Newly released information is shedding light on the investigation into the disappearance and death of Angelina Petra Resendiz, a 21-year-old U.S. Navy sailor who vanished from Naval Station Norfolk in late May and was later found dead.
A fellow sailor, Jermiah Copeland, has now been identified as the suspect detained in connection with the case.
Attorney Marshall Griffin, who represents Resendiz’s mother, Esmeralda Castle, confirmed that Copeland is the individual currently held in pretrial confinement following a June 16 hearing at the Naval Consolidated Brig in Chesapeake, Virginia, as first reported by WAVY.
“This is the first time the Navy has confirmed the identity of the person being detained,” Griffin told reporters, describing the decision as a major development in the ongoing probe.
Resendiz was last seen alive on May 29 in her Norfolk barracks. Her body was discovered on June 9 in a wooded off-base area, located during an active search led by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS).
The June 16 hearing was a review officer’s session to determine whether Copeland would remain confined. While Griffin did not attend, he noted that such hearings evaluate the risk of flight, potential for further misconduct, and the strength of the evidence presented by military prosecutors. Copeland will remain in custody due to the “seriousness of the case,” according to Griffin.
As of now, formal charges have not been announced. However, if authorities pursue the matter in a general court-martial, an Article 32 hearing — the military’s equivalent of a grand jury investigation — must be held within 120 days of Copeland’s confinement.
The Navy has not released further comment, and attorney Griffin has acknowledged the investigation remains ongoing. The exact cause of death and circumstances surrounding Resendiz’s disappearance are still under examination.
Following her daughter’s death, Castle issued an emotional public statement calling the loss “a betrayal of trust, of duty, and of basic human decency.” During the June 16 hearing, she added via phone that the person responsible for her daughter’s death “made deliberate choices that ended Angie’s life. Their actions were not a mistake.”
Resendiz’s body was returned to her home state of Texas on June 20, where she was honored with military rites during a solemn ceremony at Valley International Airport in Harlingen. She had enlisted to serve her country but was taken far too soon, her family says.
