May "Maya" Millete has been missing for more than four months. As the days and weeks pass, people from all walks of life are offering their help to find the mother of three.
Many of them are also offering their opinions, including TV and podcast hosts, psychics, and self-proclaimed experts.
This week, a retired Army Major who used to hunt Russian spies during the cold war added his voice to the conversation.
Ed Dames runs the Matrix Intelligence Agency, which uses remote viewing to find people. This week he sent Maya Millete’s sister the coordinates of a place in Campo where he says Maya’s remains will be found.
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Dames hasn’t been to the site physically. He traced Maya there by focusing his brain on her, using the same technique he’s been using for decades to zero in on people and places.
“My trained mind is immediately on that target,” he told NBC 7. “I can narrow a missing person down to within a couple of miles within say four, five hours,” he said. "To get a precise location will take me two days.”
It took Dames two days to zero in on a spot along the 2800 block of La Posta Road in Campo, East of San Diego.
He told NBC 7 he passed the location on so volunteers could search that spot. If they don’t find Maya’s remains there, Dames said he will go there in June to prove his method works.
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He understands there may be doubters. “Scientists are on our side, they understand that what we do is workable and doable, but the general public is like, 'You’ve gotta be kidding?' and that’s perfectly understandable,” he said.
“If he knows where the body is, by all means let’s find that body so the family can get on with it and have some peace,” said Billy Little, a former Navy Defense lawyer, now working with Maya’s family to investigate her disappearance.
Little said a lot of people have come out of the woodwork to help find Maya.
“We get anywhere from 10 to 100 inquiries a day,” he said. Most have the best intentions, but some do not.“There are certainly people who take advantage of these opportunities to push their own agenda or make a name for themselves, but the rest of us are just out there trying to do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do.”
Little said he’s hesitant to be too critical of anyone who offers help but says some people who falsely claim they’ve seen Maya alive in various locations are just getting her family’s hopes up.
Little said he is optimistic that Chula Vista Police will soon have a break in the case, especially after last week’s second search of the home shared by Maya, her husband Larry and their three children.
NBC 7 asked why he feels optimistic.
“The way that the search was done, the instruments that were used, the black light, meaning they’re looking for blood, they’re using luminol or blue star, they’re using 3D cameras inside to photograph the scene,” said Little. “That’ll be good for analysis and be good for the jury when they do the prosecution.”
Chula Vista Police have not confirmed whether any of those tools were used in the search, but they were seen carrying boxes of evidence and what looked like guns and ammunition from the home.
Chula Vista Police are planning their next public update on the case next week.
Volunteers plan to search an area near Proctor Valley Road on Saturday.
The criminal investigation into Millete's disappearance is ongoing. Police are urging anyone with information on her whereabouts to contact detectives at (619) 691-5139. Tips can be called in anonymously to Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.
