Skeletal remains of missing Northern California soldier found in Tennessee
The remains of a Northern California soldier who went missing five months ago were found this week in Tennessee following an exhaustive search.
The skeletal remains of Shadow McClaine were discovered Monday at an exit off Interstate 24 in Robertson County, according to Josh DeVine, a spokesman for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. The bureau will continue to investigate, he said.
Hours after authorities announced that McClaine’s remains had been discovered, family members expressed heartbreak on a Facebook page devoted to her disappearance.
“This is so wrong in so many ways,” a relative wrote. “We are screaming at the top of [our] lungs begging, pleading for the military to make a big deal about one of their own.”
McClaine, a private first class in the U.S. Army, failed to report for duty on Sept. 6 at Ft. Campbell in Kentucky, where she was stationed, according to the Army. Days later, her car was found in a private parking lot in downtown Nashville.
In November, the Army announced it had made arrests in connection with the 25-year-old Yuba City native’s disappearance and possible death.
Spc. Charles Robinson and McClain’s ex-husband, Sgt. Jamal Williams-McCray, were taken into custody and are facing conspiracy, premeditated murder and kidnapping charges, the Army said. Both were assigned to the 101st Airborne Division.
Williams-McCray and Robinson will face criminal proceedings in military court.
McClaine’s mother, London Wegrzyn, told KTXL-TV that her daughter had been having problems with several people and someone had cut the brake lines on her car. She was also facing stalking charges stemming from her divorce, her mother told the television news station.
McClaine had gone to Army officials, according to her mother, to tell them “she feared for her life and they basically didn’t do anything and now she’s missing.”
According to family members, McClaine enlisted in the Army in September 2011 and served in Afghanistan and South Korea. She had been set to be discharged Oct. 11.
For breaking news in California, follow @VeronicaRochaLA on Twitter.
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