CHULA VISTA, Calif. (KGTV) — Court documents obtained by KGTV shed new light on the arrest of Larry Millete and a possible motive in the disappearance of his wife Maya.
Larry Millete was taken into custody Tuesday in connection with the death of Maya, whose body has yet to be found.
Maya Millete was last seen on Jan. 7, and in the documents, investigators stated that there was “no evidence to suggest that Maya left and disappeared on her own accord, or that she had the financial means to do so.”
An arrest warrant revealed some details on the couple’s marital issues, including what investigators stated was Larry’s controlling behavior that escalated throughout 2020 and 2021.
Investigators found that Maya, in 2020, “began taking steps to physically and legally separate” from her husband. In late December 2020, Maya told a friend that her marriage to Larry was “definitely over” and she decided to file for divorce, the documents stated.
Investigators also said in the documents that “Larry had an overwhelming motive to prevent his wife from divorcing him.”
According to the documents, a friend told investigators Maya confided that “at one time in the past, Larry had choked May until she passed out.”
>>READ MORE: Timeline: Search for Maya Millete leads to husband’s arrest
Additionally, the arrest warrant detailed a text message exchange Maya had with a friend on Jan. 6. In the message, Maya stated, “I told him I’m filing for divorce, whether he likes it or not. I’m done trying to make it amicable for the sake of the kids.”
Over the course of the investigation, police obtained a search warrant to examine Larry’s online searches and found that he had a “desperate, frantic, unbalanced mindset coupled with homicidal ideations.”
During a Tuesday news conference, San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan and Chula Vista Police Chief Roxana Kennedy emphasized that authorities remain committed to finding Maya Millete’s body, urging anyone who might be able to help to report what they know.
This undated photo provided by NamUs shows missing Chula Vista mother Maya Millete. (NamUS)
“This case, the investigation in this case — while we know that Larry Millete is responsible for the murder — is ongoing, and (the hope of) bringing May home to have a proper burial for her family is ongoing,” Stephan said.
The documents revealed the following:
“During the initial investigation, detectives learned that Maya and Larry had been having marital issues for the past year, and that Larry discovered that Maya had an affair. Detectives learned that Maya and Larry had an argument the evening of January 7 and that on January 8, Larry left with his 4-year-old for the day. Larry claimed he heard Maya in the house the evening of January 8, 2021, but had not seen her since the evening of January 7, 2021. Larry allowed officers to view his cell phone to review the text messages between he and Maya. Officers noted that all of the messages between Larry and Maya prior to January 9, 2021 had been deleted. Larry later stated he deleted the messages to conserve space on his cellular phone. All four Millete family vehicles (including a Lexus GX460) were at the home when police were notified of Maya’s disappearance.
During the investigation, detectives located surveillance footage and observed Maya park her Jeep Rubicon on the street in front of her residence on January 7 at 1642 hours. Investigators have obtained multiple sources of video surveillance from the neighborhood and there is no surveillance footage capturing Maya leaving her residence after she arrived on January 7, 2021 at 1642 hours. She is last seen at that time walking towards her residence.”
Larry Millete was booked into county jail on suspicion of murder and illegally possessing an assault weapon. He was being held without bail pending arraignment, scheduled for Thursday afternoon.
This story was originally published October 20, 2021, by KGTV in San Diego, an E.W. Scripps Company.
