A 53-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murdering his former wife nearly 20 years ago after her remains were identified beneath a home in Big Bear Lake, California.
Jeff Maiorca was taken into custody without incident on 21 September and booked into Big Bear Jail under California’s murder statute, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
Investigators believe Jill Maiorca, who was 29 at the time, was killed in November 2006. She was reported missing from Big Bear Lake the following year.
Human remains found beneath home
The case began to unravel on 28 October 2020, when deputies were called to a property in the 39000 block of Forest Road after a report of a suspicious discovery in the crawlspace.
Deputies from the Big Bear Sheriff’s Station and personnel from the local fire department found unidentified human remains beneath the residence.
An autopsy determined that the person had been the victim of a homicide. However, initial DNA testing failed to establish the victim’s identity, leaving the case unsolved for several years.
The sheriff’s Cold Case Homicide Team took over the investigation in 2023 and submitted the remains for further DNA analysis. They were eventually identified as those of Jill Maiorca.
Detectives then identified her former husband as a suspect. Authorities say evidence developed during the investigation indicated that Jill had been murdered in 2006 and that her remains had been concealed beneath the Forest Road property without the homeowner’s knowledge.
The sheriff’s department has not released a possible motive or detailed the evidence it says links Jeff Maiorca to the killing. The investigation remains ongoing, and any allegation against him has yet to be tested in court.
Anyone with information about Jill Maiorca’s disappearance or death is asked to contact Detective Malcolm Page or Sergeant Justin Giles of the sheriff’s Homicide Detail on 909-890-4916. Anonymous information can be provided by calling or texting REPORT to We-Tip on 844-909-3006.
