The Maya Millete Case: Larry Millete's 'No-Body' Murder Trial, Explained

Maya “May” Millete, a 39-year-old mother of three, vanished from her Chula Vista, California home on January 7, 2021. Her husband, Larry Millete, was arrested nine months later and charged with her murder — even though her body has never been found. As of June 2026 his trial is underway, no verdict has been reached, and Larry Millete has pleaded not guilty and maintains his innocence. Everything below the conviction line is unproven: he is presumed innocent unless and until a jury says otherwise.

Who Maya Millete Was

Before she became the missing woman at the center of a “no-body” murder trial, May Millete was a mother, a sister, and a daughter. She was 39, raising three children, and — by the account of the family who reported her missing and have waited more than five years for answers — the steady center of their lives. A Hawaii native and Radford High School graduate, she had built a family in Southern California.

Her relatives have been the most constant public voice in the case. Her sister, Maricris Drouaillet, was the one who reported her missing after two days without contact, and her family has pressed publicly for answers ever since. Whatever a jury ultimately decides, the fact at the heart of this case is simple and unbearable: three children have grown up without their mother, and a family does not know where she is. May belongs at the center of her own story — not as a legal abstraction, and not as a backdrop to the man on trial.

The Disappearance: What’s Known

According to the timeline laid out by investigators and reported by local outlets including CBS 8 and Fox 5 San Diego, Maya was last seen at the family’s Chula Vista home around 5 p.m. on January 7, 2021. Earlier that same day, prosecutors say, she had contacted a divorce attorney. When relatives could not reach her, her sister reported her missing on January 9.

There was no confirmed sighting of Maya after that evening. No body has been recovered. That single fact shapes the entire prosecution: this is a circumstantial, “no-body” case, in which the state must convince a jury that a murder occurred — and that Larry Millete committed it — without the physical evidence a recovered body can provide. (For how that is even legally possible, see our explainer on whether someone can be convicted of murder without a body.)

The Charges

Larry Millete was arrested on October 19, 2021, roughly nine months after Maya disappeared. He was charged, according to court records, with first-degree murder and illegal possession of an assault weapon. He pleaded not guilty to all charges and has consistently maintained that he did not kill his wife.

What the Prosecution Argues

Prosecutors have built their case on circumstantial evidence pointing, they argue, to a controlling husband who did not want his wife to leave. The glossary defines coercive control as a pattern of domination and isolation, while keeping the distinction between an alleged pattern and a proved criminal element clear. Among the evidence presented by the state and described in testimony, according to court reporting:

• Tracking and logs. A Chula Vista detective testified that Larry kept detailed records of Maya’s movements in the weeks before she disappeared — logging where she went and when.
• Emails to “spellcasters.” Prosecutors say that in the months before Maya vanished, Larry sent hundreds of emails to people offering spells, asking that Maya fall back in love with him or be made dependent on him. The state characterizes the requests as escalating in tone over time.
• An alleged offer to a relative. Maya’s brother testified that Larry offered him money to help “get the other guy” — which the brother understood to refer to a man the state says Maya had been involved with.
• Marital conflict. Prosecutors point to evidence that Maya wanted a divorce and to a police report alleging a prior physical altercation.
• A possible blood spot. Investigators testified that a spot in Larry’s Lexus SUV produced a positive result on a presumptive (luminol) test — which indicates possible blood but is not a confirmation and can react to other substances.

It is important to be precise about what these items are: allegations and testimony the prosecution says add up to guilt. A presumptive test is not a confirmation; an email is not a killing; tracking a spouse is disturbing but is not, by itself, a homicide. The state’s burden is to tie these threads together beyond a reasonable doubt.

What the Defense Argues

Larry Millete’s defense has told jurors there is no evidence that a murder ever occurred. With no body, no confirmed crime scene, and — according to testimony — no signs of a struggle found during the initial police search of the home, the defense argues the state is asking the jury to assume a death it cannot prove. Defense attorneys have suggested Maya may have left of her own accord. The possible blood spot, they note, was described as something that “could potentially” be blood, not a confirmed match. In a no-body case, the defense’s central point is that absence of proof is exactly that.

These two accounts — a controlling husband who eliminated a wife trying to leave, versus a prosecution built on inference without a body — are what the jury must weigh.

Where the Case Stands Now

Larry Millete’s murder trial opened in San Diego County Superior Court in May 2026, after years of pretrial delays. It is expected, according to court reporting, to run for roughly three months. As of June 2026, the trial is ongoing and the jury has not reached a verdict. Nothing in this account should be read as a conclusion about Larry Millete’s guilt or innocence; that is the question the trial exists to decide.

