Missing (Pregnant) Marine Dead, Authorities Say

KWTX ^ | 1/11/2008 | n/a

[Pyro7480]

January 11, 2008)--Authorities in North Carolina said late Friday morning pregnant Marine Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach is dead.

They said she’s buried in a shallow grave, for which investigators are now searching.

They identified the suspect in the case as a Marine officer whom she accused of sexually assaulting her.

Police earlier were planning to interview a man who lived with her and said he would answer questions that "will shed a lot of light on the case."

Authorities said again Friday Marine Sgt. Daniel Durham isn't a suspect, but police believe he's the last person to speak with the Marine.

She disappeared Dec. 14 ahead of her expected testimony in a military investigation into her claim a senior officer had sexually assaulted her.

Court documents show the investigation went sour amid inconsistencies in the woman's story and allegations that she's bipolar and a compulsive liar.

Search warrants show she was facing a possible discharge from the service.

Lauterbach was eight months pregnant when she disappeared.

[Brian S. Fitzgerald]

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/interpol-enters-search-for-fugitive-marine,264818.shtml

Interpol Enters Search for Fugitive Marine

Posted : Mon, 28 Jan 2008 21:16:22 GMT

Author : U.S. Department of Justice

Category : PressRelease

WASHINGTON, Jan. 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Interpol-United States National Central Bureau (USNCB), a component of the U.S. Department of Justice, has requested the issuance of an Interpol Red Notice seeking the world-wide location, apprehension, and extradition of Cesar Armando Laurean-Ramirez. Laurean-Ramirez is the North Carolina Marine wanted for 1st Degree Murder of a missing Marine from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Working closely with the investigating agencies, the Onslow County Sheriff's Department and the Onslow County District Attorney's Office, as well as the FBI, the USNCB broadcasted an international "All Points Bulletin" to law enforcement agencies in 185 countries and the Interpol General Secretariat, located in Lyon, France on January 26, 2008.

This information and the Red Notice are placed in law enforcement databases in Interpol's member countries to assist law enforcement officers in locating the fugitive. If the fugitive is located, foreign police authorities will immediately notify the USNCB, and in many countries will detain the fugitive. The Red Notice is the formal wanted notice published by the Interpol General Secretariat and contains information on the fugitive, the facts in the case, and the charges filed against him by Onslow County authorities. The Notice is distributed to all member countries in four official languages, English, Spanish, French, and Arabic and remains in effect until the fugitive is captured.

"The Interpol Red Notice is a powerful tool that can assist North Carolina authorities in locating and apprehending Laurean and is placed not only in foreign law enforcement databases and border lookout systems, but the central database queried by all 186 Interpol member countries. We are here to assist the authorities in Onslow County at an international level to locate and bring this fugitive back to North Carolina to stand trial," advised Martin Renkiewicz, the Director of the USNCB and a senior Department of Homeland Security law enforcement official.

Once published, this Red Notice will also appear on the public Interpol Web site, http://www.interpol.int/ for information and possible assistance of citizens worldwide.

U.S. Department of Justice

[Brian S. Fitzgerald]

http://gretawire.foxnews.com/

by Greta Van Susteren

Breaking News…yes, FINALLY!!!

Check out the email I just received from OTR Producer Steph Watts in Mexico:

From: Watts, Stephen

To: Van Susteren, Greta; .

Sent: Mon Jan 28 16:05:40 2008

Subject: Breaking News

A Provisional Arrest Warrant was issued in Mexico by a Mexican court for the arrest of Cesar Laurean. This happened right after our meeting with officials at the embassy.

[Brian S. Fitzgerald]

http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2008/01/28/ddn012808marinemomweb.html

Slain marine's mom on 'Today' show Tuesday

By Dave Larsen

Staff Writer Monday, January 28, 2008

Mary Lauterbach will be interviewed Tuesday on NBC's "Today." Lauterbach is the mother of Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, the slain pregnant Marine from Vandalia.

