Marine About to Testify Goes Missing

Post by **LadyTevar** » 2008-01-09 06:21pm

.... and she's Pregnant as well.

CNN wrote: PREGNANT MARINE MISSING FROM NORTH CAROLINA BASE

(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 was eight months pregnant when she went missing on 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.

The Raleigh News and Observer, citing Brown, reported that the woman's mother said her daughter phoned home or her relatives up to 12 times a week and the mother became concerned when she did not hear from her daughter for five days.

A Facebook page established to help find Lauterbach says she was last seen December 14 in Jacksonville. "Call mom!!! You know the number," the page says. "All of us love you and we miss you. Please come home!"

The page contains pleas for contacts from fellow Marines and friends of Lauterbach in Ohio.

Lauterbach is a personnel clerk assigned to Combat Logistics Regiment 27, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force, the Marine Corps said. She joined the service on June 6, 2006

Zwinmar · Post by **Zwinmar** » 2008-01-10 10:03am

sounds like they need to start searching the area. I spent a LOT of time in the forest around Lejune, there is a lot of places that someone can just 'disapear' into.

Darth Lucifer · Post by **Darth Lucifer** » 2008-01-10 01:48pm

I've been hearing a lot about this since she's from my hometown.

The Spartan · Post by **The Spartan** » 2008-01-10 03:58pm

Any idea what kind of "incident" she witnessed? I haven't been able to find out anything in the news.

Post by **LadyTevar** » 2008-01-10 04:14pm

The lastest I saw on CNN was that she was a 'victim' of a crime, and was going to be testifying about it.

Gee... pregnant Marine, testifying about something mysterious that no one can find out information on, and she vanishes (with baby).
With all the Rapes in the news now, I have to wonder if someone's killed her and the baby to prevent ID of the father.

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2008-01-10 04:56pm

Can't you DNA-test a baby before its born?

Gustav32Vasa · Post by **Gustav32Vasa** » 2008-01-10 05:04pm

CaptainChewbacca wrote:Can't you DNA-test a baby before its born?

Yes but that increases the chance that the woman may lose the child.

Vehrec · Post by **Vehrec** » 2008-01-10 06:23pm

It's possible to do the test just by drawing off some of the amniotic fluid which will contain cells. Yes, I suppose even this ups the chance of miscarriage, but it seems less risky.

Post by **LadyTevar** » 2008-01-10 08:14pm

But wait, there's more (bolded important bits):

CNN wrote: Pregnant Marine's Mom: My daughter is a compulsive liar

JACKSONVILLE, North Carolina (CNN) -- It's possible that a pregnant Marine missing since December 14 may have left willingly, perhaps after being upset by a phone call, documents released Thursday by Onslow County authorities show.

Those records were bolstered by comments made by the county sheriff who pleaded for 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, who is eight months pregnant, to come home.

The young woman's mother, Mary Lauterbach, told authorities that her daughter has a history of being a "compulsive liar," a police report states.

Mary Lauterbach described having a "firm conversation" with Maria Lauterbach about her unborn baby, telling her she should give the baby up for adoption because she is unable to care for it.

"Ms. Maria Lauterbach was telling Mary Lauterbach everything was fine, but Mary Lauterbach had a sense that the statements were not accurate," the report said.

Lauterbach last spoke to family members in the Dayton, Ohio, area on December 14. They reported her missing on December 19 after being unable to contact her.

Documents attached to a search warrant in the case cite the Marine's mother as saying Lauterbach had been the victim of a sexual assault by a superior officer.

Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown said Thursday his office had not talked to the person accused in that case and referred any other comment to the Marine Corps. Officials at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, where Lauterbach is based, have not commented on the assault allegations.

Earlier Thursday, Brown pleaded with Lauterbach to come forward and get help.

"Regardless of the circumstances, this has got to stop," Brown told reporters. "You can't run from those things in life."

While he would not say definitively that authorities believe Lauterbach is alive, Brown said he is leaning toward a positive outcome. "You pray that she's alive," he said.

