Let’s see how “caring” Jacksonville is…
Jacksonville, North Carolina, is home to Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune and is about 160 kms southeast of Chapel Hill—John Allore’s current place of residence.
You’ve probably been reading a lot about this place in connection with a pregnant female Marine whose remains were found burned in the backyard fire pit of a fellow Marine who was also alleged to be her rapist, murderer and the father of her unborn child.
Jacksonville’s slogan is “A Caring Community”. Well I, for one, would like to see just how caring this community really is. Will the Marines work hard for justice—or work hard on a cover-up? Will the court system punish those who have provided assistance in hiding Laurean? And will the rest of us stand up and say, “Enough! Let’s prove that we value the lives of our daughters, sisters and mothers enough to provide them with basic human rights protection.”?
How many more Stacy Petersons, Laci Petersons, Sharron Priors, Debbie Keys and Theresa Allores must lose their lives before society demands more of our governments, law enforcement, courts, and employers?
We care enough to be outraged by these crimes. But do we care enough to join the fight to hold the killers accountable?
The murderers of Theresa Allore, Sharron Prior and Debbie Key are still enjoying their freedom while their victims have been silenced. If you have information about their deaths, then show you care by coming forward with information.Remains of Adult Found; Marine Charged
By Dan Bowens
Wral.com
Jan. 12, 2008
Jacksonville, N.C.--A Marine corporal was charged Saturday with first-degree murder in the disappearance of a pregnant Marine.
Marine Cpl. Cesar Armando Laurean, 21, of 103 Meadow Trail in Jacksonville, remains at large. He had used the victim's bank card at an ATM in a city in North Carolina since disappearing early Friday, but officials would not specify which one.
Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown said the remains of Lance Cpl. Maria Frances Lauterbach and her unborn child were discovered Saturday in a fire pit in Laurean's backyard. Brown said they believe Laurean – whom she had accused of rape – burned and buried her body after a horrific attack.
"The fetus was developed enough that the little hand was about the size of my thumb," Brown said. "The little fingers were rolled up, and this is consistent with what we were looking for, a pregnant lady who is the victim, Maria Lauterbach, and her unborn child.
"As well as I could see, the body was much charred," Brown added. "The fetus was in the abdominal area of that adult. ... That is tragic, and it's disgusting."
North Carolina law does not allow for murder charges to be filed in the death of an unborn child. Lauterbach, 20, a member of the 2nd Marine Logistics Group at Camp Lejeune, was reported missing on Dec. 19. She was 8½ months pregnant at the time of her disappearance.
The remains found Laurean's backyard have not been positively identified as Lauterbach's, but Brown said he felt law enforcement had collected enough evidence to proceed with murder charges. The remains will be sent to the state medical examiner's office in Chapel Hill for a positive identification using dental records.
The charred remains were found buried roughly 6 inches to 1 foot underground, said Dr. Charles Garrett, the Onslow County medical examiner.
Investigators found blood spatters on the ceiling and a massive amount of blood on the wall of Laurean's home, Brown said.
"The blood patterns were even up into the ceiling," he said. "The blood splatters indicate a violent, violent attack."
Someone had tried to clean up the scene and even painted over some of the blood, Brown said. Laurean had refused to meet with investigators and left the area without telling his lawyers where he was going, the sheriff said.
The State Bureau of Investigation and the Marine Corps were assisting in the search for Laurean. He was described as a white man, 5 feet, 9 inches tall and 160 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. He was believed to be driving a black 2004 Quad Cab Dodge pickup with North Carolina license plate TRR-1522, Brown said.
Before he fled, Laurean left a note claiming that he had buried Lauterbach in his yard after she committed suicide, Brown said. The note said Lauterbach had "come to his residence and cut her (own) throat," Brown said, adding that he doubted those claims.
Authorities said they received the note from Laurean's wife, Christina, around 8 a.m. Friday, four hours after the suspect fled. Christina Laurean continued to cooperate with the investigation. Brown said he could not comment on the military proceedings for rape that Lauterbach had initiated against Laurean in April.
