Searching for Maya Millete | Full Episode

foreign [Music] her to be a Cold Case please get some water hydrated are you ever overwhelmed as you look around at this wide open space no they're working to find her you gotta keep searching that's one in this one yeah I want her to be found [Music] I want to bring her home to her kids to our families how often do you think about your sister all the time I still can't believe it's like she just banished yeah my impression of Maya was that she had a beautiful home life she was an accomplished career woman she was a super mom what was she like as a friend kind funny witty [Music] she's very talented she could do martial arts the Jeeping off-roading adventurous than a girl it's so pretty she loved the outdoors when did you notice something was wrong she's planning for her daughter's birthday and we haven't heard anything from hers this is not her at all when we walked in the house was a mess boxes everywhere I had right away needs or something really wrong here did you ever think in that moment in that house that Larry did something to Maya yeah Larry was the last person that saw her what was his demeanor when you showed up and started asking questions calm you hadn't slept much it didn't look like he was unconcerned about his wife being gone he said this wasn't all that unusual for her I didn't have the answers at that point but I was very suspicious so I needed to gather more evidence family was well aware this marriage was not working out he went on the internet found a website that does a witchcraft cast spells he bought one of the Spells I don't even know how to make this out so I I need your help this is the spell that he casts on Maya that's blood that's on there he created the Witchcraft Altar and he puts down the picture of himself and my uh he wrote can you hex to have her heard enough that she will have to depend on me maybe an accident or broken bone that's really hard to hear what kind of person do you believe Larry is a very damaged person do you think Maya left that house on her own no no [Music] it's been really hard it is our family we're still asking in public please help us bring my sister a goal [Music] s thank you [Music] [Music] more than a year has gone by since 39 year old Maya May miliete mother of three young children vanished in Chula Vista California I Maya's Sister Mary Chris and her husband Richard drewlier have fought hard so Maya's disappearance doesn't become a cold case it's been a really really tough year with the whole family we still don't have answers yeah [Music] Maya was 13 years old when she immigrated to the United States from the Philippines with her parents and five siblings in 1995. Mary Chris says her sister thrived in Honolulu Hawaii where the family settled to build a new life she's always been you know the smart one and she's very active at school education is very important to the family I've always been so proud of her Maya met her future husband Larry miliete when they were both working at a fast food restaurant in Honolulu Larry's family had also immigrated from the Philippines when Larry turned 18 and joined the Navy the couple decided to get married they were so young teenagers yeah she's the first one to get married so it was a shock for everyone expected her decision Maya and Larry moved to Southern California and built their careers working for the Navy Larry was an optician at the Naval Medical Center and Maya worked as a supervisor contract specialist at this Naval Station in San Diego she was my mentor from day one she was like this little tiny person but she was a big personality Claudia hulau and Alison Alexander worked with Maya at the base and became friends we actually negotiate contracts for the U.S Navy and she was very good at it I used to you know joke around with her and you know because she had a photographic memory I had a lot of respect for her she was a very strong and confident leader a lot of the women in the office really looked up to her there was no glass ceiling we could get wherever we wanted didn't matter where we came from Maya and Larry decided to wait 10 years before starting a family the couple eventually welcomed two daughters and a son it's a joy to see them you know that they have their own family too we're always out camping we're always Outdoors so pretty was a good dad always attentive to the kids like great parents what kind of mother was she very caring loving water she hands on she's always teaching them something especially you know music she has some videos with her son singing with her word by word yeah word by word brings us to tears every time we watch it [Music] her kids were everything she enjoyed her kids in early January 2021 Maya was focused on planning a ski trip to Big Bear for her daughter's birthday but her family grew concerned when she suddenly stopped communicating on January 7th for her not to tell us what's going to happen for her daughter's birthday you know that was a big deal Mary Chris says when their brother Jr drove over to check on Maya the next day her husband Larry told him Maya had been in the bedroom for several hours Jr knocked on the door but got no response we kind of just thinks okay nice just maybe she's sleeping they did say that they had an argument and he left it at that we believed Larry they had an argument and just she just want to be left alone the following day when there was still no news from Maya Mary Christian Richard drove over to the miliete house when we walked into house with some mess which I've never seen their house messy and it was cold it was January and he had the AC running which was really odd this time Larry told them Maya was out so Larry says my husband where hiking she went hiking suspicious that something wasn't right Mary Chris reported her sister missing to the Chula Vista Police Department that night how did the police react they sent three officers who went through the house and they questioned us Mary Chris and Richard