Maya Millete disappeared from Chula Vista in January 2021. On July 9, 2026, a jury convicted her husband, Larry Millete, of first-degree murder. Her body had not been found.
The conviction resolves the question of criminal responsibility at trial. It does not establish a recovered location for Maya’s remains or every detail of how she died.
That tension is part of what makes this case so hard to shake. If you have followed cases like the Jennifer Kesse disappearance, you know how chilling it is when a person seems to vanish while daily life is still in motion. But Maya Millete’s case feels even more claustrophobic, because so much of the mystery appears to circle back to one house, one marriage, and one narrow stretch of time.
Prosecutors argued that Larry killed Maya because she intended to leave the marriage. Their account of motive should remain attributed even after the guilty verdict.
Witness testimony described Maya’s plans to separate and concerns about Larry. That testimony formed part of the case; it should not be rewritten as an independently observed final confrontation.
Then came January 7.
Surveillance showed Maya returning home on January 7. Court reporting also records contact with a divorce attorney that day. Neither detail records the subsequent confrontation.
Court TV reported testimony about loud bangs captured by a neighbor’s system and phone data ending later. The sounds do not, on their own, establish a weapon or method of death.
Timeline of Events
- Before the disappearance: Hearing testimony described plans for divorce.
- January 6, 2021: A former employer later testified Maya said she was divorcing Larry and feared he could try to damage her career.
- January 7, 2021 afternoon: Surveillance footage captured Maya returning home in Chula Vista.
- January 7, 2021: Maya contacted a divorce-related legal office, a detail later highlighted by prosecutors.
- Night of January 7: A neighbor’s camera reportedly captured a series of loud bangs.
- 1:25 a.m., January 8: Prosecutors said Maya’s phone stopped using data, with later analysis pointing back to the family home.
- Morning of January 8: Larry Millete drove the family’s black Lexus away for many hours. Investigators later said hundreds of miles on the vehicle were not accounted for.
- January 9: Maya was reported missing after family members could not reach her.
- October 2021: Larry Millete was arrested and charged with Maya’s murder and with possession of an assault weapon.
- July 9, 2026: A jury convicts Larry Millete of first-degree murder.
- September 29, 2026: Sentencing is postponed to November 2, according to a contemporaneous report.
At the preliminary hearing, investigators described the Lexus leaving on January 8, a beach account they could not corroborate and mileage they could not account for. These are reported findings, rather than a verified route to a burial location.
The absence of a recorded departure does not itself reconstruct every movement inside or outside the home. The later guilty verdict must be stated separately from that evidentiary limitation.
KPBS’s January 2023 hearing report describes testimony about internet searches and messages involving sedatives, subliminal recordings and paid spell-casting. These records were evidence in the prosecution, rather than proof that any purported spell caused an event.
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What Doesn’t Add Up
- The final record: Her reported actions do not reconstruct a complete final sequence.
- The phone shutdown: Her phone activity reportedly stopped in the early hours of January 8, and investigators tied its last location back to the home.
- The Lexus mileage: Investigators testified that hundreds of miles driven on January 8 were not clearly explained.
- Conflicting explanations: Family members said Larry gave varying stories early on about where Maya might have gone.
- The limits of the record: An absent trail should not be substituted for a documented journey.
A September 29, 2026, report said sentencing had been postponed to November 2. That was a scheduled future hearing as of this review, rather than a sentence already imposed.
A conviction and recovery of a victim are separate outcomes.
Key Evidence and Clues
- Surveillance footage: Maya was seen arriving home on January 7, making the house the center of the final known timeline.
- Divorce-related contact: Reports and hearing testimony indicate she reached out for legal help the same day she vanished.
- Phone data: Prosecutors said her device stopped using data at 1:25 a.m. on January 8.
- Vehicle movements: The family Lexus left the home on January 8 and, according to testimony, later showed a large block of unexplained mileage.
- Relationship evidence: Witnesses described separation plans, fear, jealousy, and escalating tension.
- No recovery of remains: The location remained unknown in the September 2026 report.
The prosecution obtained a murder conviction without recovering Maya’s body. The prosecutor acknowledged at trial that the exact method of death could not be specified.
The defense contested the prosecution’s inferences.
An unexplained movement or gap in records does not establish a specific disposal site. The evidence should be described at the level the reporting supports.
As of the September 2026 sentencing report, Maya’s body had not been found. The reported next legal step was sentencing, following the July murder conviction.
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Research Sources
The following resources were consulted to verify and update this article.
- KPBS / City News Service — Larry Millete convicted of first-degree murder
July 2026 verdict and the continuing search for Maya’s remains. - FOX 5/KUSI via AOL — Larry Millete sentencing moved to new date
September 29, 2026 report scheduling sentencing for November 2. - Court TV — The search for Maya Millete: preliminary-hearing record
Dated testimony about surveillance, phone data and vehicle movements. - KPBS / City News Service — Preliminary hearing continues in Larry Millete murder case
January 2023 reporting on attributed digital-evidence testimony.
🔎 If this story stayed with you, the author suggests these real cases next:
- The college night out where Lauren Spierer seemed to vanish into nothing
- The child who walked into the dark and was never seen again
- Natalee Holloway’s disappearance and the later account of her killing
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