The camera remained on as Spc. Tanner Keagan Gene Hodges struggled to keep his eyes open.
His head dropped. His eyes appeared barely open. He repeatedly fought to keep his phone positioned before letting it fall again.
Someone watching the TikTok livestream noticed.
“Eyes were barely opened, he was fighting to keep the phone up,” the viewer wrote in a contemporaneous message reviewed by The Salty Soldier. “He was able to reposition the phone about 4 times before dropping it. No mouth movement, and half opened eyes.”
The viewer said the behavior was shocking because they had “only seen him full of energy.”
Minutes later, the same person wrote that Hodges “probably just needs some feedback on this recent behavior.”
“Things didn’t look or feel right.”
The messages were sent in August 2025.
Six months later, Hodges was dead.
Editor’s Note: Certain evidence cited in this investigation has been omitted from the public version of this article to protect sensitive source material and prevent the underlying evidence from being publicly indexed online. The complete article, including additional supporting evidence, is available to subscribers through The Salty Soldier Uncensored.
The 23-year-old Combat Engineer assigned to Fort Carson died on or about Feb. 27, 2026.
Army Criminal Investigation Division now says the circumstances surrounding Hodges’ death “currently indicate an accidental death.”
CID has not identified the cause of death.
But newly obtained videos, private messages and witness accounts reviewed by The Salty Soldier document years of private mental-health concerns and increasingly troubling behavior in the months before Hodges died.
Hodges privately discussed wanting to die.
He described persistent mental-health struggles.
He wrote that drugs numbed his pain.
Months before his death, people watching his livestreams noticed behavior so concerning that recordings were preserved and people close to Hodges were contacted.
Now, CID says investigators are examining “every lead, including potential mental health concerns.”
The evidence raises a question the Army’s own suicide-prevention programs are designed around:
When people see warning signs, what happens next?
“Things Didn’t Look or Feel Right”
The August livestream was not viewed in hindsight after Hodges died.
People were concerned while it was happening.
A source with a longstanding personal relationship with Hodges provided The Salty Soldier with original recordings said to have been captured from his TikTok livestreams.
The Salty Soldier is withholding the source’s identity because of the ongoing investigation and the sensitive nature of the information provided.
In one recording reviewed by The Salty Soldier, Hodges repeatedly struggles to remain awake, his eyes partially closed as he fights to keep his phone positioned.
The video alone cannot establish whether Hodges was under the influence of drugs, alcohol, medication or experiencing another medical issue.
But the behavior was noticeably different from other recordings provided by the source.
In another video, Hodges is seen participating in a livestream with the source and another Soldier. He appears alert, responsive and engaged in the conversation.
The contrast was one of the reasons the later behavior concerned people watching him.
“Eyes were barely opened,” one viewer wrote after watching Hodges.
“He was fighting to keep the phone up.”
“No mouth movement, and half opened eyes.”
“Kinda shocked me, since I’ve only seen him full of energy.”
The source told The Salty Soldier that Hodges had struggled with substance abuse and had previously described using drugs as a way to numb emotional pain.
Those concerns shaped how the source viewed the livestream.
According to the source, Hodges had also fallen asleep during another livestream days earlier while drinking.
The source began recording—not for publication, and not because anyone knew Hodges would be dead six months later.
The source said the videos were preserved because Hodges’ behavior appeared abnormal and the source wanted him to see what others were witnessing.
The concern quickly moved beyond the livestream.
Concerns Were Shared With Others
Screenshots reviewed by The Salty Soldier show the source urgently attempting to contact another Soldier who knew Hodges personally before forwarding information about his concerning livestream behavior.
The source said the concerns were also discussed by phone and recalled the Soldier dismissing the behavior with words to the effect of, “It’s Tanner, it’ll be fine.”
The Salty Soldier has not independently verified the phone conversation. However, written messages confirm the source attempted to urgently make contact and shared contemporaneous descriptions of Hodges struggling to remain awake.
