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In September 2021, 19-year-old Miya Marcano was set to fly home for a weekend visit with family when she seemingly vanished after she was last seen at her Orlando, Florida apartment complex. A little more than one week later, her family learned the devastating details of what led to Miya’s brutal murder.
Miya was born on April 26, 2002 in Pembroke Pines, Florida, to parents Marlon & Yma. She had an older brother named Marlon Jr, who she fondly nicknamed Munchie. When she was young, her parents went on to divorce & her dad remarried a woman named Giselle.
Miya was described as an ambitious, adventurous, loyal & protective person, especially toward her younger brother. After high school, she wanted to stay in Florida so she enrolled at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, about 220 miles northwest from where her father was living in Broward County in the Ft. Lauderdale area. During her sophomore year of college Miya decided to transfer to Valencia College, also in Orlando & only minutes away from UCF, to pursue an Associate Degree in Arts. She ultimately hoped to train in either sports medicine or physical therapy.
As Miya moved into her new home at the Arden Villas apartment complex, where she was living at the time of her disappearance, Marlon helped get her settled in & made sure that his daughter was as safe as possible. He installed locks on her windows & reminded Miya to protect herself when she was out & about alone, carrying something like mace or a taser with her. As concerned parents, Marlon & Yma wanted their daughter to experience life to the fullest while also staying safe.
Miya had a love for fashion & design & in her free time, she often headed to local festivals & fairs. During her time at Valencia, she both lived & worked at the Arden Villas apartment complex where she assisted in leasing the units, the complex predominantly leased to fellow students.
Miya was exceptionally close with her family & often took a one hour flight back home to see her father in Broward County in South Florida where Ft. Lauderdale sits. In the meantime, her mom was living in St. Thomas & Miya was frequently bouncing between the two cities to catch up & visit with her family.
On Friday, September 24, 2021, Miya worked at the complex until about 5 pm & after her shift, she planned to quickly pop back to her apartment to get ready to head to the airport to fly to Ft. Launderdale to see her family. When Miya failed to check in with her family that evening, they started to worry, expecting her typical update text or phone call to let them know she was headed to the airport or settled at the airport, ready for her flight. Miya was normally in close communication with her family so this was a little alarming.
If they weren’t already concerned, when her family realized that Miya never got on her flight, they were sure that something had to be terribly wrong, their calls & texts to her going unanswered. At 9:23 pm, Yma, Miya’s mom, went on to contact the Orange County police regarding her concerns & requested a welfare check to her apartment. By the next day, they also contacted the media.
Deputy Samir Paolino arrived at the Arden Villas apartment complex at 10:02 pm on the night of September 24, but no one answered the door. At quick surveillance, all looked well & nothing seemed of concern or out of the ordinary. Paolino waited until Miya’s roommate came home & he was allowed inside the apartment. When he approached Miya’s bedroom, he found the door closed & his knocks went unanswered. As he attempted to open the door, he realized it was locked from the inside.
When the deputy went outside & looked through Miya’s bedroom window, he noticed a small bookcase propped against her door & eventually managed to gain entrance to the room through the window. Once inside, he was met with concerning evidence as the room was in disarray & blood stained the pillows. Her bedding was strewn about the room & he saw her luggage by her desk, ready to go for her flight. The locks that Marlon had placed on the windows for added safety had been broken off. Miya’s jewelry was also found broken in the room.
There was no sign of Miya & Deputy Paolino contacted his supervisor, Corporal Dale & despite the extremely concerning findings in Miya’s room, paired with the fact that she was missing, neither Paulino nor Dale notified the Criminal Investigations Division.
Poalino left the apartment to respond to other calls without informing anyone about what he found inside the apartment that appeared to be a crime scene. Miya’s roommate was highly distressed by this fact, concerned for her friend’s wellbeing & safety & mentioned that Miya had been getting some recent, unwanted attention from a maintenance man who worked for the complex.
The man she mentioned was 27-year-old Armando Caballero & he had been working at the complex since June. As time went on, he became more & more persistent about his attraction toward Miya to the point that it was making her job highly uncomfortable. As the investigation continued, more & more people came forward to confirm this fact & report other concerning issues about the man.
