Missing Navy Sailor Found Dead, Another in Custody

UPDATE Jun 11, 2025 11:02 AM CDT

The Navy sailor who disappeared from her barracks in Virginia late last month has been found dead. The body of Angelina Petra Resendiz was discovered Monday in a wooded area of Norfolk and identified Tuesday as belonging to the 21-year-old culinary specialist last seen on May 29, per CBS News. An unidentified sailor is now held in connection with the death. "Charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice are pending," the Naval Criminal Investigative Service says, per Fox News. Resendiz's mother previously said her daughter vanished alongside another person, who resurfaced without her.

Jun 6, 2025 2:06 PM CDT

A 21-year-old Navy sailor vanished from her Virginia naval station late last month, with a "critically missing adult" alert for her issued by Virginia State Police earlier this week. NBC News reports that Angelina Petra Resendiz, originally from Texas, was last seen in her barracks at Naval Station Norfolk's Miller Hall early on May 29, and that those close to her haven't heard from her since.

• Call to action: "This disappearance poses a credible threat to their health and safety as determined by the investigating agency," the Tuesday alert reads in asking for the public's help in trying to track down Resendiz.

• Mother: Esmeralda Castle tells ABC News that there's no way her daughter—a culinary specialist who "thought that one day she might be able to cook for the president and other world leaders"—would've willingly shirked her responsibilities and simply not shown up, saying Resendiz "does not miss work. Sick, snow, feeling down, she shows up."
• More from her mom: Perhaps cryptically, Castle adds that "people that care about Angie shared with me that the last person she was with was missing with her" and that "that person showed up Monday but not Angie." Castle told WTKR that she was headed to Virginia personally because "I don't know what's going on" and "something is wrong."
• Navy: The military branch says in a statement to ABC that it's "cooperating fully with the investigation." The Naval Criminal Investigative Service, meanwhile, says it won't be commenting further "out of respect for the investigative process."
• Description: Resendiz is said to be a 5-foot-tall white/Hispanic woman with black hair and brown eyes, weighing around 110 pounds. It's not clear what she was wearing when she disappeared. Anyone with relevant info should call 877-579-3648.

(More Navy stories.)