Miya Marcano Body Positively Identified By Medical Examiner
ORLANDO (CBSMiami/CNN) - A body found in the woods over the weekend near an Orlando apartment complex is that of missing Pembroke Pines teen Miya Marcano.
The Orange County medical examiner positively identified the remains as those of the 19-year-old who went missing more than a week ago.
"A positive identification of a female whose body was recovered in a wooded area on October 2, 2021 has been identified as Miya Marcano," Orange and Osceola Counties Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Joshua Stephany said in a statement Tuesday.
"This case is currently under active law enforcement investigation and any further requests for information, including cause and manner of death, will be deferred to the Orange County Sheriff's Office."
The Orange County Sheriff's Office said Saturday they believed the body was Marcano but deferred official identification to the medical examiner's office.
Marcano had been missing since September 24, when she was last seen at the Arden Villas Luxury Apartments in Orlando where she lived and worked. She was scheduled for a flight that evening but never made it on the plane.
Members of the Orange County Sheriff's emergency response team found the body around 10:45 a.m. Saturday, Sheriff John Mina said, while searching a wooded area near the Tymber Skan on the Lake apartments, approximately 18 miles west of her home. A purse with her identification was located near the body.
Cell phone records indicated Armando Manuel Caballero, a person of interest in the case who was found dead of an apparent suicide September 27, was "in or near" the apartments for about 20 minutes between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. the evening Marcano was reported missing, according to the sheriff.
Caballero used to live at the Tymber Skan apartments, Mina said.
Mina said authorities were not "looking for any other people," adding that investigators believe Caballero was "responsible for this crime."
Authorities believe Caballero, a maintenance worker at the Arden Villas apartments, had accessed Marcano's apartment without her permission. An arrest warrant had been issued for Caballero for burglary.
Caballero had shown a romantic interest in Marcano, Mina said, but was repeatedly rebuffed.
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