Pregnant Marine Maria Lauterbach Missing from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina

News 14 out of North Carolina reports that the mother of 20-year-old Marine Maria Lauterbach reported her daughter missing on December 19, 2007. Lauterbach, who is stationed at Camp Lejeune, is 8 months pregnant and was scheduled to testify in a hearing about an incident that occurred on the base. Lauterbach's mother said she was "very suspicious" that something bad may have happened; evidence and other discoveries related to the disappearance indicate possible foul play.

When looking at the Maria Lauterbach case, it's easy to have a knee-jerk reaction and assume the worst, perhaps even point to a military cover-up to keep her from testifying, but at this stage of the investigation, it's too soon to tell.

The disappearance of Maria Lauterbach is the latest in a long string of women who have gone missing while carrying a child. Investigators tend to treat these cases as a double-kidnapping and, if a body is recovered, a double-homicide. More often than not, the culprit turns out to be someone very close to the victim:

Maria Lauterbach Related Cases No. 1: Latoyia Figueroa (July 18, 2005)

On July 18, 2005, Latoyia Figueroa, a 24-year-old pregnant mother of one child in Philadelphia, made it to a doctor's appointment; she failed to show up at the day care center later that day to pick up her 7-year-old daughter.

On August 19, 2005, the remains of Latoyia Figueroa were discovered in a lot approximately 13 miles from Philadelphia. Police arrested Stephen Poaches, the father of her unborn child, and charged him with two counts of murder. Poaches had strangled Figueroa during an argument and was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder.

Source: CNN.com,"Pregnant Philadelphia mother of one missing"

Maria Lauterbach Related Cases No. 2: Jessie Davis (June 2007)

While she was nine months pregnant, Jessie Davis of North Canton, Ohio disappeared. When her mother went to check on her daughter, she found Davis' two-year-old son home alone amidst signs of a struggle. KQHA Channel 7 reported that Davis' young son told investigators that "mommy was crying. Mommy broke the table. Mommy's in the rug."