hard to learn much about him. We know that he grew up in Calumet City, Illinois, just south of the south side of Chicago. He played football there at Thornton Fractional north high school. In 2018, he was deployed to Iraq for about seven months. Vanessa's friends, CJ Landy and Tay Hightower, they say they didn't know Robinson well. Kind of a loner, I guess.

[Steve Campion]

A loner trying to get friends.

[Narrator / John Quinones]

Yeah. Yeah, that kind of person. Almost like an oddball trying to fit in, more or less. If fitting in was his goal, it probably didn't help that he was going out with Cecily Aguilar, the estranged wife of another soldier, Keon Aguilar. Fellow soldiers told us they knew about this romantic entanglement. We learned something else about Robinson. During the investigation into Vanessa's disappearance, there emerged signs that Robinson may have been struggling with his mental health. After investigators interviewed Robinson, they described leaving him alone in a room and witnessing him pacing back and forth, talking to himself and laughing. Separately. Cecily Aguilar told investigators that sometimes Robinson would go into moods in which he would not be his normal self. She also told them that Robinson had made statements in the past about suicide. And investigators say that Cecily told them something else, something that might explain why Robinson did what he did. Here's then Major General Donna Martin.

[Myra Guillen]

Cicely Aguilar did tell us that Specialist Robinson told her that he did what he did. He killed Vanessa because she saw a picture on his cell phone of her, and he feared that she would go to the chain of command and get him in trouble for having an affair.

[Narrator / John Quinones]

Specifically, Cecily said that Robinson told her that Vanessa saw a photo of Cecily on the lock screen of Robinson's phone. Adultery is, in fact, illegal in the military. A conviction can result in dishonorable discharge. But army officials also told us that in most cases, the odds of getting court martialed for adultery are, quote, extremely minimal. Also, Vanessa was not in a position to reveal Robinson's secret. That secret was already out. Other soldiers told us they knew Robinson was dating another soldier wife, a soldier serving with them at Fort Hood, Keon Aguilar. So silencing Vanessa was not going to solve that problem. Members of the Guillen family wondered about another possible motive.

[Myra Guillen]

Here's Myra maybe Robinson was doing something he wasn't supposed to. Or maybe he did tried to sexually abuse her and she didn't give in to his advance and he ended up going to the farthest extent to try to get rid of her.

[Narrator / John Quinones]

Ever since Vanessa went missing, her family wondered, was her disappearance somehow related to the sexual harassment she had told her mother about? We'll dig into this more in our next episode. But in 2021, an internal army investigation found no credible evidence that Robinson sexually harassed Vanessa back in 2020. Then Army Undersecretary James McPherson raised another possibility. We don't know what the motive was with regard to Specialist Robinson killing Vanessa. We may never know. He may have taken that motive with him to his grave. With Aaron Robinson gone, authorities are left with just one person to hold accountable. Robinson's girlfriend, Cecily Aguilar. How did she end up here? And can prosecutors succeed in bringing her to justice?

[Debra Roberts]

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[Narrator / John Quinones]

It was hard to find people to talk to about Cecily Aguilar. ABC News reached out to her and didn't hear back. What we have been able to piece together is that Cecily had lived a life that was, well, at times rootless and quite difficult. She grew up in Michigan. According to court testimony, she was given up by her birth mother and around the time she was a toddler, she was adopted. When Cecily was 14, Child Protective Services removed her from her adoptive parents home. After that, Cecily spent time living in foster care and at other times was homeless. It was during these difficult years that Cecily met Aaron Clough. We heard from her in a previous episode. A lot of what we know about Cecily comes from Aaron. She remembers Cecily in high school, how she stood out in class, tattoos and.

[Aaron Clough]

She always had crazy colored hair.

[Narrator / John Quinones]

Indeed, years later, when Cecily has a mugshot taken, it's her hair that stands out. It's dyed bright orange. Her hair almost perfectly matches her outfit, what looks to be like prison issued attire with that infamous orange hue. But back in high school, behind the dye and the tattoos, Aaron says that Cecily was struggling.

[Aaron Clough]

Foster care for Cecily was rough. She said that she always stuck to herself. She was quiet. I'm pretty sure she had mentioned a couple times where she just wanted to run away. She hated it.

[Narrator / John Quinones]

At other times when Cecily was homeless, Aaron says Cecily would often sleep in a local park. Around this time, Aaron Clough had a job at McDonald's and she says she encouraged Cecily to apply. She did. And that is where Cecily met Kian Aguilar. You might remember how the story goes from there. Cecily and Kian married and moved to Texas, to Fort Hood. They took on a new roommate, Keon's fellow soldier, Aaron Robinson. And later, with the Marriage on the rocks. Cecily moved out and Robinson came with her. Erin Clough says she thinks her friend Cecily felt stuck.

