Reward increased to $50,000 for missing Fort Hood soldier
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The reward for information on the whereabouts of missing Fort Hood soldier Vanessa Guillen has just been raised to $50,000.
During a virtual news conference held by Texas Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia and Guillen's family, LULAC announced an additional $25,000 reward for information.
"My office has been working directly with Vanessa's family as we do everything in our power to help find Vanessa," Garcia said. "My office has requested a congressional inquiry with the Department of Defense in regards to Vanessa's case."
During Tuesday's news conference, Garcia said Vanessa's mom told authorities that her daughter expressed to her that she did not feel safe at the base in Fort Hood and was possibly a victim of sexual assault.
"We need to get to the bottom of this. We need to make sure we look at every single complaint, every single allegation that has been made in this case," Garcia said. "This is very serious. We need to make sure that those concerns are addressed, and we need to make sure there are no questions left."
WATCH: Congresswoman Garcia holds new conference with Guillen's family
Texas EquuSearch founder Tim Miller told ABC13 that he's traveling to Fort Hood on Wednesday to meet with the investigators who are looking into Guillen's disappearance.
Miller said Guillen's family deserves answers. He also added that he has crews in Fort Hood helping with search efforts.
Guillen was last seen on April 22 at 1 p.m. in the parking lot of her Regimental Engineer Squadron Headquarters, 3rd Cavalry Regiment.
Her car keys, barracks room key, ID and wallet were found in the armory room where she was working earlier in the day.
Guillen was last seen wearing a black shirt.
She is described as being of Hispanic descent, 5'2", and 126 pounds with black hair and brown eyes.
More celebrities are trying to spread the word of her disappearance.
Houston rapper Baby Bash vowed to add $5,000 to the reward for information on Guillen in a Facebook announcement on Saturday.
He shared a photo of Guillen's mother and said, "FIND VANESSA!!!!! Anything anybody knows."
SEE RELATED STORY: Extensive search underway for Fort Hood soldier from Houston missing since April
Meanwhile, actress Salma Hayek posted to her Instagram, with 15 million followers, the following pictures within 24 hours of each other in an effort to bring attention to Guillen's disappearance.
Hayek has really increased the visibility on this case because of her large following on Instagram.
Relatives of Guillen are holding onto hope that she is still alive.
Her sister, Mayra Guillen, said she spoke to Vanessa the day before she reported her missing on April 22.
The founder of lifestyle brand SpoiledLatina also posted to her Instagram, trying to bring the matter to the public's attention.
Fort Hood officials and special agents from the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command are asking for the public's help.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Army CID Special Agents at 254-495-7767 or the Military Police Desk at (254) 287-4001.
The video above is from a previous report.