Mary Lauterbach will be interviewed live on "Today" by co-anchor Matt Lauer in the show's New York City studio. Her appearance is scheduled for the 7 a.m. hour, likely around 7:30 a.m., according to "Today's" media spokeswoman. The show is broadcast in the Dayton area by WDTN-TV, Channel 2.

Maria Lauterbach, a 2006 graduate of Butler High School in Vandalia, was stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C., when she disappeared Dec. 14. Authorities recovered her remains, and those of her unborn child, on Jan. 12 from a fire pit in Jacksonville, N.C., where they suspect Marine Cpl. Cesar Armando Laurean burned and buried her body.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is leading the fugitive hunt for Laurean, who is being sought on murder charges. He is thought to be in Mexico.

Visitation for Maria Lauterbach will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday at St. Christopher Church in Vandalia.

A Mass of Christian burial will be held at the church at 10 a.m. Saturday, with burial following in Calvary Cemetery.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2419 or dlarsen@DaytonDailyNews.com.

[IamHD]

"Authorities recovered her remains, and those of her unborn child,"

That's only the 2nd time (that I have read) that Maria's baby has been referred to as a child rather than a fetus. It was probably from the same newspaper, too.

If Cesar isn't found, how long do you think that they might keep an eye on the wife? Let's say a little on down the road the wife wants to take a vacation....to Mexico. Are they going to watch her forever?

[freema]

Skateboard shoes are the equivalent of ‘tennis shoes’ when I was a kid. There are only 2,378,789 different kinds of sneakers now. LOL! I would get a headache shopping for shoes when they were in school. What I thought were ugly, they loved, and what I loved, they thought were ugly. Then THAT changed, and I never did catch on : )

[freema]

I am glad to hear this. Sad, but glad.

She needs to do this for her daughter, and for herself.

Unfortunately.

I’m sure she’d rather be doing anything else.

I wonder if NCIS has taken a statement from her.

[freema]

Good to know you made it home safely.

[Brian S. Fitzgerald]

Putting a fire under the Mexican govt. is important by impressing the nastiness of the crime on them. I don’t think Mexico, when it is fully informed in the days and weeks ahead, will want Cesar around. His relatives will not either, after the Federales and Policias start making their visits.

[freema]

This is such a shame. He looks like a nice boy.

[IamHD]

It's official now. Maria was pregnant with a baby boy,
and the date of death was the 15th of December, 2007.

Obituary

[IamHD]

Where was Maria from the 14th until her death on 15th? Where was the wife?

[Brian S. Fitzgerald]

Here is Cesar Laurean's Interpol page:

http://www.interpol.int/public/data/wanted/notices/data/2008/52/2008_3552.asp

[Brian S. Fitzgerald]

Curious, the obit seems to use outdated information.

[Lyn_2IDMom]

I thought it contained outdated info also and wondered since she thought she was having a son and already named him that maybe the family chose to go with that.

I know my 2nd was to be a girl from ultra sound and it was a boy and several others who thought it was a boy and turned out to be a girl. We might never know.

The date also....there were tons of reports from ME about the 14th, the first being in or around the 15th based on Christina’s info. But then the party was on the 14th...something fishy for sure. Guess only Cesar has the real truth, should he ever wish to disclose it.

[apocalypto]

Mexico is a backward, corrupt country and has protected worse criminals. Mexico wants to dictate our criminal laws and our immigration policies.

A monster like Cesar deserves nothing less than the death penalty. I am sickened by how he mutilated her and buried her and the baby and held barbecues on top of their bodies.

[Girlene]

The autopsy indicated the baby was a girl, and authorities determined she was killed on December 14. The military autopsy never reported the baby’s sex. Unless officials modify either one of those facts, I’d assume the obit is mistaken.

Did anyone catch the interview with Mary Lauterbach? I missed it.

[Lyn_2IDMom]

I missed it also but found the link and just watched it, no new news.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032633/#

About 9 min in length, if it takes you to the homepage you will find it in the upper right corner for now.

