In May 2020, a sense of profound loss and a baffling mystery began to unfold on the remote shores of North Carolina's Cape Lookout National Seashore. Twenty-one-year-old Enrique Roman-Martinez, a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division stationed at Fort Bragg, was on a Memorial Day weekend camping trip with seven of his fellow soldiers. He was last seen at their campsite near Mile Marker 46 on South Core Banks on the night of May 22, 2020.
When the sun rose the next morning, Roman-Martinez was gone, having vanished into the night, leaving behind his wallet, glasses, and cell phone in his tent. His companions reportedly spent the day searching for him before one of them finally placed a 911 call in the evening, approximately 17 hours after he was last seen.
A week of agonizing uncertainty for his family turned to heartbreak and horror when, on May 29, 2020, partial human remains washed ashore on Shackleford Banks Island, a few miles from the campsite. Dental records soon confirmed the devastating news: the remains belonged to Enrique Roman-Martinez. An autopsy later revealed the gruesome nature of his death, concluding it was a homicide. The report detailed evidence of multiple chop injuries and a broken jaw, but as the rest of his body has never been located, a definitive cause of death could not be determined. The discovery shifted the focus from a search for a missing person to a complex homicide investigation, leaving his loved ones to grapple with not only his death but also the horrific manner in which he was taken.
The investigation, led by the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division has been fraught with questions and few answers. Investigators noted inconsistencies in the statements provided by the soldiers who were with Roman-Martinez. The delay in reporting him missing and the failure to mention his disappearance to a park ranger they encountered earlier that day raised suspicions. Furthermore, the claim made in the 911 call that Roman-Martinez had suicidal tendencies was strongly refuted by his family, who described him as forward-looking and planning for his future after the Army. While several of the soldiers on the trip eventually faced courts-martial for charges including conspiracy, making false statements, and drug use, none of these charges were directly related to his death. To date, no one has been charged with the homicide of Enrique Roman-Martinez. The case has since been classified as a cold case, though Army CID maintains it is an active investigation and continues to offer a reward of up to $50,000 for information that leads to a conviction. The unresolved nature of the case leaves a painful void for a family still seeking justice and answers about what truly happened to their beloved son and brother on that remote barrier island.Last Seen: May 22, 2020
