Missing Pregnant Marine Dead
Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2008 9:35 amhttp://kdka .com/topstories/pregnant.missing.Marine.2.627680.html
S.C. Sheriff: Missing Pregnant Marine Is Dead
JACKSONVILLE, N.C. (CBS) ― A sheriff says a pregnant Marine missing for nearly a month is dead, and a suspect in her death is a man she accused of raping her.
Lauterbach, who vanished last month before she was to testify in a military probe, had said she was sexually assaulted by a senior officer but that the investigation had gone sour, according to court documents.
Lauterbach, a lance corporal, made the allegation to her stepmother, who also told investigators that her stepdaughter was bipolar and had a history of compulsive lying, according to the documents filed this week.
The documents state Naval investigators had struggled to investigate Lauterbach's allegations because of inconsistencies in her account. Still, the court papers said the anticipated birth of the baby "might provide evidentiary credence to charges she lodged with military authorities that she was sexually assaulted by a senior military person."
Authorities said Thursday they planned to question the superior officer at Camp Lejeune. Lauterbach's stepmother said the officer threatened Lauterbach's career, and search warrants filed this week state she was facing a possible discharge from the Marine Corps. No reason was provided.
Lauterbach, originally from Dayton, Ohio, was reported missing Dec. 19 by her stepmother, who last spoke with her five days earlier, authorities said. Lauterbach's cell phone was found Dec. 20 near the main gate at Camp Lejeune, and she missed a Dec. 26 prenatal care appointment.
Authorities found her vehicle at a bus station near the base on the Atlantic coast, and an employee there has told investigators it has been there since about the time of her disappearance. Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown said Friday she had purchased a bus ticket to El Paso, Texas, the day after she spoke with her stepmother, but the ticket has not been used.
Durham told authorities during an initial interview that he didn't report Lauterbach as missing because some of her personal items were gone from the residence.
According to court documents, state authorities searched Durham's laptop because they believe Lauterbach may have used it to search for directions on the Internet, as well as her cell phone records and the residence she shared with Durham.
"We've done a search of his laptop, and a search has produced information that we want him to validate or tell us why it is there," Brown told "The Early Show."
The warrants said a white male tried to use the Lauterbach's ATM card on Christmas Eve and attempted to cover the ATM's security camera with a rag. Brown declined to say where the card was used.
Brown has declined to comment on the rape allegations, as have officials at Camp Lejeune. Wayne Mixon, a Naval Criminal Investigative Service special agent at Camp Lejeune, declined to discuss specifics of the case, other than to say the agency is assisting the sheriff's department with investigative leads in the Marine Corps.
Camp Lejeune officials said Lauterbach, who is assigned to the 2nd Marine Logistics Group of the II Marine Expeditionary Force, joined the Marine Corps in June 2006, trained as a personnel clerk and had not deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan.
S.C. Sheriff: Missing Pregnant Marine Is Dead
JACKSONVILLE, N.C. (CBS) ― A sheriff says a pregnant Marine missing for nearly a month is dead, and a suspect in her death is a man she accused of raping her.
Lauterbach, who vanished last month before she was to testify in a military probe, had said she was sexually assaulted by a senior officer but that the investigation had gone sour, according to court documents.
Lauterbach, a lance corporal, made the allegation to her stepmother, who also told investigators that her stepdaughter was bipolar and had a history of compulsive lying, according to the documents filed this week.
The documents state Naval investigators had struggled to investigate Lauterbach's allegations because of inconsistencies in her account. Still, the court papers said the anticipated birth of the baby "might provide evidentiary credence to charges she lodged with military authorities that she was sexually assaulted by a senior military person."
Authorities said Thursday they planned to question the superior officer at Camp Lejeune. Lauterbach's stepmother said the officer threatened Lauterbach's career, and search warrants filed this week state she was facing a possible discharge from the Marine Corps. No reason was provided.
Lauterbach, originally from Dayton, Ohio, was reported missing Dec. 19 by her stepmother, who last spoke with her five days earlier, authorities said. Lauterbach's cell phone was found Dec. 20 near the main gate at Camp Lejeune, and she missed a Dec. 26 prenatal care appointment.
Authorities found her vehicle at a bus station near the base on the Atlantic coast, and an employee there has told investigators it has been there since about the time of her disappearance. Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown said Friday she had purchased a bus ticket to El Paso, Texas, the day after she spoke with her stepmother, but the ticket has not been used.
Durham told authorities during an initial interview that he didn't report Lauterbach as missing because some of her personal items were gone from the residence.
According to court documents, state authorities searched Durham's laptop because they believe Lauterbach may have used it to search for directions on the Internet, as well as her cell phone records and the residence she shared with Durham.
"We've done a search of his laptop, and a search has produced information that we want him to validate or tell us why it is there," Brown told "The Early Show."
The warrants said a white male tried to use the Lauterbach's ATM card on Christmas Eve and attempted to cover the ATM's security camera with a rag. Brown declined to say where the card was used.
Brown has declined to comment on the rape allegations, as have officials at Camp Lejeune. Wayne Mixon, a Naval Criminal Investigative Service special agent at Camp Lejeune, declined to discuss specifics of the case, other than to say the agency is assisting the sheriff's department with investigative leads in the Marine Corps.
Camp Lejeune officials said Lauterbach, who is assigned to the 2nd Marine Logistics Group of the II Marine Expeditionary Force, joined the Marine Corps in June 2006, trained as a personnel clerk and had not deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan.
