Neighbors, pals: Lauterbach was friendly, tough

Good in sports with a sense of humor, the Marine was active in extracurricular activities.

VANDALIA, Ohio (AP) — The apparent death of a pregnant Marine has stunned her hometown friends, who described Lance Cpl. Maria Frances Lauterbach as friendly and polite but athletic and tough — a person who wouldn’t be bullied.

Remains believed to be Lauterbach’s were found Saturday in a fire pit in the backyard of a fellow Marine corporal, authorities said.

Her neighbors remembered her as vibrant.

“What I remember was her zest for living,” said neighbor Kent Zimmerman. “She loved sports. Whatever the game in the neighborhood was, she was in it. She played at 110 percent. She always wanted to win, but she played fair.”

Standing outside Vandalia-Butler High School on Saturday, Darren Himsworth talked about Lauterbach as he awaited baseball practice.

Himsworth first met Lauterbach at a youth theater, where she was part of the stage crew. He was closer to her younger sisters, but would often see Maria when he went over to the Lauterbach home.

“She’s a real nice person,” the 16-year-old Himsworth said, as he clutched a baseball glove and green aluminum bat. “She’s very tough for a girl. She just didn’t let anyone push her around. I wouldn’t mess with her.”

Himsworth was not surprised that Lauterbach joined the Marines because of “how tough-hearted she was.”

He said she had a sense of humor and was active in extracurricular activities, including softball and soccer.

“She was an amazing soccer player,” he said.

Himsworth said Lauterbach’s friends and acquaintances are stunned by what happened.

Authorities said they found evidence inside the house in Jacksonville, N.C., that suggested she had been killed, even though a suspect left a note insisting she committed suicide, Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown said.

Jordan Martin, 17, knew Lauterbach and used to spend some time at the family home when he was younger,

“We were just kids. We all hung out,” he said as met with friends at the high school gym just before Friday night’s basketball game against Troy.

Martin described Lauterbach as “tomboyish.”

“She liked to do boy stuff,” he recalled. “That’s why we got along really well.”

He said his mother is especially close to the Lauterbachs.

“It’s heartbreaking because they’re good friends,” he said.

Vandalia, a bedroom community about 10 miles north of Dayton, has an aviation flavor. Dayton International Airport sits in Vandalia’s backyard, and the community hosts the Dayton Air Show each July. Even the high school teams are nicknamed the Aviators.

Zimmerman said when his family moved into the neighborhood 10 years ago, Lauterbach showed up on his front porch.

“She knocked on the door and she said, ‘I’m Maria and I’d like to meet your kids. Do they play sports?’ he recalled. “We could just count on just about every morning she’d knock on the door and say, ‘Mr. Zimmerman, are your kids up yet?”’

Zimmerman said Lauterbach wanted to serve her country.

“I remember when she was in high school I asked had she thought about going on to college. Her goal was to be a Marine and wear the uniform,” he said.

Larry Gideon, 62, who served with the Marines in Vietnam, called it a “terrible tragedy.”

Standing outside the high school on his way to attend a cheerleading competition, Gideon thumbed through his planner and twirled his sunglasses while wearing a somber look.

“Nobody seems to understand how in the world can somebody do that. It’s just senseless brutality,” he said. “The buzz is that it’s just an awful, stupid tragedy. Nobody knows quite what to make of it.”