Pregnant Marine is missing

[thedrifter]

Pregnant Marine is missing
January 8, 2008 - 2:31PM
DAILY NEWS STAFF
The Onslow County Sheriff's Department is investigating the disappearance of a Camp Lejeune-based Marine.

http://images.onset.freedom.com/jdn/1199821384-18lauterbachmaria.jpg

Maria Frances Lauterbach, 20, of Midway Park, is with the 2nd Marine Logistics Group. She was reported missing on Dec. 19 by her mother. She is eight months pregnant, according to information from the Sheriff’s Department.

The white female is described as 5 feet 4 inches tall, weighing 140 pounds. She has blond hair, blue eyes, a Marine Corps tattoo on the upper right arm and a birthmark in the middle of her back.

Lauterbach’s mother was the last to speak with her on Dec. 14 about 3:15 p.m. There has been no cell phone activity since that time, and the phone was found near the main gate at Camp Lejeune Dec. 20, according to information from the Sheriff's Department.

The Sheriff’s Department reported that Lauterbach’s mother told them her daughter was a witness to an incident on base and was supposed to testify in the matter.

“There are several findings and pieces of evidence that have been discovered that cause law enforcement to be concerned with the circumstances surrounding Maria’s disappearance,” a Sheriff’s Department news release said.

1st Lt. Richard Ulsh, a public affairs officer with the 2nd MLG, verified that Lauterbach is on active duty. He said the Marine Corps and U.S. Navy investigators are cooperating with the investigation.

The State Bureau of Investigation is also working on the case, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

Anyone who comes in contact with the victim or locates her vehicle is asked to contact the Onslow County Sheriff's Department at 910-455-3113.

People with information also can contact Crime Stoppers at 938-3273. Those callers do not have to reveal their identities.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Investigators note bank activity on missing woman's account
BY LINDELL KAY
January 9, 2008 - 10:19PM
DAILY NEWS STAFF
JACKSONVILLE — As the search for a missing pregnant Marine continues, information has surfaced there was “suspicious activity” on her bank account Christmas Eve.

The Onslow County Sheriff’s Department is holding onto “sensitive information” pertaining to Lance Cpl. Maria Frances Lauterbach, 20, who has been missing since Dec. 14.

“Bank records indicate the victim made a withdrawal on 12-14-07. There was suspicious activity on her account on 12-24-07, but none since,” according to information from the Sheriff’s Department obtained by The Daily News.

Lauterbach’s mother said she just wants to see her daughter and grandchild safe at home again.

Lauterbach is with the 2nd Marine Logistics Group. She last spoke to family Dec. 14 and was reported missing Dec. 19 by her mother.

Lauterbach was eight months pregnant when she went missing, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

“She should be right at delivery time now,” Sheriff Ed Brown said Tuesday.

Investigators found her blue 2006 Hyundai Sonata at the Jacksonville Bus Station on Monday night. It was not there over the weekend, authorities said.

Crime scene investigators with the Sheriff’s Department and the State Bureau of Investigation went over Lauterbach’s car Wednesday looking for evidence but would not comment on any findings.

Lauterbach was a witness to an incident on base and was supposed to testify in the matter, according to the Sheriff’s Department, which declined to specify the incident. The Marine Corps would not elaborate on the case for which Lauterbach was supposed to testify or a court date.

Her cell phone was found Dec. 20 near the main gate at Camp Lejeune.

Lauterbach shared a boarding house with several people in Midway Park, which was searched by the Sheriff’s Department, investigators said.

Lauterbach is described as 5 feet, 4 inches tall and weighing 140 pounds. She has blond hair, blue eyes, a Marine Corps tattoo on the upper right arm and a birthmark in the middle of her back.

Anyone who comes in contact with Lauterbach is asked to contact their local law enforcement agency.

For the Onslow County Sheriff’s Department, call 910-455-3113; NCIS, 910-451-8071; SBI, 910-346-2121; Jacksonville police, 910-455-4000.
People with information also can contact Crime Stoppers at 938-3273. Those callers do not have to reveal their identities.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marines Cooperating in Search for Pregnant Marine

Last Edited: Wednesday, 09 Jan 2008, 1:52 PM EST
Created: Wednesday, 09 Jan 2008, 1:46 PM EST

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (AP) -- The Marine Corps said it is cooperating fully with the Onslow County Sheriff's Office in the disappearance of a pregnant Marine.

Officials at Camp Lejeune said Wednesday that they are hopeful for the safe return of 20-year-old Lance Corporal Maria Lauterbach.

Authorities said Lauterbach disappeared before Christmas and that her cell phone was found December 20 near the main gate at Camp Lejeune. She is about eight months pregnant.

The Montgomery, Ohio native is with the 2nd Marine Logistics Group of the II Marine Expeditionary Force.

Camp Lejeune officials said Lauterbach joined the Marine Corps in June 2006 and was trained as a personnel clerk.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Police: Marine suspect in killing spotted <br />
Corporal seen in Louisiana; may be headed to Texas <br />
By Mike Baker - The Associated Press <br />
Posted : Sunday Jan 13, 2008 17:49:19 EST <br />
<br />
JACKSONVILLE, N.C. —...

[thedrifter]

Warrant issued for suspect in Marine death <br />
By Mike Baker - The Associated Press <br />
Posted : Sunday Jan 13, 2008 15:17:29 EST <br />
<br />
JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — Authorities issued an arrest warrant Saturday for a...

[thedrifter]

Pregnant Marine called friendly but tough
By James Hannah - The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Jan 12, 2008 16:26:24 EST

VANDALIA, Ohio — The apparent death of a pregnant Marine has stunned her hometown friends, who described Lance Cpl. Maria Frances Lauterbach as friendly and polite but athletic and tough — a person who wouldn’t be bullied.

Remains thought to be Lauterbach’s were found Saturday in a fire pit in the back yard of a fellow Marine corporal, authorities said.

Her neighbors remembered her as vibrant.

“What I remember was her zest for living,” said neighbor Kent Zimmerman. “She loved sports. Whatever the game in the neighborhood was, she was in it. She played at 110 percent. She always wanted to win, but she played fair.”

Standing outside Vandalia-Butler High School on Saturday, Darren Himsworth talked about Lauterbach as he awaited baseball practice.

Himsworth first met Lauterbach at a youth theater, where she was part of the stage crew. He was closer to her younger sisters, but would often see Maria when he went over to the Lauterbach home.

“She’s a real nice person,” the 16-year-old Himsworth said, as he clutched a baseball glove and green aluminum bat. “She’s very tough for a girl. She just didn’t let anyone push her around. I wouldn’t mess with her.”

Himsworth was not surprised that Lauterbach joined the Marines because of “how tough-hearted she was.”

He said she had a sense of humor and was active in extracurricular activities, including softball and soccer.

“She was an amazing soccer player,” he said.

Himsworth said Lauterbach’s friends and acquaintances are stunned by what happened.

Authorities said they found evidence inside the house in Jacksonville, N.C., that suggested she had been killed, even though a suspect left a note insisting she committed suicide, Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown said.

Jordan Martin, 17, knew Lauterbach and used to spend some time at the family home when he was younger,

“We were just kids. We all hung out,” he said as met with friends at the high school gym just before Friday night’s basketball game against Troy.

Martin described Lauterbach as “tomboyish.”

“She liked to do boy stuff,” he recalled. “That’s why we got along really well.”

He said his mother is especially close to the Lauterbachs.

“It’s heartbreaking because they’re good friends,” he said.

Vandalia, a bedroom community about 10 miles north of Dayton, has an aviation flavor. Dayton International Airport sits in Vandalia’s backyard, and the community hosts the Dayton Air Show each July. Even the high school teams are nicknamed the Aviators.

Zimmerman said when his family moved into the neighborhood 10 years ago, Lauterbach showed up on his front porch.

“She knocked on the door and she said, ‘I’m Maria, and I’d like to meet your kids. Do they play sports?’ he recalled. “We could just count on just about every morning she’d knock on the door and say, ‘Mr. Zimmerman, are your kids up yet?”’

Zimmerman said Lauterbach wanted to serve her country.

“I remember when she was in high school I asked had she thought about going on to college. Her goal was to be a Marine and wear the uniform,” he said.

Larry Gideon, 62, who served with the Marines in Vietnam, called it a “terrible tragedy.”

Standing outside the high school on his way to attend a cheerleading competition, Gideon thumbed through his planner and twirled his sunglasses while wearing a somber look.

“Nobody seems to understand how in the world can somebody do that. It’s just senseless brutality,” he said. “The buzz is that it’s just an awful, stupid tragedy. Nobody knows quite what to make of it.”

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Laurean spotted in Louisiana <br />
LINDELL KAY <br />
January 14, 2008 - 1:11AM <br />
DAILY NEWS STAFF <br />
As the manhunt for Marine Cpl. Cesar Armando Laurean focused on Louisiana and Texas, Onslow County...

[thedrifter]

People find ways to honor Lauterbach <br />
STAFF REPORTS <br />
January 14, 2008 - 1:11AM <br />
Plans for a candlelight vigil are developing and many tributes are appearing via the Internet as family, friends and...

[thedrifter]

Many go online to express condolences for Marine

By Margo Rutledge Kissell

Staff Writer

Monday, January 14, 2008

People from the Miami Valley and across the nation on Sunday continued to reach out to the family of slain Marine Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach of Vandalia by expressing their condolences online.

By Sunday evening, there were more than 25 pages at DaytonDailyNews.com filled with notes of sympathy over the brutal death of the 20-year-old woman and her unborn child. Thoughts came from friends in Vandalia, fellow Marines across the country, and people from as far away as Oregon and Maine.

Authorities have recovered what they believe to be Lauterbach's burned remains from a fire pit in Marine Cpl. Cesar Armando Laurean's backyard in Onslow County, N.C. Lauterbach had accused Laurean of raping her.

"There are no words to describe the gloom that hangs over Jacksonville, N.C. right now," Jacksonville resident Michelle Sanford wrote Saturday. "Everyone in this county has been glued to their televisions. We are shocked. We wish the Lauterbach family peace. May Maria and her unborn child rest in peace."

Ashley Dupuis of Phoenix, Ariz., directed her personal message to Maria Lauterbach and attached a picture of the two women when they graduated from boot camp in 2006.

"Lauterbach you were a great friend, marine, and daughter and you will be missed dearly," Dupuis wrote.

The Dotler family from Cutler, Ohio, expressed their sadness.

