October, 01 2008, 12:25pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Joleen Kirschenman, Chicago Contact 773-251-8360
Retired US Army Colonel Ann Wright 808-741-1141
Lon Burnham, Dallas Peace Center 214- 823-7793
Mother of Murdered Female Airman To Request Meeting on Oct. 3 with Sheppard Air Force Base officials on Status of Investigation
Chicago resident Mrs. Gloria
Barrios, mother of US Air Force Senior Airman Blanca Luna, who was found dead in
her room on Shephard Air Force Base six months ago on March 7, 2008, has
requested to met with officials of the Office of Special Investigations (OSI)
at Sheppard Air Force base on Friday, October 3, 2008 to determine the status
of the investigation into her daughter's death.
Mrs. Barrios and other family members will hold a press conference at
the Main Gate of Sheppard Air Force Base at 2pm on Friday, October 3, 2008
CHICAGO, Illinois
Chicago resident Mrs. Gloria
Barrios, mother of US Air Force Senior Airman Blanca Luna, who was found dead in
her room on Shephard Air Force Base six months ago on March 7, 2008, has
requested to met with officials of the Office of Special Investigations (OSI)
at Sheppard Air Force base on Friday, October 3, 2008 to determine the status
of the investigation into her daughter's death.
Mrs. Barrios and other family members will hold a press conference at
the Main Gate of Sheppard Air Force Base at 2pm on Friday, October 3, 2008
WHEN: 2pm, Friday, October 3,
2008
WHERE: Main Gate of Sheppard Air
Base, Wichita Falls, TX
(the main gate is on State Hwy 240, off I-44 (U.S. Hwys 287 and 281.)
Luna , age 27 at the time of her
death, had served four years in the US
Marine Corps, including one year in Japan.
She was a graphic design specialist for Marine Corps publications. After getting out of the Marines she returned
to Chicago and
studied graphic design at the International Academy of Design and
Technology. To pay student bills, she
enlisted in the Air Force Reserves and trained with the 434th Civil Engineering Squadron at Grissom
Air Reserve Base in Indiana, and in September, 2007, she started training on heating, ventilation,
and air conditioning systems program at Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas. She was scheduled to graduate March 10, three
days after she was found dead.
When notified of her daughter's
death, Mrs. Gloria Barrios was given a letter from Major General K.C. McClain
in which he called the death "an apparent homicide" and promised that a letter
from her daughter's commander would arrive providing "additional
circumstances."
The director of the funeral home
in Chicago
where she was brought said that her body
was already embalmed and dressed in her air force uniform. "All we did was the makeup," but he did
notice that "there were cuts on her fingers, like classic signs she was
defending herself, and a bruise on her forehead like she had fallen down." But
in the rush to prepare for the next day's visitation, he says, he didn't
consider removing the uniform to investigate the rest of the body.
For more information about Airman
Luna, please see the July 3, 2008 Chicago Reader article "Murder on the
Base" (https://www.chicagoreader.com/features/stories/murderonthebase).
Mrs. Barrios is requesting answers to how her daughter's death occurred and who
is responsible.
Interviews are available on
request.
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