Fort Hood Army Soldier Pfc. Melissa Hobart Collapsed and Died from an Undetermined Cause While on Guard Duty in Baghdad, Iraq (June 6, 2004)

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Melissa Hobart
Pfc. Melissa Hobart, US Army

Army Pfc. Melissa Hobart, 22, died after collapsing on guard duty in Baghdad, Iraq on June 6, 2004. Pfc. Hobart was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) on behalf of the Company E, 215th Forward Support Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division in Fort Hood, Texas. At the time of the Department of Defense press release, the incident was under investigation. Pfc. Hobart left behind a three-year-old daughter. According to Melissa’s memorial site, military officials believe Melissa suffered from a heart attack. Melissa’s mom Connie Hobart told the Hartford Courant that she was put on an anti-depressant shortly before deploying to Iraq and was still feeling depressed. Connie reported in 2006 that the official word from the military, two years later, was that she died of an undetermined cause.

Connie Hobart’s 22-year-old daughter, Army Pfc. Melissa Hobart, was put on an anti-depressant shortly before deploying and had told her mother that she remained depressed while in Baghdad. Three months into her tour, in June 2004, the East Haven native collapsed and died of a still-undetermined cause. Told of the policy changes Monday, Connie Hobart said, “I’m happy to hear about it. That’s good news.” Sobbing, she said her daughter might be alive today if the policy had been different at the time. –Hartford Courant

Related Links:
Pfc. Melissa Jennifer Hobart (1981-2004)
DoD Identifies Army Casualty
Pfc. Melissa Hobart | Hartford Courant
Army Pfc. Melissa J. Hobart | Honor the Fallen
Pfc. Melissa J. Hobart | The Washington Post
Mentally Unfit, Forced To Fight — (The Hartford Courant)
Is There an Army Cover Up of Rape and Murder of Women Soldiers?
Violent Crime, Suicide, and Non Combat Death at Fort Hood, Texas (US Army)
Non Combat Deaths of Female Soldiers in the US Military (Iraq)

Air Force Veteran John Ray Murdered in Georgia Home; 9 Years Later, Torico Jackson Convicted & Sentenced to Life in Prison, No Parole (May 16, 2004)

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John Ray, US Air Force Veteran

ID Go: 32 year-old paralegal John Ray had everything going for him: great career, a loving family and friends. When his body is found in his Atlanta home in 2004, detectives are stumped. Years later, a hidden message from the victim himself may solve this crime. -Message From the Grave, Dead of Night (S2, E10)

Editor’s note: With a cable subscription, you can download the free ID Go app and watch all of the Investigation Discovery programming at your convenience. And for those who do not have cable, you can watch “unlocked” episodes on the ID Go app including the latest premieres. Download the ID Go app and binge away. For those who prefer commercial free programming during your binge session, Prime Video has an ID channel: ‘True Crime Files by Investigation Discovery” available for $2.99 a month. It’s a compilation of older seasons but totally worth the cost if you are a true crime addict.

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Atlanta police seek help to solve ‘cold case’ murder of gay man
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Message From the Grave | Dead of Night | Investigation Discovery (S2, E10)
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Joanna Rogers Found Murdered; Marine Corps Reservist Rosendo Rodriguez Admitted to the Murder in Separate Homicide Investigation; Never Held Legally Accountable (May 4, 2004)

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Joanna Rogers and Rosendo Rodriguez, US Marine Corps Reservist

On September 13, 2005, Summer Baldwin, 29, was found in a suitcase in a landfill in Lubbock, Texas. After an extensive investigation, authorities zeroed in on US Marine Corps Reservist Rosendo Rodriguez. In the course of the investigation, Rodriguez also admitted to murdering Joanna Rogers, 16, on May 4, 2004 in Lubbock Texas. But there was not enough forensic evidence to connect Rodriguez to Joanna’s murder. Joanna’s badly decomposed body was also found in a suitcase in the the landfill. Rodriguez was found guilty of two capital murders: Summer Baldwin and her unborn baby. Rosendo Rodriguez was sentenced to death in the State of Texas. Rodriguez appealed his death penalty conviction but a federal court denied the request in May 2017.

