California woman missing since 2007 found buried under mountain home. Her ex is arrested
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The former husband of a Big Bear Lake woman who was reported missing almost two decades ago was arrested this week, accused of killing his ex in 2006 and then hiding her body under a Big Bear Lake home “without the homeowner’s knowledge,” according to a news release from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
The discovery of human remains buried under the unsuspecting resident’s home provided investigators key evidence in the decades-old missing person’s case, which authorities announced has become a murder investigation.
Jeff Maiorca, 53, was arrested on suspicion of murder and is being held in a San Bernardino County jail without bail, according to incarceration records.
A San Diego man has been charged in three additional murder cases, including two from decades ago.
The major breakthrough in the cold case came in October 2020, when the Big Bear Lake resident called authorities about a suspicious finding in the crawl space under their home, the release said. There, detectives found long-buried human remains and were able to determine the person had been killed.
But at the time, DNA testing and other investigative methods were unable to identify the remains, the release said.
Years later, San Bernardino County sheriff’s investigators submitted the remains for further DNA analyses, which confirmed the body was that of Jill Maiorca, who had been reported missing in Big Bear Lake in 2007. She was 29.
Jeff Maiorca had filed for a divorce in Los Angeles County in 2004, according to court records.
San Bernardino County officials did not share what evidence led them to Jeff Maiorca, but said the murder investigation remains ongoing and asked anyone with information regarding Jill Maiorca to reach out to the Sheriff’s Department.
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