Based on what witnesses were saying, it appeared that Caballero was obsessed with Miya & continuing to pursue her despite her previous declines to his requests to go out. She had rejected his advances so many times that she was starting to become fearful about his ongoing persistence. He once even sent her $700 on a cash app for being pretty. Miya immediately sent the money back to him, but she was unsure how to move forward & decided to just try to ignore him & keep her distance.
Other women within the complex came forward to report that they had also been made very uneasy by Caballero. One woman who lived in the Sabal Club Apartments indicated that in March 2021, he’d written her a note, asking her on a date. The woman was unsure of what to do, but ultimately agreed to the date. He asked if they could hang out sooner & when she was unable to, he was clearly unhappy with her response. Shortly after this interaction, a weight was thrown at her window during the night & the woman was sure that Caballero was responsible so she contacted the police.
The incident was logged, but the case was soon dropped & no changes were made. Only a couple of months later, Caballero was working at the Arden Villas & had his eyes set on Miya.
Miya’s family arrived at the complex at about 3 am, now in the early hours of Saturday, September 25, in order to help with the search. Soon, they pointed out several concerning things that they noticed inside her apartment, such as a yellow box cutter they found under her bed as well as her childhood teddy bear that she never traveled without.
At close to 5 am, Caballero & his roommate suddenly showed up at Miya’s apartment despite the fact that he wasn’t working & had no reason to be there. He was questioned by detectives & indicated that while he was on the phone with his coworker, Tatiana, she informed him about Miya’s disappearance so he had simply shown up out of concern for her whereabouts.
Caballero denied all accusations about essentially stalking & harassing Miya & informed officers that he hadn’t seen her around the complex in the hours before she vanished. With that, he was allowed to leave the complex.
When officers ran a background check on Armando Caballero, they discovered that he was a convicted felon after being convicted in 2017 of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. In 2013 he was arrested for using a destructive device, resulting in property damage & discharging a weapon on school property. This all occurred when the Polk County Sheriff’s deputies were called to the campus of Warner University after reports came through that a bomb went off inside a dorm.
The report indicated that Caballero utilized an explosive in the dorm as a prank to the residents who lived there. Thankfully, no one had been injured during this incident.
While investigating Miya’s disappearance, a security guard that worked within the Arden Villas complex managed to lift fingerprints from Miya’s window using tape, but when he tried to give the evidence to Deputy Paulino, he refused to take it, stating that it wasn’t a high-priority case & instructed the guard to just keep the tape.
This very same security guard also noticed a screwdriver & a cell phone case in the back of Caballero’s car, but because he didn’t have a warrant, there was nothing he could do about it. When surveillance video from the complex was reviewed, footage showed Miya leaving the leasing office four hours before she was reported missing, heading in the direction of her unit.
When the media got involved that Saturday, they headed to the Arden Villas, Miya’s family was allowed to make pleas for all resources to come in to help find her as they indicated that she had been kidnapped through the bedroom window of her apartment.
In the meantime, Orange County Sheriff John Meener insisted that there wasn’t sufficient evidence to make an arrest or to detain Caballero. Soon, another deputy responded to the scene at the request of Miya’s aunt. Unlike the previous responding officer, this deputy was extremely concerned by the evidence within her apartment & notified a missing persons detective immediately which led to the launch of an official investigation. By this time, it was Saturday at 8:47 am.
Miya’s family were absolutely sure that Caballero was responsible for whatever happened to Miya & began their own covert surveillance of the man & had been monitoring his movements from their car. They watched as he came outside with a glove, a backpack & a pink blanket that they immediately recognized. When police arrived, Caballero allowed Miya’s family to enter his apartment in the presence of police to ensure that they only looked around & didn’t touch anything until a proper search warrant was secured. Hours later, Caballero left his apartment at 3 pm.
By 4:30 pm, police confirmed that Caballero was a suspect in Miya’s disappearance & within 24 hours of her disappearance, they secured a search warrant.