Learn more: Marine Corps Reservist Rosendo Rodriguez Murdered Summer Baldwin and Unborn Child; Sentenced to Death in Texas for Two Capital Murders (2005)

The body of a young mother was found in a suitcase in a Texas landfill. The suitcase leads investigators to Rosendo Rodriguez, who had an overwhelming amount of forensic evidence against him. But upon an extensive search of the same landfill, Rogers’ decomposing body was also found in a suitcase. -Forensic Files

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Killer who dumped pregnant woman’s body gets death
Rosendo Rodriguez Back in Lubbock to Appeal Death Penalty
Judge recommends ‘Suitcase Killer’ Rodriguez’s latest appeal be denied

The Department of Defense Announced the Death of an Army Soldier Supporting Operation Enduring Freedom: Spc. Patrick Tillman (April 23, 2004)

On By AdministratorIn Armed Forces, Army, Felony Crime, In Their Name, Military Policy, Non Combat Death, Scandals, Suspicious DeathsLeave a comment
Pat Tillman (photo: wikipedia)

Related Stories:
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Military Injustice: Nowhere to Turn, Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide; The Story of Kamisha Block and How U.S. Army Leadership Contributed to Her Death (May 6, 2024)

Department of Defense Casualty Press Release:

This screenshot of this press release for Patrick Tillman is no longer on the DoD press releases website. They deleted the original site and created a new one that only goes back to 2014.

YouTube Videos:

Remembering Pat Tillman: 10 Year Anniversary Special Report (2014) | Outside The Lines
The Truth Behind the Pat Tillman Story
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Tillman Book Tells of Search for Information

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The Tillman Story (Chronicles the life of the late Pat Tillman, who walked away from a multimillion-dollar contract with the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals in 2002 to join the Army but died from friendly fire in Afghanistan)
Pat Tillman, his mom and the 20-year torment of a friendly fire death (April 22, 2024)

Chicago Tribune Published ‘In War Without Front Lines, Women GIs Caught in Chaos’ (March 11, 2004)

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Xatavia Hughes, an Iraqi war vet is looking for a safer neighborhood for herself and two sons. She is in her current home in the Englewood neighborhood on Nov. 6, 2013. -Chicago Tribune (December 2, 2013)

“One woman saw the military as a stop along the path of higher education. The other saw service as a road out of poverty. They enlisted in what’s typically thought of as a man’s world, and they both died in it. When Pfc. Nichole Frye’s convoy was attacked with a roadside bomb in Baqouba, Iraq, in February, she became the 15th servicewoman to die in the Iraq war, equaling the official number of female soldiers killed in the 1991 Persian Gulf war. When Capt. Gussie Jones, 41, died Sunday of a heart attack in the Baghdad hospital where she served as an Army surgical nurse, that gulf war total was officially surpassed. The conflict in Iraq now has the designation of claiming the lives of more U.S. servicewomen than any hostile theater since World War II, according to Department of Defense statistics. The stories of women like Frye and Jones–what drew them to the military and how they died in that service–reveal much about the role of American military women in Iraq.” -Chicago Tribune (March 11, 2004)

Read more ‘In War Without Front Lines, Women GIs Caught in Chaos’ from the Chicago Tribune here. 

Related Links:
Once homeless female vet struggles in civilian life | Chicago Tribune
In war without front lines, women GIs caught in chaos

Military Spouse Kimberly O’Neal Found Murdered at Camp Pendleton Park; Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Archie O’Neil Jr. Sentenced to Life, No Parole (February 29, 2004)

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USMC

Date: February 29, 2004
Victim: Kimberly O’Neal, U.S. Marine Corps Spouse
Offender: Archie O’Neil, Jr., U.S. Marine Corps
Location: Deer Park, Camp Pendleton, California
Circumstances: Archie O’Neil and Kimberly O’Neal engaged in a forbidden affair for a couple of years, before Archie was suppose to deploy to Iraq, they had one more tryst, Kimberly got angry when she learned Archie wasn’t going to leave his wife, Archie shot Kimberly O’Neal multiple times, during the investigation, Archie’s wife claimed Kimberly tried to run her down with her car but didn’t report it because no proof, Archie said he had severe headaches and shot Kimberly because she threatened to kill his family (most likely not true), Archie confessed to Kimberly’s murder but showed no remorse, charged with 1st degree premeditated murder, used PTSD defense to mitigate his crimes, defense claimed Archie had an abnormal startle response
Disposition: O’Neil sentenced to life in prison, no parole

Investigation Discovery:

ID Go: A decorated marine faces war at home when he falls for a married woman. Suspicion and jealousy plague their affair as they battle to keep their secret from their spouses but with the stakes so high it’s a truth they’ll stop at nothing to hide. -Love is War, Forbidden: Dying for Love (S4,E8)

Editor’s note: With a cable subscription, you can download the free ID Go app and watch all of the Investigation Discovery programming at your convenience. And for those who do not have cable, you can watch “unlocked” episodes on the ID Go app including the latest premieres. Download the ID Go app and binge away. For those who prefer commercial free programming during your binge session, Prime Video has an ID channel: ‘True Crime Files by Investigation Discovery” available for $2.99 a month. It’s a compilation of older seasons but totally worth the cost if you are a true crime addict.

