May (Maya) Millete -- Missing in California Since January 2021

Details from NamUs**: 

May/Maya Millete was last seen on January 7, 2021 at her residence in Chula Vista, California. Her whereabouts are unknown. Her vehicles are at her residence.

Missing Person: May (Maya) Millete

Last-contact date: January 7th, 2021
The area where the MP was last seen: Chula Vista, California (San Miguel Ranch)
Link to government source: NamUs #MP77365

VITAL DETAILS

Ethnicity: Asian according to NamUs, Filipino according to MP's poster
Sex: Female
Age at time of disappearance: 39 years old
Birthdate: between January 8th, 1981 and January 7th,1982

• When the birthdate isn't known, I calculate a range using the age at the date of the missing person's disappearance.

Hair: Brown, long
Eyes: Brown
Scar: None indicated
Height/weight: 5-foot-2 and 110 pounds
BMI*: May Millete was in the normal range for BMI.

• BMI is body mass index. It relates to an individual's height and weight. I include it believing it can help picture a missing person or describe one.

Larry Millete Jail Calls Reinstated: Latest Maya Millete Case Update

Court Event Date: Larry Millete appeared in Chula Vista courthouse on Monday, March 3rd, 2025.

Judge’s Decision: A judge approved a request to reinstate Larry Millete’s jail call privileges, which had previously been restricted.

Case Background: Larry is charged with murdering his wife, May "Maya" Millete, who vanished from Chula Vista, California, in January 2021; he has been in custody since his arrest on October 19, 2021, awaiting trial.

Current Status: As of March 3, 2025, Larry has not been convicted; his murder trial is scheduled for July 7, 2025, with Maya’s body still missing.

Significance: The reinstatement allows Larry to make calls from jail, potentially affecting pre-trial preparations or communication with his defense team.

Source Details: Reported by CBS 8 San Diego, featuring courtroom footage from the hearing.

May Millete Case Update: Larry Millete’s Court Hearing on February 27, 2025, Addresses Protective Order in Missing Mother’s Case

May "Maya" Millete, a mother of three, disappeared from her Chula Vista, California home on January 7, 2021. On February 27, 2025, ABC 10News San Diego reported that her husband, Larry Millete, appeared in court for a hearing to modify a criminal protective order related to their children, as he awaits trial for her murder. Arrested on October 19, 2021, Larry has pleaded not guilty, despite prosecutors alleging he killed Maya amid marital strife. The hearing highlighted ongoing family tensions, with Maya’s sister, Maricris Drouaillet, opposing contact between Larry and the children. As of March 9, 2025, Maya’s body remains missing, and the trial is scheduled for July 7, 2025.

ABC 10News San Diego - Larry Millete Returns to Court for Hearing

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May Millete Case Update: Husband’s Arrest on October 19, 2021, Intensifies Search for Missing California Mother

May "Maya" Millete, a mother of three, was last seen at her Chula Vista, California home on January 7th, 2021.

On October 19th, 2021, ABC10 News San Diego reported that her husband, Larry Millete, was arrested and charged with her murder, though her body has not been located.

The arrest followed 67 search warrants and 87 interviews, with prosecutors alleging foul play linked to marital issues, including Maya’s intent to divorce.

A January 7th, 2023, San Diego Union-Tribune update noted the case was moving to trial, while X posts from

@ChulaVistaPD

in 2024, confirmed ongoing searches. As of March 9, 2025, Maya remains missing, and the trial, scheduled for July 7, 2025, is still pending.

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ABC 10News San Diego - Larry Millete Arrest Coverage

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May Millete has not been seen since January 7th, 2021, when she was 39 years old.

One recent news source that covered her disappearance was Fox5 in San Diego. According to a February 6th article by Jeff McAdam, Maya's disappearance was going to be investigated by a noted Private Investigator.

The details of her disappearance according to that news site are as follows:

Her husband told FOX 5...that he thought she might have gone for a hike to blow off some steam, but she never came home. Her car was still in the driveway, phone turned off and credit cards unused. When she didn’t show up for her daughter’s birthday party a few days later, her family called police.

Hiking alone is certainly a risk factor when it comes to a disappearance. There are plenty of missing people who were last thought to be going hiking alone. 

Paula Jean Welden's lengthy disappearance spanning decades is probably the most famous case of that's covered at this site. Also, at the time of her disappearance, the husband's statement suggests that she was in an angered state of mind. However, the notion that she walked away from her life has largely been dismissed since the early days of her disappearance.

This missing person did not have any articles or items associated with her in the missing person's reports that I consulted. However, NamUs did note some tattoos:

• musical notes right chest/shoulder
• hummingbird on back
• symbol on inner wrist

If you know where this person might be or have any information on this case, then please contact the authorities. In Canada, look for Canada's Missing website with the Federal government. In the USA, you can look for the NamUs profile. Conversely, you can post a remark to this article.

Author: Shane Lambert

All articles are subject to editing after the original posting.