Hundreds of volunteers had come together to search for Miya, combing through miles & miles of land in hopes they would find her. Her family wondered if she was being held somewhere against her will & hoped they could find her in time.
As the investigation continued, analysis of the electronic locks on Miya’s unit showed that at 2:14 pm, three hours before she was last seen, a master key had buzzed into her unit, but it was not her key that was utilized. As they looked into the master key, they realized that it was linked to Caballero. Additional checks showed that he had gained entry in her unit again at 4:34 pm & shortly thereafter, Miya buzzed into her unit in order to grab her bag & head to the airport, a trip we know she never made.
This information allowed investigators to piece together what had happened; as Miya left her shift at the leasing office, Caballero had been lying in wait inside her unit since 4:34 pm which she entered at 5:52 pm. Further review of surveillance showed his truck leaving Arden Villas after this time.
Her mom recalls re-watching the video of her beloved daughter as she left work, unaware that danger awaited, still safe & sound at this point. Yma was screaming inside at the image, willing her daughter not to go in, but fully aware that she did, the horrors of what may have awaited her unimaginable. Knowing it was too late, she wished with everything that somehow, someway, Miya would get distracted & turn around to safety rather than entering her home to a lurking monster.
By Monday, September 27, three days after Miya went missing, police had enough evidence to make an arrest on suspected burglary charges. They knew that there was far more to the case, but Miya had yet to be found. However, before the arrest could even be made, investigators received a call that rattled them to the core; 27-year-old Armando Caballero had taken his own life. His body was found in a maintenance garage at the Sabal Club Apartments in neighboring Seminole County & police indicated that he hanged himself.
With their sole suspect now gone, investigators, as well as Miya’s family & friends, wondered if she would ever be found. They continued their search, utilizing his cell phone data in hopes it would lead them to Miya.
At 7:01 pm, on the evening of September 24, just about two hours after Miya was last seen, Caballero logged a maintenance call for Miya’s unit which was quickly determined to be completely fake as Miya nor her roommate had not made any requests. Ten minutes later at 7:11 pm, Caballero contacted the complex office staff requesting to be let in through the complex gates & at 7:16 pm, Miya’s key fob was swiped at her unit but no one entered.
At 7:40 pm, Caballero left the apartment complex once again in his car. Tracking his phone’s data, on the evening that Miya went missing, he drove near the Tymber Skan apartments, a place he used to live. The area has a lot of abandoned homes & boarded-up buildings & he stayed in this location for twenty minutes between 8:20 pm & 8:40 pm. Investigators realized that this highly unsavory location was surrounded by a wooded area.
Police, family, friends, as well as the FBI, focused their search efforts on this area as those who loved Miya could only hope & pray that they would find her alive, clinging to any hope they could grasp. Tragically, on Saturday, October 2, 2021, eight days after Miya went missing, her body was found, bound with duct tape.
Orange-Osceola Chief Medical Examiner Joshua Stephany indicated that he was unable to examine Miya’s body for specific injuries as by the time she was found, she was in an advanced state of decomposition & her body was nearly completely skeletonized. Black duct tape was found around her neck, binding both wrists behind her back & binding her ankles. It’s possible the duct tape on her neck could have been covering her mouth or nose. She wore jeans, a bra & a robe. Her bag was located near her body & inside, they found the shirt she had been wearing when she was last seen as well as her ID.
The autopsy determined that Miya had died by homicide by undetermined means. There was no identifiable evidence of trauma to her body & no evidence of sexual assault. The toxicology screen was negative for all substances tested.
Testing from where Caballero’s body was found confirmed the presence of Miya’s blood & hair. The same duct tape that was found on her body was located in his car. Two marks located on his fingers were determined to be from bite marks & further markings were located on his body that indicated he had very recently been involved in a struggle which made it clear that Miya had fought for her life.
