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http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2008/01/12/ddn011208marinelocal.html

Have you guys read this yet? It was nice to read about Maria’s life back home especially since we have mostly heard only that Maria was compulsive, etc.

Word of missing Marine’s fate spreads quickly in Vandalia
Maria Lauterbach was active at Butler High School, St. Christopher parish.

By Margo Rutledge Kissell
Staff Writer
Saturday, January 12, 2008

VANDALIA — Shortly before Vandalia Butler High School let out on Friday, Alex Smith learned authorities in North Carolina believed former student Maria Lauterbach was likely dead.

“I just found out,” the 17-year-old senior said of the missing lance corporal who graduated from the school in 2006. “It’s kind of devastating.”

Word spread quickly about Lauterbach, who had shined on the softball and soccer fields. Some text-messaged the news to classmates, while others who had access to the Internet on classroom computers went online.

Smith said a TV news headline about a missing Marine at Camp Lejeune, N.C., earlier in the week grabbed his attention because his brother, Donnie, 22, also is a lance corporal stationed there.

When he then saw Lauterbach’s photo, he couldn’t believe it.

He had known her because both attended St. Christopher parish in Vandalia.

“She was real active in the church,” he said.

The news captivated the lunchtime crowd that had gathered at Christy’s Family Pizzeria across the street from the high school. A large flat-screen TV was tuned into the news conference, carried live by both national and local TV stations.

“When the story came on, everyone told me to turn up the volume,” said owner Steve Dent, 40. “They were glued to it.”

As the story began drawing national attention, Dent began following the developments.

“You hope for the best, but the chances looked slim” she would turn up alive, he said. “It’s just tragic.”

Rose Hurst, 69, had hoped for a better outcome, too. The employee of Jan’s Flowers and Gifts raised her hand to her chest and held it after she heard the latest.

“I thought they would find her,” said Hurst, noting her 20-year-old granddaughter had attended Butler and the Miami Valley Career Technology Center with Lauterbach. “I thought she ran away.”

But going AWOL from her base was not something Marine Staff Sgt. Sam Mao, a recruiter in Huber Heights, thought Lauterbach would do.

“She joined the Marine Corps for a big challenge. She was a tough girl,” he recalled earlier this week. “She was determined to succeed.”

Earlier this week, her mother, Mary Lauterbach, said the “physical demands” appealed to her daughter, who was very athletic in high school. In Maria’s senior year at Butler, she was named by the Miami Valley Scholastic Soccer Coaches Association to the Division I Girls North third team midfielders.

She received special mention honors in the Greater Western Ohio Conference’s Western Division as a softball outfielder.

She also was familiar with the military.

Her father, Victor Lauterbach, is an Air Force Reserve master sergeant in the 87th Aerial Port Squadron, which is part of the 445th Airlift Wing at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The squadron is responsible for the on- and off-loading of equipment, cargo and personnel onto aircraft.

Marine Corps officials called the weekend of her high school graduation and said they wanted her to report to boot camp that Tuesday.

“She thoroughly enjoyed boot camp,” Mary Lauterbach said.

While in advance training, she injured her ankle and was assigned to a clerical position. At some point, she got a Marine Corps tattoo on her upper right arm.

Her mother said Maria, who was adopted at 19 months, tended to be a loner. The Lauterbachs have four younger children, too.

“We did adopt her as a toddler. She was taken away from her natural parents,” she said.

Maria would compulsively call home several times a day, so it was unusual when she stopped calling after a discussion with her mother about a planned trip to North Carolina before Christmas. At the time, Maria was eight months pregnant and unable to travel. Her due date for a baby boy she intended to name Gabriel Joseph was to be Tuesday.

A statement from her family released early Friday included this message to Maria: “We miss you; we love you; and we want you to return safely. Everyone will welcome you with open arms.”

But within hours, authorities were already working to recover the young Marine’s remains.