"Even though we never knew her, we have had them on our minds everyday and night. We thank her for serving and keeping our country free."

Another message came from Vandalia, where Lauterbach's parents, Victor and Mary Lauterbach, reside with their four other children.

"Mary and family — I'm praying like I've never prayed before. Know that your St. Christopher family is praying as well and would do anything in our power to help," wrote the person who signed it simply, "Parish Member."

Jessie Hendrix in Lilburn, Ga., also said she was praying for Lauterbach, her unborn baby and her family.

"Just to become a Marine is such a triumph! She endured more than anyone will ever know, I am sure. That speaks volumes about her in my book. May God embrace her and keep her and bring Peace to her loved ones."


Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2094 or mkissell@DaytonDailyNews.com.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Warrant issued as Marine's family questions investigation <br />
<br />
JACKSONVILLE, N.C. (AP) — For months after a pregnant 20-year-old Marine accused a colleague of rape, her family says, she continued to...

[thedrifter]

Family of pregnant Marine questions handling of case; authorities recover her remains in N.C. <br />
By MIKE BAKER <br />
Associated Press Writer <br />
Jan 13, 2008 - 04:59:22 CST <br />
JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — For months...

[thedrifter]

Police: Suspect in slain N.C. Marine case may be headed to Texas; last seen at La. bus station <br />
<br />
By: MIKE BAKER - Associated Press <br />
<br />
JACKSONVILLE, N.C. -- The nationwide manhunt for a Marine...

[thedrifter]

Slain Marine's ATM card found in Carolina bus station <br />
<br />
<br />
JACKSONVILLE, North Carolina (CNN) -- The ATM card of slain Marine Maria Lauterbach was found in a Durham, North Carolina, bus station over...

[thedrifter]

http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/alert/laurean_ca.htm

[thedrifter]

Slain Marine's ATM card found in Carolina bus station <br />
<br />
<br />
JACKSONVILLE, North Carolina (CNN) -- The ATM card of slain Marine Maria Lauterbach was found in a Durham, North Carolina, bus station over...

[thedrifter]

Search For Marine Suspect Expands <br />
JACKSONVILLE, N.C., Jan. 14, 2008 <br />
(AP) Federal authorities planned to post billboards nationwide with the picture of a Marine wanted in the slaying of a pregnant...

[thedrifter]

Posted on Mon, Jan. 14, 2008 <br />
Search for Marine suspect expands <br />
By MIKE BAKER <br />
Federal authorities plan to post billboards nationwide with the picture of a Marine wanted in the slaying of a...

[thedrifter]

Attorney appointed for fugitive <br />
LINDELL KAY <br />
January 15, 2008 - 12:32AM <br />
DAILY NEWS STAFF <br />
In a move District Attorney Dewey Hudson described as &quot;highly unusual,&quot; a state office has assigned a...

[thedrifter]

FBI offers reward in manhunt <br />
LINDELL KAY <br />
January 15, 2008 - 12:32AM <br />
DAILY NEWS STAFF <br />
As investigators continued to piece together the puzzle of a pregnant Camp Lejeune Marine's death, the...

[thedrifter]

CBS: Did military do enough to protect murdered Marine? <br />
01/14/2008 @ 9:39 am <br />
Filed by David Edwards and Muriel Kane <br />
<br />
<br />
CBS News is raising questions about the Marine Corps' handling of the case...

[thedrifter]

Pregnant Marine died of head injury: autopsy <br />
By Mike Baker - The Associated Press <br />
Posted : Tuesday Jan 15, 2008 12:06:22 EST <br />
<br />
JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — A 20-year-old pregnant Marine who disappeared in...

[thedrifter]

Marines: Slain pregnant Marine didn't feel threatened by suspect





Associated Press - January 15, 2008 7:25 PM ET

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. (AP) - Officials say a 20-year-old pregnant Marine who disappeared in December told victims' advocates she didn't feel threatened by the man now sought in her death.

A Marine Corps spokesman says Cpl. Cesar Armando Laurean never violated the military protective order directing him to stay away from Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach. The spokesman says he denied having any kind of sexual contact with her, and continued to report for work on time in the weeks after her disappearance.

Authorities confirmed today that remains found over weekend in a fire pit in Laurean's backyard were those of Lauterbach and her child. Onslow County's medical examiner said Lauterbach, who was in the late stages of pregnancy when she vanished, died of blunt force trauma to the head.

Also today, authorities had Laurean's black pickup towed back to Jacksonville after finding it at abandoned at a motel parking lot in Morrisville, not far from where it was seen by witnesses in Durham.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Affable sheriff leads slain Marine case

By MIKE BAKER, Associated Press Writer
36 minutes ago

In the middle of a nationwide manhunt during the most watched case of his career, Ed Brown sneaked away from detectives and reporters alike to teach Sunday school. The lesson: "Facing Opposition."

"It really blesses you when you step back to think, 'This came up right at the time it was relevant,'" Brown said Tuesday. "My nature is not to enjoy confrontation. In fact, I despise conflict."

Brown, 63, has led the search for Cesar Armando Laurean, a Marine corporal suspected of murder in the death of Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach. Lauterbach had accused Laurean of raping her, and her body was found late last week in the fellow personnel clerk's backyard fire pit.

Brown is so affable that he ended one news conference by giving out his cell phone number on national TV. He's quick to apologize when a reporter's question triggers his temper, and has cut off several network anchors in order to thank them for devoting so much air time to the case.

For all the time Brown has spent on camera talking about the case, investigators say he's spent much more working it, chasing leads by cell phone and pulling 20-hour days to track Laurean down.

"He comes across as just a nice Southern boy, but he's very good at his job," said Onslow County District Attorney Dewey Hudson.

Lauterbach's family and others have criticized how the sheriff's department and the Marines have handled the case. The 20-year-old disappeared sometime after Dec. 14, soon after talking to military prosecutors about the rape case, but sheriff's investigators did little searching until last week. Laurean, 21, had refused to talk to investigators, and fled as they closed in on the body.

Brown, the sheriff since 1990, says his department acted as best it could on the facts available.

He said he had promised himself he wouldn't appear on the shows of cable news personalities who criticized his department, but gave in because he felt the need to be fair.

"As passive as I am, I ain't going to get run over," Brown said. "The behavior of people like (CNN's) Nancy Grace and (Fox News') Geraldo (Rivera) are not who they really are. I think they're just like that for ratings."

Still, Brown said he could do without all the attention. Courted by both Democrats and Republicans to run for a seat in the state Legislature, his interaction with reporters since Lauterbach disappeared has led him to decide against it.

Doing so would require Brown to leave his humble country home, frequently filled by his two grandchildren and his parents, who live across the street. He can't imagine leaving his church, filled each Sunday by dozens of "kinfolk" who live in an area where he was raised as the oldest of six children by a tenant farmer.

Brown is at the church every morning, in a small chapel with just six pews, praying under its cozy cathedral ceiling. A placard in the lobby of the sheriff's office tells visitors that the department is "serving God and Onslow County," and Brown bemoans the difficulty of keeping the priorities in that order.

Locals greet Brown as "Mr. Ed" at his favorite diner, where he favors sweet tea with extra ice, and are quick to recognize "Ol' Betty," his boat-sized 1990 Chevrolet.

Onslow County is dominated by the massive Camp Lejeune, the Marine Corps' main base on the Atlantic coast. The base and surrounding community are home to nearly 150,000 people with ties to the base, active duty and retired Marines, their family, and civilian base employees.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Radical church group seizes upon Lauterbach case
Cyndi Brown
January 16, 2008 - 12:53AM
THE DAILY NEWS
Richard Cover had probably the most understated response to news about Westboro Baptist Church and its members’ plans to picket Camp Lejeune on Saturday.

“They’re a little bit misguided,” said Cover, a retired Marine master sergeant who lives in Hubert.

“Misguided” is one of the milder terms area residents were applying to the Topeka, Kan., church — comprised mainly of Fred Phelps and members of his extended family. The church pickets the funerals of service members and proclaims on its Web site that “God is america’s enemy, dashing your soldiers to pieces.”

And while the rest of the country struggles to understand why Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach and her unborn baby are dead, Westboro Baptist Church members say they know why: retribution from God.

Cover, whose son is an active-duty Marine stationed in Japan, said church members — or as Cover referred to them, “these knuckleheads” — spread a message of hate.
“If they are a God-fearing church group …(why are) they preaching and living a life of hatred, of violence?” he asked.

The church sent a release by fax to The Daily News on Sunday night, announcing its intentions to “picket the filthy, lawless Marine Corps” at noon Jan. 19 at Camp Lejeune.
Plans for a response surfaced quickly.

Charity Woolverton of Hubert is one of many residents who said they will be at Lejeune Boulevard and Hargett Street on Saturday morning to counter the members of Westboro Baptist Church.

“It’s just a few crazies out there that have a tendency to be the loudest,” Woolverton said. “We’re interested in providing an opposite view.”

Woolverton, an Army brat married to a retired sailor, said she considers the church’s message disgusting.

“Anyone that can use the word of God to preach hate, that’s wrong,” Woolverton said. “I don’t think they speak for the religious community at all.”

On Saturday, they may not be able to picket at all.

The protest cannot take place legally this weekend because the Jacksonville Police Department has decided not to waive the 10-day waiting period for a public-assembly permit required in the city’s ordinance.

Jacksonville police Chief Mike Yaniero confirmed that the organization filed an application at 5 p.m. Monday and asked for a wavier of the waiting period, which Yaniero said is designed to allow police adequate time to ensure public safety.

JPD has not denied the request, he said, but it would not waive the waiting period.
The church’s Web site listed Jan. 19 and 24 as dates for its protest at Camp Lejeune, causing some in the community to wonder whether Westboro members were still coming Saturday.
Tuesday morning, only two members of that church were scheduled to be in Jacksonville — Shirley Phelps-Roper and her daughter, Phelps-Roper said.

Phelps-Roper, a member of the church and its attorney, spoke by phone from Washington, D.C., where she said she was picketing outside the White House.

“When you listen to these Marines talk, it’s a scary picture,” Phelps-Roper said, referring to them “as rebellious, disobedient people who don’t obey the command of God ….
“The Lord God is fixing his wrath upon the Marines.”

Jacksonville resident Laura Lowe is astounded by the group.

“I’ve actually been following them for a few years, and it’s absolutely outrageous,” said Lowe, who is married to a Marine. “The way that they talk, they really believe this.”
Garry Anderson, senior project manager for Wild Building Contractors, has an added concern with the group’s planned visit.

