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Timeline: The disappearance of Maya Millete

▶ Watch Video: Searching for Maya Millete

This article was originally published on Feb. 18, 2022.

Maya Millete, 39, went missing in January 2021. What was happening between her and her husband before she disappeared and what does spellcasting have to do with it?

January 7, 2021: Maya Millete last seen

Maya Millete
Maya Millete

Maricris Drouaillet

Mother of three, Maya (May) Millete was 39 when she was last seen on surveillance video arriving at her home in Chula Vista, California.

January 8-9, 2021: Where’s Maya?

Larry Millete
Larry Millete

Maricris Drouaillet

Maya’s husband of 21 years, Larry Millete, was the last person to see Maya. When asked about Maya, he told her family different stories about where she might have gone. 

January 9, 2021: “Help Find Maya”

millete-03.jpg

Maricris Drouaillet

After not hearing from Maya for two days, her sister Maricris Drouaillet reported her missing to the Chula Vista Police Department. Family and friends made flyers to spread awareness about her disappearance. 

January 10, 2021: A worried family

Richard and Maricris Drouaillet
Richard and Maricris Drouaillet

CBS News

Maya’s older sister, Maricris and her husband Richard Drouaillet were hoping against hope that Maya was somehow OK, but they say they knew something terrible had really happened when Maya didn’t show up for her daughter’s birthday.

January 11, 2021: Extra help

Billy Little
Attorney Billy Little

CBS News

Attorney Billy Little, a former criminal defense investigator for the U.S. Navy, heard about Maya’s disappearance and wanted to help. On January 11, 2021, Little went to the Millete home and looked for clues. He says Larry Millete seemed unconcerned about his wife and it looked like he was airing out the house.

January 13, 2021: Staying hopeful

Maya and Larry Millete
Maya and Larry Millete

Maricris Drouaillet

“I love you honey, just come back home,” said Larry Millete during a phone interview with local media. “I’m still very hopeful that will (with) all this media coverage, she’ll turn up and say, ‘Hey, I’m OK.'” On that same day friends, family, and neighbors searched for Maya at Mount San Miguel Park.

January 23, 2021: Search warrant issued

The Millete home
Two weeks after Maya’s disappearance, the Chula Vista Police Department searched the Millete’s Chula Vista, California, home.

CBS News

The Chula Vista Police Department issued a search warrant at Maya and Larry Millete’s home. The goal was to obtain evidence that would lead to finding Maya. Investigators seized some of Larry’s guns.

February 5, 2021: “Bring her home”

Maya Millete press conference
Maya’s family makes a public plea for help find her.

Chula Vista Police Department/Facebook

The Chula Vista Police Department and Maya’s family held a press conference pleading for help to find Maya. “Please bring her home.” Maricris Drouailett cried. “If you have any information, please help us find my sister …”

February 2021: Dedicated search volunteers

Help Find Maya searchers
The search parties were made up of dozens of friends, family members, colleagues of Maya’s and also strangers. They began looking for her in vast desert areas east of Chula Vista, near the Arizona border. 

Help Find Maya/Instagram

Since Maya’s disappearance, a group called “Help Find Maya” has been out searching for her most weekends. The group has searched areas in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Otay Lakes and Marron Valley Road.

March 2021: Spellcasting

Millete blood altar
Larry Millete’s bloody altar

Billy Little

Billy Little says he found evidence that Larry Millete purchased spells online. According to Little, Larry first tried spells to get Maya to fall back in love with him. But as the couple’s marital problems worsened, police say, Larry eventually wanted to harm her. He later asked a spellcaster, “Please punish May and incapacitate her enough so she can’t leave the house. It’s time to take the gloves off.”

May 7, 2021: Firearms surrendered

Larry Millete's gun cache
Larry Millete was served with a gun violence restraining order and had to surrender firearms to authorities.

San Diego Superior Court

During the investigation by the Chula Vista Police Department, multiple search warrants were served at the Millete home. On May 7,2021, Larry Millete was served with a gun violence restraining order and had to surrender more firearms to authorities.

October 19, 2021: Larry Millete arrested

millete-12.jpg
In October 2021, Larry Millete was arrested for his wife’s murder. He pleaded not guilty

CBS News

Nine months after her disappearance, Larry Millete was arrested for the murder of his wife Maya. He has pleaded not guilty and continues to say she willingly left and abandoned the family. 

October 30, 2021: #TeamMaya

millete-13.jpg
Asked why she’s helping in the search for someone she doesn’t know, Keri Park tells CBS News’ Jonathan Vigliotti, “it should be a community effort … you just want closure for this family so much. … And that’s why we’re out here. It’s why we keep coming. They deserve it. … Maya deserves it.”

CBS News/Cindy Cesare

Many dedicated search volunteers like Keri Park have never met Maya. She and others drive for hours to get to the search locations and have spent days looking for Maya. “It’s just hard. I mean, you just want closure for this family so much,” Park told “48 Hours” contributor Jonathan Vigliotti. “And I just want to bring her home.”