The source also sent a recording of Hodges’ behavior to a family member and explained that Hodges had repeatedly appeared to fall asleep during livestreams. Messages reviewed by The Salty Soldier show the source defending the decision to record him as an attempt to show Hodges what others were witnessing.
There is no evidence currently reviewed by The Salty Soldier that Hodges’ chain of command or behavioral-health personnel received those concerns.
Concerns shared privately with another Soldier or a family member do not establish that Hodges’ chain of command or the Army as an institution knew he was struggling.
But the evidence shows people close to Hodges were discussing noticeable changes in his behavior months before he died.
“I Wanna Die”
The concerns extended beyond the 2025 livestreams.
Private messages reviewed by The Salty Soldier show Hodges discussing thoughts of death and significant mental-health struggles years earlier.
“I want to die,” Hodges wrote in January 2023.
“I mean that’s what I want.”
In other messages, Hodges wrote that nothing made him happy and described having “a voice in my head and he’s against me.”
“I’m not suicidal,” he wrote in another exchange. “But maybe one day I will be.”
The messages do not establish Hodges’ state of mind when he died or contradict CID’s current assessment that his death appears accidental. They do, however, document prior discussions of death and mental-health struggles.
The source also provided a message in which Hodges appeared to directly connect drug use with his emotional pain.
“But fr drugs numb the pain,” Hodges wrote.
According to the source, Hodges struggled with substance abuse. The Salty Soldier has not independently confirmed what substances Hodges may have used or whether any substance contributed to his death. CID has not released a cause of death or toxicology findings.
A Strange Message Two Days Before His Death
The source remained in contact with Hodges until shortly before his death.
On Feb. 25, Hodges responded to a message from the source with:
“As you wish —-”
The source said the wording immediately appeared unusual after years of communicating with Hodges.
Less than 48 hours later, Hodges was dead.
Standing alone, the message does not establish suicidal intent or explain his death. But given Hodges’ previous statements about his mental health and thoughts of death, the source now questions whether the exchange carried a meaning that was not understood at the time.
CID has said investigators will pursue “every lead, including potential mental health concerns.” The agency has not said whether investigators have reviewed the message, Hodges’ earlier communications or the livestream recordings.
An Unverified Account of His Final Morning
The source also provided The Salty Soldier with an account allegedly relayed by another Soldier shortly after Hodges died.
According to the source, Hodges was reportedly found around 10 a.m. on Feb. 27 and appeared as though he had fallen asleep on a couch. The source said the description immediately brought to mind the livestream recordings from months earlier.
The Salty Soldier has not independently confirmed the account and is not reporting it as established fact.
CID has not publicly disclosed where Hodges was found, who discovered him or the approximate time his body was located.
For months, the Army would not even publicly characterize his death as accidental.
CID Says the Death Currently Appears Accidental
Following repeated inquiries from The Salty Soldier, Army CID provided its most substantive statement yet regarding Hodges’ death.
“Although we are limited in what we can share while the investigation remains open and ongoing, the circumstances currently indicate an accidental death,” CID Public Affairs official Jason Mills said.
“Army CID is conducting a full investigation into Specialist Hodges’s death and will pursue every lead, including potential mental health concerns, to establish the facts and ensure accountability where warranted.”
CID said investigators have collected witness statements, gathered evidence and continue working with the agency’s laboratory in Georgia.
The agency did not identify what investigators believe caused Hodges’ death.
CID also did not say why investigators currently believe the death was accidental.
The Salty Soldier specifically cautions that CID did not say Hodges died from an overdose.
No official toxicology findings or final investigative conclusions have been released.
But the agency’s acknowledgment of potential mental-health concerns comes as The Salty Soldier has independently reviewed years of private messages and recordings documenting concerns about Hodges’ mental health, thoughts of death, reported substance abuse and abnormal behavior.
The Army Trains Soldiers to Recognize Warning Signs
The Army’s own suicide-prevention strategy is built around recognizing concerns before they escalate into crises.
The Department of War’s Calendar Year 2024 Annual Report on Suicide in the Military says prevention efforts are intended to “empower leaders to address problems before concerns become challenges and escalate to crises.”
