The search for missing 19-year-old Miya Marcano ended with the worst possible outcome on Saturday morning. Authorities reportedly found a deceased body approximately 18 miles from where she first disappeared. According to the Orlando Sentinel, the medical examiner hasn’t made the official identification as of Saturday afternoon, however police found a purse with Miya’s identification near the body. Her family was promptly notified of the discovery.
“As a community, as a sheriff, as a father, we are grieving the loss of Miya,” Orange County Sheriff John Mina said. “We can’t imagine the pain and anguish Miya’s parents, her family, the loved ones, the friends, and really our entire community have gone through and will continue to go through.”
When the news first broke on Saturday, authorities hadn’t confirmed the cause of death. Sheriff John said the body was found at about 10:45 a.m. in a wooded area near Tymber Skan on the Lake apartments. No description was given about the state the body was found in.
Details On Disappearance & Prime Suspect
Miya went missing on September 24 after ending her work shift at Arden Villas Luxury Apartments in Orlando, Florida. Miya had a flight booked for that same evening. She was scheduled to return home to Fort Lauderdale to visit family, but never made the flight. Authorities previously revealed that she was last seen at about 5 p.m. that day.
Days after her disappearance, a maintenance man at Arden Villas became a person of interest. Apparently, Armando Manuel Caballero had shown a romantic interest in Miya, but she repeatedly denied his advances. Investigators found evidence that a master key has been used to access Miya’s apartment at 4:30 p.m. on September 24. This means someone, which police believe to be Armando, accessed her apartment 30 minutes before her shift ended at the apartment complex.
An arrest warrant for burglary was issued for Armando after the findings. However, he was found dead by apparent suicide. His Monday was found on Monday in his apartment in Seminole County. At the time, authorities said he’d been dead for quite some time.”
How Police Found The Body & What’s Next
Authorities have been relying on Armando’s cell phone tower pings to trace his movements following Miya’s disappearance. Records show that Armando was “in or near” the Tymber Skan on the Lake apartments for 20 minutes between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. the day Miya went missing. In addition to the phone records, investigators found that the 27-year-old suspect previously lived at the Tymber Skan apartments.
“We are not looking for any other people,” Sheriff John said on Saturday. “We believe pretty conclusively that Armando Caballero is responsible for this crime.”
Sheriff John also clarified that nothing in the phone records show that he “ever returned there before he killed himself.” Next, a medical examiner will perform an autopsy to positively identify Miya Marcano and determine cause of death.
“It’s been tragic, it’s been horrible, it’s not something we were looking forward for,” Miya’s grandmother Violet Deville said. “Even though some of us had it in the back of our minds, we still had hope that we would find her alive.”
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