NOTE: The video above is the full LULAC press conference.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (WAVY) — The mother of a sailor who disappeared from Naval Station Norfolk and was found dead in a Norfolk neighborhood is in Washington D.C. Wednesday demanding transparency and accountability from the U.S. Navy.
Angelina Resendiz was initially reported missing May 29 and was last seen in her barracks at Naval Station Norfolk around 10 a.m., according to the Navy. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service confirmed June 10 the body found in Norfolk was that of Resendiz.
Esmeralda Castle, Resendiz’s mother, was in D.C. with the League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC, for a news conference surrounding a variety of issues regarding her disappearance.
The issues include a public timeline and accountability from the Navy and NCIS, disclosure of non-disclosure agreements service members were required to sign involving the case, collaboration on a civilian family guide, and access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for the Resendiz family, among others.
“I’m (also) outraged because what happened to Angelina was not just a tragedy but a preventable failure,” said CEO of LULAC, Juan Proaño. “Her disappearance on May 29th was mishandled from the start. Instead of immediately treating Angie a missing person in danger, the Navy reportedly marked as AWOL and waited six days before filing a missing persons report.”
“Even giving her family false reassurances that she may still be alive,” Proaño explained.
The LULAC is demanding a full investigation into the apparent delays, miscommunications and lack of urgency from the Navy. In addition, LULAC has written the Secretary of the Navy, John Phelan, demanding answers.
“We insist on accountability at every level. Any commander or official who failed to act appropriately must answer to it under the uniform code of military justice,” said Proaño.
The LULAC expects swift justice against Jermiah Copeland, a former Culinary Specialist Seaman and the man Castle’s attorney identified as the person detained in connection to Resendiz’s death, and anyone else responsible for this crime.
Castle also spoke during the press conference, grateful for the support showed towards her and her family, but also seeking justice for her daughter.
“There is a system in place and it does not work and I don’t know if it’s ever worked. I don’t know if anyone would acknowledge that there is a problem and accept responsibility for it to make a change.”
Castle claimed that when she called and spoke to the officer on deck, it appeared the officer in question did not know who Resendiz was, but insisted she was ok and would not let Castle speak to her.
“I spoke with the officer on deck, Chief Anderson, and he said: ‘Angie or Cindy? Oh yeah she’s fine. She’s just in another room,'” Castle recounted. “‘The missing report that was given was more dramatic; she’s fine.”
WAVY-10 Andy Fox spoke to Dr. Ray Serrano Tuesday leading up to the press conference, who believes “there were a lot of missteps from the military side, and a lot of unaccountability from that that could have prevented the situation.”
“Delays in the military,” Serrano said. “There’s no answer. At some point, her mother calls, and they say she’s in another room, that they have found her, and she’s alive, and she wasn’t. They had no answers. They had no clue where she was.”
The flow of inaccurate information to the family was also a concern to Marshall Griffin, Castle’s attorney.
“We are very early in the case,” Griffin said, “and I would expect to get clarity on those issues, and what happened, and when, and why things were said, and what reports were made and when.”
The Latino Civil Rights group also brought up the memory of U.S. Army soldier Vanessa Guillen, who was murdered by a fellow soldier, the victim of sexual harassment and assault within the military.
“In the case of Vanessa Guillen, there were a lot of delays from the military, a lot of backtracking, a lot of like, not being forthcoming with details to the family,” Serrano said.
There are a lot of similarities to Guillen’s and Resendiz’s cases.
“They go missing, the military in both cases listed them as AWOL, does not institute an Ashanti Alert, which was in place even then, in 2018,” Serrano said.
“There are certainly questions that we have that may necessitate an apology down the road, and I look forward to getting answers to the questions as the case moves forward,” Griffin said
The news conference also considered the possible harassment Resendiz was receiving.
“There’s alleged reporting from Angelina Resendiz about the harassment that she was experiencing,” Serrano said, “and yet nothing was being done about it.”
The LULAC says the events between Resendiz’s disappearance, May 29, and the day her body was discovered, June 9, is still unclear.
Griffin says the next procedural step would be to have another preliminary hearing under Article 32, in hopes of answering some of the questions Castle and the family still have regarding Resendiz’s death.
