Caballero's vehicle was seen leaving the Arden Villas complex at 5:52pm. Surveillance footage captured Caballero reentering the complex at 7:11pm after he fabricated a maintenance call. He then swiped Miya's key fob at the exterior door lock, but does not enter her apartment. At 7:38pm his vehicle leaves the complex. After not hearing from her all evening, Miya's mother Yma Scarbriel reported Miya missing and requested a wellness check. Deputy Samir Paulino arrived at Arden Villas complex shortly after 10pm following Ms. Scarbriel's call. Paulino relayed back that he did not find anything concerning after speaking with a roommate and briefly looking through her dark window. However when Miya's roommate attempted to open her bedroom window she noticed something strange that the window could be open completely. The window should not have been able to open completely because Miya's father installed secure locks. That means either Miya took them out or someone else did.
When Miya's roommate entered her room from the window she noticed Miya's room was out of place and that there was blood on Miya's pillow. This information was relayed to Miya's family and her family quickly sensed that Miya was in danger.
Several family and friends of Miya took the trip to Orlando arriving in Arden Villas just after midnight in hopes of tracking Miya. The Valencia college student was officially entered as a missing person about 1am the next day. Miya's family got into an argument with Caballero who showed up to the complex between the hours of 3 to 4am saying he "heard" Miya was missing through a mutual friend and was concerned. One of Miya's relatives shouted at Caballero making the deputy officer present aware that Caballero had been making romantic advances at Miya that she declined repeatedly. Caballero had been texting Miya frequently. Miya's relative also said that Caballero sent her money through cash app recently and that Mia attempted to refund it immediately. Caballero responded with passive aggressive commentary to the family saying he understands they are her family, but that the communication between Miya and himself was not one sided as captured via cell phone recording. He maintained innocence and the deputy officer let him go after providing access to the Arden Villas maintenance area.
Upon communication with the Arden Villas manager Jessica Decker, authorities determined that Caballero went against Arden Villas employee policy when he accessed Miya's apartment without a work order or emergency reason. Authorities then sought a warrant for Caballero's arrest for burglary for his entry to Miya's apartment. They were not able to locate him by the time a warrant was obtained and spoke to numerous associates including his roommate who could not get in contact with him either.
On September 27, 2021, Armando Caballero was found dead by hanging. Caballero could have been dead since the late hours of September 25 going into September 26 based on his rigor state. He had no contact or movement the day of September 26. Caballero's suicide heightened suspicions of guilt that was already there as a person who is not guilty would not have reason to take their own life.
At this point Marcano's body was still not found and authorities were actively looking for clues to where she could be. They narrowed their focused on car GPS data and cell phone records to track Caballero's locations for the day of September 24. The Orange County Sheriff's office did not have access to Caballero's records until September 30 which is why search efforts were challenged as authorities did not know exactly where to focus their search. Tmobile records would place Caballero in the Tymberskan apartment complex on the night Miya disapearred from the hours of 8pm to 9pm. This piece of information would prove to be crucial in locating Miya.
On October 2,2021 Miya was found dead in a wooded area leading to Lake Catherine and close to the Tymberskan apartments. She found was two days after the gps and phone records were provided.
Her body was found nearly skeletonized. Next to her body was her red tote bag that she was seen carrying in the surveillance footage and all of the clothing she was wearing then as well. Miya's parents were notified of a body found that they were almost certain was the body of their daughter pending dna confirmation. The body found at Tymberskan apartment complex was confirmed to be Miya Marcano through dental records on October 5.
Miya's funeral was held on October 14, 2021 at the Cooper City Church Of God and was surrounded by loved ones. Miya's family founded the Miya Marcano foundation after her death in the effort to save the lives of missing people out there and prevent this tragedy from repeating for other families. They also filed a lawsuit against Arden Villas which is still active.
The Miya Marcano foundation was formed to help find missing people and bring awareness to violence out there claiming the lives of so many missing people. Please donate to their foundation and keep the mission going to help save lives and educate.
www.miyamarcanofdn.com
Marlene's clarity:
I would like to first extend my deepest condolences to Miya Marcano's parents Marlon and Yma. No parent should ever have to bury their child. I commend them and the entire family for their swift efforts to aide the missing young woman as soon as they were aware she was missing. The love that Miya's family put forth is evident when reflecting on how humble and bright spirited Miya Marcano was. I personally send my prayers and well wishes for the entire family especially her mother and father as they cope with this painful loss. I hope time provides healing to this loving family and hope for the future. It would be beautiful to see a piece of Miya come out in the form of a future niece. May Miya's parents, family and business partners continue to inspire the world with their active mission to protect other people from encountering the same frightening fate that Miya did by education and awareness of what is going on in the world. We as a world cannot act if we are not aware.
Visit The Miya Marcano foundation website to learn more about what their mission and. The Miya Marcano foundation also has an official Instagram page and on that page you can find more details on missing persons so be sure to follow there.
