Pregnant Marine missing...

[virgo]

.....she was supposed to testify about an incident that took place aty Camp Lejeune. (http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/01/09/missing.marine/index.html)



(CNN) -- A search is under way for a pregnant 20-year-old Marine who has been missing from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, since December 14.

Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach could give birth at any time, Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown told the Jacksonville, North Carolina, Daily News on Monday.

The sheriff's department said Lauterbach's mother said that her daughter, of Montgomery, Ohio, had witnessed an incident at Camp Lejeune and was to testify about it.

Sheriff's department officials said evidence causes them to be concerned about Lauterbach's disappearance, WITN reported.

The Marine's car was found Monday at Jacksonville's bus station, Brown told the Daily News, and her cell phone had been found at Camp Lejeune's front gate on December 20.

Her mother reported her missing on December 19, and told the sheriff's department "that she was very suspicious that something bad may have happened to her daughter," the department said in a news release.

Investigators told the Marine Corps Times that a withdrawal from Lauterbach's bank account was made on December 14 and said there was "suspicious activity" on the account 10 days later. December 14 was also the last time Lauterbach's cell phone was used, authorities told the Marine Corps Times.

[virgo]

REPORT: Missing Marine was allegedly raped (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,321846,00.html)



Oh no. I was worried something bad like this had happened to her. I pray they find her and her baby alive. :(

[virgo]

Boy. This keeps getting more interesting. (http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/01/10/missing.marine/index.html)


JACKSONVILLE, North Carolina (CNN) -- The Onslow County sheriff Thursday pleaded with pregnant missing Marine Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach to come forward and get help.

"Regardless of the circumstances this has got to stop," Sheriff Ed Brown told a news conference Thursday afternoon.

While the sheriff wouldn't say definitively that the 20-year-old Marine is alive, he said he was leaning toward a positive outcome in the case.

"You pray that she's alive," he said.

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[dollfus46]

Boy, she surely doesn't look like a marine. Dayum! No facial stubble, no square jaw. She's even got a neck.

[virgo]

How so very sad.

Pregnant Marine is dead. (http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/01/11/missing.marine/index.html)


JACKSONVILLE, North Carolina (CNN) -- Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, the pregnant Marine who was missing from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, is dead, the Onslow County sheriff said Friday.

The suspect in the case is Cpl. Cesar Armando Lauren, 21, a fellow Marine whom Lauterbach had accused of raping her, Sheriff Ed Brown said at a news conference Friday.


Authorities were "searching the area for the grave that could be in and around the place where she was murdered," Brown said. He quickly said he wasn't ready to call her death murder.

"I am not calling it murder because the story has got some twists and turns," he said.

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[CircusRide]

Another meatgrinder for this sick SOB.

[amanda]

He's not calling it murder? Hello? She's dead, the baby I imagine is dead, and they are in a grave somewhere - and he doesn't call it murder? Well it sure and the he!! isn't suicide since I don't see her being able to bury herself if she is dead. Where are these people at because I want to make sure I stay clear of the area.

[virgo]

This whole thing has been kind of bizarre from the get-go. Why is there a month in lag time from the time she disappeared and the time her mom reported it to the time it was made public?

[dollfus46]

He's not calling it murder? Hello? She's dead, the baby I imagine is dead, and they are in a grave somewhere - and he doesn't call it murder? Well it sure and the he!! isn't suicide since I don't see her being able to bury herself if she is dead. Where are these people at because I want to make sure I stay clear of the area.
I'd like to have the ACLU tell us where the line is between a double murder and late term abortion for the child.:smt009

[amanda]

I'd like to have the ACLU tell us where the line is between a double murder and late term abortion for the child.:smt009

I think most states have declared that injury resulting in the death of an unborn fetus is murder. I'd think both would classify as such, but I guess no one will know until the "investigation" ends. It's just funny to me that the Sheriff declares he doesn't think it is a murder given the fact that she and the baby are dead, by someone elses hand apparently.

Scratching head.....be interested in seeing the conclusion of this mess.

[virgo]

This case only gets sadder and sadder. (http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080112/NEWS01/80112007)


JACKSONVILLE, N.C. - Authorities detailed gruesome evidence of a pregnant Marine's death Saturday as they excavated a fire pit where they believe a comrade she accused of rape burned and buried her body after a horrific attack.

Investigators have found blood spatters on the ceiling and a massive amount of blood on the wall of the home of Marine Cpl. Cesar Armando Laurean, Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown said. It appeared that someone had tried to wash and paint over the blood, he said.


"I believe this is going to be a bizarre discovery today," Brown said. "The blood splatters indicate a violent, violent attack."

A nationwide search for Laurean continued Saturday, a day after Brown identified him as the key suspect in the death of 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Maria Frances Lauterbach. She disappeared in December, just days after meeting with military prosecutors to talk about her allegation that Laurean raped her.

Before fleeing Jacksonville early Friday, Brown said, Laurean left a note that said Lauterbach had "come to his residence and cut her (own) throat." Brown confirmed Saturday that authorities received the note from Laurean's wife, Christina, around 8 a.m. Friday, about four hours after they suspect he fled.

Laurean wrote in the note that he had nothing to do with Lauterbach's suicide, but that he had buried her body, the sheriff said.

Authorities have dismissed the idea that Lauterbach killed herself, pointing to the blood stains and the obvious signs of a cleanup inside Laurean's one-story, brown brick ranch home. Brown challenged Laurean, who has not been charged with a crime, to come forward and defend his claims of innocence.

[amanda]

Just FYI, given our discussions above regarding the death of the fetus, it appears North Carolina is one of the few remaining states that does not consider the baby's death murder. How sad. At 8 months the baby could have survived, it should be murder in my opinion. However, the military would consider it a murder. So who gets jurisdiction? That will be the next battle in this mess.

