Body believed to be missing Florida student Miya Marcano, 19, is found at dilapidated apartment complex five days after prime suspect was discovered dead from suspected suicide
- Florida police officers believe they have found the body of missing student Miya Marcano in a wooded area around an Orlando apartment complex on Saturday
- A purse with Marcano’s identification was also found near the body, Sheriff John Mina said. Police are still looking for two cell phones and her keys
- The 19-year-old went missing last week, and the maintenance worker suspected of abducting her was found dead in a suspected suicide on September 30
- Marcano vanished from her apartment last week Friday, leaving behind signs of a violent struggle, including bloodstains on a pillow
Florida police officers believe they have found the body of missing student Miya Marcano at in the area of an Orlando apartment complex.
Search crews found her body in a wooded area around the Tymber Skan apartments in Orange County on around 10:45am Saturday, Orange County Sheriff John Mina said during a Saturday press conference.
A purse with Marcano’s identification was also found near the body, Mina said. Police are still looking for two cell phones and her keys.
‘Our hearts are broken,’ Mina said. ‘Hundreds of Orange County Sheriff’s Office personnel were committed to this case and working very hard. Everyone wanted this outcome to be different.
‘As a community, as a father, we are grieving the loss of Miya. We can’t imagine the pain of Miya’s family, loved ones, friends and really our entire community has gone through.’
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The body of Miya Marcano, 19, – pictured here – was found in the area of Tymber Scan apartments in Orlando Saturday morning
The young, college woman went missing last Saturday
Marcano’s cause of death won’t be determined until after the autopsy, Orange County Sheriff John Mina said
Authorities have looking for Marcano since she disappeared from her apartment last Friday
The 19-year-old was found a little less than 20 miles from her Arden Villas apartment, where she went missing last Friday.
She left behind signs of a violent struggle, including bloodstains on a pillow.
Armando Caballero, 27, the maintenance worker suspected of abducting her was found dead in an apparent suicide in his apartment in the neighboring Seminole County on September 30.
Mina said Caballero is the only suspect in the case, and cell phone records put him at the Tymber Skan apartments – where he and his family once lived – for about 20 minutes between 8pm and 9pm the same day Marcano vanished from her apartment, Sheriff Mina said.
And nothing in the records ever indicated he returned prior to killing himself, the sheriff said.
Mina said police used Caballero’s cell phone records to track to his whereabouts, which led eventually led them to Tymber Skan apartments, where Marcano’s body was found.
A cause of death will be determined after the autopsy, which will also confirm her identity but Mina said there were no other reported people missing. He has informed Marcano’s family.
According to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, Marcano was last seen at around 5pm on September 24 at the Arden Villas apartments on Arden Villas Boulevard on Orlando, where she lives and works in the leasing office.
Marcano’s family said Miya, who attends Valencia College, was scheduled to catch a flight to Fort Lauderdale that night, but she never made it to the airport.
While her distraught family was looking for her last Saturday, they said they came across Cabellero outside.
‘Our hearts are broken,’ Sheriff Mina said during a Saturday afternoon press conference
Police said Caballero was the sole suspect in Marcano’s disappearance. He was found dead by an apparent suicide on Monday
‘He was trying to leave. His lights were off. He said, “Are you looking for Miya?” I said, “Who are you?” He said, “I’m the maintenance guy. I heard you’re looking for me,”‘ Marcano’s aunt Semone Westmaas told The Sun.
Marcano’s father, Marlon, then asked Caballero if he had been in contact with her, and her cousin Callie Sue said he appeared ‘quite nervous.’
Sue told the outlet that the interactions had seemed ‘weird’ because they had not yet announced Marcano had disappeared.
Mina said during Saturday’s press conference that this was Cabellero’s way of throwing off Marcano’s relatives and the police.