Body believed to be missing Florida college student Miya Marcano found, sheriff says

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. (NewsNation Now) — A body believed to be a missing 19-year-old Florida college student was found in a wooded area Saturday morning, according to Orange County Sheriff John Mina.

Mina said deputies responded to the area of Tymber Skan Condominiums off South Texas Avenue.

Miya Marcano vanished on the same day a maintenance man improperly used a master key to enter her apartment, authorities said.

Officials said Armando Caballero, a maintenance worker at the apartment complex where Marcano lived and worked, is considered the “prime suspect.” Caballero, 27, apparently killed himself; his body was found three days after Marcano was last seen.

The sheriff has said that Marcano had repeatedly “rebuffed” romantic advances by Caballero. Detectives spoke to Caballero after Marcano was reported missing, but had no evidence to detain him at that time. They obtained a warrant for his arrest after learning that he had entered her apartment before she disappeared. His body was then found inside a garage.

Marcano, a Valencia College student, was last seen just before 5 p.m. on Sept. 24; her family reported her missing after she missed a flight home to South Florida that evening.

Caballero’s criminal history revealed one prior arrest in 2013 for using a destructive device resulting in property damage and discharging a weapon on school property, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

An arrest report said Polk County sheriff’s deputies were called to the campus of Warner University after a report of a bomb going off inside a dorm. The explosive turned out to be a toilet bowl cleaner concoction inside a plastic drink bottle. The report said Caballero admitted to using the improvised explosive as a “prank” on other residents of the dorm. No one was injured.

The apartment complex where Marcano and Caballero worked, Arden Villa, released a statement saying “all potential employees are vetted through a national background check services provider,” and no records of burglary or sexual assault were found involving Caballero.

Mina said more than 60 detectives are working exclusively on this case. The FBI also joined local agencies this week to assist in the investigation “in the manner of technology,” Mina said.

The sheriff said during a news conference this week law enforcement officials believed Caballero is responsible, though “we don’t know all the circumstances involved in what happened there.” He also mentioned the sheriff’s office was given a video that led to a search warrant being issued for Caballero’s apartment and car “in less than 24 hours of us responding to the scene.”

Check back for updates as this is a developing story.