[Girlene]

Thanks! From reading the article, seems the mom is pushing for changes in how rape allegations are handled by the military. Good for her. It seems because the alleged rape(s) occurred on base, the military had jurisdiction of handling the case, and did not report the incident(s) to civilian authorities. I hope she also speaks out about inadequacy of the MPO. An MPO was issued, but the two still had contact during meetings. Also, since both parties could have interacted off base, civlian authorities should also have been involved with a restraining order. I wonder if an MPO is enforceable by military authorities once a person leaves base.

[Lyn_2IDMom]

Military Protective (Restraining) Orders In the civilian justice system, a "restraining order" or "protective order" is issued by a judge when a party petitions the court for protection from another individual. The United States Military Justice System has its own version of "restraining orders," more commonly referred to as "military protective orders," but which are officially "conditions on liberty." Rule 304 of the Manual for Courts-Martial (MCM) allows commanders to impose "pre-trial restraints" under certain circumstances. Pretrial restraint is moral or physical restraint on a person’s liberty which is imposed before and during disposition of offenses. Pretrial restraint may consist of restriction in lieu of arrest, arrest, confinement, or conditions on liberty. Conditions on liberty. Conditions on liberty are imposed by orders directing a person to do or refrain from doing specified acts. Such conditions may be imposed in conjunction with other forms of restraint or separately. A "Military Protective Order" falls under the category of "Conditions on Liberty." Unlike the civilian justice system which requires a judge to grant a protective or restraining order, in the military any commissioned officer can impose a condition on liberty on any enlisted member. Only a commanding officer of who's authority the member is subject can impose a condition on liberty on a commissioned or warrant officer. The authority to impose a condition on liberty on a commission or warrant officer cannot be delegated. However, a commanding officer may delegate to warrant, petty, and noncommissioned officers authority to impose conditions on liberty of enlisted persons of the commanding officer’s command or subject to the authority of that commanding officer. For example, it is quite common for commanders to delegate the authority to impose conditions on liberty to their first sergeants. Authorities cannot impose conditions on liberty on a whim. In order for the protective order to be valid, there must be "reasonable belief" that: * An offense triable by court-martial has been committed; * The person to be restrained committed it; and The restraint ordered is required by the circumstances. Here are some examples of when military authorities will commonly impose a condition on liberty: * A commander receives information which gives him reasonable belief that a member of his command is having an affair with a married person. The commander orders the member not to have any contact with the person until the divorce is final. * A first sergeant responds to a domestic situation at the house of one of the enlisted personnel assigned to his command. Upon arrival he views evidence that an assault occurred. The first sergeant orders the military member to sleep in the barracks that night, and orders the member to have no contact with his spouse until further notice. * A commissioned officer breaks up a fight between two enlisted members. She orders them not to have any contact with each other until further notice. * A first sergeant is notified that one of her enlisted members has bounced several checks. She orders the enlisted member not to write any more checks until further notice. * A member is waiting a decision on whether or not he is going to be court-martialed. As such decisions sometimes take several weeks, he asks to go on leave (vacation) for a week, and the commander approves it. The commander orders the member to call his supervisor each day while on leave to check-in. While most conditions on liberty are in writing, there is no requirement that they be so. A verbal order is just as valid. Quite often an authority will impose a verbal condition on liberty and follow it up with a written order when time allows. A condition on liberty is a legal order. If a member violates the the order, he or she is subject to punishment under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) for Article 90, Willfully Disobeying a Superior Commissioned Officer, Article 91, Willfully Disobeying the Lawful Order of a Warrant Officer, Noncommissioned Officer, or Petty Officer, or Article 92, Failure to Obey an Order or Regulation.

[najida]

Also, in Mexico, crimes against women are covered up by a Machismo attitude. All Lauren has to do is say she insulted him, deserved it, lied, was a slut etc and he’ll get protection from not only the locals but LEO also.

Folks were mocking ‘women only buses’ in Mexico in another thread, what they don’t understand, is it being ‘bad’ to mistreat females is alien concept to many.