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.

[debm29palms]

http://www.jdnews.com/articles/stand_54339___article.html/police_area.html

There’s a police stand off in Jacksonville as of 5 minutes ago. Don’t know if it’s about this case.....

[Girlene]

The wife must have known about the car too.

Could be. But I'm realizing some of this reporting is pretty poor after looking into some of the claims. According to one of the earlier reports I read, her car was parked at the bus station/fast food place since Dec. 15. So I'm not sure what to believe as fact. Once they find him, more answers will come out.

But it is hard to believe with all the blood the sheriff reported about, painting the wall, rape allegation, possible car parked in front of her house, that the wife didn't know something was up. Who knows, maybe she was out of town for the holidays. The best thing about the reporting is that the suspect's face is plastered everywhere. He's not going to be able to hide for long.

[brityank]

Not that I like it, but in this case I have to agree with XeniaSt: the Marines from Hamdaniya were sent back to Lejeune, and allowed full On and Off Base privileges. They weren’t placed in lockdown solitary confinement until they landed at Pendleton. Those of Haditha were restricted to Base/Quarters on arrival at Pendleton. Others in Theatre have been similarly restricted on base or brig.

This guy has a Rape charge, and allowed full freedom? That smacks of piss-poor leadership all the way to the top, and wouldn’t happen in any civilian jurisdiction or Military that I’m aware of.

[sodpoodle]

**This guy has a Rape charge, and allowed full freedom?**

Can only assume the incident was not reported immediately and she had no DNA evidence to support her allegation - & when she found out she was pregnant - she felt confident her complaint could be proven.

If NCIS questioned him - you can be sure he said sex was consensual.

[getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL]

I was hopeful this morning that the authorities were going to pounce on him by early afternoon. Hmmm.

[debm29palms]

They have updated the story. The stand off is not related to the case. It’s some other violent crime occuring in Jacksonville. The police are busy today!

[brityank]

If NCIS questioned him - you can be sure he said sex was consensual.

All rapist sex is consensual; ask any of them.

That's why if let out, it's usually on a high enough bail to cause some real hurt if they don't appear for their cases.

Found this too:

The Daily News asked Paul Ciccarelli, a civilian in charge of NCIS at Camp Lejeune, during a press conference Friday whether a military protective order had been issued on the behalf of Lauterbach against Laurean. He answered that he was not aware of such an order.

Brown said not only was Ciccarelli unaware of it, neither was Col. Adele Hodges, the base’s commanding officer.

Brown said he joined Ciccarelli in meeting with Hodges on the base Wednesday to talk about their investigation into Lauterbach’s disappearance.

“I spoke to Hodges about the case on Wednesday, and I am confident she did not know about it,” he said late Saturday.

[sodpoodle]

The next question will be; *Are there so many of these type of complaints at Camp LeJeune, that NCIS has a huge, unaccounted backlog?*

[freema]

NCIS was in charge of the rape investigation. The Corps doesn’t have any jurisdiction over NCIS. The court documents (which I linked earlier on this thread) included statements by Ohio LE that are pure common sense in that a woman pregnant, by an alleged rape, wouldn’t just disappear near term. NCIS should have executed a search warrant immediately. They’re too freaken busy trying to defend insurgents to bother. What’s one more Marine burned at the stake. Besides, this really works in their behalf. Marines are cold blooded murderers, remember.

[NCjim]

A man who lives next door to Cesar Laurean says he loaned the Marine a shovel a week before Christmas.

What is believed to be the remains of 20-year-old Maria Lauterbach and her unborn child were unearthed in Laurean's backyard fire pit in Jacksonville Saturday. Lauterbach was last seen December 14.

The next-door neighbor and his family were at the Onslow County Sheriff's Office at 2 p.m. today, perhaps helping authorities map out Lauterbach's final days.

The neighbor also told WITN News he saw Laurean driving Lauterbach's car the week before Christmas. The neighbor says Laurean parked it at his home, during a time in which Laurean's wife car was not there.

[getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL]

In a few articles, Laurean is described as Mexican. What’s that about? Anyone know?

[freema]

Authorities said earlier Sunday they could be less than two hours behind the fugitive, and Brown expressed hope that Laurean would be in custody soon.

Suspect in Slain Marine Case Seen in La.

By MIKE BAKER

The Associated Press

Sunday, January 13, 2008; 3:52 PM

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/13/AR2008011300406.html?hpid=sec-nation

[JoeSixPack1]

Thank you for the Ping! :-)

Very disgusting episode for Lejeune.

Semper Fi

[NCjim]

The federal warrant announced Sunday charges Laurean with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, said FBI officials in Charlotte. Bureau spokesman Newsom Summerlin said that while investigators don't have any reason to believe he's fled the country, that remains a possibility.

"Nowadays, with international travel, you just never know where a fugitive is going to end up," Summerlin said. "There is always the possibility that they could flee internationally."

[NCjim]

I would think it would be straightforward to send an alert to the international flight desk/passport control. But what do I know?

[getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL]

I still think it’s odd that no one from his family — not even his wife - has made any sort of plea to him to surrender.

[NCjim]

I also find it strange which makes me question what she knew and when she knew it...

[sodpoodle]

If he was ever on a bus, surely the State troopers in Texas and Louisiana would have pulled over all Greyhounds buses by now or alerted the drivers by cell/radio.

[usmcobra]

They will pull the bus over in the wee hours of the night when he is fast asleep after slipping one of their own on board. He’ll wake up to a flashlight and the barrel of a gun in his face and the warning not to move a inch.

[sodpoodle]

I pray you are right;)