The company is renovating family housing at Camp Lejeune and Cherry Point. His company’s logo is its acronym: WBC — and he was worried that some might confuse it with the Westboro Baptist Church.

“We don’t want to be associated with those folks,” said Anderson, noting that his company is headquartered in Morristown, Tenn., not Kansas.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marines: Slain pregnant Marine didn't feel threatened by suspect

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. -- A 20-year-old pregnant Marine who disappeared in December told victims' advocates at Camp Lejeune she didn't feel unsafe in the presence of the colleague now wanted in her death, Marine Corps officials said Tuesday.

Marine Cpl. Cesar Armando Laurean never violated the military protective order directing him to stay away from Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, denied having any kind of sexual contact with her, and continued to report for work on time in the weeks after her disappearance, said Col. Gary Sokoloski, the judge advocate general officer for the II Marine Expeditionary Force.

"At no time did she indicate that she was threatened by Cpl. Laurean," Sokoloski said. "When she was asked if she felt threatened by Cpl. Laurean, she said she did not feel threatened."

Authorities confirmed Tuesday that remains found over weekend in a fire pit in Laurean's backyard were those of Lauterbach and her child. Dr. Charles Garrett, the Onslow County medical examiner, said Lauterbach, who was in the late stages of pregnancy when she vanished, died of "traumatic head injury due to blunt force trauma."

The autopsy did not answer all the questions about the circumstances of Lauterbach's death, said county prosecutor Dewey Hudson. Detectives are still not sure if she gave birth before her slaying, he said, or the identity of the father of her child.

Marine officials said Tuesday that Lauterbach met with prosecutors in November and said she no longer believed Laurean was the father. A pregnancy test performed in May, when she alleged Laurean had raped her in March and April, was negative. A later test performed in June was positive, and doctors estimated her date of conception as May 14.

Naval investigators concluded the sexual encounter in March was not criminal, said NCIS agent Paul Ciccarelli. In a second incident about two weeks later, Ciccarelli said, the pair had a sexual encounter that didn't include any threats, force, violence or coercion.

"She asked him to stop, and he did stop," Ciccarelli said, saying that was the account Lauterbach gave to officials.

He said she still considered both to be incidents rape, and Lauterbach's regimental commander treated her allegations seriously. Her commander was intent on taking the case to an Article 32 hearing _ the military equivalent of a grand jury proceeding.

Authorities believe Lauterbach was killed around Dec. 15. Lt. Col. Curtis Hill, a spokesman for the II MEF, said Lauterbach's supervisors attempted to find her after she failed to report to work on Dec. 17, calling her cell phone and sending someone to her home.

But he said there was evidence _ including a note left for her roommate in which she wrote she was tired of the Marine Corps lifestyle _ that led them to believe she left on her own.

"We all thought, all of us, that she had left on her own free will and was going to be found," Hill said.

Authorities believe Laurean fled Jacksonville early Friday morning, after leaving a note in which he admitted burying Lauterbach's body. But Tuesday, they said he is believed to have gone into hiding, and no longer needs to move at great speed or travel a long distance to avoid capture.

"We believe it's certainly possible, based on him being out there for this long, and not having any sightings, that he is getting help," said Onslow County Sheriff's Capt. Rick Sutherland. "We think we have a handle on all his contacts, but there could be someone else out there helping."

Authorities towed Laurean's black pickup truck on Tuesday after finding it abandoned at a motel parking lot in Morrisville, not far from where it was seen by witnesses in Durham, about 150 miles north west of Jacksonville. It will be brought back to Onslow County to be processed by the State Bureau of Investigation, Ciccarelli said.

It was unclear how long the truck had been at the Microtel Inn. Sherrie Joyner, who works the front desk, said Laurean never checked in.

Lauterbach's ATM card was found at a bus station in Durham, and authorities received reports from several witnesses Sunday who said they saw Laurean at a bus station in Shreveport, La. Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown has said detectives have been unable to confirm the validity of the Louisiana sightings.

In his note, Laurean alleged that Lauterbach committed suicide by cutting her own throat. Brown rejected that idea even before the medical examiner weighed in, citing blood spatters on the ceiling and a massive amount of blood on the wall found inside Laurean's home as signs of a violent confrontation.

Officials have offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to Laurean's arrest and have posted or plan to post billboards with his picture in cities nationwide, including Columbus, Ohio, Tampa, Fla., and Las Vegas.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

FBI: Marine suspect may be in Mexico

By MIKE BAKER, Associated Press Writer
2 minutes ago

A Marine suspected of killing a pregnant comrade told friends he would flee to Mexico to avoid being convicted of raping her, and investigators said Wednesday they are working with Mexican authorities to track him down.

A wide-ranging manhunt for Cpl. Cesar Armando Laurean began last week, after authorities said he fled North Carolina and left a note in which he admitted burying the body of Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, but said she committed suicide. The 20-year-old had accused him of rape.

Investigators found Lauterbach's burned remains, and those of her child, in a fire pit in Laurean's backyard and concluded she did not kill herself.

Court documents filed this week by the FBI state Laurean, 21, told members of his Marine Corps unit he would flee to Mexico if it appeared he would be found guilty of rape. Laurean's wife also told authorities she believed he would head to Mexico if he was in trouble.

"We strongly suspect, but have not confirmed, that Laurean may be in Mexico," FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said in Washington. "We have a strong working relationship with law enforcement partners in Mexico and we're working with them to locate and apprehend him."

Laurean, 21, of Las Vegas, is a naturalized U.S. citizen. The federal documents — a criminal complaint charging him with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution — state that his family resides in Nevada, but he has ties to Mexico. Laurean is also wanted in North Carolina on a state arrest warrant for murder.

Laurean appears to have mailed letters back to his wife in North Carolina, according to two law enforcement officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation. It was not immediately clear what the letters said or how many of them were sent, or where they were sent from.

Authorities have said his wife, Christina Laurean, is cooperating with authorities and provided them with the note her husband left before skipping town.

Lauterbach died of "traumatic head injury due to blunt force trauma," according to autopsy results released Tuesday. But authorities said the exam failed to answer all the questions detectives have about Lauterbach's death, including whether she gave birth before her death and of the identity of the father.

Authorities believe Lauterbach was killed around Dec. 15. Marine officials have they attempted to find her after she failed to report to work on Dec. 17, but had evidence — including a note left for her roommate in which she wrote she was tired of the Marine Corps lifestyle — that led them to believe she left on her own.

___

Associated Press writer Lara Jakes Jordan in Washington contributed to this report.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Camp Lejeune's Statement re: LCpl Lauterbach <br />
Onslow - 1/16/2008 <br />
<br />
Here is a copy of the statement released by Camp Lejeune concerning the <br />
<br />
murder of Lance Corporal Maria Lauterbach. <br />
<br />
OPENING...

[thedrifter]

Friend of Marine on the run: 'He's like MacGyver' <br />
<br />
<br />
(CNN) -- A woman who once worked with fugitive Marine Cpl. Cesar Laurean and the pregnant Marine he allegedly killed said Wednesday that Laurean...

[thedrifter]

FBI: Marine wanted in pregnant comrade's death said he would flee to Mexico to dodge rape case

By: MIKE BAKER - Associated Press

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. -- A Marine suspected of killing a pregnant comrade told friends he would flee to Mexico to avoid being convicted of raping her, and investigators said Wednesday they are working with Mexican authorities to track him down.

A wide-ranging manhunt for Cpl. Cesar Armando Laurean began last week, after authorities said he fled North Carolina and left a note in which he admitted burying the body of Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, but said she committed suicide. The 20-year-old had accused him of rape.

Investigators found Lauterbach's burned remains, and those of her child, in a fire pit in Laurean's backyard and concluded she did not kill herself.


Court documents filed this week by the FBI state that Laurean, 21, told members of his Marine Corps unit he would flee to Mexico if it appeared he would be found guilty of rape. Laurean's wife also told authorities she believed he would head to Mexico if he was in trouble.

"We strongly suspect, but have not confirmed, that Laurean may be in Mexico," FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said in Washington. "We have a strong working relationship with law enforcement partners in Mexico and we're working with them to locate and apprehend him."

Laurean, 21, of Las Vegas, is a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Mexico and still has some family there, authorities said.

The court documents are included with an FBI criminal complaint charging Laurean with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. He is also wanted in North Carolina on a state arrest warrant for murder.

Laurean appears to have mailed letters back to his wife in North Carolina, according to two law enforcement officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.

It was not immediately clear what the letters said, how many of them were sent or where they were sent from, but one of the officials said at least one of the letters was postmarked from Houston.

Authorities have said Laurean's wife, Christina Laurean, is cooperating with authorities and provided them with the note her husband left before skipping town.

Lauterbach died of "traumatic head injury due to blunt force trauma," according to autopsy results released Tuesday. But authorities said the exam failed to answer all the questions detectives have about Lauterbach's death, including whether she gave birth before her death and of the identity of the father.

Authorities believe Lauterbach was killed around Dec. 15. Marine officials have they attempted to find her after she failed to report to work on Dec. 17, but had evidence -- including a note left for her roommate in which she wrote she was tired of the Marine Corps lifestyle -- that led them to believe she left on her own.

Associated Press writer Lara Jakes Jordan in Washington contributed to this report.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Wife knew of Lauterbach’s death <br />
By Estes Thompson - The Associated Press <br />
Posted : Thursday Jan 17, 2008 19:45:29 EST <br />
<br />
JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — The wife of the key suspect in the violent slaying of a...

[thedrifter]

Documents say wife delayed report <br />
JENNIFER HLAD AND LINDELL KAY <br />
January 18, 2008 - 12:41AM <br />
DAILY NEWS STAFF <br />
The key witness in the investigation of a pregnant Camp Lejeune Marine's slaying knew...

[thedrifter]

Wife knew of Lauterbach’s death <br />
By Estes Thompson - The Associated Press <br />
Posted : Friday Jan 18, 2008 9:07:42 EST <br />
<br />
JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — The wife of the key suspect in the violent slaying of a...

[thedrifter]

Jacksonville women hold vigil for murdered Marine <br />
By WWAY <br />
Created 18 Jan 2008 - 6:47pm <br />
<br />
JACKSONVILLE -- Two Jacksonville women, a former marine and a former National Guard member, have...

