CHULA VISTA, Calif. — ‘Two years too long’—that was the message being heard loud and clear at Mount San Miguel park, where dozens of people from Chula Vista came together for today’s hike to support the family of Maya Millete.
“It was panic–a feeling that something was wrong. And we kept thinking, she’ll come back home, but she did not” said Maricris Drouaillet, Maya’s sister.
Saturday's ceremony and hike were held as a symbol of the countless team searches, hoping to find answers to her whereabouts since she was first reported missing on January 7, 2021.
While many participated and showed their support, Maricris says she is still haunted by this day.
“Something really bad happened to her and it brings us back to this weekend,” she said.
Maya's husband, 41-year-old Larry Millete, is in jail awaiting trial on a murder charge in connection with her disappearance. It's the same day she contacted a divorce attorney. Prosecutors allege Millete was angry at Maya for having an affair.
Millete repeatedly paid online spellcasters via email, asking them to make his wife have an accident and get hurt, according to an arrest warrant filed in the case.
On the night she went missing, a surveillance camera recorded loud bangs from the family's home, sounding like gunshots.
However, because of the poor quality of the recording, the FBI could not confirm that the loud bangs were, in fact, gunshots.
“Law enforcement sometimes protects certain aspects of the investigation because ultimately these cases have to go to court and the goal is to make sure that only the responsible person is held accountable and we believe that is Larry Millete,” said Roxana Kennedy, the Chief of Police for the Police Department of the city of Chula Vista.
With a body still missing, Millete’s defense attorney has argued that Maya could still be alive adding that her client should not be accused of murder.
“My sister would not do that, she would not just leave us for two years,” said Drouaillet. Still, Maricris has not given up hope, and she continues to receive strong community support
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Millete on Wednesday. The hearing is not a trial and there are no jurors. Evidence will be presented, and witnesses will testify over two to three weeks in the downtown San Diego courthouse.
WATCH: Preliminary hearing for Larry Millete expected to take weeks: