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| Larry and Maya Millete |
Police arrested Larry Millete last October on suspicion of killing his wife nine months ago, at his home in the San Diego suburb of Chula Vista, a day after San Diego County prosecutors charged him with murder and illegal possession of an assault weapon, officials said at a news conference.
If found guilty, Navy veteran Larry Millete faces a potential sentence of life in prison if convicted of killing his wife.
It’s the kind of national exposure that can lead to a break in a missing person case, a break Millete’s family has been waiting for.
The correspondent for 48 Hours, Jonathan Vigliotti, traveled to the Anza Borrego Desert for the episode, where volunteer search teams were looking for Maya’s remains.
“It was both inspiring and heartbreaking at the same time, as you can imagine; inspiring because there were so many volunteers that joined in on this search effort that was first launched as a grass roots effort by family and friends,” Vigliotti told CBS 8. “There were easily dozens of people. It was incredibly hot. When we talk about just how vast this is, it is truly the equivalent of looking for a needle in a haystack.”
The 48 Hours investigation explores Maya’s life before she went missing, and the behavior of her husband, Larry Millete, who remains behind bars charged with Maya’s murder.
“Without a body, though, the prosecution really has their work cut out for them, which is why those search efforts that continue on every weekend, this weekend, and beyond are so crucial,” said Vigliotti.
Larry Millette said from his jail cell that he had no hand in his wife's disappearance and that she's out there somewhere.
At the time of Maya Millete's disappearance, the Millete couple was having marital problems.
During a large family camping trip the week before went missing, Maya Millete mentioned her divorce plan to a few relatives, along with an ominous comment, “If anything happened to me, it’ll be Larry.”
“She wanted to warn us to just get ready,” her sister, Maricris Drouaillet, said. “It’s going to be a messy divorce.”
Relatives insist Maya Millete loved being a mother and would never just abandon her kids.
The correspondent interviewed two of Maya’s co-workers at Naval Base San Diego, Claudio Julao and Allison Alexander.
“I had a lot of respect for her. She was a very strong and confident leader. A lot of women in the office really looked up to her,” said Alexander
“Maya loved her kids. There's no way she would have up and left,” Julao told the network.
An unusual element in the case is the use of "spellcasters."
Days before California mom Maya Millete disappeared, Larry Millete, reached out to spellcasters, asking them to to “punish” and “incapacitate” her, according to messages shared by authorities. Maya’s last known call was to a divorce attorney, and authorities believe her husband may have attempted to employ magic as a last-ditch effort before allegedly murdering his wife, according to the latest episode of “48 Hours.”
“Larry was trying to hold onto Maya, and he resorted to contacting what are called spellcasters,” San Diego District Attorney Summer Stephan said shortly after Larry’s arrest, KGTV reported.
One of the messages he wrote to the spellcasters read, “Please punish May and incapacitate her enough so she can’t leave the house. It’s time to take the gloves off,” authorities said, according to 48 Hours.
Search volunteers will be back out this weekend. They have teamed up with a search and rescue instructor, who is conducting informal training in the field.
#TeamMaya and law enforcement are pleading for the public’s help — particularly seeking information on sightings of the Millete’s Lexus SUV on Jan. 8, 2021.
The black GX640 has a California specialty plate displaying “maylani.”
#TeamMaya is asking for information from “anybody that knows anything, no matter how insignificant they think it might be.”
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