Vanessa went missing from the Texas military base, formerly known as Fort Hood, on April 22, 2020, leaving behind her wallet and keys in an armory room controlled by U.S. Army Specialist Aaron Robinson. At the time, her family expressed concern, citing the fact that Vanessa had recently been sexually harassed on the base, according to previous Oxygen.com reporting.
As police began searching for the 20-year-old, they spoke with Robinson, who claimed to have last seen Vanessa heading to a parking lot after working in the armory room. Three soldiers would corroborate his claims, though Maj. Gen. Donna Martin, the Army’s provost marshal, would say in September 2020 that their accounts were inaccurate.
Authorities later found remains in Bell County, Texas in late June. Using dental records and DNA, investigators confirmed the dismembered body was indeed Vanessa's.
Investigators noticed that Robinson had called Aguilar multiple times that night, even though he said that he had been with her the night of the murder. When they questioned Aguilar, she alleged that Robinson had called to her to confess to murdering a woman with a hammer, Oxygen.com previously reported. She said that she then helped him dismember Vanessa and burn the remains before disposing of them near a lake.