Authorities have charged 53-year-old Jeff Maiorca with the alleged murder of his ex-wife, Jill Maiorca, almost 20 years after she was reported missing. Human remains discovered beneath a Big Bear Lake home in 2020 were identified by DNA testing in 2023 as Jill's. Investigators say she was killed in November 2006 and that her remains were concealed beneath the residence without the homeowner's knowledge. Maiorca is in custody on murder and deadly-weapon charges and is scheduled to return to court on October 12.
Cold-Case Arrest: California Man Charged With Murder Of Ex-Wife Nearly 20 Years After Her Disappearance
The San Bernardino county sheriff's department cold homicide case submitted the remains for DNA identification in 2023.Photograph: Felipe Sanchez/Alamy
Authorities have charged 53-year-old Jeff Maiorca with the murder of his ex-wife, Jill Maiorca, in a case that stretched across nearly two decades before DNA evidence helped identify remains found beneath a residence.
Chronology And Investigation
Jill Maiorca, then 29, was reported missing in 2007 from the mountain community of Big Bear Lake, Calif., according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. In late October 2020, deputies and the Big Bear Fire Department responded to a report of "a suspicious discovery in the crawlspace under [a] residence" and located human remains.
An autopsy later determined the death had been a homicide, but the remains were not immediately identified. In 2023, the sheriff’s office cold-homicide team submitted the unidentified remains for further DNA testing; that analysis confirmed the remains were those of Jill Maiorca.
Allegations And Arrest
The sheriff’s statement says investigators now consider Jeff Maiorca—a man who filed for divorce from Jill in 2004 and who is linked in public records to a heating, ventilation and air conditioning company—as a suspect. Citing unspecified evidence, the agency asserts Jill was killed in November 2006 and that her remains were concealed beneath the residence where they were found "without the homeowner's knowledge." The agency did not provide further details about how the body was hidden.
Law enforcement arrested Jeff Maiorca on a Monday this month. He has been formally charged with murder and the use of a deadly weapon. Court records indicate he was held in custody at the High Desert Jail in Adelanto, California, reportedly without bail, and he had an initial hearing in San Bernardino County Superior Court. Media reports say he was tentatively scheduled to appear in court again on October 12.
Note: These are allegations. Prosecutors must prove the charges in court, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Investigators and prosecutors have described this as an example of how modern DNA techniques can help resolve long-unsolved homicides. Public records referenced by reporters also show the previously filed divorce involved children.
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