It has been over three months since a South Bay mom was reported missing from her Chula Vista home. The Chula Vista Police Department (CVPD) on Wednesday provided updates on the investigation.
CVPD announced a formal partnership between the San Diego County District Attorney's office, the FBI, and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) with the goal of bringing May "Maya" Millete, 39, home to her family or bringing justice to her family regarding her disappearance.
CVPD has been investigating Maya's disappearance since she was first reported missing by her sister on the evening of Jan. 7, 2021. That day, Maya had planned to take her three children, ages 4, 9 and 11, on a trip to Big Bear for her daughter's birthday.
By 1 a.m. the following morning, the Chula Vista Police Department had launched a missing person investigation.
Family and friends said Maya’s car was still at her home, along the 2400 block of Paseo Los Gatos in Chula Vista, but phone calls went straight to her voicemail after her disappearance.
Since Maya's disappearance, CVPD said they have conducted searches, conducted interviews, obtained search warrants and analyzed video and digital evidence.
CVPD said they have conducted the following:
- Interviewed more than 55 people -- family members, friends, neighbors and witnesses who potentially had insight into her whereabouts.
- Written 16 search warrants to include residences, vehicles, cellular and electronic devices, call detail records, financial records, social media and cloud data.
- One of these warrants was for May’s home, which was searched on Jan. 23, 2021. Another warrant was for a Millete’s relative's home, which was searched on April 1, 2021.
- Reviewed over 40 tips on May’s possible location and reason for the disappearance. These tips have come from the local community and from around the country. These tips have also included investigators working with law enforcement agencies from other states.
"Detectives continue to review multiple items of evidence and are going over thousands of pages of data in the hopes of finding May," CVPD said in the update.
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CVPD said they are also aware of "several bangs" recorded on a video security system near the Millete residence during the night of May's disappearance.
"These bangs are being reviewed and analyzed by investigators in the hope of determining if they were gunshots," CVPD said.
Although, CVPD said they did not receive any reports of gunshots during the night in question and the bangs were discovered by investigators early on in the investigation.
Searches for Maya have been conducted by family, loved ones and even strangers who just want her found. The efforts have even expanded across county lines in the hopes that something will turn up to provide a clue to her whereabouts.
Nearly a month into the search for Maya, her family -- including her sister, Maricris Drouaillet, told NBC 7 they continued to search for her day in, day out.
“We feel so helpless and also so desperate for answers,” Drouaillet told NBC 7.
The family had plastered posters of the missing mother all over Chula Vista. Searches continued along the hills near her home, not far from Mt. San Miguel Park.
Drouaillet said detectives told her that her sister’s husband, Larry Millete, had retained a lawyer and was no longer cooperating with the investigation. Officials later confirmed this.
Police have never named Larry as a suspect in the disappearance of his wife. Drouaillet told NBC 7 Larry was the last person to see her sister.
The Chula Vista Police Department has not identified any suspects.
Investigators described Maya as 5 feet, 2 inches and 105 pounds, with brown hair, brown eyes and freckles. Her family said she has a tattoo on her wrist.
CVPD said they will continue to provide updates every two weeks until significant information or a break in the case occurs in the investigation.
Anyone who may have any information regarding May’s disappearance is asked to contact San Diego County Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477, or CVPD at 619-691-5151.
You can read the timeline of Millete's case, so far, here.