Shane Lambert is not a Private Investigator, however, he is currently studying to be one as of March 2021.

Website hashtag: #MPCSL

*For BMI values, I use the UPPER or HIGHER ranges that are given for height and weight.
**Text might be paraphrased. If taken verbatim, then grammar or spelling errors are not necessarily corrected from original sources.

Disclaimer: Information posted is thought to be correct as of the time posting. If a missing person is found, then this article might stay posted until that is noticed. I try to stay on top of the news but it's not possible to follow all cases. Articles will be edited or deleted when credible news of the missing person is authenticated.

Forensic Files Series Premiere - Helle Crafts, Richard Crafts, and Lie-Detector Skepticism

Author: Shane Lambert

Helle Crafts was a flight attendant who went missing on November 8th, 1986. She was a flight attendant who was last seen by other flight attendants at about 6pm that evening.

Her case is interesting for a couple reasons: firstly, her disappearance and murder were covered in the very first episode of the series Forensic Files (originally aired on April 23rd, 1996). Secondly, the conviction of Richard Crafts, Helle's husband, was the first conviction without a body in the state of Connecticut. 

The case is also interesting for those that remain skeptical of using so-called "lie detectors" to try and establish the innocence or guilt of an individual. Richard Craft was convicted of murdering Helle Crafts, however, prior to the conviction, he had passed a lie-detector test.

The more formal name of a lie-detector test is a polygraph examination. This was a subject that was covered in a course I took on Private Investigation with ICS Canada (Online Private Investigator Training Course). The course material used the following definition:

"A polygraph examination is a scientific method to aid in determining deception or truthfulness by obtaining recordings of physiological phenomena such as changes in blood pressure, pulse, and respiration (breathing)."

The recreation of the polygraph examination in the Forensic Files episode appears to be true to what I learned in the course. The only people that are meant to be in a room during a polygraph examination are the subject and the polygraph examiner. 

I have watched other forensic television shows where several police officers are present during a polygraph examination. These should be scoffed at as they do not accurately depict the professional standard of a polygraph examination.

In the case of Richard Craft, he was able to beat the polygraph examination. That is, he was able to tell lies that the polygraph examiner was not able to detect. There are many possible explanations for this and they include the polygraph examiner's errored analysis of the data that he/she received. Furthermore, there are known countermeasures to a polygraph test but these may involve using drugs that would create behaviors that are easy to spot.

Machines are objective in spitting out their results but people reading the data that machines produce is another matter. Furthermore, machines need to be collaborated and this can be done wrong by the human in charge of it. If you understand that human error can cause problems with polygraph tests, then you can understand why the results should only be food for thought as opposed to something that's 100% accurate. 

Clearly, forensic evidence is far more valuable than the results of polygraph examinations. In the case of Richard Crafts, forensic evidence was given more weight than his polygraph examination.

While Helle Crafts' body was never found one of her teeth was conclusively found. This tooth was scattered amidst other remains that were identified as human and of the same blood type as Helle. In the same area of these remains, a chain saw had been discarded and this item was linked to Richard Crafts through documents. Additionally, a woodchipper was seen to have been operating in the area where Helle's remains were found. Lastly, Helle's disappearance happened in the context of marital problems with Richard Crafts.

Wed, Jan 14, 1987 – 17 · Hartford Courant (Hartford, Connecticut) · Newspapers.com

The first episode of Forensic Files is definitely one that students of forensics should pay attention to. It contains several pointers that can be used as food for thought in other cases. I will make my points on the episode as noted below:

1. Richard and Helle Crafts were in a crumbling marriage that included infidelity, lies, the husband not spending time at home, and a hired Private Investigator; that latter circumstance reveals crumbling trust while the other circumstances have to be considered risk factors that might precede the disappearance of a spouse.
2. The forensic study of human blood is known as serology; in this episode, there is an interesting detail about serology that is discussed during Dr. Henry Lee's interview; at the 7:50 mark of the Youtube video below it's revealed that forensic medicine (the study of the human body for forensics) can reveal whether blood is from circulation blood or menstrual blood; of course, if blood in a crime-scene room is the latter then it might be held to mean that its presence is not indicative of a criminal act whereas the former increases suspicion of such; this is something that students of forensics should be aware of.
3. Another pointer to take away from the episode is that filed-off serial numbers are not necessarily gone for all-time; I've seen this in other forensic shows as well where car serial-numbers can be found; there is a process to find the serial number beneath the filed-off numbers and the forensic scientists employed in Helle Crafts' case were able to identify the chainsaw's serial number despite the fact that he had been filed off.

The episode is certainly recommendable. The year of Helle's disappearance, 1986, was a time when DNA was in its infancy when it came to criminal cases. They talk about blood type more than DNA in the episode. 

The one skeptical remark I have about the case has to do with the statement that Richard Crafts was convicted even without finding Helle Crafts' body.  They did find her tooth amidst body parts that were human, like bits of a skull. It's not like they don't have a trace of her remains and a convincing reason to believe that she was dead.