Andrea Canning

And then just a couple days before this trip, she stops responding to anyone.

It seemed completely out of character.

Ultimately, her sister drove down to Maya's house and insisted that she go inside and see what was going on.

And that's when she called 911.

Maya's sisters and brothers started vigils and searches and trying to find her.

That's right.

I mean, we saw hundreds of people from Chula Vista come out looking for Maya very early on.

Notably not at those events was Larry Meliette.

And that's something that police mentioned when they initially arrested him about nine months after she vanished.

Which brings us to this trial that has been five years in the making.

Assistant District Attorney Christy Bowles gave the prosecution's opening statement, and she painted a picture of a marriage in serious trouble.

You absolutely get that picture when you listen to her friends and her co-workers that have started to take the stand and her family members.

Everyone kind of said that she said that she was done with him.

And there was also the fact that he had found out she had an affair with a co-worker.

And after that, he sort of started to be...

Engage in behavior, constantly asking other people to help him, convince her to stay in the marriage.

And he also reached out to something called a spellcaster.

Yeah.

This is something that I think makes this case particularly unique.

I can't remember a time that we talk about magic or spells in general when we're talking about homicide trials that we've never heard in San Diego.