International Search for Marine Fugitive Ends With Capture

Charlotte Mexican authorities and FBI Special Agents have fugitive U.S. Marine Corps Corporal Cesar Armando Laurean in custody in Mexico exactly three months after he disappeared. Agents are awaiting extradition to bring Laurean back to Onslow County to face murder charges. The FBI has worked with the Onslow County Sheriff's Office, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, Interpol and the Mexican government to find and arrest Laurean. Onslow County Sheriff's Office investigators suspect Laurean in the homicide of 20-year-old USMC Lance Corporal Maria Lauterbach, who was eight months pregnant when she disappeared on or about December 14, 2007. On January 11, 2008, investigators discovered her charred remains and her unborn baby in a shallow grave in Laurean's backyard in Jacksonville, NC. The Onslow County Sheriff's Office filed charges against Laurean for the murder of Lauterbach, and a state arrest warrant was issued on January 12, 2008. That same day, Laurean was charged federally with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution (UFAP) in the Eastern District of North Carolina, and a federal warrant was issued for his arrest.