Almost 20 years after a Big Bear Lake woman vanished and six years after her remains were found stashed in a crawlspace beneath a home in that San Bernardino Mountains city, her former husband was charged with murder.
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Jeff Anthony Maiorca, 53, was arrested on Monday and was charged on Tuesday, when he later appeared in Superior Court in San Bernardino. There, a hearing for him to enter pleas was scheduled for Oct. 12. Maiorca also faces a sentencing enhancement allegation of using a deadly weapon.
His attorney could not immediately be reached for comment on Wednesday, Sept. 23.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said investigators believe 29-year-old Jill Maiorca was killed in 2006, a news release said. Family members reported her missing in 2007.
Sheriff’s Department and District Attorney’s Office spokespersons would not say Wednesday how they connected Jeff Maiorca to the woman’s death. They were either divorced or separated when the woman disappeared.
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The missing-persons investigation turned when someone living in the 39000 block of Forest Road in Big Bear Lake made a “suspicious discovery” below a house there. Investigators recovered remains that had been placed there without the resident’s knowledge, the news release said.
The coroner determined that the person had been killed, the release said, but it wasn’t until 2023 that the Cold Case Homicide Team, assisted by advanced DNA testing, determined that the remains were those of Jill Maiorca.
The Sheriff’s Department asks anyone with information on the case to call Detective Malcolm Page or Sgt. Justin Giles at 909-890-4916. Information may be left anonymously with WeTip at 844-909-3006.
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