[thedrifter]

Search for Laurean turns to TV <br />
LINDELL KAY <br />
January 19, 2008 - 12:42AM <br />
DAILY NEWS STAFF <br />
With the man accused of killing a pregnant Marine and burying her burned body in his backyard still on the...

[thedrifter]

Anti-Lejeune protest postponed
January 18, 2008 - 4:26PM
A protest planned by members of a controversial Kansas church has been postponed.

Westboro Baptist Church and its members had planned to picket Camp Lejeune on Saturday as their response to Marine Cpl. Cesar Laurean's alleged murder of Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach.

However, the protest could not take place legally this weekend because the Jacksonville Police Department decided not to waive the 10-day waiting period for a public-assembly permit required in the city's ordinance.

Church members said on Thursday that the protest has been postponed until Jan. 26.

On Wednesday, Col. Adele Hodges, commanding officer of Camp Lejeune, released an all-hands notice urging all Marines and sailors to stay away from the demonstration.

"For your own safety, if you happen to come in contact with this gathering, leave the area immediately," the notice read. "Do not attempt to engage in any verbal taunting or physical altercation with this group. We believe they want to generate additional publicity by provoking such a confrontation. Do not help them in this effort by engaging in any provocative activity."

Ellie

[thedrifter]

DA won't seek death penalty if Laurean has to be extradited from Mexico <br />
BY HEATHER GALE <br />
January 19, 2008 - 8:28PM <br />
THE DAILY NEWS <br />
Caesar Laurean may not face the death penalty. <br />
<br />
Onslow County...

[thedrifter]

Marine's rape claim failed to raise red flags <br />
Mother says slain lance corporal wanted to be sent to Iraq rather than be around alleged attacker <br />
<br />
By Mary McCarty and Margo Rutledge Kissell <br />
<br />
Staff...

[thedrifter]

Slain Marine's mom: No one would listen
While mother was waiting weeks for news about her daughter, suspect threw parties at home where body was buried

By Mary McCarty and Margo Rutledge Kissell

Staff Writers

Sunday, January 20, 2008

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — As far as Wanda and Richard Alander could tell, their next-door neighbors were a "perfectly normal family," a Marine couple in a Marine town with a nice house and an 18-month-old daughter who "just doted on her daddy."

The Alanders attached no significance to the fact that Cesar Laurean had recently borrowed a shovel from Richard. "He borrowed a rake before," he said. Nor did Wanda think much of it when Christina Laurean told her they were repainting the interior of their house.

On Christmas Eve, the Laureans lit a bonfire in their backyard. The next day, the cars lined up on the street as they entertained friends and fellow Marines. They welcomed friends to their home again on New Year's Day.

Life on Meadow Trail continued to appear normal right up until the morning of Jan. 11, when police crews descended on the house just before the world learned that a pregnant Maria Lauterbach was killed and buried in Laurean's backyard fire pit, and that he was gone.

The night before, the Alanders saw their next-door neighbors sitting on their front porch. She didn't think much of it at the time, but Wanda said she noticed Cesar kept walking into the backyard.

Shocking details continue to pour out like muck from a broken faucet. Christina Laurean waited 24 hours after learning of Lauterbach's death before alerting authorities, allowing her husband to escape. Cpl. Cesar Armando Laurean remains at large, believed by authorities to have escaped into Mexico.

And perhaps the most maddening detail of all: Lauterbach, now believed to have been killed on Dec. 15, was dead for more than three weeks before investigators appeared to take a serious look at the man she accused of raping her.

While the Laureans were holding their Christmas party in North Carolina, Lauterbach's family in Vandalia struggled in vain to maintain their Christmas spirit.

There was no Maria to drag them off to midnight Mass, then bound into the bedroom at 5 the next morning shouting, "Everybody get up!"

"She loved Christmas," her mother, Mary, said.

When they didn't hear from Maria during the holidays, they knew something was terribly wrong. Mary Lauterbach had reported her daughter missing on Dec. 18, but she couldn't seem to get anyone to listen to her strong suspicions that her daughter hadn't gone AWOL.

"We have a very pregnant woman here and there is a rape accusation," she said she repeatedly told investigators, "Where is she?"

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Onslow case may impact legislation <br />
Bills in General Assembly would make death of a fetus in act of killing mother also murder <br />
HEATHER GALE <br />
January 21, 2008 - 12:55AM <br />
DAILY NEWS STAFF <br />
A fetus...

[thedrifter]

Mother says slain Marine was vulnerable <br />
<br />
2 hours, 59 minutes ago <br />
<br />
A slain Marine's image as a woman who struggled with the truth made her vulnerable and may have triggered events that led to her...

[thedrifter]

Laurean 'sightings' abound <br />
LINDELL KAY <br />
January 22, 2008 - 12:31AM <br />
DAILY NEWS STAFF <br />
As the international manhunt for a Marine corporal charged with the slaying of a pregnant Marine continues into...

[thedrifter]

Protest Planned Against Marines

Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 - 06:09 PM

By Jennifer Coates
Eyewitness News 9

Word of a possible rally is sparking a lot of buzz around Jacksonville. Members of the group Westboro Baptist Church are planning to protest at Camp Lejeune because of the case. The group wants to "picket the filthy, lawless, Marine Corp". The group filed for a permit to protest this Saturday. Jacksonville police tell us they believe it's been approved. They had to put off a protest last week because the group hadn't filed for a permit early enough.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Scenes From a Pregnant Marine's Murder <br />
Other Images Show Fugitive Marine Using Victim's ATM Card, Buying Suspicious Supplies <br />
By DAVID SCHOETZ <br />
<br />
Jan. 22, 2008 — <br />
<br />
<br />
The most haunting image shows...

[thedrifter]

Controversial rally permitted for Saturday
HEATHER GALE
January 23, 2008 - 1:13AM
DAILY NEWS STAFF
Saturday may be a controversial day for local residents, with protests and support rallies left and right.

The Jacksonville Police Department issued a public assembly permit Friday to members of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., but that action concerned at least one person who went to Tuesday's Jacksonville City Council meeting to make his opinion known.
The primitive Baptist church, headed by Pastor Fred Phelps, is most known for protesting military funerals and anything it perceives as related to homosexuality. It has come to Jacksonville to protest the U.S. Marine Corps, which it says God hates, and issues involving the death of Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach.

Scott Peters, a Jacksonville resident, sent out a press release early Tuesday to encourage people to attend the meeting and share their concerns and disapproval of the permit and to offer alternatives. But he appeared to be alone in the audience.

He said during his presentation to the council that it should look at the impact the protesters will have on the community, and it should make people aware of appropriate conduct recommended for onlookers.

Peters also said during the public comment period of the meeting that the area given to the church to protest is not a good area because it could interfere with many city ordinances.
"I am not asking for (the council) to disallow the event," Peters said. "I just want to move the protest to another area where it won't interfere with Jacksonville's daily lives ... like a park."

Kristoff Bauer, Jacksonville's city manager, said the city is prepared for the church group to come and that people should be cautious around them.

Bauer said he agrees with the statement from Col. Adele Hodges when she urged all Marines and sailors to stay away from the demonstration by the church group.

Peters, however, said the city should make sure it has a plan to deal with any Marines that may become enraged by the protest.

"What Col. Hodges said was just a suggestion, not an order," he said. "(The city) needs to be prepared."

Councilman Jerome Willingham said that the group's coming to protest is "troubling and disheartening" and that it is a shame that the church doesn't share the universal courtesy for dignity of loss of life as most of society does.

"We do, however, have to remember that we just celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and at times what he was saying was not welcome," he said. "We must allow the appreciation of the Constitution, even if we don't agree with their message."

Mayor Sammy Phillips said the Constitution does allow people to speak and assemble and he would fight for that right; however, he is a big supporter of the military and is excited about the support for troops rally being held at the same time.

In response to the church's coming to Jacksonville, Chrissy Speelman, 31, Mandie Benson, 26, and Nikki Stahl, 29, all of Jacksonville, organized a Support our Troops rally the same day to offer an alternative.

"(Jacksonville) is our home and we want to do something great," Speelman said.
Stahl said she wants Marines and veterans alike to know that Jacksonville is their city and they are welcome and supported.

The church plans to meet from 11 a.m. to noon Saturday at Hargett Street and Lejeune Boulevard.

The Support our Troops rally is from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Jacksonville Commons Park.
In addition, the Gathering of Eagles is holding an Operation Celebration of American Military rally from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at 2025 N. Marine Blvd. in Jacksonville.

Contact Heather Gale at hgale@freedomenc.com or 910-353-1171, ext. 8464.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Missing Marine spotted in Mexico

By GUILLERMO ARIAS, Associated Press Writer
25 minutes ago

Missing Marine Cesar Laurean, wanted in the slaying of a pregnant colleague, visited relatives in Mexico last week but left without saying where he was headed, a man identified as his cousin said Tuesday.

Juan Antonio Ramos Ramirez told The Associated Press that Laurean walked into his liquor store on Jan. 14 or Jan. 15, and the two cousins chatted for 10 minutes about their families. Laurean then told Ramos Ramirez that he had to get back to two friends outside, but he might return. He never came back.

CNN first reported Tuesday that Laurean had briefly stopped by Ramos Ramirez's liquor store in Zapopan, just outside Guadalajara.

Days later, Ramos Ramirez saw a television report that Laurean was wanted in the United States for killing 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach.

"We were completely shocked," he said.

Authorities have said they suspected that Laurean had fled to Mexico, but the comments from Ramos Ramirez were the first public confirmation that the Marine had been in the country.

Mexican and U.S. officials said they were looking into the report, but didn't have any more information.

The Marines first began searching for Lauterbach on Dec. 17, after Lauterbach failed to show up for work. Local authorities took up the case Dec. 19, after her mother reported her missing. Three weeks later, officials found Lauterbach's burned remains in a fire pit in Laurean's back yard.

Lauterbach had earlier accused Laurean of rape. Laurean left a note for his wife, Christina, that said Lauterbach slit her own throat with a knife, and he then buried her in the woods near their home.

An autopsy found that Lauterbach died of blunt force trauma to the head.

CNN reported Tuesday night that Laurean had mailed two other letters to his family before crossing the border. On Jan. 11, Laurean boarded a bus in Raleigh, N.C., headed for Houston, where he caught a second bus to Mexico for about $170, CNN quoted an unidentified law enforcement official as saying.

The second bus driver told authorities Laurean identified himself as Armando Ramirez, the same official said.

