A Fort Leonard Wood soldier faces a court-martial in the death of a fellow soldier whose body was found in a dumpster on the installation last year.
Spc. Wooster Rancy, 22, faces charges of murder and obstruction of justice in the death of Sgt. Sarah Roque, 23, according to the Office of Special Trial Counsel.
Roque was reported missing when she did not report to morning formation on Oct. 21, 2024. She was found dead later that day in a dumpster near a barracks building.
“Sgt. Roque was a daughter, sister, friend and soldier who chose to serve our country bravely and honorably,” said Maj. Gen. Christopher Beck, head of both the Maneuver Support Center of Excellence and Fort Leonard Wood, at the time of her death.
Rancy was arrested three days later and has been held at the Midwest Joint Regional Confinement Facility at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas since his arrest.
An arraignment date was not yet posted on the trial docket.
Roque is from Ligonier, Indiana. She enlisted in 2020 and worked as a bridge crew member and boat operator in the 5th Engineer Battalion until 2022. She deployed with the 74th Multirole Bridge Company to Poland as a boat operator.
Her awards and decorations include the Army Commendation Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Good Conduct Medal and the Army Service Ribbon.
She reenlisted in 2022 and changed jobs to work as a mine detection dog handler.
Todd South has written about crime, courts, government and the military for multiple publications since 2004 and was named a 2014 Pulitzer finalist for a co-written project on witness intimidation. Todd is a Marine veteran of the Iraq War.
Read the full article here
