Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Another body found in a shallow grave near the remains of 20-year-old beauty, Vannessa Guillen.

Episode Date: July 22, 2020

The search for Specialist Vanessa Guillen lead to the discovery of another Fort Hood solider missing for nearly a year, Gregory Morales. Guillen's remains are ultimately found within walking distance of Morales. The search now is on to uncover what happened. Joining Nancy Grace today: Kim Wedel, mother of Gregory Wedel-Morales  Kirk Nurmi - Jodi Arias former Attorney, Author "Trapped with Ms Arias Parts 2 and 3, My Final Words"  Psych Dr Bethany Marshall - Psychoanalyst, Beverly Hills, ww.drbethanymarshall.com Sheryl McCollum - Director, Cold Case Investigative Research Institute Joseph Scott Morgan - Professor of Forensics Jacksonville State University, Author, "Blood Beneath My Feet" Vincent Hill - KJRH TV- News Anchor /Reporter Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. The name Vanessa Guillaume will live in our hearts and our minds forever. The beautiful 20 year old private first class from Fort Hood who is murdered, her body hidden. All of this starts at Fort Hood within the army but they somehow don't know anything about what's going on. Still denying about sex harassment claims that she had suffered. But another name has emerged amidst the Vanessa Gimm investigation. That name is Gregory Waddell Morales. Could somebody tell me how the Army posted him as AWOL,

targeted him for desertion claims, even after his body has been found in a shallow grave during the search for Vanessa. That's all wrong. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. Take a listen to our friends at KWKT Fox 44. The disappearance of Gregory Morales does not make any sense

because his phone mysteriously went silent on Monday. Also adding he was looking forward to process out of the military in a few weeks. Friends say they're at loss for words. I don't know when the next time I see him, how I'm going to see him. Deanna Williams says she's in total shock after her friend Gregory Morales went missing on Monday. No matter how we try to contact him, whether it be Facebook, his phone, any type of messaging, there's no answer. Williams became suspicious when she heard the 23-year-old soldier was in no show at the Fort Hood base. That was a sign like something could possibly be wrong.

Yeah, something was very wrong. This young guy, just 23 years old, Gregory Weedle Morales, is dead. But why has the Army dragged their feet, naming him first AWOL, targeting him for desertion charges, and then for a very long period of time, refusing to lift that.

He's dead in a shallow grave. How can that be? With me, an all-star panel. Vincent Hill, KJRH-TV News anchor, reporter. Joseph Scott Morgan, professor of forensics, Jacksonville State University, and author of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon. Psychoanalyst joining me from Beverly Hills, Dr. Bethany Marshall at drbethanymarshall.com. Kurt Nermy, renowned defense attorney, the Jody Arias defense attorney and author of Trapped with Miss Arias on Amazon and special guest joining me, Gregory's mother, Kim Wedel. Miss Wedel, thank you for being with us. I'm glad you could be here.

Miss Wedel, I find it very difficult to understand why you have not been given a COD, cause of death, for your son, Gregory. What are authorities telling you? Honestly, right, when they first found his remains on August, or sorry, June 19th, They said that he was basically scattered all over this field because of just nature and wildlife. And some people went out to put out a memorial, and they found more evidence. So I think there's still evidence coming in. But other than that, I don't know. I don't understand why it's taking so long for the autopsy results to come in. Justice Scott Morgan, you are a death investigator, professor of forensic at Jacksonville State.

I don't get it. So people, friends, family, colleagues, go out to where his body is ultimately found during a search for Vanessa Gim, and they happen to find other remains. It's as if the Army wasn't even looking for Gregory, but so they find the remains. Then these friends go out to lay a memorial there, and they find other remains. Did I get that right, Ms. Wedle? That's correct. What kind of a half, well, I gave up cursing, so I can't say that. What kind of a job did authorities do, the death investigators, the investigators do, if when friends come out to lay out flowers in a memorial, they find some more of the body?

Well, it was not sufficient to the task, Nancy. Man, that's certainly putting perfume on a pig. Yeah, I know. And when you have... Now I ought to be fired. Sorry. As Ms. Wedle had put just a second ago, his remains have been scattered. And this is very common when we have skeletonized remains. If a body is not sufficiently buried at a great depth, then you're going to get all types of wildlife that are out there.

