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Mother Of Brockton Soldier Missing From Fort Hood: 'We Cannot Just Sit Here'

BROCKTON (CBS) -- U.S. Army Sgt. Elder Fernandes, a 23-year-old from Brockton, has not been seen by friends or family for a week. The soldier has gone missing from Fort Hood and his mother has traveled to Texas to assist in the search.

"I want to know where my son is, I want to find my son," his mother Ailina Fernandes told WBZ-TV Monday.

Fernandes was reported missing on Wednesday, August 19. Killeen police said he was last seen August 17 when his staff sergeant dropped him off at his home in Killeen.

According to Ailina, he was dropped off after he was discharged from the hospital on the base but it is unclear what he was in the hospital for.

"He told me as soon as he got out of the hospital on Monday he would call me, he would explain everything to me, but that never happened," said Ailina.

Sgt. Elder Fernandes
Sgt. Elder Fernandes (Image credit US Army)

"He's a good kid, he's just not going to run away like this, not telling anybody something."

Ailina and other relatives flew down to Texas to canvas the area and try to get answers from the Army and police.

"We cannot just sit here, we just have to try to do something," she said. "It's been a nightmare. It's running around, trying to do your own search."

"I want to take him home with me, I need help to find my son. That's my goal."

Fernandes's disappearance comes after comes a year after the disappearance of Pfc. Gregory Morales, 24, a Fort Hood soldier who was reported missing on Aug. 20, 2019. His remains were found June 21 in a field in Killeen, near Fort Hood. Killeen police and Army officials are still investigating his death.

A week later, on July 1, Army officials found more human remains that were subsequently identified as those of another Fort Hood soldier, 20-year-old Vanessa Guillén. She had been missing since April 22.

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