Topic: Maria Lauterbach

Lance Corporal Maria Frances Lauterbach (November 17, 1987(1987-11-17) – December 2007) of Vandalia, Ohio, was a United States Marine who went missing from Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina on December 14, 2007. At the time of her disappearance, Lauterbach was eight months pregnant.

Lauterbach grew up in Dayton, where she attended Butler High School (Vandalia, Ohio). Lauterbach joined the Marines on June 6, 2006. She was a personnel clerk assigned to Combat Logistics Regiment 27, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force.

According to her adoptive mother, Mrs. Mary Lauterbach, LCpl. Lauterbach was preparing to testify that she was raped by a fellow Marine. Mrs. Lauterbach told police that her daughter "claimed she had been raped by a senior Marine at her command, and that the investigation had gone sour." According to an Associated Press report, her adoptive mother also told police "that her daughter was bipolar and had a history of compulsive lying". Tony Harris of CNN reported on January 12, 2008, that Lauterbach never felt that her adoptive parents treated her as well as their natural children. Her adoptive mother reported her missing on December 19, five days after their last conversation. Her cellphone was found on December 20, near the main gate at Camp Lejeune.