[virgo]

I bet that sheriff is eating his words now about how he didn't want to call it a murder. The whole way this young woman was treated by the authorities from the beginning really bothers me.

And the whole set up reminds me of the Texas Cadet Murder .... I wonder if the suspect's wife had anything to do with this.

[H'burger]

This whole thing has been kind of bizarre from the get-go. Why is there a month in lag time from the time she disappeared and the time her mom reported it to the time it was made public?

That's exactly what I've been wondering myself. It looks like maybe the authorities (and family members, for that matter) chalked the girl's disappearance up to her mental illness, and didn't take it all that seriously. There sure has been a lot of discussion over her being a pathological liar and having bipolar disorder.
Just yesterday morning the sheriff was saying he felt like the witness information would result in a positive outcome.

That sheriff needs to get a PR spokesman to address the press for him. I'm sure that's a brutal situation to be in, but he gets very defensive and argumentative with reporters, which just makes him look inept.

[amanda]

First, per the article, there was only 5 days before the family reported her missing. The article, and I heard a repeat last night on CNN, that the family spoke to her on December 14th and reported her missing on the 19th.

The Sheriff really needs to think before he speaks. As to her mental state, the only person in her family so far that has called her bipolar and a liar is her step-mother. I don't know how much credence I would give her opinion after watching her being interviewed. She seems to be somewhat of a b*tch.

[H'burger]

That was the step-mother? I must have missed that part. I thought she was the girl's mother.

[virgo]

First, per the article, there was only 5 days before the family reported her missing. The article, and I heard a repeat last night on CNN, that the family spoke to her on December 14th and reported her missing on the 19th.

The Sheriff really needs to think before he speaks. As to her mental state, the only person in her family so far that has called her bipolar and a liar is her step-mother. I don't know how much credence I would give her opinion after watching her being interviewed. She seems to be somewhat of a b*tch.

I read somewhere where her aunt or uncle or someone said the mother said the only reason why her mother said it was so that the police knew of the girl's past. I guess I can understand that, but I don't know why that was even a focal point of the investigation. I mean at one time the sheriff was talking to the girl (who had already been murdered and her remains burned) and asking her to "come home." Meanwhile, the poor woman and defenseless baby had already been buried and were waiting for someone to find them.

I dunno, but the first place I would have looked, after she was reported missing was the house of the man she had accused of rape. I mean, my goodness, they could have found out what had happened before Christmas! It's all so sad.

[virgo]

That was the step-mother? I must have missed that part. I thought she was the girl's mother.


I think she was pretty much the woman who raised her, but yes, the woman is her step-mom. Several media reports initially identified her as the girl's mom.

[amanda]

I dunno, but the first place I would have looked, after she was reported missing was the house of the man she had accused of rape. I mean, my goodness, they could have found out what had happened before Christmas! It's all so sad.


Anderson Cooper said the same thing to the Sheriff last night. There has been a lot of boggling in this investigation. I'm no cop, but my common sense tells me that would be the first place I'd be checking out. I think they were quick to assume that she just ran off to avoid testifying. I can't put my hands on the article I read about the stepmother giving information to the Navy for their rape investigation that called into question Maria's mental state. I'll try to find it later, but with all the updates on the story over the last couple of days its gotten buried somewhere.

[IBB]

This is just all horrific!!! I also believe that they should charge whoever for TWO murders!!!

[H'burger]

Such a sad story. Unfortunately some people, even authority figures, have pre-conceived notions when they hear even a passing reference to a person having mental disabilities. I hope that hasn't been the case with this sheriff.

[virgo]

Adult, fetus found in shallow grave (http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/01/12/missing.marine/index.html)


I hope they find the SOB. The gruesome details make me sick. That poor woman.


JACKSONVILLE, North Carolina (CNN) -- The remains of an adult and a fetus were found Saturday in a shallow grave in the backyard of the primary suspect in the death of a pregnant Marine, Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown announced.

An arrest warrant has been issued for Cpl. Cesar Armando Laurean in the death of Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach.

He is charged with first-degree murder, although authorities have not positively identified the body as hers.

"This is consistent with what we were looking for: A pregnant lady who is the victim Maria Lauterbach and her unborn child," Brown said.

The body was charred, and the fetus was in the victim's abdomen, Brown said, describing the scene in gruesome detail.

The fetus was developed enough that the "little hand was about the size of my thumb. The little fingers were rolled up," he said.

"One of the things that will probably stick with me for a long time, and forever, is that little hand, the way those fingers were turned, that had been burned off the arm. That is bizarre. That is tragic. And it's disgusting."

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[IBB]

My gosh. Every update on this story gets sadder and sadder.

Why didn't they search the guy's house after she was reported missing? She's probably been dead for about a month. And that poor baby... :(

[virgo]

Urgency of search for Marine questioned (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080112/ap_on_re_us/missing_marine)

About time someone questions the urgency of this entire case. Unfortunately, it's too late for the poor woman and her baby.

[virgo]

Well all be darned. It turns out she was murdered (http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/01/15/missing.marine/index.html). (sense my sarcasm?)


JACKSONVILLE, North Carolina (CNN) -- The charred remains discovered behind the home of a man accused of killing Marine Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach are hers, and she died from blunt trauma to the head, a prosecutor said Tuesday.

District Attorney Dewey Hudson announced the results after an autopsy on Lauterbach, but he admitted that questions remain.

The woman was eight months' pregnant. If her child was born and then killed, it would constitute another murder charge, Hudson said.

The FBI stepped up its search for Marine Cpl. Cesar Armando Laurean, 21, the man wanted in Lauterbach's death, posting pictures of the suspect on electronic billboards across the country.