Police say body of missing Pembroke Pines 19-year-old found near Orlando condo complex
A body police believe to be Miya Marcano, the 19-year-old from Pembroke Pines who had been missing from her Orlando home for more than a week, was found Saturday morning, Orange County Sheriff John Mina said.
“Although we’re very certain of the identity, positive identification will have to come from the medical examiner’s office,” Mina said.
The search for Marcano, missing since Sept. 24 from the Arden Lake Apartments a mile and a half down the street from the University of Central Florida campus, has been the focus of law enforcement and media in Central and South Florida. Mina said detectives told Marcano’s parents Saturday afternoon what search teams found.
Marcano and her purse were found around 10:45 a.m. in a wooded area near the Tymber Skan on the Lake condominiums. Police are still searching for two cellphones and her keys.
The Tymber Skan complex is about 17 miles from the Arden Lake apartments. Former Tymber Skan resident Armando Caballero worked at the Arden Lake apartments, pursued Marcano romantically and was rejected repeatedly, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
Mina said detectives aren’t looking at anyone else as responsible for the murder of Marcano, a student at Valencia College. They believe “pretty conclusively” that Caballero killed Marcano before killing himself on Monday. His cellphone records led detectives to Tymber Skan.
“Cellphone records showed us that Caballero was at or near the Tymber Skan apartments between 8 or 9 o’clock on Friday,” Mina said. “He was there for about 20 minutes. Nothing indicated he returned there prior to killing himself.”
The search included New Smyrna Beach and other areas where Caballero took his cellphone. Mina hypothesized that Caballero was trying to lead investigators astray before killing himself.