Miya Marcano: Person of interest's cell phone pinged in New Smyrna, family says
ORLANDO, Fla. - The family of an Orlando woman who was reported missing last week says that the cell phone of the person of interest in the case pinged in multiple locations across Central Florida after her disappearance.
Law enforcement said that the last time 19-year-old Miya Marcano was seen was Friday, September 24th, at the Arden Villas apartments in Orlando. The person of interest in her disappearance, 27-year-old Armando Manuel Caballero, was found dead from an apparent suicide on Monday.
FOX 35 spoke to Miya’s cousin, Caili Sue, about their search for Miya.
Miya Marcano, 19, was reported missing after she did not board a scheduled flight from Orlando to Ft. Lauderdale on Friday, Sept. 24, 2021.
She confirmed that the cell phone of Caballero pinged in New Smyrna following Miya’s disappearance. Some of the other locations searched include Arden Villas, Blanchard Park, and the Sabal Club apartments.
RELATED: Miya Marcano: Timeline of her disappearance as search expands
While exhausted, Miya’s family is not going up hope that they will find her. Search efforts from law enforcement on Thursday are moving from the woods in Orange County to the waters of Seminole County.
Miya Marcano, 19, was reported missing after she did not board a scheduled flight from Orlando to Ft. Lauderdale on Friday, Sept. 24, 2021.
Caballero was a maintenance person at the Arden Villas Apartments, where he had worked since June, according to investigators. Orange County Sheriff John Mina said Marcano lives and works at the apartment complex too. He explained that it appears that Caballero might have developed a romantic interest in Marcano but she wasn't interested in that way.
"He had demonstrated a romantic interest in Miya. This was repeatedly rebuffed by Miya," the Sheriff said.
On the day she was last seen, Sheriff Mina said that someone entered Miya’s room about 30 minutes before her shift ended using a master key, which Caballero was known to have. On Tuesday, her cousin described a necklace that Miya always wears that was found broken on the ground in her bedroom.
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Miya had reportedly told friends that Caballero had been texting her excessively and she asked him to stop. After stopping, he apparently started back up again.
"She did tell them that he made her feel uncomfortable," her cousin previously explained.
Miya was supposed to fly to Fort Lauderdale from Orlando but never boarded the plane.
Deputies spent all weekend trying to track down Caballero. Seminole County deputies eventually found him dead at around 10:30 a.m. on Monday morning outside some apartments on Sabal Lake Drive in Longwood.
RELATED: Signs pop up around Arden Villas apartments questioning security measures
A new video surfaced on Wednesday showing a man who appears to match the description of the person of interest in the disappearance of Miya Marcano carrying some of her belongings, her family said. The people who recorded the video said the man is believed to be Caballero and he is seen getting out of his car carrying a blanket and bag.
Miya's family said the video was shot the same morning her aunt had a chilling encounter with Caballero.
"He said ‘are you looking for Miya?’ I said ‘who are you?’ He said ‘I’m the maintenance guy. I hear you’re looking for me,’" she said.
Commenting on the video, the aunt said "If you saw that video, you saw Miya’s blanket, how would you react?"
Law enforcement and Miya’s family continue to search for Miya with hopes of bringing her home.
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