CNN also showed video of a man authorities believe is Laurean withdrawing money from Lauterbach's bank account at an ATM on Dec. 24.

Ramos Ramirez said he didn't contact police about his cousin because he believes Laurean is innocent.

"It didn't seem right to contact police," he said. "He is a normal person, with no tendency for doing bad things."

He said police still hadn't contacted him about his cousin late Tuesday, despite the international manhunt.

Officials in Jalisco state, home to Guadalajara, said they hadn't been formally notified of Laurean's warrant.

Ramos Ramirez said Laurean and most of the Marine's family moved to the U.S. more than 10 years ago, and he had seen Laurean only three other times since. The second time, five years ago, Laurean came for vacation and spent a few days with Ramos Ramirez's mother, Maria Ramirez.

Laurean hasn't contacted any other family members in Mexico, Ramos Ramirez said.

He said Laurean didn't stay long, and didn't say anything about why he was in Mexico or where he was headed next. Ramos Ramirez said he wasn't surprised by the brief visit because Laurean isn't very close to relatives in Mexico. His cousin seemed calm, he added.

"It was like any visit," Ramos Ramirez said.

_____

Associated Press writer Traci Carl contributed to this report from Mexico City.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Lauterbach’s mom fills in some pieces of a daughter’s life <br />
TIMMI TOLER <br />
January 24, 2008 - 8:08AM <br />
DAILY NEWS STAFF <br />
She loved sports. She loved church. She was not a compulsive liar. Mary...

[thedrifter]

Groups plan their answer to Westboro
Two pro-military rallies scheduled for Saturday
HEATHER GALE
January 24, 2008 - 8:22AM
DAILY NEWS STAFF
People from the community and across the country are coming together this weekend to show their support of the military community — and their distaste for the Westboro Baptist Church group and its message.

The controversial Kansas church, the one that pickets funerals of military service members, has a permit from the Jacksonville Police Department for a planned protest of Camp Lejeune on Saturday.

Two other groups say they have a better alternative.

Three Marine Corps wives — Nikki Stahl, 29, of Jacksonville, Mandie Benson, 26, of Jacksonville and Chrissy Speelman, 31, of Jacksonville — are organizing a troop-support rally from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Jacksonville Commons Park near the community center.

The Gathering of Eagles — in conjunction with Rolling Thunder, Patriot Guard Riders, Eagles Up, Military Order of the Purple Heart and Leather-Necks Motorcycle Club — will hold a demonstration of their own from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the intersection of North Marine Boulevard and Western Boulevard, in front of Wal-Mart.

Both events are scheduled to counter the Westboro Baptist Church protest, which is scheduled at the same time at the corner of Lejeune Boulevard and Hargett Street.

“With the support of the citizens of Jacksonville we can spotlight the true spirit of the community,” the women said in a letter about the Support Our Troops rally sent to The Daily News and to businesses throughout Jacksonville. “We don’t think (the community) should give the church the audience they are looking for.”

Scooter the clown and a fire truck from the Jacksonville fire department will be at the Support Our Troops rally. There will be a raffle of donated items from local businesses, food from Sharp Shooters and Noble Roman’s pizza and free coffee, according to organizers.

“This is our home,” Speelman said. “We want to do something great.”

Speelman’s husband, a gunnery sergeant at Camp Lejeune, was at first against the women having anything to do with the church.

“After I explained to him that we are not trying to compete with (the church) he was very supportive,” she said.

Benson said the entire concept is to focus on family and community.

“Everyone is welcome from kids to veterans,” she said. “The rally has nothing to do with politics whatsoever.”

Ross “Bubba” McDonald is the North Carolina state coordinator of the Gathering of Eagles.

He said that due to the amount of commotion caused by Westboro Baptist Church after it announced the planned protest of Camp Lejeune, he and many others wanted to do something to counteract the church.

“We don’t want to be a part of the negativity,” McDonald said. “We just want to celebrate American military and demonstrate what real troop support looks like.”

McDonald said the Marines and residents should know that the groups are 100 percent behind them.

“We are not going to be holding pep talks for ourselves or feeding ourselves during the demonstration,” he said. “We are only here to show our support peacefully.”

Contact staff writer Heather Gale at hgale@freedomenc.com or 910-219-8464.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

FBI says Laurean lacks fear <br />
Dual citizenship may complicate arrest in Mexico <br />
STAFF REPORT <br />
January 24, 2008 - 7:57AM <br />
Cesar Laurean was born in Mexico. He became a U.S. citizen in 2003. <br />
But he...

[thedrifter]

Paperwork Could Slow Efforts to Arrest Laurean in Mexico; Marines to Honor Lauterbach <br />
<br />
Wednesday, Jan 23, 2008 - 06:40 PM <br />
<br />
By Philip Jones <br />
Eyewitness News 9 <br />
E-mail | Biography <br />
<br />
<br />
Cesar...

[thedrifter]

Grand jury indicts Laurean <br />
LINDELL KAY <br />
January 25, 2008 - 12:27AM <br />
DAILY NEWS STAFF <br />
The FBI thinks Cesar Laurean is in Mexico, and local authorities are doing everything they can to get him back....

[thedrifter]

Marine indicted in murder, robbery, theft <br />
The Associated Press <br />
Posted : Friday Jan 25, 2008 15:07:24 EST <br />
<br />
JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — A grand jury indicted a Marine corporal Thursday with first-degree...

[thedrifter]

Laurean detail misreported <br />
Lauterbach wasn’t force to withdraw money from ATM <br />
LINDELL KAY <br />
January 26, 2008 - 12:00AM <br />
DAILY NEWS STAFF <br />
Cesar Laurean did not force the woman he is accused of...

[thedrifter]

Traffic to be closed during Westboro church protest
January 26, 2008 - 12:00AM
DAILY NEWS STAFFJACKSONVILLE - The Jacksonville Police Department will redirect city traffic from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. today on N.C. 24 westbound from Richlands Road to Hargett Street due to a planned demonstration by Westboro Baptist Church.

All traffic traveling on New Bridge Street or Johnson Boulevard or east on N.C. 24 can continue without delays. Motorists who wish to travel to the New River Shopping Center or surrounding neighborhoods can reach their destination by traveling N.C. 24 east to New River Drive.

All traffic from Camp Johnson or Montford Landing Road will be directed to the right lanes on N.C. 24.

The intersection at N.C. 24 and Hargett Street will be closed to all traffic during the demonstration except to emergency vehicles and crews.

The Westboro Baptist Church protest is from 11 a.m. to noon.

While the Westboro Baptist Church is protesting Camp Lejeune, there will be pro-military rallies in town.

The Support our Troops Rally will be at Jacksonville Commons Park from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The Open Celebration of American Military will be at Marine Boulevard and Western Boulevard from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Slain Marine's remains escorted home

Fri Jan 25, 6:01 PM ET

A motorcade led by Marines, the Air Force and a volunteer group escorted the remains of a slain 20-year-old pregnant Marine to a funeral home Friday.

The burned remains of Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach were found with those of her fetus earlier this month in a fire pit in the back yard of a Marine colleague's house in Jacksonville, N.C.

The colleague, Cpl. Cesar Laurean, is being sought on an indictment charging first-degree murder in Lauterbach's death. Both were stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

The motorcade accompanied Lauterbach's body from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, where a contracted airlift arranged by the military arrived Friday morning, to the Westbrock Funeral Home in Dayton about 15 miles away.

Lauterbach's hometown, Vandalia, is just north of Dayton.

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.

The family has requested privacy, base spokesman Derek Kaufman said.

Maria Lauterbach, who had accused Laurean of raping her, disappeared Dec. 14.

The FBI is leading the international manhunt for Laurean, 21, who is thought to be in his native Mexico.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Body of slain Marine returned to Dayton <br />
<br />
By Margo Rutledge Kissell <br />
<br />
Staff Writer <br />
<br />
Friday, January 25, 2008 <br />
<br />
DAYTON — The body of Marine Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach arrived back in the Miami...

[thedrifter]

Prosecutor offers Mexican authorities and fugitive Marine a deal in killing of colleague <br />
<br />
By: ESTES THOMPSON - Associated Press <br />
<br />
JACKSONVILLE, N.C. -- If a Marine wanted in the killing of a...

[thedrifter]

Church group draws counterprotest <br />
Law enforcment prevents physical interaction <br />
BY HEATHER GALE <br />
January 26, 2008 - 7:24PM <br />
DAILY NEWS STAFF <br />
Five people versus 40. <br />
<br />
The notorious protesting...

[thedrifter]

Support Our Troops rally draws a crowd
BY AMANDA HICKEY
January 26, 2008 - 10:35PM
DAILY NEWS STAFF
While five members of the Westboro Baptist Church protested the U.S. Marine Corps, more than 200 people gathered at Jacksonville Commons Park for the Support Our Troops rally.

The rally, organized by Marine wives Nikki Stahl, Amanda Benson, Christina Speelman, Jennifer Grooms and Kim Grove, was a way to say thank you to the troops.

“We decided that it’s time to do something for our troops with our community,” Speelman said.

The rally was one of two events — the other being at U.S. 17 and Western Boulevard — organized in response to the Topeka, Kan.-based church group’s protest across town.
Forty-three businesses and seven individuals made donations, allowing food to be spread across tables and coffee to be served to fight off the cold.

“We had so little resistance. Everyone (was) all about it. That’s exactly what we wanted to spotlight about this community,” Grooms said.

Scooter the Clown was among those who volunteered their services.

“I believe that what the other folks over there are doing, they have a right to do, but I believe in supporting the people who give them that right,” he said as he made a balloon animal. “The Armed Forces fight for that right.”

For Scooter, a peaceful rally was a good response.

“I think that if you want to get your point across, you don’t have to be stomping around with signs and being angry,” he said.

Omar Myers retired from the Marine Corps after 20 years as a staff sergeant and is now the post commander of AMVETS. When he heard of the rally, he wanted to make sure AMVETS was involved.

“This is our country. We’ve got to support the people who protect it,” he said.
With Myers came former post commander and retired Staff Sgt. Joseph Traumer, a Vietnam veteran.

“It’s (the Westboro Baptist Church’s) freedom to say what they want to say, but its our right to listen or not listen,” he said.

Darlene Shriver, 62 of Jacksonville came to the rally because she felt it was the right thing to do. Shriver’s husband was in the Army and her son was in the Air Force.

“It makes me feel proud to be here, and the wives showing such great support of their husbands and the entire military is great,” she said.

