The Disappearance of Maya Millete

Maya Millete was a wife and mother of 3 who went missing in January 2021. After months of suspicion and interrogations, Maya’s husband Larry was arrested for her murder in October 2021.

Maya Tabalanza-Millete, who also went by May, was born on May 1, 1981 in the Philippines. She and her family moved to Hawaii and she grew up in Honolulu. Maya later graduated from Arthur W. Radford High School as well as the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and became a civilian employee for the U.S. Navy.

In 1997, Maya met Larry Millete after he and his family moved to Honolulu from San Diego, California. The couple got married and Larry enlisted in the U.S. Navy for 5 years. They eventually moved back to San Diego together and started their family.

After 3 children and some years married, Maya began the process of divorcing Larry. One of Maya’s friends stated that Maya was a victim of domestic violence at the hands of her husband Larry.

On January 7, 2021, Maya called a divorce attorney, and that was the last time she contacted anyone. She was last seen this same day at about 5 P.M. at her home in Chula Vista, California.

2 days after Maya was last seen, her sister Maricris Drouaillet reported her missing to the Chula Vista Police Department. Searches for Maya began on January 13 near Mount San Miguel Park.

A neighbor of the Millete family gave law enforcement an audio recording from surveillance footage from the night Maya disappeared. In the recording, 9 loud bangs were heard coming from the Millete residence at about 8:30 P.M. The FBI could not determine if these were gunshots because of the audio’s quality, but the public strongly believes so. The surveillance footage showed the Millete’s children playing outside, which was noted to be unusual because of the time. The footage also showed that the next day, Larry moved his car into a spot on their driveway that was out of view from the camera. He then left and was gone for more than 11 hours.

On January 23, investigators obtained a search warrant to search the Millete’s home for evidence regarding Maya’s whereabouts. In February, skeletal remains were found and they were thought to be Maya, but DNA tests determined that the remains were that of an animal. Maya’s attorney and several family members appeared on an episode of Dr.Phil on April 12, 2021 regarding Maya’s disappearance.

Suspicion started to fall on Maya’s husband Larry after he was interrogated, as well as the circumstances of the couple’s relationship. When being questioned about the day Maya disappeared, Larry never had a consistent story. In messages between Larry and his boss, Larry says, “I think she wants me to snap and I am shaking inside ready to snap.” There were also messages between Larry and a “spell caster”, in which Larry was hoping to cast a spell on Maya to convince her not to divorce him. The messages later began to discuss physical harm toward Maya. It is believed that after finding out that Maya contacted a divorce attorney, Larry snapped and killed her.

On February 3, 2021, Larry hired an attorney and stopped cooperating with law enforcement. By July 2021, Larry was named a person of interest in Maya’s disappearance. Finally, on October 19, 2021, Larry Millete was arrested and charged with Maya’s death. Although Maya’s body has not yet been found, investigators have found enough evidence to show that Larry Millete murdered his wife.

It is hard to imagine what could have happened to Maya that day she disappeared. Maya did not deserve this, and her children did not deserve to lose both parents in such a tragic way because of their father’s actions. I truly hope that Maya will be found soon and she will be given justice for what was done to her.