{"id":123223,"date":"2026-01-07T06:16:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T06:16:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/123223\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T06:16:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T06:16:10","slug":"maya-millete-missing-5-years-after-chula-vista-moms-disappearance-nbc-7-san-diego","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/123223\/","title":{"rendered":"Maya Millete missing 5 years after Chula Vista mom\u2019s disappearance \u2013 NBC 7 San Diego"},"content":{"rendered":"

For five years, a Chula Vista family has sought to fill the void left behind by the disappearance of their loved one, May “Maya” Millete<\/a> \u2014 a sister, a friend, a mother of three \u2014 who disappeared on Jan. 7, 2021<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Maya Millete’s husband, Larry<\/a>, is set to stand trial for her slaying, but her body still has not been located, leaving her family with a hole unfilled. Regardless of the pain, Millete’s loved ones have continued to organize vigils and searches for her body. They have continued to push the Chula Vista Police Department<\/a> for answers. And, they have called on the media to shine a spotlight on the light that was Maya Millete.<\/p>\n

It really hurts me that, now, what she\u2019s most known for is being a missing case when she was so much more than that.<\/p>\n

Maya Millete’s niece, Rica Casino<\/p>\n

The fight for closure has been arduous for her sister, Maricris Drouaillet, who spoke with NBC 7 ahead of the five-year anniversary of Maya Millete’s disappearance about her family’s search for her missing sibling \u2014 and the search for solace.<\/p>\n

Watch “Vanished: Maya Millete, 5 Years Later” on YouTube<\/a> or below: <\/p>\n

An enduring pain<\/p>\n

The agony of wondering what happened to Maya Millete is just as painful today for her sister, Maricris Drouaillet, as it was when Maya vanished five years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the thing, not knowing. So it\u2019s been really hard,\u201d Drouaillet said. \u201cTo be honest, I go back and forth. Even though it\u2019s been five years, I still wish she\u2019s still out there, walking and breathing. And at the same time, she may be gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Maya\u2019s family, time seems painfully frozen since the then-39-year-old mother of three vanished from her Chula Vista home.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t even move on and grieve,\u201d Drouaillet said.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"<\/p>\n

Maya Millete’s sister, Maricris Drouaillet, and Niece, Rica Casino.<\/p>\n

Though Maya\u2019s body has never been found, prosecutors have charged her husband, Larry, with murder. He\u2019s pleaded not guilty in the case and has been awaiting a trial that\u2019s seen numerous delays.<\/p>\n

The family hasn\u2019t spoken publicly in some time, instead allowing the judicial process to crawl forward. They decided to break their silence for Maya.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was such a wonderful woman,\u201d Maya\u2019s niece Rica Casino said. \u201cAnd it really hurts me that now what she\u2019s most known for is being a missing case when she was so much more than that. She was a loving mother, she was accomplished, she was amazing.”<\/p>\n

Glimmers of hope<\/p>\n

One positive outcome this past year for Maya\u2019s family concerns Maya and Larry\u2019s three children, now ages 9, 14 and 15. With Larry in jail, the children had been living with his parents in the same home where prosecutors allege Maya was killed.<\/p>\n

But in August of 2024, a judge awarded custody of the three children to Maricris and her husband<\/a>, Richard. They were thrilled, but say the initial transition was complicated.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been really positive for the past few months for us,\u201d Drouaillet said. \u201cIt\u2019s a struggle to say the least. When we first got them, it was not like a walk in the park\u2026At the beginning, they didn\u2019t like us when we got them. But now, we got them back. We got our nieces and nephews back\u2026So that\u2019s been wonderful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Addressing Larry’s claims<\/p>\n

The family also refuted a few of the things that Larry told NBC 7 Investigates during two jailhouse interviews in 2023<\/a>. That included saying that he believed family members colluded prior to testifying in his preliminary hearing.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause they already, basically, think in their minds they\u2019re convinced that I had something to do with Maya\u2019s disappearance or her being missing,\u201d Larry told us. \u201cI’m thinking the day they all sit down together and think of ways to hey, we all say this and we’re in cahoots. You know, maybe we can get him on this or get him on that. Because I know I have I haven’t done anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, whatever we said in trial, those are all facts,\u201d Drouaillet said. \u201cWe never really got together as a family, like a whole, you know, like a sit-down where we would discuss what’s going to be happening in trial.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Larry<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tNBC 7<\/p>\n

\t\t\tNBC 7<\/p>\n

Larry Millete jailhouse interview<\/p>\n

The family also expressed surprise at what was heard during the preliminary hearing about the spellcaster requests Larry is accused of ordering<\/a>. Prosecutors said that included love spells and hexes.<\/p>\n

Pieces of evidence shown in court include phrases like:<\/p>\n

\u201cHumble her down.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMake her really sick and keep her sick.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease punish May and incapacitate her enough so she can\u2019t leave the house. She needs to be humbled down to the lowest of low.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe an accident or broken bone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely blindsided us that this whole time I see my uncle at family gatherings and he\u2019s just spellcasting on my aunt,\u201d Casino said. \u201cTo me, that was just a shock to come out. The lengths, like the obsession he had with my aunt. It\u2019s just terrible.\u201d<\/p>\n

What’s next? <\/p>\n

The family said they\u2019re speaking out now to keep the case going, so Maya can be found.<\/p>\n

“She’s still out there,\u201d Drouaillet told us. \u201cI\u2019m hoping someday, somehow, someone might know something.”<\/p>\n

To mark the anniversary, the community will gather for a remembrance walk later this month.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"A<\/p>\n

A flyer promoting a memeorial walk for Maya Millete in 2026. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt also gives us a chance to, I guess, remember her again,\u201d Casino said. \u201cGrieve her again, just to remember how much we love her.\u201d<\/p>\n

“The children will be ready to walk along with us for their mom’s tribute,\u201d Drouaillet said. “They will be able to see what we’ve been doing for their mom for the last five years.”<\/p>\n

As for Larry Millete, after being pushed back several times, the murder trial is now set to begin on March 9, 2026.<\/a> It’s anticipated to last three months. <\/p>\n

The 43-year-old faces up to 25 years to life in state prison if convicted of murder, plus a felony count of possessing an assault weapon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For five years, a Chula Vista family has sought to fill the void left behind by the disappearance…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":123224,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[64525,74,76,75],"class_list":{"0":"post-123223","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-maya-millete","9":"tag-san-diego","10":"tag-san-diego-headlines","11":"tag-san-diego-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123223"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123223\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}