The remains of an adult and a fetus were found Saturday in a shallow grave in the backyard of the primary suspect in the death of a pregnant Marine, Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown announced.
An arrest warrant has been issued for Cpl. Cesar Armando Laurean in the death of Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach.
He is charged with first-degree murder, although authorities have not positively identified the body as hers. The body was charred, and the fetus was in the victim’s abdomen.
Lauterbach, 20, disappeared, when she was eight months pregnant, from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, in mid-December, not long before she was to testify at a military hearing about her rape accusation against Laurean.
Both the United States Marine Corps. and various state and local law enforcement agencies are conducting a manhunt for Cesar Armando Laurean.
