CHULA VISTA, Calif. — The parents of missing mother, Maya Millete, will have to wait until December, or possibly longer, to see their three grandchildren.
Pablito and Noemi Tabalanza recently filed an amended petition and declaration in San Diego family court asking the judge for a visitation order. They are seeking visitation one or two weekends per month, and/or weekly Facetime calls.
Meanwhile, the children’s father, Larry Millete, still has not been served court papers to appear in the case.
“Since this is a summons, it has to be personally served,” said San Diego family law attorney Anton Georghiou, who is not involved in the Millete case. “Trying to avoid service or evade service may be a delay tactic.”
The declaration filed on June 29 by Maya's parents said:
"On May 17, 2021, my attorney spoke to Larry's attorney via phone regarding the issue of our visitation request. At that time, it appeared that Larry was open to us having contact with the Children. That same day, my attorney sent an email to Larry's attorney with our proposal for visitation with the Children… We have received no further communication from Larry or his attorney."
“If dad is stonewalling and not providing information, then the court is going to have to make the decision in the absence of dad's participation,” said Georghiou.
It has been almost six months since Maya's parents have seen their grandchildren.
A court hearing on their visitation request is now set for December 17, almost a year after Maya went missing from the family's home on January 7.
“That's very typical. If you want some sort of custody order it can take three months, or more than that, to actually get in front of a judge and get any kind of custody orders,” said Georghiou.
If they are still unable to serve the court papers on Larry Millete, the family attorneys may have to publish the notice in the newspaper, creating more delays.
In their declaration, Maya’s parents also wrote:
"We have no intent [of] discussing anything with the children regarding the circumstances of their mother's disappearance. We just want to spend time with the Children and want to ensure that they know their family on their maternal side loves them.”
“They're trying to put dad at ease and his attorneys at ease that this isn't an interrogation of the kids, that they just want to see the kids. It's also communicating that information to the court.” Georghiou said.
News 8 reached out to Larry Millete's attorney, Bonita Martinez, but she did not respond with a statement on her client's behalf.
A mandatory mediation conference with Family Court Services is scheduled for all parties in the case on August 3.
It remains to be seen whether Larry Millete will be served the court’s notice in advance of the mediation conference.
WATCH: Family law attorney Anton Georghiou extended interview clips.