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Army veteran and military spouse Selena Roth was buried in her home state of Florida, Monday, Feb. 1, 2021.

Army veteran and military spouse Selena Roth was buried in her home state of Florida, Monday, Feb. 1, 2021. (Brewer & Son Funeral Services)

FORT SHAFTER, Hawaii — Selena Roth, the 25-year-old Army veteran and military spouse who died last month at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, was laid to rest Monday in a graveside service in central Florida.

Roth’s body arrived Friday at Tampa International Airport, from where the casket was escorted to a funeral home by Patriot Guard Riders with the Tampa Bay Area Cruisers.

Roth, a former Army signals intelligence analyst, was found dead at her on-post home Jan. 13 by military police making a welfare check at a family member’s request.

U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command is investigating the death as a homicide. A soldier was taken into custody by military police hours after Roth’s body was discovered.

The Army has not released the name of the soldier in custody nor any details on the relationship between the soldier and Roth.

The Army described Roth in a January statement as an “Army spouse” but did not identify her husband.

Hawaii Family Court records show Raul Hernandez Perez filed for divorce from Roth in October.

In November, Roth set up an account on the GoFundMe crowdfunding site asking for help in moving her three dogs to the mainland because of the divorce.

Roth’s sister, Aubrey Rangel, said in an email Friday that the death has been “immensely painful to my whole family.” She declined an interview request, citing the ongoing investigation.

Rangel is seeking to raise $20,000 for funeral costs at GoFundMe on behalf of the family, and donors had given $3,455 as of Monday.

Roth was an “avid supporter of animal rescue” and “a generous spirit and provided for anyone in need in her community, according to the obituary provided by Rangel.

Roth received an associate of arts degree while still in high school, from which she graduated Phi Theta Kappa.

She was active in numerous sports and had earned the title of concert mistress of the Hernando County Youth Orchestra in the Florida community in which she was raised, the obituary said.

“The thing that she loved the most was her daughter Nemea,” the obituary said.

“During her time in the service, she was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, and the Army Service Ribbon,” the obituary said.

olson.wyatt@stripes.com Twitter: @WyattWOlson

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Wyatt Olson is based in the Honolulu bureau, where he has reported on military and security issues in the Indo-Pacific since 2014. He was Stars and Stripes’ roving Pacific reporter from 2011-2013 while based in Tokyo. He was a freelance writer and journalism teacher in China from 2006-2009.

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