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Army Veteran Gregg Whitmore & Girlfriend Karen Cummings Stabbed to Death; Ex-Wife Shana Parkinson Sentenced to 27 Years in Prison (February 1, 2004)

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Gregg Whitmore & Karen Cummings (photo: here)

Shana Parkinson Whitmore, 38, was convicted and sentenced to 27 years in prison in 2005 for the the stabbing deaths of her ex-husband Gregg Whitmore, 38, and his girlfriend, Karen Cummings, 29, while they slept at Gregg’s home in Rigby, Idaho on February 1, 2004. Shana Parkinson is not eligible for parole until 2031.

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Dishonorably Discharged Air Force Veteran Dan Leach II Murdered Ashley Wilson; Confessed to Homicide, Sentenced to 75 Years in Prison (2004)

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Ashley Wilson
Dan Leach II


Nineteen-year-old Ashley Wilson is ecstatic when she discovers she’s going to be a new mom. But days later, the Texas teen is found dead in her apartment with a hand-written suicide note by her side. -Stolen Voices, Buried Secrets

“He [Dan Leach] said his son was ‘disappointed’ when he returned from his stint with the Air Force where he was based in Florida and was eventually dishonorably discharged.” -Fort Bend Herald

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Suicide or Murder? | Evil Talks Chilling Confessions | Investigation Discovery


When a young woman is found dead in her own apartment, all signs point to suicide. But when a man comes forward to say it was really a murder, investigators must sort truth from lies. -Evil Talks Chilling Confessions

Army Sgt. Keicia Hines Struck by a Vehicle on Mosul Airfield in Iraq; No Updates on Outcome of DoD Investigation (2004)

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Keicia M. Hines
Sgt. Keicia Hines, US Army

Army Sgt. Keicia Hines, 27, died when she was struck by a vehicle on Mosul Airfield on January 14, 2004 in Mosul, Iraq. Sgt. Hines’ home of record is listed as Citrus Heights, California. She was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom on behalf of the 108th Military Police, Combat Support Company, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. According to her husband, Sean Hines, she also served in Bosnia and Israel. At the time of the Department of Defense press release, the incident was under investigation. There is no further information available on the outcome of the investigation.

“The Army has provided few details of the accident that killed Hines. Her mother, a civilian analyst for the Sacramento police department, said she did not know what kind of vehicle struck her daughter, who was driving or how it happened. The Army said the accident remains under investigation.” –SF Gate

Related Links:
DoD Identifies Army Casualty
Honor the Fallen | Army Sgt. Keicia M. Hines
American Women Veterans | Army Sgt. Keicia M. Hines
Army Sgt. Keicia M. Hines, 27; Killed in Airfield Accident
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Fear didn’t keep soldier from duty
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The Struggle for Iraq; Names of the Dead

Forensic Files Premiered ‘True Lies’: Military Spouse Kathleen Lipscomb Found Murdered on Side of Texas Highway (January 7, 2004)

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Kathleen Lipscomb’s body was found on a deserted street outside of San Antonio. Months passed, then years, and the crime went cold. Then Kathleen’s family hired a private investigator who discovered a diary among her personal effects. Two of the diary entries helped police to piece together what had happened to Kathleen Lipscomb, and why. -True Lies, Forensic Files (S8,E27)

Editor’s Note: Full episodes of Forensic Files are available on a variety of media platforms. FilmRise Channel and Forensic Files Channel both feature full episodes of Forensic Files on YouTube. You can also find full episodes of Forensic Files on both Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. On Netflix, the seasons are grouped as collection 1-9. On Amazon Prime Video, you can find Season 1-10 here; Season 11; Season 12; Season 13; Season 14; Season 15; Season 16; Season 17; Season 18; Season 19; Season 20; and Season 21. Start bingeing and see for yourself why Forensic Files is such a hit!

Related Links:
True Lies | Forensic Files | IMDb
True Lies | Forensic Files | FilmRise (S8,E27)
True Lies | Forensic Files | Full Episodes (YouTube)
True Lies | Forensic Files | Netflix (Collection 4, E10)
True Lies | Forensic Files | Amazon Prime Video (S8,E24)
Kathleen Lipscomb Found Dead on Side of Texas Highway; Air Force MSgt Bill Lipscomb Pleaded Guilty to Murder, Sentenced to Life in Prison (June 9, 1986)
30 Domestic Abuse Cases in the Military That Ended in the Murder of Female Partners