And one of the things that happens is that skeletal remains will be drug off in various directions depending upon the animal that's involved in this. And I know this is very difficult to hear, and I'm sorry I'm having to say it, but the reality is this. They're spread everywhere. Now, that doesn't excuse the authorities' inability to really pinpoint this. You know, once you find any part of a human remain, at that moment in time, Nancy, everything should be locked down. I've been on scenes with skeletal remains, Nancy, where they've been scattered. Everything was shut down

for days and days on end. We broke the thing down into grids. We had up to 20 to 30 people marching shoulder to shoulder with one another, looking over every inch of ground. Animals tend not to take skeletal remains off to great, great distances. Now what they will do is take them back to their burrow, but most of the time, if you're talking about remains that are on surfaces of ground, we're not talking about them hauling them off miles and miles. That draws into question, what exactly were they doing out there, and why does this particular area seem to, I don't know, be a repository for remains? You know, we look at Vanessa's case, who we were all heartbroken, broken over. And now this case, why in this particular area?

Well, let us start at the beginning of Gregory's disappearance. For those of you just joining us, Gregory's body was found during the search for 20-year-old private first class Vanessa Guillen. During that search, remains were found and at first everyone thought it was Vanessa. It wasn't. It was Gregory. He was set to leave the military honorably in just a couple of weeks, but his body is found buried in a shallow grave. Even now, mom does not have a COD, and the Army has put her through H-E-double-L regarding treating her son as if he deserted. Let's start at the beginning. Kim Wedel, this is Gregory's mom. When did you first become concerned something was very wrong with Gregory? When I received a call from his

sergeant asking me if I'd talked to him or knew where he was at, and I believe that was August 20th, I had actually talked to Greg on the 19 19th and then the 20th they called asked if i knew where he was or if i had talked to him and um when i told him i had talked to him the day before they proceeded to tell me that he he did not show up for formation that they had gone looking for him. They had called his friends and family there, and nobody had seen him. Well, I tried to call his phone, and it went straight to voicemail. I don't know any 20-something-year-old who lets his phone die for very long. I knew there was something wrong, and I tried to file a missing person report. They wouldn't take it.

Whoa, who would not take the missing person report? CID said they would not, and Colleen Police said they would not. Why? Because I wasn't in Texas. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. A young man in the prime of his life, just 23 years old. Gregory Whittle Morales. His body only discovered during the search for Vanessa Ginn, private first class there at Fort Hood.

Take a listen to our friends at KWTX News 10. August 19th, 2019, the last time anyone has seen Private Gregory Wedel Morales. In the weeks to follow, not a trace except a possible sighting of his car. The only actual proof or lead we found is my daughter-in-law just actually pulled up his car facts report for this missing car and it showed it was inspected in Dallas in December. Fort Hood would classify Gregory as AWOL then desertion status. Now the Army Criminal Investigation Command is hoping a $15,000 reward will help bring the missing soldier back home. His mom doesn't believe he would have intentionally vanished. He had plans, so just disappearing, losing, you know, the money to pay for college, young man, 23 years old, as a deserter.

Even now, mom us out of L.A. When we hear talk like the remains were scattered, to hear that, you know that's because of, let me just say, euphemistically, due to animal activity. We know what that means. to think that this young son's body was out there for this period of time. And instead of finding him, the Army declared him a deserter. You heard the mom joining me right now, Kim Weedle, say his phone went dead. Nobody lets their phone go dead. He didn't pick up a check. He totally dropped off the map.

His friends, love interests, mom, nobody heard from him. That was it. Of course he's not AWOL. Of course he didn't desert. He's a victim of foul play. This has got to be excruciating for the family. Nancy, having Gregory Weedle Morales' mother on this show and Mrs. Morales, just Weedle Morales,

my condolences go to you, and I'm sorry you have to hear words like human remains. This is a 20 year, 23 year old on a young man who had plans to go to college, who had just bought a car, who loved his mother, who was in touch with his family. You know, I don't know the military, but I do know group psychology. And when the military wanted him, they were all over him. They recruited him, they brought him in, they wanted him to be a part of the group. The minute he went missing, they wanted nothing to do with him. That kind of group psychology, Nancy, is toxic, it's poisonous,

