The key suspect in the brutal slaying of a 20-year-old pregnant Marine was spotted in Louisiana and could be headed into Texas, authorities said Sunday.
Marine Cpl. Cesar Armando Laurean was seen getting on or off a Greyhound bus in Shreveport, La., Saturday night, said Shreveport police Chief Henry Whitehorn Sr.
"We're working with the U.S. Marshal's Service and other law enforcement agencies trying to locate him," Whitehorn told The Associated Press. "We don't know if he is still in the area. We believe it may have just been a pass through. We received information he may be headed into Texas."
On Saturday, authorities said they recovered what they believe to be the burnt remains of Marine Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach and her unborn child from a fire pit in Laurean's backyard, where they suspect he burned and buried her body. Those remains have been sent to the state medical examiner's office in Chapel Hill for a formal identification.
Lauterbach disappeared sometime after Dec. 14, not long after she met with military prosecutors to talk about her April allegation that Laurean raped her. Naval investigators said Saturday the rape case was progressing and Laurean was under a protective order to stay away from Lauterbach.
In Louisiana, Whitehorn said he didn't know whether it was another passenger on the bus who had spotted Laurean and notified police. Shreveport is roughly 950 miles southwest of Jacksonville, and is about two dozen miles from the Texas border.
E arlier Sunday, Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown said Laurean was seen by a member of the general public, describing it only as a "transit" sighting. Authorities said they may be less than two hours behind the fugitive, and Brown expressed hope that Laurean would be in custody soon.
"I do feel comfortable that Mr. Laurean will be located," Brown said, adding that the evidence in the case "leads us to believe that he would be a dangerous and violent person if put in a corner."
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