were upset with what they say was a lack of concern from the police it seemed like there was no urgency for the police department to investigate it properly by January 10th Maya had now been missing for three days her family gathered at her home to celebrate her daughter's birthday hoping against hoax real life looking at the door hoping she'll walk in on her daughter's birthday she never did I feel so bad after that she said mommy didn't show up for my birthday I didn't know how to comfort her [Music] as Maya's family tried to keep some normalcy for the sake of the children Richard was watching Larry during the party just laid back wearing his Navy sweats on a Sunday no shoes and Larry had no concern whatsoever on his face First missing wife not even for his daughter's birthday that night Claudia got the distressing news that Maya was missing and drove over to the miliete house by now the birthday party had turned into a search party so they were outside with babies and blankets trying to look for their sister [Music] their daughter her parents are elderly the brothers and the brother-in-law were out knocking on doors giving out flyers he had no interest in helping as word spread that Maya was nowhere to be found more friends stepped in trying to help my wife Lou was working at the 32nd Street Naval Base said that a friend of hers went missing the family is concerned would you help them somebody asked for help you just do it right so if she was still alive I needed to get to her quickly that's why I went straight to where the last place she was seeing which was that house I had no idea that it would turn into what it was [Music] thank you on January 11 2021 four days after my Emilia day was last heard from I knew what had to be done and I didn't attorney Billy little a former criminal defense investigator for the U.S Navy decided to step into the missing persons case I went straight to where the last place she was seeing which was that house little wanted to talk to Larry meliete amongst other things he had found it odd that Maya's husband wasn't the one who initially called the Chula Vista Police Department in fact when the family wanted to call 9-1-1 he discouraged it were there police around also investigating at this point no no according to the family the police had come he had given them I guess the same story in news reports at the time a Chula Vista Police spokesperson stated that Larry was being cooperative they were treating it as a missing person's case and had found no indication of Foul Play little says after he showed Larry his Naval civilian ID he let him in I started looking for things that I thought might be suspicious in the house just like Mary Chris and Richard he noticed something strange most the windows in the house were open it was clear he was trying to air the house out little knew from Maya's family that the couple had had a fight on the day she was last heard from I was looking to see if there's any damage in the house so it indicate some domestic violence I'm also looking for defensive wounds on his hands which I don't see but little says he did he did see something outside the milieti bedroom we went upstairs where her bedroom was the first thing I noticed was the hole in the door right next to the handle because it's right in the area where if you need access to a locked room you're going to punch right through there and I touched the patch and it felt new it felt wet I made a comment to Larry about hey it was just and he says oh yeah uh Maya punched a hole in the door there inside the bedroom little says he noticed another hole on the wall that also appeared to have been recently repaired that would have been too high for a Maya to punch because she was smaller and I said Larry what about this hole and he said oh yeah she uh got man punched that too Larry is creating a picture here of a woman who is violent is this adding up to you no none of his story is adding up when you left the house that day after collecting those puzzle pieces what were you thinking I thought Larry killed her and we need to find out what he did and what he did with the body but I wasn't ready to tell Mary Chris yet because I didn't know right I could be wrong little began canvassing the neighborhood and knocking on doors to track down home security footage to see if anything suspicious was caught on camera around the miliete house so I knew we had to get that quickly and preserve it quickly time was of the essence oh God yes what little found was a treasure Trove of Clues he says a camera from a neighboring house recorded the voices of the miliete children playing in the yard at 10 30 pm on the night their mother was last heard from wow on a school night and it's cold outside and the weather I believe that was in the high 40s that night another camera recorded Larry backing their Lexus into the garage at 5 58 a.m the next morning so you can't see what's going on but you can see it going in the garage Larry then leaves the house at 6 45 a.m and doesn't return home for almost 11 and a half hours you could have moved on why did you stay on this case and take matters into your own hands in my mind my job wasn't nearly complete it was just beginning it was just beginning when I see Mary Chris and I see her crying I'm just like I got to figure this out as Billy little continued investigating it's just not in me to quit so I don't marry Chris and Richard turned to local media and organized the first search for Maya on the hiking trails behind her house we're desperate for answers we wanted action we wanted to do something staying at home sitting down wasn't gonna bring us answers right begging the public for help help me find my missing sister and that really moved people Elena Von an attorney and true crime author saw Maya's case on the news and started following it closely you realize that this was somebody that was very vibrant that was really out there living her life and that is part of why it's also shocking that she's