[Aaron Clough]

I think she was scared. She was so far away from home. She didn't have the money to come home. She didn't have a home to come back to. You know, she didn't have anybody. She didn't have anything but herself. And I'm guessing at that point in time, this Aaron guy. So she called me at 8 o' clock in the morning, June 26th. She video chatted me and I missed it. And then she tried phone calling me and I missed it. And I told her I couldn't talk to her right now and then I'd call her in a little bit and she said, okay. And then I never ended up calling her.

[Narrator / John Quinones]

Soon after, remains are found near the Leon River. Erin Clough hears the news. Her friend Cecily is in custody for allegedly helping to hide a body.

[Aaron Clough]

It's just so crazy. I wish I could just talk to her one on one with nobody else and ask her, cecily, what happened? Like, what happened? Why did you do this? Did you do what you really did? And if you did, why, as for.

[Narrator / John Quinones]

Why or how Cecily could have done.

[Aaron Clough]

This, I think Cecily could have been manipulated by Erin 100%, you know, especially in that time in her life. And she was alone, she felt alone. So I think in her state of mind in the situations that she was in, Aaron could have definitely manipulated her.

[Narrator / John Quinones]

But Aaron Clough is very clear.

[Aaron Clough]

If Cecily did do the things that they are saying she did, then she deserves what she will get from it.

[Narrator / John Quinones]

Cecily Aguilar would eventually be indicted on 11 federal charges, all connected with allegedly covering up Vanessa's murder. In November 2022, Cecily took a plea deal. She pled guilty to one count of accessory to murder after the fact and to three counts stemming from false statements she made to investigators. With a guilty plea in hand, federal prosecutors moved on to their next task, putting Cecily Aguilar away for as long as possible. Cecily's fate would come down to one day in a Texas court courtroom and to some new evidence that shocked the courtroom.

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[Narrator / John Quinones]

August 2023. More than three years have passed since Vanessa's remains were found. Three years of motions and legal wrangling that kept putting this day off. But finally, it's time for Cecily Aguilar to be sentenced. Steve Campion made the two and a half hour drive from Houston to Waco back in 2020. Steve had covered this story as a local TV reporter. Three years later, he was no longer working in journalism. But this case had stuck with him. And after the Guillen family invited him to come for the hearing, he took the day off work to be there at the courthouse. Steve witnesses a reunion of sorts.

[Steve Campion]

There was a lot of familiar faces. Texas Equisearch, the team that searched for Vanessa on the ground. Their founder was there, Tim Miller. The family was there. Different people who were involved in the investigation were there. And so it was like three years later. Wow. Like all these different people who had been there during different parts of the story were all of a sudden assembled. Everybody was just waiting to see what would happen.

[Myra Guillen]

There was a lot of anger, a lot of sadness, a lot of tears.

[Narrator / John Quinones]

That's Myra Guillen.

[Myra Guillen]

That day, there was a lot of mixed emotions.

[Narrator / John Quinones]

It was a hot one in Waco with a high of 106 degrees. Inside the courthouse, the mood was uneasy.

[Steve Campion]

There was a lot of tension in the room. And then eventually the defendant, Cecily Aguilar, came in.

[Narrator / John Quinones]

No cameras were allowed in court, but a courtroom sketch of Cecily shows her where once again in prison, issued orange. She's seated next to her lawyer, both facing forward. Her hair is down and tucked behind her ears. It appears to have returned to its natural color, the orange dye long since faded.

[Steve Campion]

I remember her sitting at the table and there wasn't a lot of, like, back and forth with the attorney. There wasn't a lot of emotion. Like I'd been in other corners, courtrooms, like where the defendant might have an outburst. But I don't remember A lot of emotion from Cecily Aguilar in that courtroom.

[Narrator / John Quinones]

The question before the court that day was not Cecily's guilt. She had already pled guilty. This was her sentencing hearing. The two sides, Cecily's lawyers and the government, were arguing how long Cecily should go to prison. And both presented evidence to support their positions. Prosecutors argued that Cecily deserved the maximum possible sentence, 30 years. Some of the evidence they presented were Cecily's own statements.

[Steve Campion]

The interrogation videos with Cecily Aguilar. Those were a window into a world that no one had seen.

[Narrator / John Quinones]

Remember, in the weeks after Vanessa went missing, Cecily had changed her story multiple times. Now, three years later, Cecily's statements to investigators were being scrutinized in her presence and in the presence of a federal judge with the power to lock her up for decades.

[Steve Campion]

We were actually hearing from her in the interrogation room, and she was deliberately misleading the authorities. It was aggravating to watch because if she had known all of this, all this time, she could have really prevented a lot of heartbreak had she just come forward and said what had happened.

