NBC 4 New York learned Wednesday from a Pentagon source that Morales was dismissed from the Marine Reserve Corps in May because she wasn't attending drills. It wasn't immediately clear how often those drills were held, and Morales did not respond to a request for comment.
Morales was formally discharged, or released from the Marines, under conditions that were other than honorable, according to the source.
She was stationed in Newburgh, N.Y., and began serving in July 2009, military sources said.
A woman who served with Morales told NBC 4 New York that the commitment is a serious one.
"I wouldn't want anyone to think she was a part of my Marine Corps family, because she's not," said the woman, who asked to remain anonymous because she is still on active duty.
Others who say they knew her tell NBC 4 New York there were things about her background that didn't seem to add up.
A woman who says she and Morales worked together at a Cheesecake Factory in Nyack, N.Y., last year said Morales told coworkers she had brain cancer.
"She came in with her hair shaved because she wanted to shave it herself before she lost it," said Jacqie Fitzpatrick.
Fitzpatrick said Morales also leaned on the cancer story to accept offers of help from friends at work.
Then, she abruptly quit, according to Fitzpatrick, and her coworkers didn't see her again until she appeared in news reports about the receipt.