Miya's murder was preventable and the neglect on behalf of Arden Villas is immeasurable. To start with Armando Caballero should have never been hired given his criminal record of assault. Just months earlier in March of the same year he threw a weight through a woman's window in Orlando when she rejected his date invitation. In addition he was removed from his college due to a violation. This man clearly had an issue with complying with law and order so he should have never been considered for a position that puts him in direct content with countless tenants. Caballero sent Marcano texts over and over in hopes of her gaining her affection, but she repeatedly declined his romantic advances. Everyone in Miya's life including text message exchanges between the two confirmed that there was no romantic interest from Miya's behalf. In September 2021, the situation between Caballero and Marcano took a turn for the worse. Caballero began to send far more obsessive texts to Marcano demanding that she stop dressing provocatively and his texts became sexually suggestive expressing a desire to be physical with her. There was never any sexual intercourse between the two and this has been confirmed by everyone including himself. Caballero also issued funds into her cash app which she immediately refunded to him. The moment Marcano expressed concern over an employee sexually harassing her that should have been taken seriously by management and a warning should have been issued to the maintenance man Armando Caballero. Caballero was allowed to harrass the 19 year-old for months until he finally took it into his own hands to kill her as a result of him being unable to accept rejection from Miya Marcano. Arden Villas most certainly has to be held accountable for their neglectful actions in Miya's high profile case. Arden Villas also have to improve measures for the countless residents that they serve that complained of similar unsafe entry practices by maintenance workers. May Miya's family receive some compensation for the negligence and loss they experienced as a result of poor practices on the Arden Villas complex.
Here is what I believe unfolded the day of September 24th after reviewing the case and reading the final report from the Orange County Sheriff's office. He entered Miya's apartment 16 from the front entrance and then immediately locked himself inside. Key fob entries for her apartment confirm this. He clearly knew her schedule and her roommate's schedule. If he knew Miya's roommate would be inside in the apartment he would not have attempted this move. His master key fob opened Miya's apartment door at 4:34pm. In the next 30 minutes he was most likely checking out her apartment and how he was going to do whatever it is he was there to do. Caballero then opened the front door using his key fob at 5:02pm and immediately closed it within the same minute. My guess is that he knew Miya was arriving soon and was looking to see where she was or if she was alone. Miya arrived four minutes later and used her key fob to open her apartment front door at 5:06pm. The door was not immediately locked and 6 minutes later at 5:12pm the door was suddenly locked. To me this would indicate a distraction of some sort. Caballero must have attacked her instantly because the door was left unlocked. If Caballero was not already near the entry way Miya would have definitely locked her door right away. The injuries he was listed to have were a few scratches on his face and bite marks on his fingers indicate that it is highly possible that he could have grabbed Miya from behind trying to cover her mouth with his hand thus him getting bit by Miya in the process. From this angle she could have also scratched him trying to remove his hands from her mouth. Miya was alot smaller than him so it would have been a bit harder for her to fight back, mark him up from the front. Caballero killed Miya at this time and removed her body out of the complex with his car from the back entrance. It would have been too risky had he left her alive and unattended in her apartment. Someone could have come in or she could have escaped. So he had to kill her and remove her body. This time was also the only time his car was known to be near Miya's apartment. He must have known the cameras were not working that he would drive his car to the back end of Miya's building and then return an hour and half later. Tile prints were found directly outside of Miya's bedroom window. The tile prints did not match, but my guess is he had a spare or he changed them later after buying new tiles from a local spot selling tires. After initially leaving Miya's apartment at 5:52pm, he left with Miya's body in the trunk and returned at 7:16pm most likely to cover any tracks and see if anyone had noticed Miya missing by now. The second time he left Arden Villas is when he made a detour to the Tymberskan apartment complex (his former living residence) and dumped Miya's body near Lake Catherine. Caballero was in New Smyrna Beach a few hours after her disappearance so it is possible he went there to replace the tiles as a coverup or toss some evidence from the crime scene that would link him to the crime. His reason for being in New Smyrna Beach is still unclear at this time. After leaving New Smyrna he passed by Arden Villas a third time at the request of another employee Tatiyonna Shanks. Tatiyonna texted Caballero because police were there looking for Miya and thought Caballero might know something. Caballero ended up arguing with Miya's family who was now there after 3am and left because the police had no reason to arrest at that moment. By the time they gathered enough evidence Caballero had killed himself that Monday. Time was critical in cracking the case. Every step. Unfortunately since they did not find Miya fast enough, her body decomposed to a near skeletal state leaving it complicated to determine the true manner of death. Too much of Miya's tissue and skin were gone. If they had found Miya's body within that weekend there would have been a good chance of the medical examiner's office being able to determine a cause of death.
To read the 135 page full final report from the Orange Country Sheriff's office click
here.
Contact Miya's family on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/djeternalvibes/ Miya's father Marlon
https://www.instagram.com/ymascarbriel/ Miya's mother Yma
https://www.instagram.com/boamvrlon/ Miya's brother Marlon
https://www.instagram.com/thewassione/ Miya's stepmother Giselle
[Credit for Miya Marcano's photos and the foundation website's photo logo goes to Miya's family and business partners]
