Miya Marcano: Sheriff's Office releases detailed timeline of disappearance, death

The Orange County Sheriff's Office has released the most detailed timeline to date of their investigation into the death and disappearance of Miya Marcano. 

Deputies said the 19-year-old college student was last seen on the afternoon of Friday, Sept. 24, at the Arden Villas apartments in Orlando. The prime suspect in her disappearance and death, 27-year-old Armando Manuel Caballero, was found dead from an apparent suicide on Monday, Sept. 27.

Family, friends, and law enforcement searched for days before discovering a body believed to Marcano on Saturday, Oct. 2.  The identity was positively confirmed by the Orange County Medical Examiner's Office on Tuesday. 

Here's what we know about what happened before and after Miya's disappearance: 

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 lived and worked at the same apartment complex.

The sheriff said it appears to have been a situation where Caballero might have developed a romantic interest in Marcano but he was rebuffed by her. 

TIMELINE OF MIYA MARCANO INVESTIGATION

Friday, September 24

  • 2:14 p.m. -- Deadbolt to Miya’s apartment opened by on-call maintenance key fob known to be in Caballero’s possession
  • 4:34  p.m. -- Deadbolt to Miya’s apartment opened by on-call maintenance key fob
  • 5:06 p.m. -- Miya uses her key fob to enter her apartment
  • 5:52 p.m. -- Caballero’s vehicle leaves Arden Villas
  • 7:01 p.m. -- Caballero places fake maintenance call
  • 7:11 p.m. -- Caballero contacts apartment oce staff and asks to be let in the gate (an attempt to establish an alibi)
  • 7:16 p.m. -- Someone uses Miya’s key fob to swipe the exterior lock to Miya’s apartment but does not enter
  • 7:38 p.m. -- Caballero leaves the area of Arden Villas in his vehicle
  • 8:20 to 8:40 p.m. --Caballero’s phone is at or near Tymber Skan Apartments, where he is believed to have left Miya’s body
  • 9:23 p.m. -- Miya’s mother calls OCSO to report that she couldn’t reach Miya
  • 9:42 p.m. -- An OCSO Deputy is dispatched to Arden Villas apartments and arrives at 10:02 p.m. to check on the well being requested by Miya's mother

Saturday, September 25

  • 1:36 a.m. -- Miya is entered as a missing person by OCSO
  • 4:54 a.m. -- Deputy meets with Miya’s family at Arden Villas
  • 8:47 a.m. -- Casselberry PD responds to Caballero’s apartment after a call from Miya’s family reporting Caballero is seen with a glove, backpack and pink blanket.
  • 9:52 a.m. -- Casselberry PD stands by while Miya’s family looks through Caballero’s apartment with his permission
  • 3:00 p.m. -- Caballero leaves his apartment. This is the last time he is seen.
  • 4:30 p.m. -- Detectives consider Caballero a suspect in Miya's disappearance
  • 5:44 p.m. -- OCSO detectives secure Caballero's apartment as they write a search warrant to submit to a judge
  • 9:35 p.m. -- Last text message is sent from Caballero’s phone

Sunday, September 26

  • 1:30 a.m. – OCSO detectives execute search warrant on Caballero’s apartment 

Monday, September 27

  • 10:34 a.m. – Caballero located deceased by suicide in Seminole County

Saturday, October 2

  • 10:45 a.m. – Miya's body located by OCSA search teams at Tymber Skan apartments with her hands, feet, and mouth bound in tape.
 

On Wednesday, Marcano's family released new details about the night of Marcano's disappearance, including their interactions with Caballero and Orange County deputies.

Her family contacted law enforcement and traveled to the Arden Villas apartment complex shortly after her disappearance.

RELATED: Protest for better security planned at Miya Marcano's apartment complex

"After the family discovered that Miya was not on the flight she was scheduled on they immediately contacted the Orange County Sheriff’s Office to conduct a welfare check," the family's lawyer stated in a press release. "Miya’s family knew that something was wrong with Miya. Upon arrival at Miya’s apartment, the deputy waited for Miya’s roommate to arrive to give him access to the apartment."

When they went inside her apartment, the lawyer said the following was discovered: 

  • Miya’s door had a mini dresser that prevented access from the front of her bedroom door
  • Entry into Miya’s room had to be done via her back window
  • The deputy noticed the window had been tampered with

The deputy reportedly found immediate signs of a struggle "but did not consider it to be a crime scene."

The family said that the deputy on the scene left and they did not hear back with any more information about what was being done. They said that they also called the Arden Villas repeatedly but were never contacted back or returned their e-mails. The family drove from South Florida to check on what was happening. 

When the family arrived at the apartments, they called the sheriff's office to the complex to give them access to Miya's room. 

"Upon entering Miya’s room, they found a box cutter under a rug that didn’t belong to Miya. A short time later, Armando Caballero arrived in front of Miya’s apartment and asked Miya’s aunt ‘are you looking for Miya?’ This was approximately 4:00 a.m. Caballero was off work and had no reason for being at the Arden Villas."

"Not wanting the scene to be contaminated, the security guard on duty attempted to give the fingerprints he lifted from Miya’s window to the deputies but was told by the deputies to keep them as he chuckled and said, ‘this isn’t a high priority case.’"

The family said they immediately knew Caballero had something to do with their daughter’s disappearance. 

You can read more details released by the family here

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