Maj. Gen. Christopher Beck, commander of the Maneuver Support Center of Excellence and Fort Leonard Wood, speaks at a news conference Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024, about the death of Sgt. Sarah Roque at the base in Missouri. (Screenshot from KY3 News in Springfield, Mo.)
Army investigators are treating the death of a Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., sergeant as a homicide after confirming her body was found Monday evening in a dumpster near barracks for single soldiers.
Sgt. Sarah Roque, 23, was reported missing Monday morning and a search for her began within hours, Special Agent John McCabe, who oversees the Army Criminal Investigation Division in the Midwest, said Thursday during a news conference.
“We do have a person-of-interest, and we are continuing to look at every investigative lead,” he said.
Following the news conference, the person was taken into custody, the base said in a statement.
But before the arrest, McCabe said the person never posed a threat to the base or the community. He also declined to say whether the individual is a service member or has any other type of affiliation with the military base.
“We are confident that there is no threat to the community or base personnel,” he said.
McCabe spoke alongside Maj. Gen. Christopher Beck, commander of the Maneuver Support Center of Excellence and Fort Leonard Wood, which is home to about 6,600 active-duty soldiers. But they offered few details about what happened, while encouraging anyone with information to come forward.
The base is also working with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies, Beck said.
“As our team continues to mourn, please know that our focus remains on providing the care, support and resources needed during this difficult time for the unit and most importantly, the family,” he said. “We remain in constant communication with the family.”
Roque was from Ligonier, Ind., and served as a bridge crew member and a mine dog handler with the K9 Detachment of the 5th Engineer Battalion, according to base officials. She enlisted in 2020 and attended basic training at Fort Leonard Wood.
Her peers in the unit described her as “tough and proud of everything she did,” Beck said. She served the Army with honor and distinction, he said.
When she failed to show up for duty Monday morning, the unit contacted military police after initial efforts to locate her failed, Beck said. Within three hours, police issued an alert and contacted CID.
By that evening, Roque’s body was found in the dumpster. Officials declined to say who found her body or whether there was a suspected cause of death.
In the days since, CID has moved personnel to Fort Leonard Wood, including forensic laboratory technicians, criminal investigators and forensic evidence collectors, McCabe said.
“We’ve been working this 24/7 making sure we’re applying the appropriate amount of manpower to it and resources. Anything in our investigative toolbox, we are applying to this,” he said. “We are confident that those responsible for the death of Sgt. Roque will be brought to justice.”
People with information about Roque’s death can submit a tip online at cid.army.mil.
