Cold case Big Bear Lake solved: ex-husband arrested for murder of Jill Maiorca

DNA technology identified remains found in a crawl space as Jill Maiorca, missing since 2007. Her former husband Jeff Maiorca has been arrested on murder charges.

Former husband charged in cold case murder of Jill Maiorca after DNA breakthrough

Jeff Maiorca, the former husband of Jill Maiorca, has been arrested on murder charges after DNA analysis identified human remains found beneath a Southern California cabin as those of his 29-year-old ex-wife, abc7ny.com reports.

The remains were discovered in 2020, stored inside containers in the crawl space of a home on Forest Drive in Big Bear Lake. For years, investigators could not determine whose remains they were — the body was so badly decomposed that standard identification was impossible, and Jill Maiorca had no known connection to the property.

Detectives initially saw no link to the missing persons case. Maiorca had been reported missing in 2007, but San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus said investigators believe she was killed a year earlier.

"Through DNA analysis, we were able to determine it was Jill," Dicus said. "And as a result of this investigation, we believe that Jill was murdered back in 2006 but not reported missing until 2007."

The department's cold case team, established in 2008, took up the investigation in 2023. After renewed scrutiny, detectives focused their attention on Jeff Maiorca. Investigators have not disclosed a possible motive.

Maiorca faces charges of both first and second-degree murder, with enhancements for allegedly using a "deadly weapon." An arraignment scheduled for 23 September was continued to 12 October.

Dicus credited the cold case unit's persistence for the breakthrough, adding: "I always say when we're talking about homicides that there are two people that know what happened; generally, it's the suspect who did it and the homicide investigator who's after them. And I couldn't be more proud."

Source: Google News MT — Crime (en)