As she thought of Westboro Baptist Church, Shriver just shook her head.

“I know they have the right to be here, but I disagree whole heartedly with everything they’re doing,” she said.

Cristal Romeo, 21 of Jacksonville, and her 16-month old sons Draven and Donavan went to the rally in full support of the Marine Corps.

Romeo’s jeans donned the words “Proud Marine Wife,” “Support the Troops,” and “I love my Marine,” while the twin boys wore camouflage pants and jackets with a shirt underneath that said “My daddy rules,” with the Marine Corps emblem.

On the side of their stroller was a sign that read “Daddy fights for freedom as we fight for his name.”

“It’s really great to see that this many people support (the Marines),” Romeo said. “I’m just grateful that these girls put this together.”

Also making appearances were Onslow County Commissioners Delma Collins and Lionell Midgett.

“It’s such a good feeling (to be at the rally). It just amplifies what I’ve known as a member of this community all my life, that is when a challenge comes to this community, they bond together and rise up,” Collins said. “It’s a good way to give back, that’s what this is all about. This is my way of giving back and supporting the military.”

Col. Paul O’Toole was also at the rally and led the group in the pledge of allegiance before thanking the organizers.

“You typify what we have here in Jacksonville,” he told the organizers. “I like this environment because everyone down here is either in the Marine Corps or Navy, or is tied to it.”

Gunnery Sgt. Robert Stahl, 31, of Jacksonville, was proud of what his wife and her friends put together.

“No one knew it was going to be this big, but I’m very proud of how big this is,” he said. “It fills me with pride, because even though this is a military community, they haven’t forgotten their roots. They still show their patriotism and support for the troops.”

Contact Jacksonville and Onslow County reporter Amanda Hickey at ahickey@freedomenc.com or 910-219-8463.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

People drive across state to celebrate military
BY AMANDA HICKEY
January 26, 2008 - 10:41PM
DAILY NEWS STAFF
More than 250 people gathered with U.S. flags and signs showing their support for the military in front of Wal-Mart by U.S. 17 and Western Boulevard on Saturday.

More than 100 American flags were waved in the air while signs asked drivers to “Honk if you love the Marine Corps.”

Another sign told people that “If you don’t stand behind the troops, stand in front.”

The celebration was one of two events — with the other at Jacksonville Commons Park — organized in response to an anti-Marine Corps and military protest by Westboro Baptist Church, based in Topeka, Kan., that happened across town.

“We’re just here to show the world that we support the troops,” said Bill Cook of Sherrills Ford, state captain of the Patriot Guard.

Cook drove from the town that is north of Charlotte to attend the celebration.

“Some of the signs say honk if you love the Marines and, obviously, this is Marine territory,” he said, motioning toward the road where drivers were honking the horns while passengers hung out car windows waving flags and screaming their support.

Among the flags being waved by the crowd were some that came from the Healing Field in Sturgis, S.D. Each flag represents a fallen warrior and has a tag on it saying as much, Cook said.

When the field took the flags down, the Patriot Guard bought many of them. Cook also bought a few, the first of which he gave to the young fallen Marine’s mother, he said.

Despite the cold and the rain, those celebrating the troops weren’t stopping.

“That’s just respect and honor,” Cook said while looking at those involved in the celebration.

Darryl Linder, a gold-star father who lost his son in June, drove from Hickory to attend the celebration.

“I love it. I would have driven a lot farther than this. There’s a lot of good people here from every walk of life. I love it,” he said. “We’re just supporting what our nation stands for, what the men and women do.”

Others came to drown out the voices of the Westboro protestors.

“It’s awesome. Rain doesn’t bother me. Cold doesn’t bother me, because I know we’re doing the right thing,” Fayetteville resident Mike Surles, 43, said.

George Samek of Shallotte said each person on that sidewalk and in the grass was there for the same reason: to support the troops.

“I love it. I am a 22-year Army vet, a two-year Vietnam veteran. If you attack my military, I am on you like glue,” Samek said.

Retired Chief Petty Officer Les Valyer rides with the American Legion in Winston-Salem and drove from Statesville to show his support.

“It gives you a really warm feeling inside to do something like this. I like supporting the troops,” he said.

When Valyer heard about the Westboro Baptist Church’s plans to protest in Jacksonville, he came to “make sure they had enough support here.”

He was not surprised by the number of people that turned out but was happy so many were there.

“It’s great, really it’s great, to see all these people in the rain doing this,” he said. “It really shows how strong this country is.”

Josh and Tessa Elsass of Jacksonville came to the celebration to support the troops and remember friends they’ve lost along the way.

“We’ve had friends get hit with these IEDs they support,” Tessa said. “It’s good to see all these people support them. All you hear on the news is those against them.”

“So we have to fight a war here as well as overseas,” Josh, who was in the Marine Corps for five years, added.

For Donna McDowell of Raleigh, showing her support of the Marine Corps and military was an honor.

“I am so proud of the military. It’s just awesome. They’re thanking us when we’re out here supporting them. …It’s an honor to stand here and support these guys.”

Contact Jacksonville and Onslow County reporter Amanda Hickey at ahickey@freedomenc.com or 910-219-8463.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Mexican extradition complicated <br />
LINDELL KAY <br />
January 28, 2008 - 12:05AM <br />
DAILY NEWS STAFF <br />
Even after he is caught, getting a Marine corporal back to Onslow County to stand trial for the slaying of...

[thedrifter]

Westboro church group shouldn't have been allowed to protest here <br />
DAILY NEWS STAFF <br />
January 28, 2008 - 12:05AM <br />
In theory, freedom of speech seems like a simple concept to grasp. That is, until it...

[thedrifter]

Family and friends show their support
Amanda Hickey
January 27, 2008 - 11:52PM
Staff writer
Jacksonville — More than 250 people gathered with U.S. flags and signs showing their support for the military in front of Wal-Mart by U.S. 17 and Western Boulevard in Jacksonville on Saturday.
More than 100 American flags were waved in the air while signs asked drivers to “Honk if you love the Marine Corps.”
Another sign told people that “If you don’t stand behind the troops, stand in front.”

The celebration was one of two events — with the other at Jacksonville Commons Park — organized in response to an anti-Marine Corps and military protest by Westboro Baptist Church, based in Topeka, Kan., that happened across town.

“We’re just here to show the world that we support the troops,” said Bill Cook of Sherrills Ford, state captain of the Patriot Guard.
Cook drove from the town that is north of Charlotte to attend the celebration.

“Some of the signs say honk if you love the Marines and, obviously, this is Marine territory,” he said, motioning toward the road where drivers were honking the horns while passengers hung out car windows waving flags and screaming their support.

Among the flags being waved by the crowd were some that came from the Healing Field in Sturgis, S.D. Each flag represents a fallen warrior and has a tag on it saying as much, Cook said.

When the field took the flags down, the Patriot Guard bought many of them. Cook also bought a few, the first of which he gave to the young fallen Marine’s mother, he said.

Despite the cold and the rain, those celebrating the troops weren’t stopping.

“That’s just respect and honor,” Cook said while looking at those involved in the celebration.

Darryl Linder, a gold-star father who lost his son in June, drove from Hickory to attend the celebration.

“I love it. I would have driven a lot farther than this. There’s a lot of good people here from every walk of life. I love it,” he said. “We’re just supporting what our nation stands for, what the men and women do.”
Others came to drown out the voices of the Westboro protestors.
“It’s awesome. Rain doesn’t bother me. Cold doesn’t bother me, because I know we’re doing the right thing,” Fayetteville resident Mike Surles, 43, said.

George Samek of Shallotte said each person on that sidewalk and in the grass was there for the same reason: to support the troops.
“I love it. I am a 22-year Army vet, a two-year Vietnam veteran. If you attack my military, I am on you like glue,” Samek said.

Retired Chief Petty Officer Les Valyer rides with the American Legion in Winston-Salem and drove from Statesville to show his support.
“It gives you a really warm feeling inside to do something like this. I like supporting the troops,” he said.

When Valyer heard about the Westboro Baptist Church’s plans to protest in Jacksonville, he came to “make sure they had enough support here.”
He was not surprised by the number of people that turned out but was happy so many were there.

“It’s great, really it’s great, to see all these people in the rain doing this,” he said. “It really shows how strong this country is.”
Josh and Tessa Elsass of Jacksonville came to the celebration to support the troops and remember friends they’ve lost along the way.

“We’ve had friends get hit with these IEDs they support,” Tessa said. “It’s good to see all these people support them. All you hear on the news is those against them.”

“So we have to fight a war here as well as overseas,” Josh, who was in the Marine Corps for five years, added.

For Donna McDowell of Raleigh, showing her support of the Marine Corps and military was an honor.

“I am so proud of the military. It’s just awesome. They’re thanking us when we’re out here supporting them. …It’s an honor to stand here and support these guys.”

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Mexican court issues provisional arrest warrant <br />
January 28, 2008 - 4:15PM <br />
Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown’s manhunt for Cesar Laurean has literally gone what he termed “earthwide.” Law-enforcement...

[thedrifter]

Article published Jan 29, 2008
Mexico issues arrest warrant for Marine
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican officials have issued an arrest warrant for a U.S. Marine suspected of killing a pregnant colleague from Ohio who had accused him of rape, a U.S. Embassy official said Tuesday.

A cousin told reporters last week that Marine Cpl. Cesar Laurean visited family in the area of Guadalajara, Mexico, this month, but left without saying where he was headed.

The burned remains of Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, of Vandalia in western Ohio, were found with those of her fetus earlier this month in a fire pit in the back yard of Laurean’s house in Jacksonville, N.C., and Laurean, is being sought on an indictment charging first-degree murder. Both were stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Lauterbach failed to show up for work in mid-December and her body was found three weeks later.

Laurean was born in Mexico and fled after leaving a note for his wife in North Carolina saying Lauterbach cut her own throat and that he had buried her body.

Authorities say she did not commit suicide, and an autopsy found that she died of blunt force trauma to the head. Prosecutors have pledged not to pursue the death penalty if Laurean is found in Mexico, which refuses to return suspects to the U.S. without assurances that they will not face execution.

A U.S. Embassy official, who was not authorized to give a name, said Mexican officials had issued a warrant for Laurean’s arrest on a U.S. extradition request. The official did not say when the warrant was issued.

CNN first reported that Mexico was seeking Laurean’s arrest.

