News on the Marine wanted for the murder of colleague Maria Lauterbach and her unborn child traveled fast, as witnesses allegedly saw him near Guadalajara, Mexico one week ago. The suspect’s cousin, Juan Antonio Ramos Ramirez told CNN the Marine paid him a short visit at his liquor store in Zapopan, but rushed into leaving, as he was just passing by. The District Attorney’s office in Onslow County, North Carolina came to support the witnesses’ declarations and reported that federal authorities had strong evidence the suspect had been in Mexico for more than a week.

Corporal Cesar Armando Laurean left his home in North Carolina on January 11, and he has been on the run ever since. Police continues the search, but has remained one step behind the suspect so far. Laurean is wanted for murder in the United States, and pictures of the Marine have been circulating nationwide in the hope of finding him. Laurean fled the investigation , but he left a letter to his wife saying he was innocent and that the girl killed herself and he only buried her.

However, the evidence points to murder, as the investigators found blood splatters all over the walls and the ceiling inside his house, which indicate a violent death rather than a suicide. 20-year-old Maria Lauterbach was reported missing on December 19 by her mother, and her body was found three weeks later in the backyard of the primary suspect. She was eight months pregnant and her charred remains shocked the investigators that arrived on the scene.

Lauterbach had previously accused Laurean of rape, and she disappeared days before she was to testify in the ongoing investigation. The suspect was not taken into custody despite her allegations, and refused to cooperate with the investigators. Her family suspects him to be the father of her child, but further investigations are to be made. Ten days after the girl disappeared, her bank account has been suspiciously accessed, authorities said.

Laurean was reportedly planning to run to Mexico if he were to be found guilty of rape, but no one expected him to go as far as killing the girl and her unborn child. According to his cousin, his family in Mexico was very shocked upon finding the news, but the suspect did not visit them. Laurean told Ramirez he said he was accompanied by two friends and he was just stopping by for a little while. The authorities continue the manhunt for Cesar Armando Laurean for the murder of fellow Marine.