Pfc. James Gonzalez, Missing Texas Fort Hood Soldier Found & Arrested After Possible Fake Kidnapping … Charged with being AWOL
24 year old Pfc. James Gonzalez, who has been thought to be missing has been found and arrested. Gonzalez was arrested Wednesday night after being found unharmed, according to U.S. Army Criminal Investigations Command spokesman Christopher Grey. Pfc. James Gonzalez, a soldier at Fort Hood in central Texas, failed to return to base July 13 as scheduled.
Army Pfc. James Gonzalez
There are no indications that Gonzalez was abducted, Grey said in an e-mail sent to The Associated Press. Law enforcement officials in Laredo were interviewing Gonzalez Thursday, and Grey said he’d be turned over to the Army’s custody later that day.
There were conflicting reports about the circumstances surrounding the soldier’s arrest.
Grey said it was during a traffic stop. Local law enforcement sources say it was at a house in Laredo, Texas, they’d been conducting surveillance on during the investigation.
He has since been charged with being AWOL.
It has been reported that Pfc. James Gonzalez was missing, presumed kidnapped and that a ransom had been asked for his return.
A Fort Hood-based soldier has been missing for about a week since telling family members he was heading to a Texas border town, and the FBI says the Army was told the missing private had been kidnapped, the soldier’s brother said Tuesday.
The family of Pfc. James Gonzalez, 24, last saw him July 11 at his mother’s house in Robstown, near Corpus Christi, said his older brother, J.C. Gonzalez. James Gonzalez said he was headed to Laredo that afternoon to hang out with friends before returning to base July 13, his brother said.