Miya’s family were grief-stricken & left with many unanswered questions. What happened to their beloved girl as she entered her apartment at 5:52 pm, ready to grab her things, head to the airport & catch up with family, unaware that a monster was lurking inside. Any chance of closure has been lost forever; what drove the man to hurt Miya? Caballero attacked Miya as she entered her apartment & later transported her body to the location she was found. It’s unclear if she was still alive when she was taken from her apartment & whether it was an attack he had been planning or a spur-of-the-moment decision.
Residents within the Arden Villas complex were horrified & outraged as they had been logging safety & security concerns for ages. They complained about poorly lit areas & a lack of security cameras. What happened to Miya was everyone’s worst nightmare. She & her family had taken all of the proper precautions; Miya had moved into a gated complex with reinforced locks installed on her windows, yet she was still murdered inside her own home by someone employed by the complex.
Miya’s family went on to file a lawsuit against the owners of the apartment complex. Miya was made to work in a hostile environment, stalked & harassed by another employee even after she had expressed her concerns to the manager at the complex. The lawsuit accused the management of not taking the safety concerns of the employees & tenants very seriously.
Miya’s funeral was held on October 15 & more than 2,000 people came to pay their respects while thousands of others, who couldn’t be there, tuned in via live stream. Family & friends gathered, all wearing blue to honor her memory. Many spoke of the positive impact her life had on them.
Miya’s older cousin Adriana Sue, who was also Miya’s godmother, said that she struggles with the fact that Miya won’t be here any longer as they had been alongside each other for every major life event. She went on to say, It’s difficult to explain what Miya means to everyone in her life. It suffices to say that Miya means everything to everyone.
Miya’s family have gone on to form the Miya Marcano Foundation that has the mission to support, educate & provide resources to families of missing persons while advocating for the protection of students & our most vulnerable population. They want to be sure that kids feel safe & secure while going to school.
The two deputies that worked on the investigation were found to have violated department policies. Deputy Samir Paolino didn’t follow proper protocol when he first responded to Miya’s apartment & failed to report certain details to his supervisor, such as the blood evidence on the pillow & the broken jewelry.
Not only did Miya’s family file a lawsuit against the apartment complex but also against the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, claiming that the case was handled carelessly & failed to treat her room as a crime scene. Because of these errors, Miya was logged as a voluntary missing person rather than a missing endangered person, thus the Criminal Investigations Division was not notified. The fact that the person who many had voiced concerns about, Armando Caballero, had turned up at her apartment early the next morning, should have immediately set off red flags. During the first hours of her disappearance, there was a major lack of urgency & the case was not taken seriously. Deputy Paulino was said to have received a 150-hour unpaid suspension & his supervisor, Corporal Kenneth Dale was also found to have violated department policies & received a 10-hour unpaid suspension.
In March 2022, the police released their final report on Miya’s disappearance & murder that was over 100 pages long.
Arden Villas released a statement indicating that they are taking proactive steps to enhance their security protocols & making appropriate upgrades as needed. The complex management indicated that Caballero was subjected to a background check & no records came back on him. They also implemented logs to track each unit’s set of keys & the tenant will be given 24-hours notice before maintenance enters their unit vs. the previous 12-hour notice.
In June 2022, Miya’s Bill, also known as Senate Bill 898 was signed into law & states that property owners must conduct background checks for any potential employees. Those with a violent criminal history or sexual offenders will not be eligible.
On Friday, September 24, 2021, Miya was excited to see her family as she headed out of work that evening. She had no way of knowing that as she entered the front door of her apartment, which should have been a safe space, a monster was lurking inside. Miya will be remembered by the lives that she touched during her short life of nineteen years.
References:
- NBC News: Florida college student Miya Marcano died of undetermined homicide, autopsy says
- ABC News: Horrifying new details in Miya Marcano case: 19-year-old was found with hands, feet bound with duct tape
- WESH 2: Final autopsy reveals Miya Marcano was assaulted, died by ‘undetermined means’
- Miya Marcano Foundation
- The Charge: Miya Marcano lives on through family & friends
- Medium: Teenage girl who was stalked & murdered by apartment worker
- YouTube – Very Local: Hometown Tragedy: The Miya Marcano Story