January 7, 2022: One year later

Maya Millete missing poster
Maya Millete was last seen in January 7, 2021 in Chula Vista, California.

Maricris Drouaillet

After a year without Maya, the Help Find Maya community has created merchandise, held vigils, rallies, and raised more than $50,000 for search efforts. They put QR codes on flyers for people to scan for more information and to recruit volunteers.

Justice for Maya

Maya Millete
Maya Millete’s family and friends were adamant  that she did not leave her children voluntarily.

Maricris Drouaillet

In August 2024, a judge granted custody of Maya’s three children to her sister, Maricris.    

On July 9, 2026, a jury found Larry Millete guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Maya Millete.

Maya Millete has never been found.

Anyone with information about Maya’s disappearance is asked to contact San Diego County Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477 or the Chula Vista Police Department at 619-691-5139.  

Millions of Americans with untreated high blood pressure should be taking medication

By CNN
Nearly 1 in 3 adults in the United States with untreated high blood pressure would benefit from treatment and are not getting it, according to a new study.That’s because nearly 10 million Americans now meet newly updated guidelines by the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology that redefine an adult’s risk for cardiovascular disease.“We estimated that approximately 200,900 all-cause deaths and 162,600 cardiovascular deaths could be prevented over the next 10 years,” said lead study author Dr. Mustafa Al-Jarshawi, a cardiologist at Keele University in England.Ideally, doctors want blood pressure to fall below 120 mmHg systolic and 80 mmHg diastolic. If blood pressure is around 130/80, doctors have typically advised people to make changes to their lifestyle, such as increasing exercise.If doctors use the American Heart Association’s new PREVENT tool, which considers blood sugar, kidney function and a person’s decade-long risk for heart disease as well as blood pressure, some 81 million Americans would be eligible for blood pressure medications.“What this is saying is that people who have traditionally not been at very high risk are now eligible to be treated with medications more aggressively,” said cardiologist Dr. Andrew Freeman, director of cardiovascular prevention and wellness at National Jewish Health in Denver.“Generally, I think when people have additional risk, blood pressure is really the silent killer,” said Freeman, who was not involved with the study.Expanding treatment could save livesThe study, published July 29 in the Journal of the American Heart Association, analyzed National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data from 2009 to 2018. Newer data is available, but the most up-to-date version of the survey hasn’t been around long enough for researchers to know participants’ cause and time of death.The study examines how death rates might be lower if the 2025 hypertension guidelines were implemented during those years, Al-Jarshawi said.Among 81 million adults with high blood pressure and no cardiovascular disease, nearly 23 million may be newly eligible under the new guidelines. Of those 23 million, 9.7 million were untreated.Becoming eligible to receive blood pressure medication was associated with a 23% lower risk of dying compared with no treatment. When it comes to the chances of dying from a heart-related issue, risk dropped by 50%. The study also found that adults with diabetes would benefit most from treatment. This is because diabetes and high blood pressure often occur together, significantly increasing cardiovascular risk, Al-Jarshawi said.Treatment is more than a medicationAny eligible person shouldn’t hesitate to start taking medication in addition to making lifestyle changes to reduce long-term risks, Al-Jarshawi said.Controlling high blood pressure is a long-term commitment to health, CNN contributor Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and adjunct associate professor at George Washington University, told CNN in a previous article. She recommended looking into a key inventory of five daily habits: level of physical activity, diet, substance use including alcohol and marijuana, stress levels, and a healthy weight.“You don’t have to do everything perfectly to make a difference in your health,” Wen said. She suggests starting with small lifestyle changes. Many people can’t easily reduce stress in their lives, but maybe they can more easily start eating more fruits and vegetables.”The findings of the new study highlight the importance of controlling high blood pressure, Freeman said.“The western world is ailing from a variety of cardiometabolic, kidney diseases,” Freeman said. “High blood pressure amplifies a lot of risk, and we have to do whatever we can to get that risk down and being aggressive about blood pressure is very low-hanging fruit.”However, medication only works when it’s inside the person, and not sitting in the bottle unused, Freeman said. About half of adults in the US with high blood pressure don’t regularly take their prescribed medication, according to a July 2025 study published in the journal JAMA Cardiology.Freeman recommends trying to form a habit, such as keeping your pillbox next to an alarm or toothbrush. That way, when set an alarm for the morning or brush your teeth, you remember to also take the pills.“There’s a way to cue yourself and remind,” Freeman said. “For those people that forget, consider having a small supply in your purse or your wallet or your car, just so you can always remember to take it.”The study’s findings also highlight the need for physicians to be alert to early signs of disease and consider blood pressure treatment, even in younger people, according to Freeman.“We’re seeing a lot more young people now who have chronic disease and diabetes and other things that may be relatively mild, but still at risk, and we need to be even more aggressive,” Freeman said.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
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