Slain Florida student Miya Marcano’s death was ruled a “homicide by undetermined means,” the Orange County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed following an autopsy.
While officials said there was no “identifiable evidence of trauma,” due to advanced decomposition, the 19-year-old had black duct tape wrapped around her mouth, around her wrists, which were behind her back, and around both ankles, suggesting “some type of assault.”
“In my opinion, the manner in which she was found, with multiple restraints and her disposition in an abandoned area of an apartment complex, indicates some type of assault, but because of the lack of any identifiable soft tissue injuries due to advanced decomposition, the cause of death is a homicide by undetermined means,” Florida Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Joshua D. Stephany wrote in the report.
Officials wrote their report that Marcano was found in a black bra, blue jeans, underwear and black socks with a white bathrobe tied around her waist. Three metal bracelets were found on her left wrist and a metal anklet around each ankle. A heart-shaped pendant and chain with the inscription “Miya” were found around her neck.
Her body was “nearly completely skeletonized,” the report says.
Marcano, a student at Valencia College, was reported missing from Orlando’s Arden Villas on Sept. 24 for eight days before her body was found on Oct. 3 in the area of the apartment complex. On Oct. 5, she was identified by dental records.
Her suspected killer was identified as 27-year-old Armando Caballero, a maintenance worker at the building she lived in who had a “romantic interest” in Marcano. Marcano had repeatedly rebuffed his advances, Orange County Sheriff John Mina said.
Caballero, deemed a person of interest in the case, took his own life on Sept. 27.
Marcano’s family had reportedly angrily confronted Caballero the day after she went missing and two days before he killed himself, when they accused him of having an “obsession” with Marcano.
Investigators said they had caught Caballero on camera carrying gloves, a blanket and a bag the day she went missing. Police said he entered her apartment with a master key just before she was last seen. Family members said there were signs of a struggle in her bedroom. Data from Caballero’s cellphone led police to her body.
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