Lauterbach met again with military prosecutors in December to discuss pursuing rape charges against Laurean, said Kevin Marks, the supervisory special agent for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service at Camp Lejeune. Prosecutors believed they had enough evidence to argue that the case should go to a court martial, he said.
In a search warrant filed this week, prosecutors said the anticipated birth of the baby "might provide evidentially credence to charges she lodged with military authorities that she was sexually assaulted by a senior military person."
As a corporal, Laurean was one enlisted grade higher than Lauterbach.
Military investigators said they started looking into the rape allegation last April. Lauterbach's uncle, Pete Steiner, said she was frightened by the possible consequences if she reported the rape and pregnancy.
"Shortly after she became pregnant, she told us that she had been raped," Steiner said. "She did not report this to the Marines for approximately a month. She was scared and didn't know what was going to happen to her."
Laurean joined the Marine Corps in September 2004 and was promoted to corporal in September 2006. He was a decorated Marine whose honors included a good conduct medal.
Authorities said they did not consider Laurean a flight risk until Friday because they had information the pair carried on a "friendly relationship" after she reported the assault to military authorities.
Steiner denied that his niece had any kind of relationship with her attacker. Lauterbach had been forced to rent a room off base because of harassment at Camp Lejeune, he said.
"She was raped," Steiner said. "The Marines, unfortunately, did not protect her, and now she's dead."
Lauterbach's attacker was the baby's father, Steiner said.
Melinda Artzur, a former Marine who was a close friend of Lauterbach, said the missing Marine was a free spirit who loved sports.
"She almost pretty much always had a smile on her face, very positive. She was a light," Artzur said.
After Lauterbach was reported missing, her cell phone was found on Dec. 20 along N.C. Highway 24, and her car was found Monday night at a bus station near Camp Lejeune.
Lauterbach had purchased a one-way bus ticket to El Paso, Texas, on Dec. 15, but she never used it, Brown said, and investigators and family members said they were unsure if she had run away.
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Maritime Missy
posted by John Allore @ 1/15/2008 12:41:00 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
Agreed Missy:
The Criminal Justice System treated this woman like trash until the media turned it's eye to the case. Now they are scrambling to make good. Institutions held in high regard (military, state police), are now left struggling to explain their initial inertia (sound familiar?)
I have the utmost respect for the military, but they are only human... and since the Iraq war responsible for an abnormally high percentage of homeland homicides.
Can someone PLEASE get these vets some help!
Side note: what's with the spike in interest to this site? Our visit numbers are waaaaayyyy up.
JJA
Hi Missy - debbiekey.org is also having an increase in visitors at this time, much to my surprise.
I have already read this news story, but it's your commentary on it that I really appreciate.
John...Bill...every time I read a story like this, my blood starts to boil. At what point do people lose their sense of right and wrong? The military said that there was no reason for them to believe Cpl. Laurean was involved in Cpl. Lauterbach's decision to leave the Marines (according to a note she allegedly wrote). Then...when she was AWOL...people still didn't search for her. Call me an armchair detective but I KNOW my FIRST thought would be, "Cpl. Laurean needs to be questioned". After all, Maria Lauterbach was 8 months pregnant, had recently lodged a rape complaint and had been physically harrassed on base. I would like to know how much Cpl. Laurean's wife knew. I would also like to know if there were any NCIS women on the case. If so, would they have made different decisions than their predominantly male supervisors? I hope so. (Hmm...I sense a new topic for a blog entry for me...)
Anyway, thanks Bill for saying you enjoy my commentaries. I try not to go on too much of a rant but sometimes I can't help myself. :-)
Missy - My friends pick on me all the time about talking too much. It makes me wonder why they let me be in charge of the website.
Anyway, my "Web Goddess" tells me the increase in visitors we've been getting this week have been mostly from this website about missing persons which now has a link to us. It has been proposed that we should link them back.
I see you use Site Meter while we use Stat Counter. I don't know which is better but this one is free. Do you really think the government is spying on us?
Don't feel bad about ranting. You're doing a good job.
Really!
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