[Narrator / John Quinones]

But the footage of Cecily's interrogations was not the most striking evidence prosecutors presented. What shocked those in attendance was other evidence, evidence that it seems few people in that courtroom were aware of. Prosecutors would cite this evidence as yet another reason to give Cecily the maximum sentence. And just a warning. What prosecutors alleged is disturbing.

[Steve Campion]

There was these really vile allegations that Robinson had had not just mutilated the body or deconstructed the body, but that had had done something really vile to the body.

[Narrator / John Quinones]

According to the court transcript, authorities had discovered a, quote, auto filled search term, something typed into Robinson's phone around 5pm on the day Vanessa was killed. That search term, according to the court transcript, was necro. In addition, a Texas Ranger testifies that he had interviewed someone who said she had spoken with Cecily Aguilar while she was in jail in July 2020. The ranger says, quote, she said that Ms. Aguilar told her that Aaron Robinson had had sex with Vanessa Guillen's corpse.

[Steve Campion]

In the courtroom. That was a moment where everybody was, you know, it was silence, right? You could have heard a pin drop. It was as if, like, it couldn't get worse. And then you threw on that detail and you're like, all right, that's the worst it possibly could get. This is the most depraved, evil thing I've heard.

[Myra Guillen]

To me, it just doesn't fit in my head to see how a person is capable of doing that to Another human being. It was just. Just. And I mean, it's like a horrific. Like a scene. You would see it like a horror film or something of that nature. Like, it was a shock to hear.

[Narrator / John Quinones]

That the allegations are horrific. But Cecily Aguilar's attorneys point out the defendant in this case isn't Aaron Robinson. And they point out that Cecily did eventually cooperate with investigators. She helped place those recorded phone call to Robinson. She also went to the Leon river site with investigators talking through what she said she and Robinson did on the two nights in question. And their arguments go further than that.

[Steve Campion]

So her defense attorneys basically wanted to paint this picture of Cecily having a very troubled childhood, that she didn't have any caretakers, that she had to make it on her own, and because of that, was basically in a position where she could be manipulated by somebody that she cared deeply, deeply about. And so the narrative from the defense attorney is essentially, Aaron Robinson made her do this. She was so emotionally involved with Aaron that she would have done anything to make sure that the relationship stayed intact.

[Narrator / John Quinones]

Prosecutors, of course, were ready for that argument.

[Steve Campion]

The government said, you know, listen, a lot of people experience a lot of horrible things, but not everybody goes and dismember bodies. Not everybody goes and lies to police and then ultimately participates in this attempt to cover up a murder.

[Myra Guillen]

For me personally, it was lots of anger. Having Sesame in front of us and not being able to ask her questions directly.

[Narrator / John Quinones]

For Myra, seeing Cecily Aguilar in person didn't soften her feelings.

[Myra Guillen]

It's about how silent she was after the fact. I believe you're as guilty as a person that committed the crime if you keep quiet. And she kept quiet for as long as she could. It wasn't until law enforcement was involved that she decided to speak up.

[Narrator / John Quinones]

After almost five hours of testimony, the court heard victim impact statements. Vanessa's sister spoke. The family attorney, Natalie Kawam, spoke. And over the course of 22 minutes, Vanessa's mother, Gloria, spoke of her daughter. She spoke of Vanessa's sense of duty, that conviction that led her to join the army. And Gloria spoke of the circles under Vanessa's eyes, her losing weight, losing sleep after several months spent at Fort Hood. She spoke of her daughter's death and those she felt were responsible. But she ended with this. Divine justice does exist, and God exists. And he's alive because I'm here standing upright. And that is a miracle. Miracle because I was on the way to dying. It's a miracle because what I asked of God was life. And here I am in God's name, and I'm going to keep going. Finally, it was Cecily Aguilar's turn. Steve Campion again.

[Steve Campion]

She got up and she asked to speak directly to the family. And this was right after Vanessa's sister spoke, her mother spoke. And so the atmosphere in the room was really tense and it was really sad.

[Narrator / John Quinones]

Cecily Aguilar expresses remorse. I'm hoping to convey my sincerest apologies to the Guillen family. The question why this happened weighs heavily on my mind. And I asked myself, how could I allow myself to become involved in something this terrible? She continues, I am sincerely sorry, and I know sorry is very inadequate. I own up to my actions in the crime and I do take responsibility. Cecily concludes saying she wishes the Guillenne's as much healing as possible. Quote, I pray that God will give you all the comfort and strength that you need to endure this tragedy that your family has suffered.

[Steve Campion]

When she apologized to the family, I remember sitting there thinking, you've got the defendant after all these years, addressing the family and saying, I'm sorry, but really not providing any details on what drove her to do it, except saying, I don't know why I did it. And that just seems so unsatisfactory.