missing it shocks your conscious as the case gathered steam in the media on January 23 2021 two weeks after Maya's disappearance the Chula Vista Police Department searched the miliete house and what they did find was that Larry had a lot of Fire a rifle and a shotgun Eagle assault weapon investigators also downloaded images from Larry's phone three days later the police were back on January 26th they served another search warrant and the police take the navigation system the GPS from Larry's Lexus meanwhile Maya's friends had been revealing details about the couple's relationship I would say March or so of 2020 the obsession became obvious Larry's Behavior had grown alarming before his wife went missing he would do subliminal messages for her to be that perfect spouse and it was everywhere she walked at different times they would turn on that it's insane it sounds like from a movie foreign [Music] just walk out that's something she will never do about a month after Maya's disappearance her husband Larry miliete hired a lawyer and stopped cooperating with investigators I believe that he did something to her Billy little was told by Maya's friends and family that troubling signs in the marriage began emerging the year before and it started back in January of 2020 when they started having marital problems Larry will call every single one of us trying to ask for help to intervene you know into the marriage Larry was complaining that Maya was having a midlife crisis he said well she's been going out we're friends more often and she has a lot of single friends but my sister is saying you know it's not me it's it's Larry Maya's friend Claudia spent time with the couple socially his relationship was very kind of to the side and just very watchful from what my observation of him he always had to be in control Claudia recalls an instance when Larry couldn't get a hold of Maya at work you know when somebody might be agitated or you overhear their voice I did hearing where are you it takes you this long to get from your car to your office who were you talking to he wants her to pay submissive for her to comply to him or to be the same person as you know she used to but Maya's loved one say that Maya was changing she was growing into someone new strong woman for sure as the months passed in 2020 Larry's grip on Maya tightened he's now tracking her spending habits he's gotten into all of her social media accounts she doesn't have any privacy and he suspected that she was straying Larry be accused her of having affairs with several Men at Work wrote emails to her boss at work he knows that if he tells the boss that she's having an affair with somebody at work that she will get fired he tells followed by his family she's cheating she's sinful help me get her back on the Christian religious way and starts forcing her to go to church these are texts that Larry sent to Maya's family and he's quoting the Bible and it says for the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey her feet go down to death her steps lead straight to the Grave I was talking about Maya in his own words he said that he was getting desperate and he felt that the devil was tempting him at some point Maya's family says they told her they were concerned about what was unfolding at that time we knew that my sister is ready to move on we told her whatever your decision is we're here to support you by the fall of 2020 Billy little says Larry was growing increasingly desperate to hold on to Maya and so what does he do he goes to uh witchcraft there are people on the internet that'll sell you for five bucks you know how to make a spell that will get her to be attracted to you to bind your marriage and blood and that's what he tried to do does a little witchcraft blood altar that is the picture that he took of the altar an old photo of them with blood thrown on it little says Larry contacted numerous spellcasters and even wrote a review for one and he writes of this spellcaster she is kind professional and courteous my casting has not yet manifested but I'm really hoping and counting on it leaving a review like one would leave on Yelp for a food order like it's an Uber right like five stars good job spellcaster so he's not quite as smart as he thinks he is he doesn't realize that all of that stuff is pointing the finger at him by December of 2020 Maya and Larry were sleeping in separate rooms little says Maya found speakers in her room and confronted Larry he admitted he had been playing subliminal messages while she slept Maya messaged a friend and said her marriage was definitely over what was that message that was coming out of those speakers under the bed it's right there no more men on New Year's weekend Maya told her family her decision she's ready for divorce she's finally made up her mind I just told her just be careful the speaker on January 7th the last day she was heard from Maya filled out this form and made an appointment with a divorce attorney thinks she told him that she was going to file for divorce he snapped he found out that he was finally losing her what had happened in the house that night little thinks he knows after a neighbor reached out with some information the neighbors do they say oh yeah we heard gunshots yet not only did they tell me that they've got gunshots but they've got the audio a home surveillance system from the neighbor captured these loud bangs around 10 pm that night foreign also believes they are gunshots it's coming from Larry and Maya's house remember Billy little had tracked down that other home security footage that police agreed captured audio of the miliet day kids playing in the backyard at 10 30 pm the picture is becoming more and more clear he's got to clean up and he's going to move the body so he needs to send those kids outside in a school night at 10 30. do you try to speak to law enforcement I did and I told them what I found and time and time again there was just no follow-up by the police the Chula Vista Police