and it leads to language like human remains. This field where he was found, Joe Scott Morgan brought up aptly why so many human remains in one field. It's like the killing fields there. And what has happened on this base that so many people go missing? I feel like I'm looking into a cesspool and I don't quite know what's at the bottom. I can guess that there is a culture of some kind of harassment, whether it's sexual harassment, whether it's a culture of sadism, of bullying, of hazing, something like that that goes too far. I had a beloved patient last week who grew up on a military base sob through the entire session because she told me that so many of the men on the base were what she called creepers, that there were these sex offenders on the base that would predate against her as a child. Her family lived on a base and nobody protected her because it was a part of the culture.

So what what is this culture? I don't see it as the military. I'm beginning to see it almost as a cult, a society, a group that overlooks wrongdoing to its own members, recruits people and then abuses them once they're in their midst. You know, in the last hours, Fox 7 Austin has reported that Gregory has now been reinstated to active duty, according to Fort Hood. To Kim Weddle, Gregory's mother, it took hell and high water to get the army to reinstate him even after his body has been found. He was murdered and buried in a shallow grave, obviously, shortly after he was last seen driving away from Fort Hood. What did it take, Kim, to get the Army to drop the deserter status on your son? It took a lot of public outcry and a lot of phone calls to senators, not just in my state, but in Texas.

And actually my sister in Hawaii contacting her congresspeople. It just took a lot of pressure from people to correct their mistake, to make something right. It should never have started like that. How long did your campaign take before you got changed, before the deserter status was taken away and lifted? Well, we started fighting that fight on June 20th when we found out that he was going to be left as a deserter until the autopsy. So almost a month. Since he went missing, could you tell me, Kim, what the Army did to try to find him? As far as I know, not much.

They basically just... When a soldier goes AWOL, they look for them for about a day or two. And if they can't find them, they just move somebody else into his slot to fill it. And he's kind of forgotten. There wasn't anybody really looking for him. I'm also curious what you said, aside from the Army, why the local police surrounding Fort Hood would not allow you to report him missing. Could you explain that again? They told me because I wasn't in Texas, I couldn't file a missing person report in Texas.

So I had to get somebody in Texas to do it for me. And what authority was that, the local PD around Fort Hood? Yes, it was the Killeen Police Department. The Killeen Police Department. Joining me, Vincent Hill, KJRH-TV. Where exactly was the location of Gregory, 23-year-old Gregory's body as it relates to Fort Hood? Well, Nancy, his remains were found about 10 miles from the base, a remote field out in Killeen, Texas. And this was all based on a tip. Now, whether that tip was about Vanessa's case or whether it was about Gregory's case, that's not clear.

But Killeen police received the tip, and that's when they found his remains in that remote field. Just got more again. How far away from Vanessa's remains, Vanessa Guillen's remains, were Gregory's remains? My understanding, Nancy, is that not very far. I think that it's probably certainly within a mile of one another. And so for me, you know, thinking about this as an investigator and in this isolated area, which that area out there is certainly isolated, I'm thinking, what are the odds? You know, just if you apply the logic to this, you know, what are the odds that you're going to find two service personnel from the same post who are missing and are now found in this state. Of course, Vanessa's, the nature of her burial and everything is completely different than Gregory's. But the idea that they're both found there, I think that from a broader perspective, my question would be, and this is horrible, who else is out there?

Who else is missing? And is this a specific, I'd use the term repository a little while ago, for remains? And so, you know, to me, my mind is running here. You know, I'm thinking about this, and I'm thinking, well, you've got commingled remains out here. They're looking, you know, for Vanessa. They find Gregory. Are there other remains out there? And do they have a way to separate these remains?

And I'm thinking about things like DNA and this sort of thing. Are they going to take the time to apply the necessary technology in order to kind of, you know, put a finer point on what we're dealing with here. This is nasty business, Nancy. And so, you know, for me, I'm thinking, well, if Gregory's remains went to, in my understanding, and Vincent can correct me if I'm wrong, went to the Southwestern Forensic Center, which is actually located in Dallas. That's one saving grace because they are, this is being handled by the state authorities. If he had died on post, if his remains were found on post, they would have been taken all the way to Washington to the America,

to the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. And you think you're not getting information now, they have the ability to completely shut that down. So that's one saving grace that you have Southwestern involved in this. And they're a really good bunch of people and they do really good work. I can't speak to the Killeen Police Department, though. I don't know where they are from a technology standpoint. And now you've got two big cases that they're having to deal with.

