Fort Hood soldier drowns; 4th from base dead in months

by: ACACIA CORONADO

Posted: Aug 5, 2020 / 05:49 AM CDT / Updated: Aug 5, 2020 / 05:49 AM CDT

FILE – In this April 2, 2014, file photo, members of the media wait outside of the Bernie Beck Gate, an entrance to the Fort Hood military base in Fort Hood, Texas. Federal agents have seized more than 20 vehicles and the money in 10 bank accounts from a couple of U.S. Army veterans in Texas, who they say used personal information stolen from soldiers to defraud the military out of as much as $11 million. In an affidavit filed in court in June 2020 seeking to search the couple’s home in Killeen, near Fort Hood, investigators described how they allegedly used a transportation reimbursement program to swindle the Army out of $2.3 million to $11.3 million. (AP Photo/Tamir Kalifa, File)

BELTON, Texas (AP) — U.S. Army officials say a Fort Hood soldier has drowned at the same lake near the Texas base where another soldier’s body was found last month.

Fort Hood said Tuesday the body of 24-year-old Spc. Francisco Gilberto Hernandezvargas of New York was recovered after he went underwater over the weekend while being pulled on a tube behind a boat.

Bell County sheriff’s deputies are investigating.

Hernandezvargas is at least the fourth Fort Hood soldier whose body has been found in recent months.

There is no indication that any of the deaths are related.