Husband charged with murdering his wife nine months after she vanished. Police continue search for body.

A California mother of three vanished from her home early last winter, and her husband is now under arrest for suspicion of murder, police said.

On Oct. 19 just before noon, a SWAT team descended on the Chula Vista home of Larry Millete and took him into custody for murder and possession of an assault weapon.

According to Chula Vista Police Chief Roxana Kennedy, detectives looked into over 130 tips after the suspect’s 39-year-old wife, Maya “May” Millete, vanished nine months ago. Over the course of the investigation, she said, the detectives also wrote over 67 search warrants of everything from social media accounts and financial records to vehicles and homes as well as conducted 87 interviews of family, friends, neighbors, and other witnesses.

“These efforts ultimately generated a variety of pieces of evidence that have become clear and overwhelming: Larry Millete, May’s husband, is responsible for May’s murder and disappearance,” Kennedy noted, KSWB-TV reported.

On Jan. 7, Maya was last spotted around 5 p.m. near the couple’s home. According to the news station, family initially believed she may have gone for a hike in a nearby canyon. Despite several searches in the area, there have been no clues to Maya’s whereabouts.

Although she remains missing, prosecutors explained the fact they have not discovered a body wouldn’t hinder their murder case.

“California law, and similar to across the nation, is very clear: that we can file murder charges despite not having a body,” District Attorney Summer Stephan said. “In fact, the law is so crystal clear, that we cannot let someone murder someone and gain a benefit by hiding the body in a way that we can’t discover it.”

Larry Millete is being held without bail.