The FBI joined the search for a teenager attending Valencia College who disappeared last Friday, according to Orange County law enforcement.
Miya Marcano, 19, was last seen last Friday just before 5 p.m. when her family noticed she disappeared after she missed a flight home to South Florida. Armando Caballero, a 27-year-old maintenance worker at Marcano’s apartment complex who improperly used a master key to enter her apartment on the same day Marcano disappeared, is the “prime suspect” in the case, Orange County Sheriff John Mina said on Thursday. Caballero was found dead Monday morning of an apparent suicide, and there are no other suspects, he added.
“I know that Miya’s family and her loved ones are going through unimaginable anguish as they try and find out what happened to Miya,” Mina said.
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The search for Marcano spans three counties with over 170 personnel, including 60 deputies, searching for her, the sheriff said. A reward of up to $15,000 is being offered for information.
Marcano “rebuffed” romantic advances by Caballero prior to her disappearance, according to Mina, who said detectives spoke to Caballero after Marcano’s disappearance but did not have evidence to arrest him, though that changed when they found out he entered her apartment before she disappeared.
Chris Daly, a spokesman for the apartment complex Arden Villas where Caballero worked, told the Orlando Sentinel that they run background checks on everyone and defended the hiring of Caballero.
“Regarding our hiring process, all potential employees are vetted through a national background check services provider,” he said. “Concerning Mr. Caballero specifically, no records of either burglary or sexual assault were found, and rumors to the contrary appear to be based on online documents referencing someone else with the same name.”
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Florida Department of Law Enforcement records show Caballero had been arrested in 2013 on charges of using a destructive device resulting in property damage and discharging a weapon on school property at a private Christian college in Polk County. An arrest report said Caballero admitted to using the improvised explosive as a “prank,” and it noted no one was injured.
He pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and was sentenced to probation, although Caballero failed to complete court-ordered community service and was placed on two years of house arrest, records show.