Mary Lauterbach said her daughter claimed to have been sexually assaulted by a senior officer, but the military investigation had "gone sour," according to the Onslow County reports.

When police consulted with the military on the allegations, the military reported that the case was open, but "it was difficult, due to inconsistencies provided by Maria Lauterbach, the reported victim."

Military investigators also "confirmed the history of compulsive lying," the report said, and added that Lauterbach was facing a possible discharge from the Marine Corps and was under personal and professional stress.

A Marine Corps Times story Thursday, citing unnamed sources, said Lauterbach may have fled her post after she withdrew the sexual assault allegations because she feared being charged with making a false statement. The newspaper said the allegations were lodged with Marine Corps officials last year and later withdrawn.

The Marine Corps is bringing Lauterbach's roommate, Sgt. Daniel Robert Durham, back to North Carolina from a training deployment in California to answer questions.

The Onslow County report said that Durham told police that he had made his home available to Lauterbach "out of sympathy for her situation" and that the two had shared the home for only a short period of time.

Durham said he noticed nothing unusual in Lauterbach's behavior before she disappeared, but said "she had been upset by a phone call from her stepmother."

A few items of Lauterbach's were missing, he said -- her car, some cosmetics and clothing -- that led him to believe she may have left willingly. However, Durham told police that Lauterbach was confined to bed most of the time because of her pregnancy and that she "was in no shape for extended outings," according to the reports.

Brown told reporters Thursday that Durham is a close friend who may be the last person known to have talked with Lauterbach before her disappearance.

Mary Lauterbach told the Dayton Daily News on Wednesday that she last spoke to her daughter on December 14 in what she called "a very normal conversation."

The mother told CNN affiliate WDTN that later that day, she got a phone call from her daughter's roommate saying Maria had left their house.

After that, calls she made to her daughter's cell phone went unanswered, Mary Lauterbach told the Dayton newspaper.

Brown said Maria Lauterbach may have been due to give birth January 8. The police reports, however, said she was due on February 14, and did not show up for a prenatal medical appointment on December 28.

Lauterbach's cell phone was found on a roadside near Camp Lejeune on December 20. Her car was found Monday in the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant, Brown said, and had apparently been there since December 15. The car was processed, he said, but nothing of value was found.

Investigators have said that a withdrawal from Lauterbach's bank account was made on December 14 and there was "suspicious activity" on the account 10 days later. Police reports said Lauterbach's ATM card was used at a Marine Federal Credit Union by a man who attempted to cover the surveillance camera with a rag while he withdrew money from her account.

A search warrant released with the other documents Thursday seeks Western Union records, saying authorities have reason to believe Lauterbach may be receiving financial support through money transfers.

"Call mom!!! You know the number," says a Facebook page established to help find Lauterbach. "All of us love you and we miss you. Please come home!"

Lauterbach is a personnel clerk assigned to Combat Logistics Regiment 27, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force, the Marine Corps said. She joined the service on June 6, 2006.

Knife · Post by **Knife** » 2008-01-11 01:27am

Meh, there seems to be equal chance of some sort of foul play or just this chick going bat shit insane and going UA. She wouldn't be the first person to go UA after only two years in a contract.

Steven Snyder · Post by **Steven Snyder** » 2008-01-11 12:36pm

**UPDATE**

MSNBC Story

Sheriff: Pregnant missing Marine is dead
Maria Lauterbach, who was pregnant, last seen more than 3 weeks ago

BREAKING NEWS
By Mike Celizic
updated 1 minute ago
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - A pregnant Marine missing for nearly a month is dead, and investigators were seeking a senior officer she had accused of raping her, a sheriff said Friday.

Authorities had not recovered the body of the 20-year-old woman, but they believed she was buried in a shallow grave, Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown said.

Enigma · Post by **Enigma** » 2008-01-11 12:45pm

Damn. For a moment I thought that she just took off from getting herself too deep with her lying until I read the preceeding post. I wish it was true instead of this.

