JACKSONVILLE, N.C., Jan. 10, 2008

Missing N.C. Marine Claimed Rape

Roommate Of Pregnant Marine Who Vanished Last Month Is Ordered To Return To N.C.

  • Play CBS Video Video Pregnant Marine Is Dead

    "CBS News Raw:" Sheriff Ed Brown announces that a missing pregnant Marine is dead. A fellow Marine she accused of sexual assault is a suspect but Brown says he cannot yet call her death a murder.

  • This undated photo provided by the Onslow, N.C., County Sheriff's Department shows Maria Frances Lauterbach, a pregnant Marine based at Camp Lejeune who has been missing since before Christmas. Authorities say 20-year-old Lauterbach was reported missing Dec. 19, 2007 by her mother.

    This undated photo provided by the Onslow, N.C., County Sheriff's Department shows Maria Frances Lauterbach, a pregnant Marine based at Camp Lejeune who has been missing since before Christmas. Authorities say 20-year-old Lauterbach was reported missing Dec. 19, 2007 by her mother.  (AP)

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(CBS/AP)  A pregnant Marine who vanished last month before she was to testify in a military probe claimed "a senior officer ... had raped her and that the investigation had gone sour," according to new court documents.

The Marine Corps said Wednesday it is cooperating fully with the Onslow County Sheriff's Office in the disappearance of Lance Corporal Maria Lauterbach, who is about eight months pregnant.

Lauterbach made the allegation to her stepmother, who also told investigators looking for the 20-year-old lance corporal that her stepdaughter was bipolar and had a history of compulsive lying, the documents filed this week state.

Military officials said Thursday they had ordered the Lauterbach's roommate, Sgt. Daniel Durham, to return from training in California to answer questions about the case.

Durham is believed to be the last person to speak with Lauterbach. He was to return to Camp Lejeune as soon as possible, Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown said.

Brown did not describe Durham as a suspect, adding that the case remained a missing persons investigation.

"We do feel like he has answers and importance in being back here," Brown said.

According to search warrant affidavits filed this week, the stepmother has told investigators that her stepdaughter "claimed she had been raped by a senior officer at her command, and that the investigation had gone sour."

"We pray that she's alive," Brown said. "We don't just hope, we pray that she's alive. We're searching for her all over the United States. And out of the United States."

Brown declined to comment on the rape allegations detailed in the search warrant, as did officials at Camp Lejeune.



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by rastaban-2009 January 12, 2008 12:59 AM EST
"This presents a rationale for separating the women and the men, keeping women out of combat arenas."

Actually, if you did that, then rape would clearly become an effective tool for keeping women out of the military. The rationale punishes women for being raped. The key is for the military to get more aggressive about rape and take it very seriously.
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by rastaban-2009 January 12, 2008 12:57 AM EST
Hrm, "EVIL" stepmother?
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by jennmarie620 January 11, 2008 12:52 PM EST
If I''m not mistaken, people diagnosed with bi-polar are not allowed to enter into military service; and if they''ve been diagnosed after having already been in the military, they are given a medical discharge. (This is something I was informed of a few years ago by a gentleman who was medically discharged from the Army after being diagnosed bi-polar - and he was in his second year of service.)
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by formrusmcsgt January 11, 2008 11:06 AM EST
Thanks, mom. So far, we only have her stepmom''''s word about any defects (bipolar, compulsive lying), so if she is trying to undermind her stepdaughter, she is doing a pretty good job. Certainly she has given the defense their case for the rapist.

Posted by barbaraf4 at 11:36 PM : Jan 10, 2008

It hasn''t even been established that a rape occurred. did you even read the article?

"A pregnant Marine who vanished last month before she was to testify in a military probe claimed "a senior officer ... had raped her...".

Get it? So far, it''s just an allegation.
Reply to this comment
by msfacesun-2009 January 11, 2008 10:38 AM EST
Women have been allowed to be pregnant and stay in the military since the late 70''s!!!! Where the hello have you been???????
Reply to this comment
by chad55555 January 11, 2008 10:18 AM EST
PEOPLE ARE PEOPLE AND WILL DO WRONG,NO LAW IN THE WORLD CAN MAKE THEM DO THE RIGHT THING IF IT"S NOT IN THEIR HEART. IN THE MILITARY OFFICERS GET BY WITH MURDER AND MOST DO. THIS IS ANOTHER REASON WOMEN AND MEN SHOULD BE EQUAL BUT SEPARATE.REMEMBER THE MILITARY CASE IN VIRGINIA AND MARYLAND WHERE THE BLACKS FORCED THE WHITE WOMEN TO HAVE ***(RAPE),SOME OF THE WOMEN TOOK THEIR LIVES BUT NOTHING HAPPENED TO THE OFFICERS IN CHARGE. (PEOPLE DO ABUSE THEIR POWER)
DIVERSITY DOES DESTROY A COUNTRY IN THE LONG RUN.
Reply to this comment
by differnet January 11, 2008 9:57 AM EST
Posted by slim1h2o at 06:54 PM : Jan 10, 2008
"Something happened to this Marine, and expectant mother. For the fact she was going to testify against her commander, and now has disappeared, should suggest something sinister has occurred. And given the fact that, she has not called her stepmother, and her cell phone was found abandoned, or thrown out at the main gate, should indicate foul play.

