CHULA VISTA, Calif. — The husband of a missing California mother of three has been arrested for the murder of his wife, police announced on Tuesday.
In a news release, the Chula Vista Police Department said Larry Millete was arrested on Tuesday and charged with the murder of his wife, Maya Millete.
According to San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan, Larry was also charged with illegal possession of an assault weapon. He is being held without bail and has been scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday at 1:30 p.m.
“A mother is gone, a family is broken, a community is left with questions and confusion,” said Chula Vista Police Chief of Police Roxana Kennedy.
Those who attended a Tuesday afternoon news conference wore purple ribbons in support of Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
Sources tipped KGTV off to the arrest at about noon, but no details were initially given. The FBI was among the agencies that joined CVPD at the Millete family's home.
Maya was last seen in the South Bay on Jan. 7, according to Chula Vista Police.
Stephan said Maya wanted a divorce starting in 2020, but Larry didn’t want the divorce. According to Stephan, the last call Maya made was to a divorce attorney.
In the meantime, Stephan said Larry resorted to calling spellcasters he asked to make Maya want to stay in the relationship. Larry later asked the spellcasters to make Maya incapacitated and to get into an accident.
According to the district attorney, on Jan. 7 – the day Maya was last seen – Larry allegedly sent someone a text message that said, “I think she wants me to snap and I’m shaking inside ready to snap.”
According to Stephan, security video shows Larry moving the family’s black Lexus GX 460 SUV into an area where no video cameras could capture whether a body was placed into the back of the vehicle. Larry then left the home on Jan. 8 and didn’t return for more than 11 hours, leaving his phone behind, according to the district attorney.
After searching the car, investigators discovered that Larry searched for his home address in the vehicle before returning home on Jan. 8.
Over the course of their investigation, Chula Vista police have said they have interviewed 87 people regarding Maya’s case, written 66 search warrants, and reviewed more than 128 tips about the mother's possible location or reason for the disappearance.
CVPD named Larry Millete a person of interest on July 22. However, since that point, they haven’t released more information about that other than “CVPD investigators continue to consider Larry Millete a person of interest in this investigation.”
KGTV SPOKE WITH LARRY MILLETE IN JANUARY:
TIMELINE IN MAYA MILLETE CASE:
This story was originally published by Jermaine Ong at KGTV.
