A Marine's Tragic Disappearance, Death - UPDATED 1/12

While this is not a crime that occurred in Raleigh, I feel it shouldn't be overlooked.

Not much is known about what happened to Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, though authorities are now saying they have substantial evidence that she is dead and buried somewhere in Onslow County. They do not know where her body is, or if the baby was born, or who the father of the child is. I've pasted a timeline of her case below.

There's much to be said about her case. Lauterbach accused a superior officer, 21-year-old Cpl. Marine Cesar Armando Laurean, of rape, but the investigation had gone sour. The police have named Laurean a suspect in this case, and he currently can't be located.

Recently, Lauterbach's stepmother said she was a compulsive liar and bipolar. I'm wondering if this had anything to do with the investigation not turning out in favor of Lauterbach.

This is all just pure speculation, but if Laurean is the father of the child, and denies sexually assaulting Lauterbach, the child's birth may be detrimental to his side of the story. The fact that Laurean has disappeared does not make him look good. And if this is true, I would say the Naval investigators did a poor job in looking at the allegations and in thinking Laurean was not a flight risk.

To read the search warrants in the case, go here.

Despite everything, this is yet another tragic case. More to come.

Timeline

December 14: Lauterbach's stepmother, Mary Lauterbach, said she had a heated telephone conversation with her about putting the baby up for adoption. This is the last time anyone has heard from her.

December 15: Lauterbach purchases a one-way bus ticket to El Paso, Texas. The ticket has never been used.

December 19: Lauterbach is reported missing by her stepmother, who tells the police department that Lauterbach is 8 months pregnant and bi-polar, and had a history of lying.

December 20: Lauterbach's cell phone is found near the main gate at Camp Lejeune. Her roommate, Marine Sgt. Daniel Durham, is brought in for questioning, though he is not a subject.

December 24: An unidentified white male attempted to use Lauterbach's ATM card at the Marine Federal Credit Union. He attempted to cover the ATM's security camera with a rag.

December 26: Lauterbach misses a prenatal care appointment.

January 7: Lauterbach's car is found at a bus station near Camp Lejeune.

January 11: Authorities say Lauterbach is dead and buried somewhere in Onslow County, though they don't know where. Laurean is a suspect, but authorities cannot find him.

Update, 3:30 p.m.

Authorities have found what they believe to be Lauterbach's remains in a fire pit in the backyard of Laurean's residence. The remains are skeletal, charred, and dental records have been sent to confirm it is Lauterbach's remains. The remains of a fetus were also found.

Police were tipped off to the body by Laurean's wife, who found a letter from Laurean saying Lauterbach came to his place and cut her own throat. There was also a massive amount of blood on one of the walls, as well as some blood spatters on the ceiling and in the garage. It appeared as if someone had tried to clean the blood and paint over it.

Forgive me if I'm not buying Laurean's side of the story, especially since he hasn't been seen since 4 a.m. yesterday. An arrest warrant has now been issued for him.

Lauterbach had a private MySpace page, in which she last logged in on November 3. But she also had an old MySpace page where she last logged in in March, about 9 months ago, around the same time she became pregnant. It has some information about her, such as likes and dislikes.

Laurean also had a MySpace page, but it seems to have been cleared out. He last logged in on October 30.

There were several Facebook pages set up to help find Lauterbach, and some posted their memories of her. Yesterday, one girl wrote:

My best friend and I met Maria one weekend ths past October in Camp LeJeune. We came down to see some friends of ours and Maria, at that time, had lived in the barracks that our friends lived in and was friends with them also. I personally thought Maria was a very nice and welcoming girl, I had talked to her about her thoughts on being a female in the Marine Corps because at the time, I was in the process of making my decision to join. I just recently joined as an officer, and some of the things she said to me during our conversation that night helped me in my decision. We also talked about our fathers, she had told me that her father was a Master Sergeant and my father is a Master Gunnery Sgt, so we laughed and joked around about that together. She had also mentioned her rape to my friend and I, and by looking at her, you could tell she had a little stomach on her. My best friend and I found Maria to be a girl who had been emotionally drained and looking for someone to befriend her. My best friend and I gave her our numbers and told her that if she ever needed to talk, to just give us a call. Wednesday night when i saw her on Fox News Channel, I was in shock and disbelief. I told myself "that can't be the girl we met at LeJeune, it just can't be". Then yesterday when they released more pictures of her, I knew it was the same person. All of the new information released today just absolutely breaks my heart. She was an extremely friendly person and did not deserve anything that allegedly happened to her, including her prior rape. My thoughts and prayers are continuously with her family and friends. Semper Fi.

A horrible ending to the story. Hopefully this man, Laurean, will be caught soon. He's not someone who needs to be running away.

Photos from Wral.com