Just over a week after her disappearance, a body believed to be missing 19-year-old Miya Marcano was discovered Saturday morning, CNN reports.
According to Orange County Sheriff John Mina, police found Marcano’s body in a wooded area near the Tymber Skan on the Lake apartments in Orlando, Florida.
Marcano, a student at Valencia College, was last seen around 5 p.m. on September 24 at the Arden Villas apartments near the University of Central Florida.
“Obviously, this is not the update I wanted to give to everyone,” Mina said at a news conference Saturday. “Our hearts are broken. As a community, as a sheriff, as a father, you know, obviously we are grieving the loss of Miya. We can’t imagine the pain and anguish that Miya’s parents, the family, the loved ones, the friends, and really, our entire community, have gone through and will continue to go through.”
Mina maintained that, although a purse with Marcano’s identification was found near the body, his department will wait for positive identification to come from the Orange County Medical Examiner’s Office.
“Although we are very certain of the identity, the positive identification will have to come from the medical examiner’s office,” Mina said. “At this time we cannot confirm a cause of death.”
The news arrives just five days after a leading person of interest, 27-year-old Armando Caballero, was found dead Monday of an apparent suicide. Authorities believe Caballero, a maintenance worker at Arden Villas, entered Marcano’s apartment using a master key, as cell phone records indicate he was near the scene hours before she was reported missing.