Laurean’s cousin Juan Antonio Ramos Ramirez told The Associated Press that Laurean walked into his liquor store in a Guadalajara suburb on Jan. 14 or Jan. 15, and chatted for a few minutes. Ramos Ramirez said his cousin never came back.

Mary Lauterbach of Vandalia, Ohio, the mother of the dead Marine, told NBC’s “Today” show Tuesday that the Marine Corps should consider basic procedural changes, “such as a mandatory base move if a person requests it after a rape accusation.”

“We want to change the climate so that any time a woman is attacked and, you know, wants to report it, that she can do so without the fear that the repercussions from reporting it will be far worse than the rape itself,” Lauterbach said.

Lauterbach’s family has said she was harassed at Camp Lejeune, the massive base on the Atlantic coast where she and Laurean served in the same logistics unit as personnel clerks. The Marines have said her car was keyed once and that she reported that she had been punched in the face.

The Marines ordered Laurean to stay away from Lauterbach one day after she reported the rape in May, and later issued a protective order to keep them apart.

Their regimental commander also assigned Lauterbach to work in a separate building across the base from Laurean. The Marines said earlier this month that Lauterbach reported that she did not feel threatened by him.

Laurean denied the rape accusation. Naval investigators have said they have no physical evidence or witness accounts to corroborate Lauterbach’s claims, but Lauterbach’s and Laurean’s regimental commander was intent on taking the case to a hearing that could have led to a trial.

Lauterbach’s family has complained that the Marines and local officials didn’t respond with enough urgency to her disappearance in mid-December. At that time, Mary Lauterbach told sheriff’s officials in North Carolina her daughter was a “compulsive liar,” a comment she has repeatedly said was a mistake.

“I said, you know, she had problems, you know, with occasional lying,” Lauterbach said on NBC. “And that got — just a piece of that was pulled out. So it was really misstated.”

Prosecutors believe Lauterbach was killed Dec. 14. Marine officials have said they attempted to find her after she failed to report to work on Dec. 17, but had evidence — including a note left for her roommate in which she said she was tired of the Marine Corps lifestyle — that led them to believe she left on her own.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Pregnant Marine’s mom laments her death <br />
Maria Lauterbach’s mother says Corps failed to protect her daughter <br />
By John Springer <br />
TODAYShow.com contributor <br />
updated 9:08 a.m. CT, Tues., Jan. 29, 2008...

[thedrifter]

Laurean manhunt progress in the mind of the beholder <br />
LINDELL KAY <br />
January 30, 2008 - 12:52AM <br />
DAILY NEWS STAFF <br />
Has a flurry of international paperwork, a Mexican arrest warrant, a cash reward and...

[thedrifter]

Funeral services set for Lauterbach
January 29, 2008 - 2:09PM
An obituary in the Vandalia (Ohio) Drummer News lists the funeral services planned for a pregnant Marine killed in Onslow County.

Services for Lance Cpl. Maria F Lauterbach, 20, and her unborn child will be held this weekend in her hometown of Vandalia, Ohio. The notice said the child Lauterbach was carrying was a boy to be named Gabriel Joseph; however, official sources have yet to confirm the gender.

Lauterbach's funeral is set for Saturday at 10 a.m. at St. Christopher Catholic Church in Vandalia, with burial following at Calvary Cemetery. Visitation is planned for Thursday from 4 to 8 p.m. at the church.

Lauterbach's charred body was found buried in the back yard of Cesar Armando Laurean's Half Moon community home. Laurean, a fellow Marine Lauterbach had previously accused of rape, has been indicted for first-degree murder in Lauterbach's death.

Laurean, who is believed to have fled the area on Jan. 11, is reported to be in his native Mexico. The FBI has offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.

A representative with the U.S. Embassy in Mexico announced Monday that a Mexican judge had issued a provisional arrest warrant for Laurean based on extradition paperwork filed by the Onslow County District Attorney’s Office.

Interpol has also sent out an all-points bulletin for Laurean.

Lauterbach's obituary, which lists Dec. 15 as the date of her death, notes that Lauterbach, a 2006 graduate of Vandalia Butler High School and the Montgomery County Career Center, “was a gifted athlete excelling in soccer, softball and basketball and also very active with the St. Christopher youth group.”

Survivors include her parents, Victor and Mary Lauterbach; three sisters, Ann, Kate and Theresa; and a brother, Ed.

The obituary notes that the family is requesting donations be made to Vandalia Butler Foundation, Maria Lauterbach Athletic Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 722, Vandalia, OH 45377.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Fundamentalist church to protest Lauterbach funeral <br />
<br />
By Margo Rutledge Kissell | Tuesday, January 29, 2008, 11:51 AM <br />
<br />
<br />
Members of a fundamentalist Kansas church who protest military funerals...

[thedrifter]

Accessory after fact may not apply in Laurean case <br />
BY HEATHER GALE <br />
January 30, 2008 - 8:34PM <br />
DAILY NEWS STAFF <br />
Christina Laurean had been told by her husband that he had buried a body in the back...

[thedrifter]

Crime doesn't take a holiday amid manhunt <br />
LINDELL KAY <br />
February 1, 2008 - 4:10AM <br />
DAILY NEWS STAFF <br />
As the international manhunt for Cesar Laurean drags on into its 22nd day, the Onslow County...

[thedrifter]

Pregnant Marine eulogized, laid to rest <br />
By James Hannah - The Associated Press <br />
Posted : Saturday Feb 2, 2008 17:09:35 EST <br />
<br />
VANDALIA, Ohio — White foam cups plugged into the openings of a...

[thedrifter]

Mourners fill church for Lauterbach, baby
The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Feb 1, 2008 14:10:19 EST

VANDALIA, Ohio — The American flag-draped casket of a slain pregnant Marine was accompanied by a smaller one holding her unborn child during calling hours that drew hundreds of people to pay their respects.

A steady stream of mourners snaked through St. Christopher Catholic Church in this western Ohio community near Dayton during the four-hour visitation Thursday evening for Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, whose killing has touched off a manhunt.

Cpl. Cesar Laurean is suspected of killing Lauterbach, 20, and fleeing to Mexico, where authorities have issued an arrest warrant.

Lauterbach’s charred remains were found last month with those of her fetus in a fire pit in Laurean’s backyard near Camp Lejeune, N.C., where both Marines were stationed.

Lauterbach was from Vandalia, and Laurean is from Clark County, Nev.

Joannie Copeland, 39, of Dayton, and Stacey Hodkey, 29, of Vandalia, said they have watched the family grieve in the glare of national media attention.

“The focus needs to be on what’s important — Maria and the life she led,” Hodkey said.

Elise Wahle, youth ministry coordinator at St. Christopher, read a statement from both the church and family thanking the community and the nation for the outpouring of prayers and support.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Sheriff attends Lauterbach funeral
BY LINDELL KAY
February 2, 2008 - 1:03PM
DAILY NEWS STAFF
Sheriff Ed Brown is well known for attending funerals in Onslow County. But he traveled farther than he ever has to be at the funeral he attended today.

Services for Marine Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach were at 10 a.m. at St. Christopher Catholic Church in Vandalia, Ohio. The burial of Lauterbach and her unborn child followed at Calvary Cemetery.

Lauterbach was reported missing to the Sheriff’s Department on Dec. 19, and Jan. 11, investigators found her body buried in the Half Moon community backyard of the man authorities say killed her.

Brown said he was apprehensive about speaking to the news media about going to the funeral because he did not want to distract attention from the Lauterbach family in their time of grief. He spoke to The Daily News about his trip after a reporter learned of his intentions through an independent source.

“My reason for going was to pay my respects to Maria and little Gabriel,” Brown said Saturday.

Lauterbach’s obituary states the child she was carrying was a boy to be named Gabriel Joseph; however, official sources have yet to confirm gender.

“The funeral was very respectful of Maria and her child and Christ centered,” Brown said. “I hope I represented the feelings of the Sheriff’s Department and the people of Onslow County in attending.”

Brown said that when he was deciding whether to go, his wife told him he should.
“I value my wife’s opinion a great deal and she told me to go,” Brown said. “We had plans but she said it was the right thing to do.”

Capt. Donnie Worrell said he spoke to Victor Lauterbach, Maria’s father, Friday and said the family was pleased to hear the sheriff would be attending the funeral.

Brown and Worrell were scheduled to fly out of Albert J. Ellis Airport on Friday afternoon, but their flight was delayed, so they began the 666-mile trip by car Friday night.

While family and friends mourn Maria Lauterbach in Ohio, her accused killer, Cesar Laurean is still on the run, most likely in Mexico, according to federal authorities.

Laurean, a fellow Camp Lejeune Marine Lauterbach had previously accused of rape, has been indicted for first-degree murder in Lauterbach's death.

He is believed to have fled Onslow County on Jan. 11 for his native Mexico. The FBI has offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.

A representative with the U.S. Embassy in Mexico announced Monday that a Mexican judge had issued a provisional arrest warrant for Laurean based on extradition paperwork filed by the Onslow County District Attorney’s Office.

The FBI, Interpol, U.S. marshals, the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Bureau of Diplomatic Security have all joined in the manhunt for Laurean.

Lauterbach’s obituary, which lists Dec. 15 as the date of her death, notes that Lauterbach, a 2006 graduate of Vandalia Butler High School and the Montgomery County Career Center, “was a gifted athlete excelling in soccer, softball and basketball and also very active with the St. Christopher youth group.”

The Lauterbach family is requesting donations be made to Vandalia Butler Foundation, Maria Lauterbach Athletic Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 722, Vandalia, OH 45377.

Contact police reporter Lindell Kay at lkay@freedomenc.com or 910-554-8534.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marine, unborn son buried <br />
900 attend funeral for woman found slain <br />
Sunday, February 3, 2008 3:37 AM <br />
<br />
VANDALIA, Ohio (AP) -- White foam cups plugged into the openings of a chain-link fence...

[thedrifter]

Laurean case has lessons for others <br />
LINDELL KAY <br />
February 4, 2008 - 12:49AM <br />
DAILY NEWS STAFF <br />
A grand jury in Texas has indicted Cesar Laurean on first-degree murder. <br />
<br />
The mock grand jury was...

[thedrifter]

Lab results, Laurean arrest hold keys to case <br />
LINDELL KAY <br />
February 5, 2008 - 12:04AM <br />
DAILY NEWS STAFF <br />
Authorities say the investigation of Cesar Laurean hinges on two points - his capture and...

