May Tabalanza Millete

• Missing Since 01/08/2021
• Missing From Chula Vista, California
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Female
• Race Asian
• Date of Birth 05/01/1981 (45)
• Age 39 years old
• Height and Weight 5'2, 110 pounds
• Distinguishing Characteristics Asian female. Black hair, brown eyes. May goes by the name Maya, and many accounts refer to her by that name. She has a freckled complexion, a tattoo on her wrist, and music notes tattooed on the front of her shoulder. A photo of the music notes tattoo is posted with this case summary. She is of Filipino descent and was born in the Philippines.

Details of Disappearance

Maya was last seen at her residence in the 2400 block of Paseo Los Gatos in Chula Vista, California at 5:00 p.m. on January 7, 2021. She left her vehicles and all her belongings behind and has never been heard from again. She disappeared two days before she and her family were supposed to travel to Big Bear, California to celebrate her daughter's birthday. Maya's sister reported her missing on January 9.

Within a few weeks of Maya's disappearance, her husband, Larry Ibarreta Millete, hired a lawyer and stopped cooperating with the investigation. They had been having "marital issues" at the time of her disappearance, and Maya had sought out divorce attorneys and made an appointment with one.

Her older sister stated stated she had been contemplating divorce for much of the previous year. Her friends said Larry was acting "stalker-like", and one of them was so concerned for her safety and that she had Maya memorize the address of a safe house she could go to if she was in danger.

Larry had reportedly contacted "spellcasters" in September 2020, and asked them to try to make Maya stay in the marriage. In December, he contacted them again and asked the spellcasters to make Maya have an accident and become incapacitated so she would stay at home and be dependent on him for care. Larry also suspected Maya was seeing another man, which she was. In the summer of 2020 he had discussed paying $20,000 to someone to have the boyfriend killed.

His internet searches were also suspicious. He searched for "plant you take to never wake up" in March 2020 and the poisonous plant water hemlock in November, and in December he searched for the phrase "my wife doesn't want me to touch her" and for information on the drugs Flunitrazepam, Rohypnol, and diphenhydramine, which are central nervous system sedatives and depressants that could incapciate someone.

Maya's brother stated Larry had physically abused Maya, and in the days before her disappearance she said, "Hey, you know if something happened to me, it's gonna be Larry." A surveillance camera in Maya's neighborhood reportedly captured the sound of six loud bangs, like gunshots, at 9:57 p.m. on the night of Maya's disappearance. Half an hour later, Maya and Larry's children could be heard playing in the backyard.

At 5:58 a.m. on January 8, Larry moved his black Lexus into the garage entrance. At 6:45 a.m., he left the house without his phone and didn't return for eleven and a half hours. He missed work that day without calling in, which is uncharacteristic of his behavior. Larry later said he spent the day with his four-year-old son at the beach. On January 9, surveillance footage showed Larry removing a freezer from the home and loading it into a white SUV belonging to his aunt.

Larry maintained his innocence in Maya's disappearance. A photo of him is posted with this case summary.

More than six months after Maya's disappearance, Larry was formally named as a suspect in her case. The police had searched their home twice and served Larry with a temporary gun violence restraining order, which prohibited him from possessing and firearms or ammunition, and seized more than a dozen guns from his home, but one weapon, a .40 caliber, was missing.

In October 2021, Larry was arrested for Maya's murder and for illegal possession of an assault rifle. Investigators stated they believed he killed because he did not want a divorce.

Larry's trial was in 2026. Maya's boyfriend testified at the trial. He had a strong alibi for the time of her disappearance: January 7, 2021 was the day his then-wife went into labor, and he was at the hospital with her until January 10. Maya's journal was also entered into evidence; in it she wrote that Larry "abuses me physically," that "nothing stops him from forcing himself on me," and that she was "literally afraid" of Larry. Larry's defense argued that Maya left of her own accord and hadn't been murdered.

After a two-month trial and five hours of jury deliberation, Larry was found guilty of first-degree murder. Maya has never been found. Foul play is suspected in her case due to the circumstances involved.