Illuminatus Primus · Post by **Illuminatus Primus** » 2008-01-11 12:49pm

Gustav32Vasa wrote:
CaptainChewbacca wrote:Can't you DNA-test a baby before its born?
Yes but that increases the chance that the woman may lose the child.

What? They do amniocentesis all the time to check for Down's. They couldn't use that?

Post by **Edi** » 2008-01-11 01:20pm

I wasn't too optimistic when I read the OP, turns out the suspicions were right. Can't say I'm surprised.

Post by **LadyTevar** » 2008-01-11 03:42pm

Here's CNN.com's version.

CNN wrote: 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 Laurean, 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.

Laurean, a personnel clerk from Clark County, Nevada, is not in custody, Brown said, and a search is on for him. He said Laurean had left the Camp Lejeune area about 4 a.m. Friday, with nearly an eight-hour head start before the hunt for him began.

Authorities were looking for his black Dodge quad-cab pickup with North Carolina license plate TRR 1522, Brown said, adding that Laurean should turn himself in.

"We'll get him one way or the other, somewhere," he told CNN.

Brown said authorities had obtained physical evidence of Lauterbach's death that also linked Lauren to the case. He would not elaborate on that evidence.

Asked how Lauterbach died, Brown would only speak "of an injury to her."

He said investigators are looking for the woman's body in a residential wooded area in Onslow County and hoped to find it before dark Friday.

Brown said investigators learned of Lauterbach's death around 8 a.m. Friday when a female former Marine contacted military authorities.

The sheriff had expected a positive outcome in the case earlier in the morning.

"I just wanted to cry" when learning of her death, he said.

Paul Ciccarelli, a special agent with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, said Laurean had carried on a relationship with Lauterbach after her rape complaint against him.

Lauterbach was to give testimony in a military hearing on the rape charges scheduled for late December, Ciccarelli said.

Ciccarelli said Laurean had not been considered a flight risk.

Lauterbach, 20, last contacted her family in Ohio on December 14 and was reported missing by her mother on December 19.

Documents released by Onslow County authorities on Thursday had indicated Lauterbach may have gone off on her own willingly, perhaps after being upset by a phone call.

The woman's mother, Mary Lauterbach, described having a "firm conversation" with Maria Lauterbach about her unborn child, telling her she should give the baby up for adoption because she is unable to care for it.

"Ms. Maria Lauterbach was telling Mary Lauterbach everything was fine, but Mary Lauterbach had a sense that the statements were not accurate," the report said.

The Marine Corps had brought Lauterbach's roommate, Sgt. Daniel Robert Durham, back to North Carolina from a training deployment in California to answer questions, but Brown said Friday he was not a suspect in her death.

The Onslow County report said Durham told police that he had made his home available to Lauterbach "out of sympathy for her situation" and that the two had shared the home for a short period of time.

Durham said he noticed nothing unusual in Lauterbach's behavior before she disappeared, but he said, "She had been upset by a phone call from her stepmother."

A few items of Lauterbach's were missing, he said -- her car, some cosmetics and clothing -- that led him to believe she may have left willingly. However, Durham told police that Lauterbach was confined to bed most of the time because of her pregnancy and that she "was in no shape for extended outings," according to the reports.

Brown called Durham a close friend.

Brown said Lauterbach may have been due to give birth January 8. The police reports, however, said she was due on February 14 and did not show up for a prenatal medical appointment December 28.

Lauterbach's cell phone was found on a roadside near Camp Lejeune on December 20. Her car was found Monday in the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant, Brown said, and apparently had been there since December 15.

Investigators have said a withdrawal from Lauterbach's bank account was made on December 14 and there was "suspicious activity" on the account 10 days later. Police reports said Lauterbach's ATM card was used at a Marine Federal Credit Union by a man who attempted to cover the surveillance camera with a rag while he withdrew money from her account.

Lauterbach was a personnel clerk assigned to Combat Logistics Regiment 27, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force, the Marine Corps said. She joined the service on June 6, 2006.