[thedrifter]

Bounty on Laurean too small? <br />
LINDELL KAY <br />
February 6, 2008 - 12:59AM <br />
DAILY NEWS STAFF <br />
Is $25,000 enough? <br />
<br />
Since Jan. 13 - two days after he fled Onslow County - Cesar Laurean has had a $25,000...

[thedrifter]

WESTBORO BAPTIST CHURCH TO PICKET MARINE RECRUITING STATION
by: Westboro Baptist Church, godhatesfags.com


From Westboro Baptist Church press release:

The Marine Corps is "Filled with Filthy Fags."

Wise UP, brutish Berkeley.

This week they bury Lance Cpl. Maria F. Lauterbach who was raped and murdered by a fellow Marine. Her uncle says, "She was raped. The Marines didn't protect her. Now she's dead." The Marines are filled with murderers, rapists, liars -AND FAGS. The City of Berkeley wants more fags! They voted this week to boot the Marine recruiting office out of downtown Berkeley unless the Marines throw
the doors wide open to fill the Marines with yet more filthy fags! Invoking the wrath of God.

WBC will picket the Marine recruiting office & Code Pink.

WBC to picket the downtown Marine recruiting office in Berkeley -at noon, Mon., Feb. 11 -in religious protest and warning; to wit: "Be not deceived; God is not mocked." Gal. 6:7. God Hates Fags! & Fag-Enablers. Ergo, God hates the Fag-Filled Marine Corps, the Fag-Run City of Berkeley, the Fag Republic of California, and the United States of Fag-America. [2/5/2008]

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Sheriff asserts belief in divining evidence
LINDELL KAY
February 7, 2008 - 1:04AM
DAILY NEWS STAFF
While grateful for all the technological advancements in law enforcement, Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown said that sometimes a good, old-fashioned solution works best.

When investigators arrived at 103 Meadow Trail in the Half Moon community on Jan. 11 looking for the body of a slain pregnant Marine who had been missing for three weeks, all they had to go on were notes left behind by her accused killer. The notes said the body was buried in the woods behind the house.

Brown said he had no reason to believe the details of the notes since they contained several inaccuracies. So he borrowed a wire coat hanger from one of Laurean's neighbors and fashioned it into a divining rod.

He walked the backyard with the wire hanger and located a "suspicious cavity" right next to a fire pit in the center of the backyard. Authorities would discover human remains buried there.

The notes, said to have been left by Cesar Laurean, a Camp Lejeune Marine corporal still on the run from authorities, said Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach had come to his house and killed herself by cutting her throat.

Investigators probed the cavity enough to remove a skull fragment from the body they found in the ground.

As night descended, the Sheriff's Department secured the crime scene and waited until the light of day to complete the exhumation.

The state medical examiner would later identify the body as that of Lauterbach. Her autopsy revealed she died of blunt force trauma to the head, another contradiction to Laurean's notes.

Brown said he wanted to use the divining rod before digging up the backyard, because he has used the simple device to find bodies before.

"I was impressed with it when it was shown to me," Brown said, adding that he has used divining rods for so long he cannot remember who first showed him how to use one. He said he has been using divining rods as a law enforcement tool for more than 25 years.

At least two times where tombstones had been removed from old graveyards or private cemeteries had been plowed over, Brown located the graves without having to tear up the area with exploratory digging.

"I was able to go into both graveyards and pick out exactly where the graves were," Brown said.

The composition of dirt that has filled in a hole in the ground is different than the packed dirt around the hole, and gravity pulls the divining rod closer to the human body because of it, Brown said.

"On normal days, people walk around and do not notice the different pulls of gravity on the body," Brown said. "But when we step over a culvert or enclosed ditch, gravity's pull is different. It happens without us noticing."

In 1999, a man used a divining rod to discover 270 unmarked graves outside Lincoln, Neb., according to a report in The Topeka Capital-Journal that was published at the time.

The veracity of divining rods has been hotly debated in scientific and academic circles for many centuries, dating back than the Middle Ages when people who were caught using divining rods were often put to death, according to the book "Magic and Divination in the Middle Ages" published by Ashgate Publishing Co.

Several studies have been conducted over the years, most recently by German scientist Hans-Dieter Betz for the Journal of Scientific Exploration. He observed research by engineering companies trying to find potable water in Sri Lanka, Congo and several other nations. Betz found that divining rods produced success rates higher than 90 percent when compared with scientific methods - like sound-bouncing, where equipment sends sound into the ground and measures how long it takes to come back - for finding underground cavities or pockets of water.

Engineers were able to find a water supply for about 17,000 inhabitants of the town of Al Wasitah in Yemen by using divining rod techniques after previous hydrogeological studies said no water was available, according to Betz's article.

Divining rods may not have the full acceptance of the scientific community, but the instruments cannot be dismissed either, Betz said in his research.

Brown said he does not understand all the reasons behind why divining rods work, but said he has seen them work enough times to trust their results.



Contact police reporter Lindell Kay at lkay@freedomenc.com or 910-554-8534. To comment on this story or to read others' comments go to jdnews.com.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Death threats are sent
LINDELL KAY
February 9, 2008 - 12:50AM
DAILY NEWS STAFF
The creator of an Internet memorial site for a pregnant Marine who authorities say was killed by a colleague in mid-December received online death threats from at least two Marines this week.

"Shut up or get cut up," a post made in the name of Ron Parikh appeared on the MySpace memorial for Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach on Feb. 5.

Marine Corps officials confirmed that Lance Cpl. Parikh, a personnel clerk currently assigned to a training command in California, was under investigation for several MySpace.com postings.

"Parikh is being investigated by the Criminal Investigation Division for information posted on the Internet about Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach," said Capt. Neal Fisher, public affairs director for Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at Twenty-nine Palms, Calif.

Another Marine, Lance Cpl. Jonathan Cole, is also under investigation for comments he made on the internet, Marine officials said.

Cole is assigned to a unit in the 2nd Marine Division which is based at Camp Lejeune, said Lt. Col. Curtis Hill, public affairs officer for II Marine Expeditionary Force.

"(Cole's) command is aware of the MySpace issue and is taking appropriate action," Hill said.

Communicating "certain language expressing a present determination or intent to wrongfully injure" someone is a violation of military law, according to the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

If such communications were "of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces" then Parikh, Cole and any other Marines involved could potentially face even more trouble, according to Article 134 of the UCMJ.

"If Marines were caught doing something inappropriate in uniform or their photograph was associated with something inappropriate online, that is a violation of the UMCJ," said Sgt. Paul Robbins, a public relations officer at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

A photograph of Parikh in dress blues serves as an icon picture on his MySpace account.

Jacksonville resident Miley Collier said she started the memorial page about a week ago as a way to remember Lauterbach and allow other people the opportunity to tell people what Lauterbach meant to them.

"I have received thousands of messages from people saying how Maria's story has touched their lives," Collier said. "I never expected to be threatened for setting up a memorial site."

Collier said she was petrified and worried given her geographic closeness to some of the Marines being investigated for their comments.

"You should be slapped in the face for talking about things that should be left alone. I'm not gonna sit here and watch you talk s--t," a post made from Parikh's MySpace account said. "I will do you like Laurean did if you don't take this page off."

Authorities say Lauterbach was killed by Cpl. Cesar Laurean Dec. 14. She was in the third trimester of a pregnancy at the time of her death and had accused Laurean of rape.

Laurean has been on the run since he fled Onslow County in mid-January. Authorities say Laurean left notes behind with his wife saying Lauterbach killed herself by slicing her own throat and he just buried her body behind the Half Moon home shared by the couple.

Posts attributed to Parikh's MySpace account claim Parikh knows Laurean and supports Laurean's purported version of events including that Lauterbach killed herself.

Lauterbach's autopsy revealed that she died of a blow to the head and cuts made to her neck were done post-mortem.

The section of the memorial site with the posts under investigation has been removed from the Web. Collier said she did not take the posts down but was informed by law-enforcement officials that portion of her site might be temporarily taken down during the investigation.

The memorial for Lauterbach can be viewed at MySpace.com/Maria_Lauterbach_Memorial.



Contact police reporter Lindell Kay at lkay@freedomenc.com or 910-554-8534. To comment on this story or to read others' comments go to jdnews.com.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Authorities meet again with spouse of fugitive
LINDELL KAY
February 12, 2008 - 12:57AM
DAILY NEWS STAFF
Law enforcement officials say they received credible tips over the weekend as to the whereabouts of international fugitive Cesar Laurean.

That was one of only two pieces of new information released by the Onslow County Sheriff's Department during a press briefing Monday morning.

Capt. Rick Sutherland updated local media on the search for Laurean, noting that they had received the tips but declining to elaborate further.

"We're continuing to follow all leads that we receive, inside and outside the United States," Sutherland said.

Laurean, a Marine corporal stationed at Camp Lejeune, has been on the run since he fled Onslow County in mid-January. He left behind notes with his wife stating that the body of Marine Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, who was pregnant at the time, was buried behind the house the Laureans shared in the Half Moon community.

Sutherland also said Monday that homicide detectives with the Sheriff's Department further questioned Laurean's wife Friday afternoon.

"Investigators spoke to Christina Laurean, and she answered the questions we had," he said Monday.

He declined to expand on topics covered in the interview.

Christina Laurean turned over to the Sheriff's Department the notes her husband, who had earlier been accused of raping Lauterbach, had left before fleeing. She met with investigators that same day, the day Lauterbach's body was found charred and buried in the Laureans' backyard.

Since the sexual assault accusations in May, Cesar Laurean had been keeping his wife up to date on the developments in the case against him and, later, on the details of the missing person case, according to the probable cause affidavit attached to a search warrant for phone records.

According to the affidavit, Cesar Laurean reportedly told his wife Lauterbach came to their home, acted irrationally and began an argument. At the height of the argument, Lauterbach produced a knife and committed suicide by cutting her own throat, according to Christina Laurean's statement to investigators.

Lauterbach's autopsy results indicate Lauterbach was killed by a blow to the head and cuts were made to her throat post-mortem.

Christina Laurean also told investigators that she knew Lauterbach was dead and buried in her backyard at least the day before she went to law enforcement, according to court files.

Cesar Laurean's truck was later found at a hotel in Morrisville, near the Raleigh Durham International Airport and an unmanned Greyhound bus stop.

The FBI believes Laurean has fled into Mexico, and federal officials are working with authorities south of the border to track him down.



Contact Lindell Kay at lkay@freedomenc.com or 910-353-1171, ext. 8462.

Ellie