According to local ABC affiliate KXXV, the Harker Heights Police Department on the edge of Fort Hood received a call at 10:20 a.m. local time on Monday about a dead body - that of 27-year-old Private First Class Brandon Scott Rosecrans, a soldier stationed at the military base.
Just eight minutes after the police call, though, the fire department in Harker Heights responded to a reported fire that turned out to be Rosecrans’ orange 2016 Jeep Renegade - but it was nowhere near where his body was found.
US military-linked publication Stars and Stripes noted the two locations are about four miles apart, as well as that earlier reporting on the story initially said Rosecrans’ body was found inside the Jeep.
According to KXXV, Rosecrans’ death is being investigated as a murder by the Harker Heights PD and the US Army Criminal Investigative Command after a preliminary investigation suggested his cause of death was a gunshot wound. The Harker Heights Fire Marshal is also investigating the burning car as arson, in conjunction with the police effort.
They have put out requests for information about the incidents, offering a $1,000 cash reward.
Last month, another Fort Hood soldier, Private First Class Vanessa Guillen, also went missing. Although Army authorities have mounted a manhunt for the 20-year-old service member and offered a $15,000 reward for information, her whereabouts remain unknown.