A California homeowner checking the crawl space beneath his house made a disturbing discovery in October 2020 when authorities found unidentified human remains hidden beneath the property in Big Bear Lake. An autopsy determined that the person had died in a homicide, but investigators initially could not establish the victim’s identity despite DNA testing and other investigative efforts. The case remained unsolved for years until the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Cold Case Homicide Team took it up in 2023 and submitted the remains for additional DNA analysis. The testing ultimately identified the victim as Jill Maiorca, a 29-year-old woman who had been reported missing from Big Bear Lake in 2007. Investigators later identified her former husband, Jeff Maiorca, as a suspect and arrested him in September 2026.
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