Larry Millete convicted of murdering wife Maya, body still missing

Jurors found Larry Millete guilty of first-degree murder after roughly six weeks of testimony in San Diego County, delivering the verdict in a case that has gripped true crime readers because one question remains unanswered: Maya Millete’s body has still not been found.

The San Diego County District Attorney said Millete was convicted of murdering his wife, Maya Millete, after she disappeared from the family’s Chula Vista home on January 7, 2021. Prosecutors built their case on a wide body of circumstantial and digital evidence, along with testimony about the collapse of the marriage, controlling behavior and spellcasters. The defense argued the state had no body and no direct proof of murder.

Jurors reached their decision quickly after deliberations began, accepting the prosecution’s theory that Maya was dead despite the absence of remains. Outside the courthouse, Maya’s sister, Maricris Drouaillet, said the family had finally received justice but still had not found closure because Maya was still missing. That distinction has defined this case from the start: the verdict answered the legal question, but it did not bring Maya home.

The district attorney’s office said Millete remained incarcerated and that sentencing would follow later. Even with the conviction entered, authorities said the search for Maya would continue. For Maya’s family, the case now sits in the hardest possible place, with a murder conviction on the record and no body to bury.