I wish the Rangers would get involved in this, to be perfectly honest with you. I'd like to know if they are. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Guys, we're talking about the disappearance and the discovery of the body of a young man. I'm looking at him right now. Handsome, vibrant, loved his mom, doing a great job. Two weeks, approximately two weeks before he leaves the Army in good standing, he drives away from the base there at Fort Hood and is never seen alive again.

I'm talking about Gregory Wheatle Morales, just 23 years old. This all comes to light during the search for 20-year-old Private First Class Vanessa Guillen and the search for her body. How could two Fort Hood soldiers be murdered and buried about a mile apart and their deaths not be connected? What all did Gregory's mother have to go through begging local police and Fort Hood authorities to help her find her son, insisting he was not AWOL. Nobody would listen. Take a listen to our friends at KWTX. Just minutes away from Fort Hood, this community is feeling a range of emotions,

hearing that the mother of a missing soldier says that his remains were found in an open field. In the window up here, you can see the whole field. You can see In the window up here you can see the whole field you can see what they were doing you can see the yellow tape and we saw that they had teams coming out searching the area. Army veteran Michael Hellman says he could only feel sorrow and shock for the tragedy that unfolded in his own backyard Friday morning. I cannot imagine how hard it is to not know where your where your child is and for for someone who used to lead troops not know where your troop is where your soldier is someone who you you see as a part of your family. The mother of Gregory Wedell Morales told KWTX

that the remains found that day belonged to her son, who had been missing since August of last year. I'm trying to figure out what that scene looked like because, you know, when the police were searching and medical examiner investigators were searching for the remains of, let's just say, Kelly Anthony, they had a tent up all through the night. Investigators were on their knees digging, looking, going through the grass with tweezers to find every one of her 200 and plus bones in her body. We saw the same thing in the search

for a missing mom, Suzanne Morphew. Authorities totally tore apart a cement base, reportedly, that her husband had dug on a home he was working on, trying to find her remains. We see it over and over, painstaking searches for the remains. As of right now, Gregory Wheedle Morales' mom doesn't even have a COD cause of death. Friends and colleagues go out to the location to lay flowers or balloons. They find body parts, bones, that investigators did not find. What the hay is going on? Why did the mom joining me right now, Kim Weedle, have to call and beg Fort Hood and the Killeen police to declare her son missing and start looking for him?

Why? Right now, there's a $25,000 reward in the search for information on Gregory Wedle Morales' death and the circumstances surrounding it. Tip line, 254-501-8830. That's the Killeen, Texas Police. 254-501-8830. Army number 254-495-7767. 254-495-7767. A $25,000 reward put up by the Army. I'm glad they're doing that now, Kim, but it's kind of a day late and a dollar short.

I mean, I appreciate what they're doing now, but I feel that the only reason they took him off the list of deserters is because here at Crime Stories and other places, we kicked up such a ruckus and a fit and called them out. They had to do something because people started finding out about it, Kim. I believe that's true. It just it wasn't going to happen, they told me, until after the autopsy results. And for them to come back and tell me beforehand. The colonel at the base actually told me that it was based on new evidence Colleen had put together that they were going to reinstate him. I talked to the detective at Colleen, and he said they didn't have any new evidence.

So he wasn't sure what he was talking about. And Senator Inhofe's office called and said it was being done because of all the pressure that people were putting on them. Honestly, I don't care why it happened at this point. I'm glad it did, so we can move on. We know that Gregory's black Kia Rio was recovered back in January after his family saw on Carfax that somebody in Dallas had tried to take it in for an inspection. That was all the way back in January, yet he was still left on the deserter list. Tell me about that, Kim Weedle, about his black Kia Rio. How did you find it on Carfax?