What is settled is the loss. Maya Millete has been missing for more than five years. Her children have grown without her, and her family is still waiting — for a verdict, and, far more painfully, to learn where she is.

The Verdict — July 2026

Maya Millete was a mother of three, a civilian Department of Defense employee, a sister, and a friend whose family has spent more than five years trying to bring her home. On July 9, 2026, a San Diego County jury found her husband, Larry Millete, guilty of first-degree murder. Maya herself remains missing.

Our Start Here guide explains what a verdict settles—and what it does not, including the difference between a jury finding, sentencing, and later appellate review.

The verdict came after a seven-week trial in Chula Vista and less than a day of jury deliberations. Prosecutors did not have Maya’s remains, an identified murder weapon, an eyewitness to her death, or a medical finding establishing how she died. Instead, they presented a circumstantial case that asked jurors to consider Maya’s plans to leave the marriage, Larry Millete’s conduct before and after her disappearance, digital evidence, surveillance evidence, and the absence of any verified sign that Maya was alive after January 7, 2021.

The jury deliberations explainer shows how jurors move from instructions and evidence review to a signed verdict form without making the private discussion public.

The jury’s first-degree-murder verdict means it found the killing was willful, deliberate, and premeditated, and that the prosecution proved Larry Millete’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The conviction also demonstrates a basic point about “no-body” murder cases: California law does not require investigators to recover a victim’s remains before a jury can return a murder verdict. It requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt, which may be established through circumstantial evidence.

But the verdict did not finish the family’s work.

Outside the courthouse, Maya’s sister, Maricris Drouaillet, said justice had “probably” been served, then immediately turned attention back to Maya. “We still have my sister out there,” she said. “We still have the second step to go through. We still have to bring my sister home, to bring her to her three children.”

That is the part of the case that remains unresolved. A jury has now decided who was responsible for Maya’s death, but her family still does not know where she is. Prosecutors and investigators said after the verdict that the search continues.

Sentencing has not yet been set. California law provides a standard sentence of 25 years to life for first-degree murder in circumstances like those presently reported. That does not mean automatic release after 25 years; it is an indeterminate life sentence, and any future parole release would require a separate suitability decision. Before the court sentences Millete on the murder conviction, it must also resolve a separate assault-weapon-possession charge. He is scheduled to return to court on that matter July 20.

The legal case has reached a major judgment. Maya’s case has not reached its final answer.

Her family is still asking for the one thing the verdict could not give them: the chance to bring Maya home.

Victim and Reader Resources lists confidential help for families and readers affected by disappearance, domestic abuse, trauma, or the aftermath of violent crime.

Verdict-section sources: San Diego County District Attorney’s Office, July 9, 2026; KPBS / City News Service, July 9, 2026; ABC 10News / City News Service, July 9, 2026; CBS 8, July 9, 2026; California Penal Code § 190; California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation — Parole Eligibility.

Frequently Asked Questions

Has Larry Millete been convicted? Yes. On July 9, 2026, a San Diego County jury found Larry Millete guilty of first-degree murder in the death of his wife, Maya Millete. A sentencing date for the murder conviction has not yet been set. His July 20, 2026 court appearance concerns the separate assault-weapon-possession charge and is not the murder sentencing hearing.

How can there be a murder trial with no body? California, like every U.S. state, allows murder prosecutions without a recovered body. The state must prove beyond a reasonable doubt — through circumstantial evidence — that the victim is dead and that the defendant caused the death. We cover how that works in our explainer on convictions without a body.

When did Maya Millete disappear? She was last seen at her Chula Vista home on January 7, 2021, and was reported missing by her sister two days later.

What is Larry Millete charged with? First-degree murder and illegal possession of an assault weapon. He has pleaded not guilty.

Has Maya Millete been found? No. Her body has never been recovered, and her family continues to search for answers.

Maya Millete was a mother of three who disappeared on an ordinary January evening. Whatever a jury decides about the man accused of killing her, she is the person this case is about. Her name belongs at the center of it.

Readers affected by domestic violence can reach the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 (call or text “START” to 88788), available 24/7. Families of missing persons can find support and resources through the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and local victim-services organizations.

Sources

• Disappearance of Maya Millete — Wikipedia
• Who Is Larry Millete? Inside His Murder Trial and Wife Maya Millete’s Disappearance — Biography
• Computer evidence emerges in case of missing Chula Vista mom, alleged murder-for-hire plot — CBS 8
• No signs of struggle found during initial police search of Millete home — CBS 8
• Millete trial day 6: Spells, internet searches and attempts to hire a hitman — Fox 5 San Diego
• Murder trial begins for Larry Millete in death of Radford grad Maya Millete — Hawaii News Now