FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. – A 21-year-old soldier from South Florida has been charged with murder and obstruction of justice in connection with the death of a fellow soldier at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.
Spc. Wooster Rancy, a combat engineer with the 5th Engineer Battalion, is accused of murdering Sgt. Sarah Roque on Oct. 20. Her body was found in a dumpster after she disappeared, authorities said.
Rancy, who joined the Army in 2022, is originally from North Miami and attended basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, a news release states.
CNN reports that Roque, 23, went missing from her morning formation at Fort Leonard Wood on Oct. 21, prompting an immediate search.
Her body was found later that evening and authorities took a person of interest into custody three days later.
CNN reports that it’s unclear whether there was any relationship between Roque and Rancy and authorities haven’t announced a motive in the killing.
Both served in the same battalion.
Roque, originally from Lubbock, Texas, enlisted in 2020, CNN reports. Her family lives in Indiana.
Local 10 News stopped by the Rancy family home in North Miami on Friday. His family mostly speaks Haitian Creole, but an English-speaking woman who identified herself as Rancy’s aunt spoke to Local 10 News over the phone.
She expressed surprise over her nephew’s arrest.
“He’s a mild-mannered person,” she said. “That’s the reason it’s a shock to us. We don’t know him having this kind of behavior.”
Rancy’s family also expressed their condolences for Roque.
“It’s a shock to us, we don’t know, so that’s why we’re waiting to see, because we don’t know why he would want to kill somebody,” Rancy’s aunt said.
Rancy “is currently being held in pretrial confinement awaiting a preliminary hearing” pursuant to military law, the Army news release states.
“The Department of Army Criminal Investigation Division continues to investigate,” authorities said.