My middle son, Nick, his wife and him are kind of crime junkie people. And so when she said she was going to pull it up on Carfax, I felt stupid because I hadn't thought of it. And she pulled it up and there it just there it was black and white. It was in December had been taken into a station in Dallas for an inspection. I called, I called Killeen police and the CID. I didn't get anybody to call me back. I emailed a copy of the Carfax report. I didn't get any answer with that.

Another lady called Killeen police and, or not Killeen, I'm sorry, CID and got a home number to one of the people and made them angry. So they finally called me back and said, oh, yeah, we've had it since January. Why would you not tell me that? Yeah. Who is it that took your son's car in for an inspection to sell it? I don't have any idea on that. There has to be a video of whoever drove it in or towed it in. There has to be somebody's name on a receipt somewhere.

Well, whoever had, he was last seen alive in his car. And that was around August 19. You spoke to him on August 20, I think, is the time scenario. And then suddenly that car he's last seen in is being taken in. Let's see, that was August or September, October, November, December, four months later to get an inspection to sell it. It pops up on Carfax and the mom and her son and daughter-in-law are the ones that have to find that. Joining me, renowned attorney, defense lawyer, Kirk Nermy, who represented Jody Arias at trial,

author of Trapped with Miss Arias on Amazon. Kirk, where do we start this investigation to find who murdered Gregory Wheel Morales? I'd start with the car because whoever's taking the car, I mean, when I see a car parked, I don't suddenly go, hey, I'm going to jack it and take it in for an inspection and sell it. Somebody knew that nobody was going to make a claim on that car. Who is that person? I'd start right there. What about you? Where do you start, Kirk? Well, I think you're exactly right. I would say that there hasn't been even any investigation up to this point. You just pointed out the family had to find this correlation and it was ignored by authorities.

My hope is the delay in those months didn't destroy any evidence of the car that could be found in the car. Because you're right, Nancy. How does someone just show up with this car? Is there videotape? Was the security footage? Has it already been erased and taped over? Are there fingerprints in the car? All those sort of issues need to be seized upon right away. And for order there to be a valid, what I would call a real investigation at this point, we haven't seen it. And it's a shame because Gregory and his family deserve better. Nancy, can I jump in? Yes, please do. You know, behavioral evidence is so important. Vanessa Guillen, who also went missing, complained to her family that she was being harassed. Something happened on that base where somebody wanted Gregory Weedle Morales gone, eradicated,

dead, whatever word we want to use. I know Vanessa complained to her mother. And I have a question for Mrs. Weedle. Did your son ever complain to you about any harassment on the base, somebody who had it in for him, unfair treatment, something that made him feel uncomfortable? What about it, Jan? He didn't complain about anybody on the base.

He was unhappy overall with being in the military at this point. He was ready to get out and get on with his life. Which indicates to me it was so obvious this was not suicide. He had no complaints. crime stories with nancy grace guys we're talking about gregory will morales a 23 year old young man his life ahead of him his body is found in a shallow grave within a mile of the body that remains of 20-year-old Vanessa Guillen, private first class Fort Hood. Fort Hood stonewalled everybody, including us, in the search for Vanessa. And now a second body turns up. How can they not be connected? Take a listen to our friend Alex Gibbs, KWTX.

The discovery left a solemn feeling as complete strangers sympathize with the family. I am a service member and to just know one that it took that long for them to find the body and just that literally the body was right there the whole time. So it was scary. For these veterans, a feeling of remorse for the soldier and the son who died in a way that no one should. I'm glad for the parents and the family members of this soldier. I'm so glad for you to have some type of closure. I'm glad for you. I'm so sorry that it happened this way. While no flowers have actually been left out in the field, many bystanders have been coming by all day to pay their respects. Army CID has not released an official statement.

And it was those people that found more of Gregory's remains that authorities somehow missed. Now listen to KXXV's Abby Lorraine. Not only is the Weedle family having to deal with losing a loved one, but now they're having to seek help from Congressman John Carter to help fight and clear Gregory Morales' name. When Gregory Morales disappeared in August 2019, the U.S. Army put down the reason for his disappearance as having gone AWOL. And even after his remains were found in a field on June 19th,

he is still listed as a deserter. Really frustrating and sad because, like I said, he gave his life and was willing to give his life for his country. He was deployed twice, and they're just treating him like trash. Like, he just doesn't matter. The family is upset because now the Army is saying the family is responsible for the cost of bringing Morales home and for the funeral costs. We can't do a military funeral because he's considered a civilian now and a criminal, basically. So anything that we want to do, we have to pay for ourselves, the life insurance. We don't get the life insurance and we don't get to bury him with military honors like we wanted to next to his uncle and where his grandpa is a retired major wants to be buried.

