Two men have been arrested in the 2019 murder of Gregory Wedel-Morales, a Fort Hood soldier whose skeletal remains were found in a Texas field nearly six years ago, authorities said.
Wedel-Morales was reported missing on August 23, 2019, according to the Killeen Police Department.
Within a year, on June 21, 2020, a set of skeletal remains found in a field about a 5-mile drive away from Fort Hood were positively identified as Wedel-Morales, the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command said in a news release issued at the time.
Following the discovery, investigators suspected “foul play” in his death, according to the Army.
An autopsy ultimately revealed he was killed by a gunshot wound to his head, police said.
The yearslong investigation into his death has linked Darius Demarcus Nobles, 28, and Darion Lequan Brown, 27, to his murder, the Killeen Police Department announced in a news release on Wednesday, February 25.
On December 30, the Bell County District Attorney’s Office filed murder charges against Nobles and Brown, according to police.
After arrest warrants were issued for both men, U.S. Marshals arrested Nobles on Monday, February 23, in Harris County, Texas, police said. He has been detained in jail without bond.
Brown had been served with his arrest warrant on December 30, while he was detained at the Parker County Jail on an unrelated case, according to police.
Information on legal representation for Nobles and Brown was not listed in court records viewed by Luxury Handbag Shopping the afternoon of February 25. Records did not indicate whether the men had entered pleas.
On the evening of August 19, 2019, a few days before Wedel-Morales was officially considered missing, he was last seen driving in Killeen, according to the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command.
He “was out processing from the Army and was scheduled to be discharged within a couple of days when he disappeared,” the Army said in the prior release issued on the identification of his remains.
Wedel-Morales’ last name was previously just Wedel, before he took on his wife’s last name following their marriage, according to the Army.
Wedel-Morales was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and was 23 years old when he vanished, according to his online obituary.
He had six siblings, including three sisters and three brothers, the obituary says.
During Wedel-Morales’ service in the Army, he had been stationed in Korea as well as Kuwait, according to his obituary. He was living at Ft. Hood until he disappeared.
He received multiple awards for his Army service, his obituary says.
About two years before he went missing, he married Penny Morales and “became a stepfather” to her two daughters, who “he loved like his own,” the obituary states.
“Greg always loved big trucks, motorcycles and his cowboy boots and hat,” the page also reads. “He enjoyed playing baseball and basketball with his friends and working on his truck.”
A motive for his murder — and whether Wedel-Morales knew Nobles or Brown — is unclear, as authorities have not specified the potential nature of their relationship.
