Good thoughts, but the bus ticket wasn’t (or allegedly wasn’t) purchased until the next day, the 15th. And the wife said that she went to the party on the 15th. Where was Maria all night?
I think the problem with the 14th/15th date of the Christmas party was solved in the
Dayton Daily article. The party that Christina refers to was on the 14th. Same party that Maria was invited to. From the article.
Mary Lauterbach's last conversation with her daughter occurred Dec. 14, when Maria called her about 2:30 p.m. at her office at the University of Dayton. Maria felt she needed to make an appearance at a command Christmas party, even though she knew Laurean would be there.
"Call me when you get home from the party," her mother said.
Christina said she went to the party and that Cesear stayed home. Christina says that's when Maria died. Maria never called her mother back. So did Maria ever make it to that party, or the base parking lot, or what?