The Miya Marcano Case: Her Family Filmed Him Disposing Evidence?!
Her family took the investigation into their own hands and followed him as he tried to cover his tracks. Good for them!
[Orlando, FL]
A simple, but powerful word used to describe 19 year old Miya Marcano is radiant. Whether it was her alluring eyes, authentic smile, or captivating personality, she was truly the bright star of her family. Her mother described her as the strong glue that kept her father and mother’s side close together as she constantly insisted on gatherings.
Being from the US Virgin Islands, Miya heavily embraced her family’s culture through attending traditional, vibrant, music-filled Carnivals. Every year she chose the most elaborate costume covered in beautiful jewels and rhinestones. Miya placed her make up perfectly on her face and danced all throughout the event. The Carnivals were truly one of the most enjoyable times for Miya.
Another part of Miya’s life that she thoroughly enjoyed was pursuing her education and excelling in her classes. In September of 2021, she was attending college in Orlando, FL and shaping her future to become a talented orthopedic surgeon. She lived with a roommate in an apartment complex called Arden Villas apartments. Although she was living with another person, Miya’s father took extra precautions to protect his daughter. Her apartment was a floor-level so he installed strong locks on the windows, and gave her mace.
As Miya’s life fell into place and she got comfortable with her sophomore year in college, she took a job in the leasing office of her own apartment complex. This job allowed her to stay close to her home while not having to venture off into town alone too much.
On September 24th, 2021, Miya was making last minute arrangements for a Carnival event and a trip to Jamaica with her family. Her father purchased her a plane ticket to fly to his home in Fort Lauderdale, FL. From there, the plan was to enjoy the Carnival and then travel to Jamaica to enjoy quality family time while mingling on the beach. However, Miya stopped all communication with her family, her phone turned off, and she never made it to the airport to fly to her father’s.
Her mother and brother made multiple attempts to reach her through phone calls or text messages, but her cell phone stayed off consistently, Miya, a social media lover and family girl, would never keep her phone off for a long period of time, nor panic her family in that manner. With this in mind, Miya’s mother called Uber and Lyft to see if Miya perhaps was on her way to the airport and forgot her phone. Unfortunately, the apps refused to give out any helpful ride information unless the police inquired about it. After Miya’s grandmother in Fort Lauderdale spent hours waiting for her to possibly get off of the flight, her family knew she was missing.
The roommate allowed officers inside the apartment to conduct a welfare check at the apartment. Miya’s bedroom was oddly closed and locked. Police continued examining around the premises and found her window open — another odd discovery since her father installed the locks when she moved in. Despite these peculiar findings, police left without suspecting any foul play. Meanwhile, Miya’s family wasn’t going to settle their search for her at all. Their own criminal investigation began.
7 hours after she went missing, Miya’s father and other family members arrived at her apartment and forced their way into her room. The pillows on the bed were in disarray, the covers were disheveled, and there was dried blood on her pillow. More shocking discoveries were found on the floor of her apartment. Miya would always wear a specific chain necklace, but it was found snapped into pieces on the ground. Foul play was beginning to become evident.
Her family received a text message from her roommate claiming that the maintenance man, Armando Caballero (27), had a keen eye on Miya for a little while. He made multiple romantic advances at her through buying her gifts or trying to send her money out of his “life savings.”
Miya didn’t have the same interest in Armando as he did for her. She politely attempted to decline his offers and keep their friendship as simply cordial co-workers.
In the midst of conducting their own personal investigation at her apartment, Miya’s family spots Armando walking close by. They cornered him, began recording on their cell phones, and questioned him about Miya’s disappearance. He adamantly denied having interest in Miya or knowing where she was, but her family’s persistence made him noticeably uncomfortable.
The following day, more of Miya’s family arrived in town to help search for her. While searching, they saw Armando in the area once again. This time, they decide to secretly follow him back to his home. The family members recorded his movements with their cell phones for a second time. In the video, Armando was seen with latex gloves removing Miya’s distinctive, pink blanket and a backpack from his vehicle. Her panicked family immediately called authorities, insisting they investigate him further now.
When police arrived, there was no sign of any of the evidence Armando discarded nor did they arrest him again.
On September 27th, 2021, police received a 911 call stating that someone had committed suicide in a maintenance garage. When the ambulance and police transcended on the scene, they found the body of Armando hanging. He chose that particular location because he used to work there. His suicide was to no comfort for Miya’s family. In fact, it had the complete opposite effect. They knew his death ultimately meant that the worst possibility must have unfolded against Miya. The demand to find her skyrocketed and authorities from many different cities collaborated to help with the case. Her friends, family, and the outer community also trucked through areas of long grass and swampy environments.
A review of Armando’s phone records pinged his location inside of Miya's apartment on the day she went missing, suggesting that he was waiting for her when she got off of work. He was able to gain access using a master key fob he often had for performing maintenance work around the complex. Shortly after her murder, it showed him traveling to another apartment complex where he used to live 18 miles away. Police traced his steps back to that specific location on October 2nd, 2021. After weeks, searchers were finally able to find Miya’s partially clothed, decomposing body in a wooded area behind the complex. Her hands, neck, face, and feet were bound with black duct tape. Her red purse that she always carried on her shoulder was found beside her.
Due to the condition of her body, the medical examiner couldn’t determine her exact cause of death, but confirmed her manner of death was homicide.
Her mother Yma Scarbriel cried, ‘At 19, Miya had her whole life ahead of her. I will never get to see her become an orthopedic surgeon, a wife, a mom. You know, you have your children and you set them up, you put them in a world, you try your best to protect them. And then for somebody to feel that they have the right to take that from you..”
