1-22-08 Breaking News. Cesar Laurean has been sighted in Mexico.
Update 1-18-08 3:24 p.m. Police are saying that they have received a credible tip that Cesar Laurean may be out west according to Onslow County Sheriff's Captain Rick Sutherlin. Since he is from the Las Vegas area, it's entirely possible that he tried to go back home looking for some place to hide.
Police have also revised her date of death, stating that they believe Maria Lauterbach was killed on the day she disappeared, December 14th rather than the 15th as they had originally thought.
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Updated 1-17-08 8:30 p.m. In an affidavit Christina Laurean has said that she was at a Christmas party the late afternoon and evening that Maria Lauterbach was murdered and that her husband did not attend the party.
North Carolina Third District Representative Walter Jones has written a letter to Mexican President Felipe Calderon urging him to use any means necessary to help U.S. law enforcement bring Corporal Laurean to justice. The contents of the letter are as follows:
Dear President Felipe Calderon:
I am writing regarding the search for Cpl. Cesar Armando Laurean, the suspected murderer of U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach and her unborn son.
On January 11, 2008, Cpl. Cesar Armando Laurean, 21, disappeared from his Jacksonville, North Carolina, home shortly before police discovered the charred remains of Marine Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach buried in his backyard. Lauterbach had previously accused Laurean of raping her, telling Marine officials she was pregnant with his child; she was eight months pregnant when she went missing in December 2007.
Federal authorities now believe that Laurean has fled to Mexico. I strongly urge you to use whatever resources available to you to locate and apprehend Laurean as quickly as possible.
Should Laurean be apprehended in Mexico, there is clear precedent, consistent with both U.S. and Mexican law, for extraditing Laurean back to the U.S. Once Laurean is apprehended, I ask that you work with U.S. authorities to come to an agreement that will ensure his swift return to the U.S.
The murders of Cpl. Maria Lauterbach and her unborn son cannot go unpunished. The victims, the Lauterbach family and the people of North Carolina demand that justice be served for this heinous and disturbing crime.
Again, I urge you to use all means necessary to assist U.S. authorities in bringing Laurean into custody and to justice.
Updated January 17th 3:59pm - A police affidavit shows that Cesar Laurean and his wife Christina consulted an attorney on January 9th, the day before he fled. The lawyer told Laurean that he could be facing the death penalty. The very next day he took off and his wife appeared at the Onslow County Sheriff's Office with her attorney and a Sergeant from her former chain of command. At that time she gave police several notes she had found in the house from Cesar Laurean. According to prior reports I am wondering if perhaps he actually left earlier than his wife Christina has said. If he and his wife met with an attorney then that pretty much seals it that she knew of the murder and helped him plan his getaway. Did they set it up so that she turned over evidence in order to get out of charges? This at the very least makes her an accessory to the crime, even if after the fact, or perhaps she is just guilty of obstruction of justice.
Laurean has sent two letter to his wife since he fled, both postmarked from Houston, Texas.
Along with the affidavit there is a warrant to search Western Union records as well. Laurean and his wife Christina received a transfer of money between December 10th and January 12th. The affidavit doesn't give any further details about the money transfer.
Authorities also discovered last week the weapon used to kill Maria Lauterbach but won't disclose what that weapon is. According to ABC the Jacksonville Daily News has cited severeal sources that say it was a crowbar. It was handed over to police by a witness last week.
According to the Houston Chronicle, Christina Laurean did know about the death of Maria Lauterbach. Laurean told his wife that Lance Corporal Lauterbach visited their home on December 15th, told him that she planned to leave the area and demanded money. Laurean and Lauterbach bought a bus ticket for her to go to El Paso but he said that Lauterbach then returned to their hom and started to argue. That's when she supposedly produced a knife and slit her own throat. We know that to not be true since he bashed her freaking head in.
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Updated 8:38 p.m. - According to CNN a woman that used to work with Corporal Cesar Laurean said that he is extremely innovative and described 'McGyver' type skills (referring to the television show) and training that would enable him to survive and adapt to life on the run. The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, left the Marine Corps in December and described Laurean as well-trained to adapt to his situation. She also called Laurean quiet but social, with many friends who spoke often of his 18-month-old daughter.
She also said that she had been friends with Lauterbach for about four years and that they were employeed in the Personnel Department at Camp LeJeune.
The friend said that Lauterbach confided in her and told her she had consensual sex with Laurean and that a verbal argument had occurred and that the rape happened in Laurean's office at Camp LeJeune.
The un-named woman also claims that Lauterbach told her that she was afraid of Laurean and HAD sought another protective order in September from her when the first one expired. She was also considering withdrawing the rape allegations because she felt that Marine Officials weren't taking her seriously.
The woman also says that there is no way that Lauterbach and Laurean had a continuing relationship after the rape, which disputes what Marine officials are saying.
Randi Kaye from CNN interviewed her and the whole thing, as well as video, can be viewed at Anderson Cooper 360 blog.
Updated 7:20 p.m. - CNN has an update on their story:
Officials at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City said a Spanish-language version of the FBI's wanted poster on Laurean was being developed Wednesday and would be posted on the embassy Web site.
The officials are hoping local media outlets will pick up the poster and publish it. Anyone in Mexico with information is asked to contact the legal attache at the embassy, officials said.
Updated at 4:15 p.m. - According to WRAL out of North Carolina the FBI has said that they have tracked him as far as Texas and that regardless of my update below, he may actually have made it to Mexico. Authorities are not announcing how they tracked him to Texas or Mexico but agents have been dispatched to Mexico to try and find him. According to FBI Special Agent Richard Kolko "The FBI, working with our law enforcement partners suspect, but have not confirmed, that Cesar Laurean may have fled to Mexico. This is an ongoing matter and we will work with our law enforcement partners in Mexico to determine if he is there and if so, to locate and apprehend him"
Updated at 3:35 p.m. - The FBI now says that it is working with Mexican authorities to find and arrest Laurean if he is in Mexico. I just finished reading a couple of threads over at LeJeune Underground and I posted this over there: Although I have been posting the news on this, I honestly think that he's still in the U.S. He is most likely somewhere in the southeast, particularly considering that he left his truck in the area. Either that means that he did catch the Greyhound, leading to the possibility that the 'sighting' in Louisiana was real, caught a ride from a friend (plenty of guys were coming home from MOS graduation. My son caught a bus Friday at the same station where Maria Lauterbach purchased her ticket) or is still in the area. I personally think he's holed up in an empty apartment or barracks or has killed himself in remorse for the awful misdeeds he has done.
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According to CNN the FBI now suspects that Cesar Laurean has fled to Mexico. Cesar is sought in connection with the murder of Maria Lauterbach, the eight-month-pregnant Marine enlisted who was missing back in December and finally found dead just last week. According to ABC News FBI agents and officials have leads indicating that he may have med it to Mexico.
At this point in time we strongly suspect but have not confirmed that Laurean fled to Mexico
Cesar Laurean is a naturalized U.S. Citizen who is a native of Guadalajara, Mexico. He lived in the Las Vegas area prior to joining the United States Marine Corps. Investigators are not ruling out the chance that he may still be in the United States but the FBI legal attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico has been notified. He became a U.S. citizen in 2003.
It's not currently known if Laurean kept his Mexican citizenship but he does apparently have family there.
His picture and an alert are currently posted on the FBI's web site and electronic billboards are being rolled out all over the country. The FBI feels that if they can get as many people out here with their eyes open they have a much better chance to catch Laurean.
For more information and related posts, check out the Maria Lauterbach category where you will find older stories.
