Missing Navy sailor found dead in Virginia, another sailor in custody
What happened to Angelia Resendiz is a mystery, but her mother wants to get to the bottom of it.
Resendiz was last seen on May 29 in her barracks in Miller Hall at Naval Station Norfolk, according to a missing person's alert issued by Virginia State Police on June 3. The alert was rescinded Tuesday, when the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) announced the medical examiner identified a body recovered Monday as the sailor.
Another sailor was taken into custody.
Esmeralda Castle says she wants to talk with the person believed to be involved in the death of her 21-year-old daughter. She doesn't want to know how her daughter died and was left in a wooded area miles from her naval base - she says she wants to find closure.
'This can't happen again,' Castle said.
Her daughter dreamed about one day cooking elaborate meals for presidents and world leaders in her role as a Navy cook, Castle said.
Virginia's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner told CNN 'the cause and manner of death is pending,' but would not elaborate further.
NCIS placed a sailor in custody pending formal charges, but has not identified the individual.
'A Navy Sailor has been placed in pretrial confinement in connection with the death of Seaman Resendiz. Charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice are pending,' NCIS told CNN in a statement Thursday.
Castle said her daughter's friends started calling her on May 29 to tell her Resendiz was last seen with a sailor in the barracks.
It was out of the ordinary for her 'fun-loving' daughter not to call, she said, or to miss a day on Snapchat with her sister—they had a 400-day streak on Snapchat that was now broken.
'NCIS remains committed to uncovering the facts surrounding the tragic death of Seaman Resendiz to ensure accountability and justice,' NCIS said in a statement to CNN.
The case is drawing parallels to the 2020 death of Vanessa Guillen, the 20-year-old private first class who was last seen in the parking lot of her barracks, and was later found in a shallow grave near Fort Cavazos in Texas. The main suspect in Guillen's disappearance was identified as a fellow Army specialist.
Resendiz's body was discovered in a wooded area over six miles away from the barracks where she was last seen.
'I don't know if she was alive… I don't know if that's where her life was taken, but that's where she was found,' Castle said.
Geraldine Alston witnessed agents carrying a white body bag from the wooded area behind her home on June 9, she told CNN. She later learned on the news the body recovered was Resendiz.
'I'm still in shock,' she said. Alston's back door is about 200 feet from the start of the nearest tree line.
The mother of six walked toward the area where the body was found while talking to CNN by phone.
She remembered it was hot, humid, and raining intermittently that afternoon as agents walked out of the woods with what appeared to be evidence in paper bags.
Minutes into her walk, she came upon something on the grass that made her stop and think of Resendiz's mom. It was a bouquet of fresh flowers. 'Rest In Peace Angelina,' was written on a piece of cardboard.
'I don't feel safe,' Alston said. 'She was lying behind my house in the woods.'
Castle says she looks at her daughter's picture every moment of every day.
'She's gone. She's in a better place,' she tells herself.
Resendiz was new to the military. She was 21, filled with dreams, and loved singing, music, and painting, according to her mother.
She joined the Navy in August 2023, obtained 'recruit' and 'Naval Technical' training, and was assigned to the USS James E. Williams in February 2024, a US Navy spokesperson said.
'Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, friends, and coworkers of Culinary Specialist Seaman Angelina Resendiz, assigned to the USS James E. Williams (DDG 95),' Commander, Naval Surface Atlantic Public Affairs told CNN in a statement.
Castle is raising money through a GoFundMe page to fight for justice for her daughter. She is planning to hold a vigil on June 20 in the Rio Grande Valley, the area where Resendiz grew up. The funeral service has yet to be announced until her daughter's body is released, she said.
As for why she wants to speak to the person believed to be responsible for her daughter's death, she says she wants to forgive.
'I… want to get to a place where I can forgive,' Castle said.
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