By David Lohr
June 20, 2007
FORT HOOD, Texas (Crime Library) — Last week I brought you the story of 24-year-old Lawrence G. Sprader, Jr., a sergeant in the United States Army who disappeared during a military training exercise at Fort Hood Army base. Sadly, four days after his disappearance, a group of soldiers found his remains in a brushy area within the 15,000 acre training ground.
The Bell County justice of the peace has released a brief report on Lawrence's autopsy, which was conducted at the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences in Dallas late last week. According to the report, Lawrence died from dehydration and hyperthermia. No further details were provided.
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| Sgt. Lawrence Sprader |
"He was a model soldier. He had a goal to succeed," Lt. Col. Carter Oates said at a press conference on June 13. "It's devastating to lose any type of soldier."
In regard to the training course, Lt. Col. Oates said he did not consider it dangerous or risky.
"We make risk assessments all the time, and as long as we've been running this course, I think the appropriate assessments have been in place," Lt. Col. Oates said. "He had been trained prior to the course, he had done a practice run, and he was given some instruction before going out."
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| Fort Hood Texas Map |
Despite Lt. Col Oates' reassurances, Lawrence's father, Lawrence Sprader, Sr., a retired serviceman and veteran of the Vietnam War, would like some answers from the military.
"There are questions that I need answered," Sprader told the Killeen Daily Herald yesterday. He wants to know when the military started the search, why they did not inform him that his son was missing until the day after his disappearance, and whether or not his son suffered — according to a Casualty Assistance Officer, the condition of the body was too deteriorated for an open casket.
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Fort Hood Soldiers Search for Sgt. Lawrence G. Sprader
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