Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Sheriff: Dead man is suspect in disappearance
Maintenance worker found deceased by suicide; search for Marcano continues
Armando Manuel Caballero, a maintenance worker at the Arden Villas apartments who was found dead in an apparent suicide on Monday, is considered the “prime suspect” in the disappearance of Miya Marcano, Sheriff John Mina said Thursday.
“At this time we don’t believe there was another person involved,” Mina said, adding that Caballero is believed to be “responsible” for Marcano vanishing while stopping short of calling the case a kidnapping.
The sheriff previously described Caballero as a “person of interest.”
Mina said 60 detectives are working “exclusively” on the case, while search efforts continue across three counties — Orange, Seminole and Volusia — involving as many as 175 personnel. The effort involves specially-trained dogs from multiple agencies, helicopters, dive teams and digital methods, he said.
“I know that Miya’s family and her loved ones are going through unimaginable anguish as they try and find out what happened to Miya,” Mina said, adding that his agency is “deploying all possible resources.”
Mina said the Sheriff’s Office is also receiving assistance from the FBI. Marcano’s family called for the federal agency to get involved in the case, a plea which gained the support of U.S. Rep. Darren Soto, D-Kissimmee, on Thursday.
Heading into the weekend, Mina asked for Central Floridians to report anything they encounter that might be relevant to the search.
“We welcome the family and friends and anyone else who wants to help out, as well,” Mina said. “The Sheriff ’s Office emergency response team are focusing on the areas where we have evidence that he may have been in that area.”
In an afternoon press conference, Mina revealed few details about the evidence his detectives have collected, beyond stating they have conducted nearly 30 searches. He also would not comment on the security of Ar den Villas, where both Marcano and Caballero worked.
“I’m not going to talk about the apartments’ security, I’ll leave that to them,” the sheriff said.
Marcano’s neighbors, however, have not hesitated to make known their frustration with the apartment complex’s management.
Signs taped to walls around the complex claim The Preiss Company, Arden Villas’ North Carolina-based corporate parent that touts itself as a top-10 U.S. student housing provider, is “responsible” for the disappearance of Mar ca no, who was last seen at the apartments Friday.
“PRIESS CO: YOU HAVE MIYA’S BLOOD ON YOUR HANDS,” said the unsigned flyers, which list the phone numbers for Preiss’ headquarters in Raleigh, its CEO and the complex’s property manager.
Meanwhile, the balconies of several units had signs affixed to their guardrails also critical of the complex. “Arden Villas is responsible for Maya’s kidnapping!!!” read one.
Marcano, a Valencia College student from South Florida and member of the apartment complex’s office staff, was last seen about 5 p.m. Friday at Arden Villas. Officials said her disappearance was reported to authorities after she missed a flight that evening.
Caballero, 27, was a maintenance worker at the complex, who according to Orange County Sheriff John Mina made repeated romantic advances to Marcano but been “rebuffed” by the young woman.
Mina said detectives spoke to Caballero about Marcano’s disappearance but couldn’t detain him at the time, sparking outcry from online sleuths looking into the disappearance.
“Here in the United States, we need evidence, we need probable cause, and those things take time,” he said. “Like I said, we were in his apartment in less than 24 hours after being called, which is really quick.”
Mina said deputies obtained a warrant for Caballero’s arrest for burglary after discovering he improperly entered Marcano’s apartment with a master key just minutes before she was last seen.
But they never got the opportunity to serve it. Caballero’s body was discovered Monday morning by a pair of maintenance workers inside a garage at another apartment complex in unincorporated Longwood. Authorities said he died by suicide.
Whoever is behind the flyer campaign at Arden Villas cited Caballero’s access to master keys as a failure of the complex’s screening process.
“Their negligence to background check STAFF MEMBERS with MASTER KEYS is endangering to ALL Preiss Co. Residents,” the fliers said. “Miya TRUSTED Preiss Co. to provide her with a SAFE place to live and they FAILED HER and ALL OF US.”
In a statement Tuesday, Arden Villas spokesperson Chris Daly defended the complex’s background checking process.
“Regarding our hiring process, all potential employees are vetted through a national background check services provider,” he said. “Concerning Mr. Caballero specifically, no records of either burglary or sexual assault were found, and rumors to the contrary appear to be based on online documents referencing someone else with the same name.”
A Florida Department of Law Enforcement criminal history for Caballero shows one prior arrest in the state: In December 2013, he was jailed in Polk County on charges of using a destructive device resulting in property damage and discharging a weapon on school property.
According to an arrest report, Polk deputies were called to the campus of Warner University, a private Christian university in Lake Wales, Dec. 9, 2013, after a report of a bomb going off inside a dorm building. The explosive, which produced a loud boom and noxious smoke, turned out to consist of a toilet bowl cleaner concoction inside a plastic drink bottle.
Caballero admitted to using the improvised explosive as a “prank” on other residents of the dorm building, who he said teased him and a friend over a video game they’d played that morning. He said he didn’t intend for anyone to get hurt. Deputies said nobody was injured.
Caballero pleaded guilty to a lesser charge, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and was sentenced to probation. He later was found to have violated probation by failing to complete 25 hours of court-ordered community service in the time allotted, records show.
That resulted in being placed on community control — commonly referred to as house arrest — for two years, a 2018 court order shows.
In the Tuesday statement, Daly said Arden Villas was “taking numerous, proactive steps to enhance our security protocols” in order to “ensure nothing like this happens again” at the property.