Department declined our request for an interview but in April 2021 they told local media that it had been an active investigation since mid-January and they were keeping their cards close to the vest it's tough there was very minimal details and that was part of our frustration working with the police department the family now is having various rallies in front of the Chula Vista Police Department basically demanding answers but the police are not going to release a lot of information to the family this is potentially a murder investigation in May of 2021 the police served Larry meliete with a gun violence restraining order among the reasons investigators had found this image on Larry's phone another photo which had been redacted featured the couple's four-year-old son surrounded by weapons authorities retrieved more firearms from the milia day house I think that was a smart move by the police it protects the children while they try to buy a little bit of time but it also protects them if they have to go in and arrest him in the summer of 2021 investigators named Larry miliete a person of interest in his wife's case she keep wondering is this going to be the time that they're going to arrest Larry on October 19th nine months after The Disappearance of Maya investigators did just that today at 11 42 a.m the Chula Vista Police Department SWAT team arrested Larry meliete for the murderer [Music] and with that even more evidence came to light Maya's family and friends anticipated the news of an arrest for months I understand that there is a case that needs to be built there's only one shot but it just seemed like it was too long yet when Maya's husband Larry miliete was arrested for her murder in October 2021 it was still a mixed range of emotions Claudia what was your reaction we how it became real I think we have different reactions I said finally she started crying he's been with us for 20 years my sister didn't love him she gave him three kiss she just came letting go in a press conference San Diego County district attorney summer Stefan laid out some of the details of the months-long law enforcement investigation in homicide cases there is often a triggering event in this case the last call recorded that may made was to a divorce attorney that call was at 3 48 PM home security cameras captured her arriving at her house at 4 42 PM there were no images of her leaving investigators had also turned up more evidence of Larry trying to keep Maya in the marriage through the supernatural before she went missing I've never had a case where that was involved but the Spells they discovered went beyond more than asking Maya to be attracted to him according to the arrest warrant Larry now wanted Maya to be harmed before Maya went missing Larry sent this message to a website that claims to cast spells please punish May and incapacitate her enough so she can't leave the house it's time to take the gloves off it was evidence they say of his unbalanced mindset and homicidal ideation the day Maya went missing Larry sent countless emails to spellcasters I think she wants me to snap I'm shaking inside ready to snap what's more according to the arrest warrant Larry had allegedly snapped before one of Maya's friends said that Maya told her Larry choked her to the point where she was unconscious heard that oh I was mad how could he do that Maya had never shared that with Mary Chris she didn't share what she's going through because she didn't want the family to worry about her she was also protecting Larry when she was protecting the children were you aware of any physical abuse no no she would say little things here and there but not always to the same person there were already incidents that were huge red flags that if we all knew it at the same time it would have been a bigger picture I feel guilty at the you know after the fact once she went missing it was a very harsh reality for me I wasn't able to help her and I would forever live with that [Music] nobody had the full picture right besides the two of them Evelyn Rodriguez is an associate professor of Sociology who teaches on topics of race and identity at the University of San Francisco she reviewed the case for 48 hours the signs of domestic abuse can be so hard to identify because we as a society are unable to distinguish the line that divides that kind of like zealous passionate love from controlling Behavior Larry miliete checks all the boxes for domestic partner abuse he knew what Maya's pressure points were and so he weaponized her work he weaponized her children her family her religion before he got desperate enough to try these other means of controlling her and keeping her in that marriage Rodriguez suggests when Larry turned to spell casting as another method to control Maya he may have been inspired by an old world form of folk magic in the Philippines and this is old world to our parents somehow that has evolved into what I think Larry was able to find but Rodriguez points out that it is important not to lose sight of what the issue is here really the story here is that this was an abusive partner regardless of his culture Who was exhibiting every single sign of domestic abuse [Music] with Maya's alleged killer Behind Bars her family knew their work was not done they were more determined than ever to find her energized with new information that had come out after Larry's arrest Elena van was part of that search the thing that this case really needed was to be able to know where to search that was the problem here you can't just search the entire world where are we right now it's a hot spot that Larry could have brought Mila's body out here like Billy little investigators obtained footage that showed Larry leaving the house in the couple's Lexus for almost 11 and a half hours the day after his wife was last heard from they analyzed the car's navigation system according to the information that we have now he was about two and a half hours out from his house when he put his address