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » 2008-01-11 03:46pm

Illuminatus Primus wrote:
What? They do amniocentesis all the time to check for Down's. They couldn't use that?

Amniocentisis does carry a risk of miscarriage if severe complications develop, a small risk mind you.

And this Marine is bi-polar, WTF is she doing in the military?

Stravo · Post by **Stravo** » 2008-01-11 03:53pm

Cpl Kendall wrote:
Illuminatus Primus wrote:
What? They do amniocentesis all the time to check for Down's. They couldn't use that?
Amniocentisis does carry a risk of miscarriage if severe complications develop, a small risk mind you.

And this Marine is bi-polar, WTF is she doing in the military?

How stringent are the psychological screenings for the military? Bi-polar disorder can be difficult to diagnose.

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » 2008-01-11 04:22pm

Stravo wrote:
How stringent are the psychological screenings for the military? Bi-polar disorder can be difficult to diagnose.

Depends on the military. Ours is pretty much a questionare (multiple choice), similar to ones you get as the first step in diagnosing certain mental conditions. And IIRC they request your medical docs from your GP to (among other reasons) check for signs of mental illness. So obviously certain things slip through but the option for assessment of that condition is available if they show signs. Unfortunatly soldiers are reluctant to go in for anything that will affect their career.

I believe bi-polar can show up later in life, but once you've been diagnosed you really should be released. I'm sure you could find a way to grant a medical pension for it as well.

lazerus · Post by **lazerus** » 2008-01-11 04:50pm

Bi-polar? Bullshit.

She goes missing, about to testify, and suddenly mountains of testimony that she's unreliable (compulsive liar, etc) materialize out of nothing. And now that it's confirmed someone killed her and buried her in a shallow grave suddenly more evidence is materializing that, oh gosh, it just wasn't that simple?

Even if she was bi-polar, which I find *extremely* unlikely, she didn't bury her own corpse. Someone killed her and given the context it's not hard to guess why.

Sidewinder · Post by **Sidewinder** » 2008-01-11 05:58pm

CNN wrote: Pregnant Marine's Mom: My daughter is a compulsive liar

CNN owes Lauterbach's family an apology for this bullshit story. What, were they somehow bribed, coerced, or tricked into reporting, "Pregnant Marine no tell truth! No listen to accusation of rape! No look for her!"?

ArmorPierce · Post by **ArmorPierce** » 2008-01-11 06:47pm

Oh wow this is pretty horrendous. It looks like to me that there was a big cover up with the military attempting to demonize her and the media going along with it. I'm surprised that there isn't a bigger outcry against this.

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2008-01-11 07:47pm

"We're not ready to call this a murder."

WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK?!!! Do they think she buried herself in a shallow grave she dug herself while eight months pregnant and on bedrest?

COME ON! Nobody gets buried in a shallow, unmarked grave unless they were murdered or they're on the goddamn oregon trail!

Havok · Post by **Havok** » 2008-01-11 09:48pm

Perhaps I am missing it, but in which article does it say that she is dead? They haven't found a body so how do they know?

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » 2008-01-11 09:51pm

havokeff wrote:Perhaps I am missing it, but in which article does it say that she is dead? They haven't found a body so how do they know?

Link

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. - Authorities said Friday that they believe they found the shallow grave of a pregnant Marine in the back yard of a comrade she accused of rape and that they found evidence inside his house that she had been killed.

Investigators are treating the case as a homicide, said Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown. But the prime suspect left a note insisting Lance Cpl. Maria Frances Lauterbach had killed herself, Brown said.

After some slight digging in a fire pit discovered in the yard of Marine Cpl. Cesar Armando Laurean, detectives found what "appeared to be burnt human remains," Onslow County District Attorney Dewey Hudson said Friday night.

They think they have her burnt remains. Not 100% for sure yet.

Enigma · Post by **Enigma** » 2008-01-11 10:17pm

How else are they going to try to get rid of the DNA that could link him to the rape other than burning her corpse?