Isn't it true to Kim Weedle, this is Gregory's mother, that your son earned multiple military awards? He served in Kuwait and Korea. Yes, he received a lot of awards for doing his job, for doing what he was supposed to do, and being above and beyond. Like I said, they just threw him away. Where will your son be buried? He will be buried now at Fort Gibson National Cemetery in Fort Gibson, Oklahoma. Now that they've changed his status, we will have the funeral here in Sepulpa, Oklahoma, and then he will be transferred to Fort Gibson. Ms. Wedle, I'm so grateful you're with us today. And I know that everything has just been a struggle for you from the moment he went missing,

begging the police, begging Fort Hood to look for him. You live in a different state. He's from Oklahoma to start with. Nobody would cooperate with you. You and your family have to find out his car has been put up for sale four months after he goes missing. Then his body is found happenstance because Vanessa Ginn went missing. Then people had to come out to the scene laying flowers and they find his body parts looked over by authorities.

Then the fight to get his name cleared. He didn't desert. He was not AWOL. He was murdered and buried in a shallow grave. It's just been nothing but hand-to-hand mutual combat for you, his mother. You know, at night when you put your head to the pillow, does it even process? Gregory is gone. You'll never see your boy again.

Oh, my goodness. Not really. I just keep hoping he'll walk through the door. And I know he won't but up until June 19th I had hope and now that's gone and the fight has just been too much you know Dr. Bethany what is that I mean sometimes I'll be driving along and I think for an instant,

I see my fiancé that was murdered before our wedding. I think I see him in the car that passed. Or I remember a time 15 years ago, it looked just like Keith passing me in a truck. And I have dreams about my dad where he's just waiting just beyond this gate, waiting for me to join him. And I guess in life, I still expect to see him. What is that about we humans? Nancy, just because the person's body is gone doesn't mean that the attachment ceases to exist.

Kim is still attached to her son. You're attached to your fiance, to your father, to lost loved ones. We all are. Our brains want that person to be there. But most importantly, our hearts still love. And I think the heart communicates to the brain that that person's still here. I lost my mother a year ago and I dream about her as if she's still alive. I dream that we're going on a vacation and it's as if she's still here in my heart. I have a personal belief that our lives go on after we were gone and that attachments continue for a reason. But I think

for Kim Weedle in particular, she has been subjected to something we call complicated bereavement. There's actually a diagnosis for that in the field. It's when the circumstances surrounding a person's loss are so traumatic, so difficult, that the whole grieving process is delayed. And remember, the remains were just recently found. So the grieving process has just started. It's been unknown until now, you know, where he was. So there was still hope. But at this point, Kim is right in the thick of

the grieving. And I think it's important for her to know that, that grieving has no timing, meaning it didn't necessarily start when her beloved Gregory went missing. It may have started when the remains were found. And so she needs to surround herself by love, people who understand, a grief group, a place where she can process her feelings. Kim Weidel, Gregory's mother, please know that many people, including my family, pray for you and Gregory and your family. For strength to get through what lays ahead for you.

And for peace at some point. What is your life like now, Kim? I mean, I can't imagine my life without my son or daughter. I just, I don't feel I have any reason to keep living. At this point, I have to keep fighting for him and make sure that he's not forgotten and then all the other terrible things that are happening in Fort Hood. My day is spent on social media, answering questions and talking to people.

And I do try to help other people who are going through similar things, but she's right. It's, it's like, we've lost him twice. We lost him last year and then we lost him again last month. You just have to get up each day and put one foot in front of the other and go on. There's a huge piece of our life missing. You know, that's what I always tell my twins. When you're overwhelmed and you don't know what to do, just take one step and then the other foot will follow. You'll see. You are in our prayers and our thoughts. Please know that. And we pray the army does the right thing. Nancy Grace Grimes Story signing off. This homicide is yet to be solved. Goodbye, friend.

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