Spells, Suspicion and Silence: Inside the Disappearance of Maya Millete

When Maya "May" Millete disappeared from her Chula Vista, California, home in January 2021, she left behind three children and a marriage that, by many accounts, was already coming apart. More than four years later, her body has not been found. The case against her husband, Larry Millete, rests on what investigators describe as a troubling trail of digital breadcrumbs, including his alleged attempts to bend his wife's will through spellcasting.

A timeline compiled by CBS News traces the slow unraveling of the couple's relationship in the months before the 39-year-old vanished, and asks a question that has haunted the case from the start: what does witchcraft have to do with a missing mother?

A Marriage Under Strain

According to investigators and people close to the family, Maya Millete had been preparing to leave her husband. She reportedly took steps toward divorce in the days before she disappeared. Relatives have said she was ready to start a new chapter. That chapter never began.

She was last seen on January 7, 2021. Her family reported her missing days later. Larry Millete told authorities she had left on her own. Her loved ones never believed it, and they organized searches across San Diego County that drew volunteers and wide attention.

The Spellcasting Thread

The most striking element of the case emerged as prosecutors laid out their theory. Investigators allege that Larry Millete paid online spellcasters as his marriage faltered, first seeking to make his wife love him and stay, and later, according to prosecutors, seeking to harm her. To authorities, these transactions are not mere curiosities. They form a window into a man they say was desperate to keep control as his grip on his family slipped like sand through his fingers.

The Chula Vista Police Department spent months investigating, executing search warrants and naming Larry Millete a person of interest. In October 2021, he was arrested and charged with murder by the San Diego County District Attorney's Office, despite the absence of a body, a rare and difficult path for prosecutors. He has pleaded not guilty and has maintained his innocence.

A Case Built Without a Body

"No-body" murder prosecutions demand that a jury accept circumstantial evidence in place of physical proof. Prosecutors have pointed to the state of the marriage, the alleged spellcasting purchases and Larry Millete's conduct after his wife vanished. His defense has argued that the evidence does not prove she is dead, let alone that he killed her.

For Maya Millete's family, the legal fight is only part of the burden. Her sister and other relatives have kept her name in the public eye, insisting that her story not fade into the background noise of unsolved cases. Every hearing reopens a wound that has never been allowed to close.

The Questions That Remain

The heart of the mystery is unchanged: where is Maya Millete? Until that question is answered, the case remains a puzzle with its most important piece missing. The courtroom may eventually deliver a verdict, but for three children and a grieving family, the deeper resolution of knowing what happened to May, and bringing her home, may prove far harder to reach.