Found Alive TX - Fort Cavazos Spc. Craig Chamberlain, 23, Killeen, declared AWOL in March, last seen by wife after argument, 15 May 2023 *wife dies a week later*

[angelainwi]

I've dated girls before who would threaten self-harm as a way to pressure me to do or not do things, i.e. "If you go to Korea I'll kill myself"

I see this not too infrequently in my caseload. It can be a successful way to manipulate significant others and families unfortunately.

 

[Knox]

Hopefully there will be something in MSM on this case to help it make sense - I'm very confused at this point.

 

[Unsolved]

My first thought was suicide on her part, but now I too am wondering if it is much darker. Some people marry military just for the medical benefits......IMO

<snipped for focus on this part BBM>

What about life insurance benefits? Are they good for military members?

 

[G.Keelie]

<snipped for focus on this part BBM>

What about life insurance benefits? Are they good for military members?

There is an automatic $100,000 tax free payment made after the death of an active duty military member. This is made regardless of the cause of death, i.e. the death does not have to have happened in the line of duty.

 

[sunflowermomma]

JMO MOO:

South Korea is much more progressive than the US when it comes to trans healthcare and trans acceptance in society, in both legislation and public discourse. Trans people are much more likely to experience violence or discrimination in the US than in South Korea - UCLA has done some interesting studies on it. So I don't think that they would be avoiding going there for that reason.

Was his wife active duty or retired? Did she have a civilian job? Are we even allowed to discuss her as she is not the victim/subject of the thread?

 

[ktemp]

His parents, Gorden and Virginia Chamberlain, say they found Craig with a few bruises on his body. They say from what they could tell though, he did not have any major injuries.

”He was alert and knew where he was,” Virginia said. “Physically he was good.”

On Friday evening Virginia was printing out missing person flyers when she received a call she had been waiting for.

”I told my husband to drop what he was doing, we’ll come back and get the papers,” Virginia said.

The call said that a reliable tip had come in about her son’s whereabouts. Sure enough, their son was at the undisclosed location in the Killeen area.

”There’s no way to describe how I felt when we found him,” Gordon said.

She only mentioned the physical condition but not the mental one. The wife was very adamant that he had problems and the mother was very much saying the opposite.
there are two theories in my head about this
1. He did have a breakdown after their fight, some article mentioned they separated.
2. He was hiding from his wife on purpose because of the fight and only came out of hiding after they found her dead, conveniently found by his parents (who live 500 miles away and found him on the first try?)

Was his wife active duty or retired? Did she have a civilian job? Are we even allowed to discuss her as she is not the victim/subject of the thread?

Her Facebook mentions "Air traffic controller / U.S. Navy" since there is no Navy station in Killeeen I Imagine she got out?

 

[tarabull]

Just looking around for what else might have been happening on the base during the time that Craig was AWOL...FWIW

Fort Hood Soldier Found Dead After Telling Family About Sexual Harassment

Fort Hood said “no foul play is evident” in the death of Private Ana Basaldua Ruiz and “any possible harassment will be addressed and investigated fully.”

www.nytimes.com

 

[Lusitana]

I've dated girls before who would threaten self-harm as a way to pressure me to do or not do things, i.e. "If you go to Korea I'll kill myself"

Yep. Not uncommon at all. Men do it too.

JMO MOO:

South Korea is much more progressive than the US when it comes to trans healthcare and trans acceptance in society, in both legislation and public discourse. Trans people are much more likely to experience violence or discrimination in the US than in South Korea - UCLA has done some interesting studies on it. So I don't think that they would be avoiding going there for that reason.

Was his wife active duty or retired? Did she have a civilian job? Are we even allowed to discuss her as she is not the victim/subject of the thread?

You might be right. And if that was even the issue, why didn't Craig go and Cameron stayed behind? Not uncommon in relationships with people serving in the military. Like, she didn't have to go at all. I suspect their relationship had become a big mess and there were financially motivated disagreements.
Either way, her death is sad. Where is her family? I've seen friends talking but no family.
On her Facebook she said she worked for the Navy as air controler but I highly doubt she was doing that in Killeen. Is that a civil job?

 

[Laughing]

Yep. Not uncommon at all. Men do it too.

You might be right. And if that was even the issue, why didn't Craig go and Cameron stayed behind? Not uncommon in relationships with people serving in the military. Like, she didn't have to go at all. I suspect their relationship had become a big mess and there were financially motivated disagreements.
Either way, her death is sad. Where is her family? I've seen friends talking but no family.
On her Facebook she said she worked for the Navy as air controler but I highly doubt she was doing that in Killeen. Is that a civil job?

bbm

Airports with a tower do have air traffic controllers. Killeen does have such an airport:

Home - Killeen-Fort Hood Regional Airport (GRK)

Fly local with Killeen-Fort Hood Regional Airport (GRK) in Central Texas. Enjoy convenient one-stop flights via DFW on American Airlines and our easy, amenity-rich travel experience.

flygrk.com

Looks to me that the airfield (taxiways & runways) is shared by the base & civilian contractors. That's the situation on the large military installation close to me:

8101 S Clear Creek Rd · 8101 S Clear Creek Rd, Killeen, TX 76549

Building

www.google.com

Operations would be separate, imho.

jmho ymmv lrr

 

[AngTxGal]

You're hitting on another aspect of my current "Fort Hood" thinking which is that there are a huge number of enlisted men, perhaps especially at this installation, who enlisted without a realistic understanding of what it means to be a soldier.

