Pregnant U.S. soldier's death investigated

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FAYETTEVILLE, N.C., June 27 (UPI) -- U.S. Army officials are investigating why a pregnant soldier's absence from Fort Bragg, N.C., was unreported almost a week before her body was found in a motel.

Spc. Megan Lynn Touma failed to report at formation with her new Army company on June 16 before her body was found in a Fayetteville, N.C. motel room five days later. But no one at Fort Bragg reported her absent without leave, The Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer reported Friday.

U.S. Army Maj. Angela Funaro, an 18th Airborne Corps public affairs officer, said Touma had just arrived from Germany joining a Fort Bragg dental unit June 16. So her company commanders weren't familiar with Touma who declined an offer of space in a Fort Bragg barracks.

"This is kind of a unique situation because she was new to the company," Funaro said. "Her

superiors had no past relationship with her at that point."

Touma's body was found in "an advanced state of decomposition" after a motel employee responded to a complaint about an odor, court records indicate. Her death remains under official investigation.