Mexico has warrant out for arrest of Laurean

International officials also seeking Marine

JACKSONVILLE - Mexican officials have issued an arrest warrant for a Marine from Camp Lejeune accused of murdering a pregnant colleague, and international authorities also are searching for the fugitive, an FBI spokesman said Tuesday.

Newsom Summerlin, a spokesman for the FBI's Charlotte office, said Mexican officials Monday signed and issued a provisional arrest warrant for Marine Cpl. Cesar Armando Laurean, 21.

He is charged with killing Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach in Jacksonville in mid-December.

"It's simply another step in the process that has to be followed," Summerlin said of the action.

Law enforcement agencies and the news media have reported that Laurean, a native of Mexico who is a naturalized U.S. citizen, apparently had been headed for Mexico and might have been seen there.

Summerlin said Laurean also is the subject of an international wanted persons notice.

"We've always said we strongly suspect, but have not confirmed, that he is in Mexico," Summerlin said.

Interpol, an international law enforcement organization based in Paris, issued a "red notice" for Laurean at the request of the Interpol National Central Bureau in Washington, a component of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Martin Renkiewicz, director of the U.S. National Central Bureau and a senior Department of Homeland Security law enforcement official, said in a news release that the red notice adds the fugitive notice to law enforcement and border lookout systems as well as a central database for 186 member countries.

"We are here to assist the authorities in Onslow County at an international level to locate and bring this fugitive back to North Carolina to stand trial," Renkiewicz said.

Laurean was charged Jan. 12 with murder and later charged with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. He is accused of killing Lauterbach, who was about eight months pregnant, then burning and burying her body in his backyard.

Summerlin said the FBI has been successful in apprehending and returning suspects from Mexico when they are not facing a possible death penalty.

The Onslow County district attorney said he agreed not to seek the death penalty against Laurean because Mexico has a history of not allowing extradition of suspects facing the death penalty.

The FBI maintains a tip line at (800) 225-5324 and is offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to the location and arrest of Laurean.