Yes this is still a failing of the military but at a much earlier point than what is often suggested or even considered.

Not really, when you are talking about tens of thousands and we only hear about the handful that have issues- percentage wise that would be success.
I have no expectation that 100% of young women and men who sign up for military duty will fully understand and then willingly sign on.

Why do I say that? Many are 18 yrs old, their level of understanding is limited by life experiences, maturity, and all that is in the mind of an 18 yr old who just graduated from high school.

JMO

 

[sunflowermomma]

Any more info on where Craig was thankfully found? It sounds like it was in a small community park. On google maps doesn't look like there's a lot of tree coverage, etc?

 

[Bounceycat]

Her Facebook mentions "Air traffic controller / U.S. Navy" since there is no Navy station in Killeeen I Imagine she got out?

Can you direct me to where she said this? I haven't been able to find this. Thank you.

 

[evilwise]

Not really, when you are talking about tens of thousands and we only hear about the handful that have issues- percentage wise that would be success.
I have no expectation that 100% of young women and men who sign up for military duty will fully understand and then willingly sign on.

Why do I say that? Many are 18 yrs old, their level of understanding is limited by life experiences, maturity, and all that is in the mind of an 18 yr old who just graduated from high school.

JMO

Well then perhaps there is a soft way of washing out and Craig was heading toward that but for "reasons" it became much more dramatic than it's supposed to be.

Any more info on where Craig was thankfully found? It sounds like it was in a small community park. On google maps doesn't look like there's a lot of tree coverage, etc?

If I recall correctly the wording was that the search started in the park, which would have been public knowledge because of the mustering. Again, I'm not going back through the reports but I feel like there was an intentional implication that he was found there but, like other Sleuths, it pricked my "this is a narrative" nerve too.

 

[Skittles81]

Maybe times have really really changed. But all my friends who have received orders had to go immediately!! Granted I'm older so none of my friends hold low rankings they are all pretty much lifers and have 15+ years in, so maybe it's much easier for a specialist to go missing than SFC's and above, but I don't think you can just not show up, we are missing a HUGE piece of this story.

They can take leave first. Orders aren't leave immediately- have to do the paperwork to clear base (go to a bunch of places to sign off). Orders usually come down 2-3 months before report to new place date. Exception is deployments to war zone and special forces.

 

[Skittles81]

Just looking around for what else might have been happening on the base during the time that Craig was AWOL...FWIW

Fort Hood Soldier Found Dead After Telling Family About Sexual Harassment

Fort Hood said “no foul play is evident” in the death of Private Ana Basaldua Ruiz and “any possible harassment will be addressed and investigated fully.”

www.nytimes.com

Army vet here. Multiple branches can be stationed and other branches bases. One base we even had German soldiers at.

 

[Sillybilly]

ADMIN NOTE:

As we do not know Cameron's MOD or COD and how it may or may not be related, please do not link to, quote, or discuss her social media at this time. Let's just wait until there is something official to discuss.

Thanks.

 

[AngTxGal]

Well then perhaps there is a soft way of washing out and Craig was heading toward that but for "reasons" it became much more dramatic than it's supposed to be.


If I recall correctly the wording was that the search started in the park, which would have been public knowledge because of the mustering. Again, I'm not going back through the reports but I feel like there was an intentional implication that he was found there but, like other Sleuths, it pricked my "this is a narrative" nerve too.

Agree, maybe a soft way of washing out.
If he went AWOL when he was set to be deployed to Korea, and that was months before his wife reported him missing then it seems a lack of oversight if no one recognized his absence and was taking action to discharge.

How many of us could simply stop showing up for work, still get our paycheck, and think this is some kind of solution to issues with our employer?
I would guess None.
As a tax payer it begs the question- how much money is wasted paying servicemen for months that are AWOL and therefore someone else is doing their job?


JMO

 

[nannymo]

Do we know he was getting paid? Maybe that is the reason for the financial problems? If she was working as an air traffic controller, I believe they have a pretty nice income. Like everyone else is stating, there is a lot to this story we are missing and we may never know what is might be! Glad Craig was found safe and RIP Cameron.

 

[AngTxGal]

Charged, for sure. But in this situation they're calling it "voluntarily missing" instead of AWOL for some reason. That's a new term to me!

Interesting, I interpret “voluntarily missing” as different from AWOL because missing implies they did not now where he was??
It may be that ‘missing’ was amended to ‘voluntarily missing’?

All of these situations are different- and some may be legal descriptions and others simply press-worthy wording

AWOL- location known

AWOL- location unknown
Missing involuntarily resulting in AWOL
Missing voluntarily resulting in AWOL

JMO

 

[AngTxGal]

Do we know he was getting paid? Maybe that is the reason for the financial problems? If she was working as an air traffic controller, I believe they have a pretty nice income. Like everyone else is stating, there is a lot to this story we are missing and we may never know what is might be! Glad Craig was found safe and RIP Cameron.

Why would we think he may not be getting paid?
What designation would he have if he had been deployed and was to be preparing for that deployment? He had a current job and it seems he stopped going.

He had not been discharged- or he could not have been designated AWOL.

JMO