Maya Millete is a 39-year-old Filipino-American woman who works as a defense contractor for the Naval Base San Diego. She is the mother of three children, ages four, nine, and eleven. She loves to sing, play guitar, and hike with her children. Maya married her high school sweetheart Larry Millete, and the two put down roots in Chula Vista, California.
Maya Millete (Help Find Maya Facebook Group)
Although the two were high school sweethearts and had been married for 21 years, the relationship between the two had become strained. Family members have stated that it was apparent that there was trouble in their marriage. Maya's sister, Maricris Drouaillet, remembered seeing the couple arguing constantly during a family camping trip.
Larry and Maya Millete (ABC 10 News San Diego)
During that same camping trip, Maricris recalled Maya telling members of her family “If anything happened to me, it would be Larry.” Maya's brother-in-law Richard Drouaillet also recalled that throughout the year, Larry was in constant contact with family members trying to get their help in fixing the two's marriage.
He was more of an aggressor, trying to get us involved, he was trying to get us on his side, when we felt like it was a lot of lies that he was telling us.Richard Drouaillet, brother-in-law of Maya Millete (Fox News)
Larry's communication with Maya's family also started to become more troubling as he sent one family member a photo of the couple on an alter splattered in blood.
(FOXNews)
Maya's daughter's 11th birthday was approaching and Maya had been planning a snowboarding trip to Big Bear Mountain Resort in California to celebrate the birthday with her family.
Maya was last seen on the evening of Thursday, January 7, 2021. It was just days before the planned birthday celebration for her daughter and her family became concerned when she stopped responding in their group chat. The following day, family members tried to get in touch with her, Larry, and even the children but were unsuccessful.
Concerned, one of Maya's brothers went to her house to check up on her. At the house, Larry told her brother that Maya was inside their bedroom and her brother assumed she was asleep as no one answered when he knocked and the room was locked.
On Saturday, with still no word from Maya, her father then visited her house and saw no one inside the bedroom when he asked Larry to open the room. If she had left it must have been on foot as her car was still parked at the house, but her driver’s license, credit card, and cell phone could not be located. All calls went straight to voicemail. The family officially filed a missing person report with the Chula Vista Police Department and an investigation was started.
It was later revealed that Maya had gone to a divorce lawyer the day of her disappearance and filled out a form at the office to schedule an appointment for the following Tuesday. Days after Maya's disappearance, Billy Little, who was an attorney hired by the family, visited Maya and Larry's house and noticed that it looked like Larry had been cleaning, as the windows were all open with a fan running on high, making the house noticeably chilly. When Larry went upstairs to the couple's bedroom, he noticed a hole in the door right next to the handle, when he asked Larry about the damage, he said Maya was to blame for the damage.
To date, Larry has not participated in any of the search efforts, retained a lawyer, and police have publicly stated that he is no longer cooperating with the investigation. Maya's family has taken things into their own hands, conducting weekly search parties, hiring their own private investigator, handing out flyers, and making news appearances.
Police investigative efforts have included interviews with all of Maya's family, friends, and neighbors. They have conducted over 40 search warrants on homes, vehicles, cell phones, and other electronic devices. During a home search, police discovered Larry's collection of 22 weapons including several assault rifles. Only eight of those were legally registered to him and police served him with a temporary gun violence restraining order. To date, the Millete residence has been searched three times.
When talking to neighbors, police also discovered a neighbor's surveillance footage where six loud bangs could be heard around 10 pm on the night of Maya's disappearance. To date, there has still been no person of interest named and the case is still active.
Update - July 23, 2021
Larry Millete has officially been named a person of interest in the case, more than six months after Maya went missing. No further details were given by police who stated "Due to the sensitivity of the case and to protect the integrity of the investigation, we will not be providing additional information at this time."
