A female sailor who went missing from a destroyer based in Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia has been found dead, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service announced in a statement earlier this week.
Seaman Angelina Resendiz, a sailor assigned to the USS James E. Williams, went missing around May 30, and a week later missing posters were being distributed as a search for her kicked into full gear. A body was found Monday in a wooded area in Norfolk, and the next day NCIS confirmed it was Resendiz.
Another sailor has been placed in custody in connection with her death, NCIS said.
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Resendiz, 21, was a cook with the Navy and held the rank of seaman at the time of her death, according to records provided by the service. She joined the Navy in August 2023 and reported to the James E. Williams in February 2024.
Resindez made the rank of seaman in February 2025.
Resendiz’s mother, Esmerelda Castle, has been critical of the Navy since her daughter went missing. In a statement released on Tuesday, Castle demanded “accountability for oversight that put her life at risk and for mishandling that delayed justice,” though the statement offered few specifics on what was mishandled in her daughter’s case.
Her statement alleged that Resendiz’s “colleagues, friends, and even authorities knew she was missing, but the response was minimal, and after her friends filed a missing person’s [sic] report where commander would not.”
The NCIS said that agents worked “tirelessly” with Norfolk Police, Virginia State Police, Virginia Search and Rescue, and “numerous other federal and local law enforcement partners” to find the missing sailor.
The NCIS said that charges were pending for the sailor in custody over Resendiz’s death, but they did not offer any further details. The sailor in custody was also not identified.
The Virginia medical examiner’s office told Military.com on Friday that a cause and manner of death are still pending for Resendiz.
Local television station WTKR reported on Tuesday, citing her family, that the sailor had a history of mental health struggles and investigators told them that there was a period last year when she faced suicidal thoughts.
A GoFundMe set up to benefit Resendiz’s mother had raised more than $13,000 as of Friday
The fund said that Castle “hopes to have a protest calling for reform of the U.S. military’s treatment of missing women cases.”
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