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Soldier from North Miami accused of murdering fellow soldier at Missouri base

South Florida soldierā€™s family in ā€˜shock,ā€™ expresses condolences

FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. ā€“ A 21-year-old soldier from South Florida has been charged with murder and obstruction of justice in connection with the death of a fellow soldier at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.

Spc. Wooster Rancy, a combat engineer with the 5th Engineer Battalion, is accused of murdering Sgt. Sarah Roque on Oct. 20. Her body was found in a dumpster after she disappeared, authorities said.

Rancy, who joined the Army in 2022, is originally from North Miami and attended basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, a news release states.

CNN reports that Roque, 23, went missing from her morning formation at Fort Leonard Wood on Oct. 21, prompting an immediate search.

Her body was found later that evening and authorities took a person of interest into custody three days later.

CNN reports that itā€™s unclear whether there was any relationship between Roque and Rancy and authorities havenā€™t announced a motive in the killing.

Both served in the same battalion.

Roque, originally from Lubbock, Texas, enlisted in 2020, CNN reports. Her family lives in Indiana.

Local 10 News stopped by the Rancy family home in North Miami on Friday. His family mostly speaks Haitian Creole, but an English-speaking woman who identified herself as Rancyā€™s aunt spoke to Local 10 News over the phone.

She expressed surprise over her nephewā€™s arrest.

ā€œHeā€™s a mild-mannered person,ā€ she said. ā€œThatā€™s the reason itā€™s a shock to us. We donā€™t know him having this kind of behavior.ā€

Rancyā€™s family also expressed their condolences for Roque.

ā€œItā€™s a shock to us, we donā€™t know, so thatā€™s why weā€™re waiting to see, because we donā€™t know why he would want to kill somebody,ā€ Rancyā€™s aunt said.

Rancy ā€œis currently being held in pretrial confinement awaiting a preliminary hearingā€ pursuant to military law, the Army news release states.

ā€œThe Department of Army Criminal Investigation Division continues to investigate,ā€ authorities said.

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About the Authors
Chris Gothner headshot

Chris Gothner joined the Local 10 News team in 2022 as a Digital Journalist.

Cody Weddle headshot

Cody Weddle joined Local 10 News as a full-time reporter in South Florida in August of 2022. Before that, Cody worked regularly with Local 10 since January of 2017 as a foreign correspondent in Venezuela and Colombia.

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