Family Seeks Answers in Soldier's Mysterious Death

Dec. 2, 2009— -- In the 10 years since Staff Sgt. Amy Tirador's hair was cut at boot camp, she grew it back to its original length -- down to her hips. Every day until the night she was mysteriously killed in Iraq, Tirador, who worked as an Arabic-language interrogator, wrapped her long locks into a meticulous bun.

It's the image of her daughter tending to her hair -- even while serving in Iraq -- that Tirador's mother Colleen Murphy hasn't been able to get out of her mind since the 29-year-old soldier was shot in the back of the head while on an American base near Kirkush, Iraq, under suspicious circumstances.

"Amy died on Nov. 4, while on a secure American base. Since then as far as information, I've only been told [her case] is simply under investigation. The military is being very closed-mouth. I have no idea what happened or how Amy died," said Murphy from her home in Albany, N.Y.

When soldiers die, the military typically releases information about the cause of death soon after the family has been notified. In Tirador's case, however, her family has only been told her death is under investigation and that it could take months to determine a cause of death.

"They told us the day she died and that she was shot in the back of the head. And that's it," said Murphy

Despite dying in an active war zone, the military has called Tirador's death a "noncombat-related" incident, adding an additional layer of intrigue and further raising the specter of foul play.

Murphy does not believe there was a cover-up or that the military is stonewalling, she said, but she is desperate for answers -- and closure.

"How could this have happened on a secure American base? I don't know why they can't rule some things out. This can't be a suicide. But there are so many probabilities and prospects and guessing games. They've given me no hints, and I can't stop thinking about all the different scenarios," she said.

"Am I aggravated? Absolutely. Thursday will be a month. I want the truth. I will be patient and I will wait. But I want the truth," she said.

Stationed at the Caldwell Forward Operating Base in Kirkush, in western Iraq near the Iranian border, Tirador was one of a handful of women on the base.