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The two-mile-long funeral procession moved quietly through the community Saturday, past Butler High School where Maria Lauterbach shined on the soccer and softball fields, to her final resting place in Calvary Cemetery.

Dozens of people lined the streets holding American flags to pay their respects to the 20-year-old slain Marine and her unborn baby as the hearse traveled 14 miles from St. Christopher Catholic Church in Vandalia to the cemetery.

The lance corporal was buried with full military honors, which included a 21-gun salute and the playing of taps.

Marine Reserve Maj. David Slack presented Lauterbach's mother, Mary Lauterbach, with the flag that draped her daughter's casket.

More than 200 members of the Patriot Guard Riders, a national group that attends military funerals to support the families, stood watch at the cemetery and church displaying American flags.

In his sermon during the funeral Mass at St. Christopher, the Rev. Francis Keferl asked mourners, "Have Maria and Gabriel died in vain?"

"No," he answered, "for we have been touched, we have been called to be our very best selves through the tragedy of their deaths."

Lauterbach was stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C., when she disappeared Dec. 14. Her remains were found last month in a backyard fire pit belonging to Cpl. Cesar Laurean, 21, a fellow Marine she had accused of rape last spring. Laurean is now wanted in her murder.

Keferl never shied away from the tragic circumstances of Lauterbach's death, saying "Maria and Gabriel were taken swiftly and violently from us."

Yet the service remained spiritual and uplifting, beginning with a rousing rendition of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic."

Two of Lauterbach's younger sisters, Theresa and Katie, fought back tears as they read from the Bible. Katie read from 2 Timothy 4: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."

Mary Lauterbach wept openly throughout the service but smiled through tears as mourners came up for Communion. She made motherly gestures to her surviving children, rubbing the back of daughter Annie. Maria's father, Victor Lauterbach, comforted the couple's youngest child, 10-year-old Ed.

Marine Sgt. Daniel Durham, who gave Maria Lauterbach a place to stay off base, sat beside Mary Lauterbach during the Mass of Christian burial.

Onslow County, N.C., Sheriff Ed Brown also flew in for the service along with Capt. Donnie Worrell, assistant chief of the investigative unit for the Onslow County Sheriff's Office.

"It's something I wanted to do for Maria and the baby," Brown said. "If your heart doesn't go out to the family in these tragedies, you haven't accomplished anything."

Brown said he found the service moving and spiritual: "It was not only a service to pay last respects for Maria and to support the family and to worship Christ. I felt it was carried out in a very sacred way."

Lauterbach's family issued a statement Friday expressing "deep appreciation for the support and condolences they have received from all over the world." The statement also reiterated the family's concerns about whether the military and civilian systems responded adequately to Maria's rape claim and disappearance. It said some published reports and "official statements have included some assertions that are inconsistent, illogical and misleading."

The family's statement said, "There are many unanswered questions, and we are continuing to review and evaluate the information that has been released."

Mary Lauterbach previously said her daughter was harassed after reporting the rape. She said she reported her daughter missing on Dec. 18, but couldn't seem to get anyone to listen to her strong suspicions that her daughter had not gone AWOL. Despite concerns, the Lauterbachs said they are confident authorities will conduct a complete investigation of all circumstances relating to Lauterbach's rape claim, her disappearance, and the suspect's flight.

"It must focus on what went wrong at every stage of the process and what must be changed to support and protect future victims — and potential victims — of rape and violence," the statement said, "so that no one else need suffer the tragedy that befell Maria."