The Department also says suicide-prevention training should equip service members with the skills needed to handle difficult conversations about suicide and personal challenges.
For the Army, one of the highlighted programs is the Ask, Care, Escort, or ACE, Lethal Means Safety Training Module.
The module is available service-wide to Soldiers, Army civilians and Army families.
According to the Department’s report, ACE gives participants an opportunity to discuss ways to support themselves and others and “help prevent suicide within their unit and support group.”
Commanders can tailor annual training to their unit’s needs.
The Army has also produced three rap videos showing a Soldier practicing ACE.
According to the Department, Army leaders commended the initiative and expressed enthusiasm about modernizing suicide-prevention training to better engage younger Soldiers.
Additional videos are being produced across different musical genres following what the Department described as widespread interest.
The Army’s efforts may sound unconventional.
The data behind them is not.
One in Four Communicated an Intent for Self-Harm
The Department reported 471 service members died by suicide in 2024.
Of those deaths, 302 involved active-component service members.
The Army recorded 133 active-component suicide deaths that year, with a rate of 29.8 deaths per 100,000 Soldiers.
The Department’s contextual data found that 25% of active-component service members who died by suicide in 2024 had communicated an intent for self-harm before their deaths.
Those communications were made to mental-health providers, friends, spouses or partners, and others.
The report also found that 47% had a mental-health diagnosis, a category that includes substance-use disorders.
Again, Hodges’ death has not been classified as a suicide.
The statistics do not establish how he died.
But they explain why the Army trains Soldiers to recognize direct communications about death, mental-health struggles and other signs of crisis.
Hodges wrote:
“I want to die.”
He wrote:
“I mean that’s what I want.”
He said nothing made him feel happy.
He described a voice in his head that was “against” him.
He wrote that drugs numbed his pain.
Months before his death, a person watching him on a livestream said his eyes were barely open and that “things didn’t look or feel right.”
A source recorded the behavior.
The source contacted another Soldier.
The source contacted a family member.
Those events occurred before anyone knew Tanner Hodges would be dead at 23.
What Happened After People Noticed?
Hodges was, by outward appearances, an exceptionally fit young Soldier.
He wrestled and played football in high school. Publicly shared photographs show a young man heavily involved in physical fitness and proud of his Army service.
Military service ran through his family.
Photos publicly shared by Hodges’ father show him in an Army Infantry uniform bearing the crest of the 16th Infantry Regiment, a unit long associated with Fort Riley—the installation where Tanner Hodges was born.
In one childhood photograph, Tanner is seen wearing his father’s beret.
Years later, he joined the Army himself.
The private messages and videos reviewed by The Salty Soldier reveal struggles not necessarily visible in photographs.
Whether anyone failed Hodges remains an unanswered question.
There is currently no evidence reviewed by The Salty Soldier showing Hodges’ commander, first sergeant, platoon leadership or behavioral-health personnel were aware of his private messages.
There is no evidence establishing that his chain of command saw the livestream recordings.
There is no evidence establishing that the concerns communicated to another Soldier ever moved higher.
Those facts matter.
But the existence of documented warning signs is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
The messages existed.
The livestreams existed.
People noticed a change in his behavior.
Someone described it in real time.
Someone recorded it.
Concerns were shared with another Soldier.
Concerns were raised with a family member.
All of that happened before Tanner Hodges was dead at 23.
The Army says its prevention strategy is designed to help Soldiers recognize warning signs and address problems before concerns escalate into crises.
CID says Hodges’ death currently appears accidental.
CID also says investigators are examining potential mental-health concerns and will pursue every lead to “ensure accountability where warranted.”
The question is no longer simply how Tanner Hodges died.
The question is who saw the warning signs, who heard about them, and what—if anything—was done after people noticed.
The Salty Soldier continues to investigate the death of Spc. Tanner Keagan Gene Hodges and is seeking information from Soldiers who knew or served with him. Individuals with firsthand information may contact The Salty Soldier. Sources requesting confidentiality will be protected.
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