The evidence is there,,circumstantial as it is.
That''''s how the civilian system works, right? "

Nope. All that is something that needs to be investigated. I wonder how you will feel if it turns out that she ran off the road and was killed in a car accident. A search and an investigation is vital. I know CID in the US Army very well, having worked with them.

I feel like I''m listening to a bunch of Chicken Littles running around screaming that the sky is falling. No good investigator is going to give the press details that would tip off their suspects. Like I said, this is the worse piece of journalism I''ve seen in a long time. And you all are hoping that it''s true and either jumping about claiming that she''s mentally ill or that someone killed her. There are million of explanations why someone dissappears.



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by glaswolf January 11, 2008 4:36 AM EST
This presents a rationale for separating the women and the men, keeping women out of combat arenas. Officers should not be interfacing with women soldiers without a witness, as a matter of protocol. Keep the doors open, we don''t need the distraction from focusing on the essentials of waging war ... Whether generals or privates, what is it about drama queens sucking up the Sangre of attention like vampires on a lurch?
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by dbtmellis January 11, 2008 3:53 AM EST
A Lcpl and a SGT rooming together?

Regardless of gender, That would have never happened in my platoon.
Reply to this comment
by barbaraf4 January 11, 2008 2:36 AM EST
"Lauterbach made the allegation to her stepmother, who also told investigators looking for the 20-year-old lance corporal that her stepdaughter was bipolar and had a history of compulsive lying, the documents filed this week state."

Thanks, mom. So far, we only have her stepmom''s word about any defects (bipolar, compulsive lying), so if she is trying to undermind her stepdaughter, she is doing a pretty good job. Certainly she has given the defense their case for the rapist.
Reply to this comment
by michellem99-2009 January 11, 2008 12:19 AM EST
Years ago women was not allowed to bear children and be in the military..Now they do..what happened..
Reply to this comment
by feelfree1 January 10, 2008 11:32 PM EST

Related:

"Col. Janis Karpinski caused a stir by publicly reporting that in 2003, three female soldiers had died of dehydration in Iraq, which can get up to 126 degrees in the summer, because they refused to drink liquids late in the day. They were afraid of being raped by male soldiers if they walked to the latrines after dark."

www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/03/07/women_in_military/
Reply to this comment
by adasher1 January 10, 2008 11:13 PM EST
LOL Tool....nice work.....
Reply to this comment
by toolmangler-2009 January 10, 2008 11:10 PM EST
Posted by FeelFree1 at 07:36 PM : Jan 10, 2008



what you are doing is the same thing you get unhappy with others about when they say "most muslims are terrorists"
Reply to this comment
by toolmangler-2009 January 10, 2008 11:07 PM EST
"A 2003 report financed by the Department of Defense revealed that nearly one-third of a nationwide sample of female veterans seeking health care through the VA said they experienced rape or attempted rape during their service.
Posted by FeelFree1 at 07:36 PM : Jan 10, 2008



going by numbers ''if ten were interviewed and three were raped that is "nearly one third"


Please don''t do the mythical numbers thing, feely. if you wish make a statement that claims that one third of the women in service are raped, then do so and back it up with proof.
Reply to this comment
by iceman_1960 January 10, 2008 11:04 PM EST
"Lauterbach made the allegation to her stepmother, who also told investigators looking for the 20-year-old lance corporal that her stepdaughter was bipolar and had a history of compulsive lying, the documents filed this week state."


The mentally ill are frequentlly victims of crime.

Someone could have known about her past problems and seen them as the perfect "cover" -- if you want to rape someone, what better victim than someone who won"t be believed afterwards ?

Her psychological profile does not preclude the possibility that she really was raped.
Reply to this comment
by slim1h2o January 10, 2008 11:01 PM EST
Well,, the fact remains, that something happened to this woman. And hopfully she will be found alive and well.

Sigh,,,Hopefully!
Reply to this comment
by keithle1 January 10, 2008 10:57 PM EST
Maybe she didn''t tell the USMC she was bipolar. Of course, if she was on meds, she''d have to get those prescriptions filled at the pharmacy somewhere sometime.
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by iceman_1960 January 10, 2008 10:56 PM EST
Very disturbing story.
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by toolmangler-2009 January 10, 2008 10:53 PM EST
14-year-old Abeer Qassim Al-Janabi was stalked, gang-raped, shot in the head and her corpse burned in her own home in Mahmoudiya, Iraq. Four U.S. soldiers and one former soldier are charged since been convicted with the crimes committed March 12, 2006."

Posted by FeelFree1 at 07:34 PM : Jan 10, 2008




"THIS JUST IN"

Able is reported missing, His last known whereabouts were in the vicinity of his alter for sacrifice to GOD. While there is no definitive proof, his brother Cain remains the prime suspect in the disappearance.




Feely; if you are going after ancient history, I will too. 10-4 ?
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