ORLANDO, Fla. — Family and friends of Miya Marcano got the update they were most fearful to hear: That a body the Orange County Sheriff's Office believes to be the 19-year-old college student was found.
What You Need To Know
- 19-year-old Miya Marcano was last seen around 5 p.m. Sept. 24
- Sheriff John Mina said the medical examiner's office will have to make a positive identification of the body
- MORE: Live Updates: The search for Miya Marcano
- RELATED:
- Orange County Sheriff: Body found could be Miya Marcano's
- Expert: Person of interest's movements before death could give clues in Miya Marcano disappearance
- Community vigil shows love and support for Miya Marcano
- Family walks miles, canvasses neighborhoods looking for Miya Marcano
- Miya Marcano's family vows to 'never sleep one night until we get you home'
- Orange County Sheriff: Body found could be Miya Marcano's
- Expert: Person of interest's movements before death could give clues in Miya Marcano disappearance
- Community vigil shows love and support for Miya Marcano
- Family walks miles, canvasses neighborhoods looking for Miya Marcano
- Miya Marcano's family vows to 'never sleep one night until we get you home'
Orange County Sheriff John Mina said the cause of death is yet to be determined when he gave the update on Saturday afternoon.
“Obviously, this was not the update that I wanted to give to everyone today,” Mina said during a press conference on Saturday, where he revealed that a body believed to be that of Marcano had been found Tymber Skan on the Lake Condominiums at Skan Court in Orlando.
On Saturday night, the teen’s loved ones hosted a vigil at her apartment, the Arden Villas in Orlando.
They were holding out hope until the very end.
As the days dragged on and others became less and less optimistic about a better outcome, her family says they never stopped believing that she was out there, alive and just in need of help.
A few dozen people gathered outside her apartment for a candlelight vigil, filled with song, prayer, and a lot of emotion.
Mina said the emergency response team found the body near a wooded area nearby the Tymber Skan on the Lake Condominiums.
Mina said cell phone records showed the person of interest in the case, Armando Caballero, was in or near that area the night Marcano went missing on Friday, Sept. 24. The sheriff said Caballero was at Tymber Skan apartment complex between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. that night.
Caballero was enamored with Marcano, but she was not interested in him.
According to Mina in previous press conferences, since Caballero worked at the apartment complex where Marcano lived and worked, he took a master key and went into her apartment on Friday, Sept. 24, at around 4:30 p.m. Marcano was last seen at 5 p.m. on that day.
Caballero's body was found a few days after that, hanging in a garage building at the Camden Club Apartments in Longwood where he lived, according to authorities, who say he killed himself.
While Mina said they are pretty certain the remains found are those of Marcano, the medical examiner will have to make the official identification.
Marcano's family members Spectrum News 13 spoke with say their pain is overwhelming.
"I can't even put into words how we're feeling right now as a family. I feel defeated. I feel like I failed my cousin and I don't know how we're going to get through this," said cousin Caili Sue.
Family members also thanked everyone who was a part of the search efforts over the past week.
"I was kind of just figuring that we'd find her somewhere. She might just be a little bit hurt or broken, whatever, but we could fix her. And we would do everything that we could've done to fix her," Sue said.
