Human remains were found under a home on the 39000 block of Forest Road in Big Bear Lake, Calif.
Human remains were found under a home on the 39000 block of Forest Road in Big Bear Lake, Calif.
A Big Bear man was arrested this week on suspicion of killing his wife nearly 20 years ago and hiding her body beneath a house without the homeowner’s knowledge, authorities said.
Jeff Maiorca, 53, was taken into custody Monday in connection with the death of Jill Maiorca, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said. Detectives believe Jill, who was 29 at the time, was killed in November 2006. She was reported missing from Big Bear Lake the following year.
The case began to unfold on Oct. 28, 2020, when someone called deputies after making a “suspicious discovery in the crawlspace” of a home on Forest Road in Big Bear Lake, the department said. Deputies and firefighters found human remains beneath the residence. An autopsy determined the death was a homicide, but investigators could not identify the person at the time, even after DNA testing.
The sheriff’s cold case homicide team took over in 2023 and submitted the remains for further DNA analysis. Investigators eventually identified the remains as Jill Maiorca and, after continuing their investigation, named her former husband as a suspect. The department did not say what evidence led detectives to Jeff Maiorca or explain how they believe the remains came to be hidden beneath the house. “Her remains were concealed beneath the Forest Road residence without the homeowner’s knowledge,” the sheriff said.
Court records show that Jeff Maiorca filed for divorce from Jill in Los Angeles County in 2004. The case was classified as a divorce involving minor children. Business records also link Jeff Maiorca to a Big Bear plumbing and HVAC company.
Maiorca’s arrest record shows he was detained Monday at the Big Bear Lake branch library on Garstin Drive. He was booked on suspicion of murder and is being held without bail. The investigation remains open, and detectives ask anyone with information about Jill’s disappearance or death to call 909-890-4916.