WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Navy acted in accordance with “current U.S. Law and Navy Regulations and policy” in its response to the disappearance and death of Seaman Angelina Resendiz, according to a letter from Secretary of the Navy John Phelan sent to Texas Rep. Vicente Gonzalez and obtained by WTKR News 3.
Questions have been raised by congressional leaders from Texas, where Resendiz was from, and in Virginia, where she was stationed, about the Navy's actions following her disappearance on May 29.
The letter, dated Sept. 2, was sent to Gonzalez's office in response to a July 10 inquiry.
Watch related: Virginia senators demand answers in Resendiz's death
"The Navy mourns the loss of our shipmate," the letter states. "The Navy is committed to examining the circumstances of and organizational response to her absence."
Phelan's letter states that the Navy is looking into four topics related to Resendiz's disappearance and death:
- The response to the initial report of her absence.
- The response when she was "determined to be involuntarily absent and ultimately deceased."
- The transfer of her remains to her mother
- How and why the suspect, who has not been publicly named by the Navy, was transferred to the USS James E. Williams.
More than two months after her death, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner stated that Resendiz's cause and manner of death are undetermined.
Previous coverage: Resendiz cause and manner of death undetermined
Resendiz's mother, Esmeralda Castle, has spoken publicly about the state of her daughter's body when it was returned to Texas.
“I went to the funeral home… I wanted to see her, you know, I didn't know what to expect. I knew she’d been missing for days and she was found outside, and it probably wouldn't look the best," said Castle. “I saw her body and she was covered, just infested with maggots, with bugs and decaying. And they didn't preserve her body or prepare her to come home.”
The suspect in her death was assigned to the USS James E. Williams and is in pre-trial confinement.
Castle said her communication with the Navy has been virtually nonexistent.
“It is the same. There is only silence, and it’s so loud, the silence,” she told News 3's Jay Greene. “And so this, the letter that came, I mean, it just kind of says we’re going to continue to be quiet."
When asked about the Navy’s claim that it followed procedures, Castle said: “It’s upsetting, right? And so, like, that’s the initial reaction. Like, 'No, you didn’t.' And so you know, like, it’s not, you can’t tell me that you did, right? … That’s not accountability, like that’s sweeping it under the rug, and like the people, my daughter, like we deserve better than, you know, paperwork and excuses.”
Castle also criticized the Navy’s official letter.
"I’m like, 'Nah, I feel like this is being swept under the rug,'” she said.
Castle told News 3 that her fight comes down to two words: accountability and justice. She said she is now working on legislation known as the “Seaman Angelina Resendiz Justice and Accountability Act." She believes the bill will better protect service members and their families in wrongful death situations.
“If I can make the world like a better place for one person, like, that’s, that’s my goal, I can make it better for one person, absolutely, that’s all that matters," she said.
In his letter, Phelan said the Navy is engaging with subject matter experts from “multiple disciplines” to review their actions. Once the investigation is complete, they will identify any "necessary policy improvements to respect and honor our Service Members, our most precious resource."
Norfolk
TIMELINE: Everything we know about the death of Angelina Resendiz
Read the full letter from Secretary of the Navy John C. Phelan below.
