Fellow soldier charged with murder at Fort Leonard Wood

The Army says a fellow soldier at Fort Leonard Wood is responsible for the Oct. 20 killing of Sgt. Sarah Roque.

Military prosecutors on Wednesday filed murder and obstruction of justice charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice against 21-year-old Spc. Wooster Rancy. The Army did not provide any information about how the two soldiers knew each other.

Rancy, a combat engineer with the 5th Engineer Battalion, entered the Army in 2022. He is from Florida.

Last week, investigators found Roque's body in a dumpster in the fortress. She was first reported missing when she failed to show up for her unit's morning formation on October 23rd. She was 23 years old when she died.

Charges in the military justice system do not prevent prosecutors in Pulaski County, where the fort is based, from filing their own case against Rancy. But experts say that would be rare.