[Myra Guillen]

In the end, when Cecily spoke directly to us, I didn't really pay much attention to her words. I, I find it hard to believe that those words had any meaning, had any remorse. So I didn't really bother to, to even think about the, the option of forgiving her. I don't think there's forgiveness for any of that. Vanessa's gone and nothing's going to bring her back. And what was done to her and her body is just something that it's not normal. And she went to that extent and farther to cover up for somebody that she knew was in the wrong.

[Narrator / John Quinones]

Cecily aguilar received a 30 year sentence, the maximum the judge could hand down. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. She's being held in a medium security prison in West Virginia. With that, it seemed that some measure of justice had been served.

[Steve Campion]

And yet it's still hard to wrap your head around because if you, if you sat there in that courtroom that day, the government said that Vanessa was bludgeoned to death with a hammer inside a room on an army base. And the, the suspect was then able to take the body off the army base and dispose of it. And that's, that in itself is hard to believe. Right. And why did it happen? Why did Aaron Robinson kill Vanessa in the room? What Did Vanessa know? What did Eren want? The question of why Eren did this, that's the question that haunts the family. That's the question that haunts anybody who's covered this story. I don't think we're ever gonna have the answer to that question.

[Narrator / John Quinones]

After the hearing was over, Myra Guillen says that her mother asked to speak with Cecily privately. Her request was granted. I talked to Myra in September. She told me she wasn't in the room for that private meeting. But what she says her mom told her is extraordinary.

[Myra Guillen]

Mom told me that Cicely asked her for forgiveness, and my mom told her that she was forgiven. And I understand that my mom is a person that forgives again. She's full of faith. I'm not saying that I can't forgive her, maybe one day, but it's just hard, you know, to accept that my mom has always been a person who. She's not an angry person. Not all of us can say that we would easily forgive someone who would hurt our loved ones. And my mom was one of those people. So it gives her closure and helps her heal. And, you know, we all have. We all have different ways of coping. So that was hers.

[Narrator / John Quinones]

And there was something else.

[Myra Guillen]

And another thing she said was that she wished she would have had a mother like my mom, someone that would have probably mentored her in the right path in life, showed her what love was. I mean, it just shows how big my mom's heart is.

[Narrator / John Quinones]

It's been more than five years since Vanessa Guillen's death. In that time, her family has searched for answers for justice and, in at least one case, for the capacity to forgive. But that's not where Vanessa's story ends. Far from it. Because now there are new questions. Questions like what, if anything, can stop this from happening again? It had to take my sister's life for us to realize the bigger issues. Was this a botched investigation by the U.S. army? Fort Hood, Texas, will never forget Anessa. We're going to get to the bottom of it. And how could it have happened when nobody knew about it? That's next. What Happened to Vanessa is a production of ABC Audio and 20 20, hosted by me, John Quiniodis. Produced by Shane McKeon, Nancy Rosenbaum, Sabrina Fang and Nora Ritchie. Fact checking and production help from Audrey Mostek and Annalisa Linder. Tracy Samuelson is our story editor. Our supervising producer, Sasha Aslanian. Music and mixing by Evan Viola. Special thanks to Katie Dendos, Janice Johnston, Denise Martinez, Raimundo, Natalie Cardenas. Rachel Walker, Brian Mazerski and Michelle Margulis. Josh Cohan is our director of podcast programming. Laura Mayer is our executive producer. Eight years ago, I blew my football career.

[Steve Campion]

He dropped it at the one yard line.

[Progressive Insurance Announcer]

Chad Powers has arrived on Hulu.

[Narrator / John Quinones]

If I can't play as Russ, I'll play as someone else.

[Aaron Clough]

My name's Chad and last name from.

[Narrator / John Quinones]

Executive producers Eli and Peyton Manning. Remember when wearing a prosthetic mask.

[Progressive Insurance Announcer]

This is acting and starring Glen Powell.

[Myra Guillen]

He thinks you're a rubber chew toy.

[Aaron Clough]

Not rubber. I'm a man made of flesh.

[Narrator / John Quinones]

The Hulu Original series Chad Powers is.

[Progressive Insurance Announcer]

Now streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney plus for bundled subscribers. Terms apply.

[Narrator / John Quinones]

New episodes Tuesdays, 20th Century Studios presents a legendary movie event. Springsteen. Deliver Me From Nowhere. That's the sound.

[Steve Campion]

It's a story you wanted to tell.

[Narrator / John Quinones]

See the movie that's being called the best film of the year.

[Aaron Clough]

Think we got that?

[Steve Campion]

Yeah, we got that one.

[Narrator / John Quinones]

Springsteen. Deliver Me from nowhere. Ready? PG 13. Parental guidance suggested for children under 13. Experience it in IMAX Halloween theaters October 24th. Get tickets now.