in somewhere two and a half hours away from his house Larry had entered his address to find his way back home that information was enough to Center the searches on places Larry was familiar with like this desert area where he and Maya had gone hiking what are you specifically looking for as you comb this area at this point fortunately I had to save over probably just looking for clothing or bones [Music] over the months droves of volunteers have responded to her family's calls to the community and have joined team Maya we're just so thankful and blessed to have everybody here together I'm San Diego City retired firefighter I got a team and we go out and we systematically cover areas where someone could possibly hide a body and it's you know it's very sad to even talk about but you have to do it and it's the the proverbial needle in a haystack why are you here today uh really just to support our family hopefully we can bring peace to the family always make sure you've got eyes on somebody what drives you to do this for a total stranger somebody you didn't even know I felt that it should be a community effort you just want closure for this family so much and that's why we're out here that's why we keep coming they deserve it Maya deserves it as the search for Maya continues in the vast lands of Eastern San Diego The Quest For Justice is just beginning in the halls of the San Diego court system the problem with this case is you don't have a body what would inspire you to join a search for a missing person go inside the my ameliaite disappearance at 48hours.com Mr miliete you have the right to have a preliminary examination hearing with Miss 10 count Court days his ego was so damaged but in fact his wife didn't want to be with him anymore [Music] and he couldn't handle it so he killed her Larry miliete has been behind bars since his arrest in October 2021 awaiting trial and at this time we'd like to enter a fear of not guilty he pled not guilty to charges of murder and illegal possession of an assault weapon if convicted Larry could face up to 25 years to life in prison although there is still hope Maya could be found any day a victim's body is not required to convict someone of murder this is one of the strongest circumstantial cases I've ever seen you don't have a body so what you don't get to get away with murder because you're good at disposing of bodies but Larry maintains Maya left on her own his defense attorney Bonita Martinez turned down our request for an interview but spoke with reporters after a hearing where Larry was denied bail his wife was used to leaving the house in the past and you cannot rule out that she's alive Larry maintains that Maya voluntarily left him left the children to start her own New Life do you believe that no nope not at all never believed that never my uh love her kids there's no way she would have up and left the best argument for the defense here is Maya is not dead they don't have a body she's alive and well attorney Elena Vaughn says a nobody defense has worked before in other cases she says without a body the prosecution may be at a disadvantage they need strong evidence and the and the question is what do they something that they're going to bring out in a courtroom definitely ties Larry to murder those loud bangs recorded on the neighboring security camera may not be proof of anything an FBI analysis was inconclusive they couldn't definitively say those were gunshots because the sound quality was not good enough in November 2021 Larry's attorney filed documents with the San Diego Superior Court with more allegations about Maya they believed that she had this wild lifestyle that she was out there having an Affairs she's dating different men off the internet that she's drinking excessively that she's become this completely different person and so they're pointing to third-party culpability if she's harmed it was somebody else [Music] Larry and his parents claim in court documents that Maya was essentially a party girl definitely not the Maya that I know he was a devoted mother not long after Maya's disappearance Mary Chris and Richard say Larry cut off contact between the children and Maya's side of the family we're just trying to see him going from hanging out hugging them jumping on my back seeing them at least once or twice a month at least to not seeing them at all for nine months the miliete children are still living at home in the care of Larry's parents but after months of not seeing them Maya's family was granted visitation rights in November 2021 but the fight is not over Mary Chris has filed a petition for guardianship of her sister's children just show them that the whole entire family are waiting for them and you know are eager to be with them again Glory view to the father and to the Sun but those children will go through all those moments in life when they need their mom and she's not going to be there it breaks my heart in January 2022 Maya's family and friends held a vigil to Mark the one-year anniversary of her disappearance there's somebody else yeah have it in your heart to help us bring her home oh I'll be gone she will forever be my hero that's what I'm gonna take with me it's a bright shiny star of a woman that gave Every Other Woman regardless of what she was going through an inspiration to be whoever they wanted that's who Maya is you'll get over [Music] foreign these trees that are all around us here played a role in solving a murder absolutely a young mother dead will DNA from a tree found on the suspect's boots help catch your killer 48 hours Saturday on CBS and streaming on Paramount Plus [Music]

Channel: 48 Hours

Views: 1,614,442

Keywords: 48 hours, cbs news, full episode, true crime, crime investigation, crime documentary, Maya Millete, 48 Hours full, 48 hours full episodes 2023, Larry Millete, disappearance, missing mom, California, spellcasting, hex

Id: HNTDIfZ6L6w

Length: 41min 31sec (2491 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 28 2023