ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — The Orange County Sheriff's Office released a mostly unredacted copy of the original incident report in the Miya Marcano case Monday — one that gives numerous new details about the initial response in the then-missing person case.


What You Need To Know

  •  The Orange County Sheriff's Office released a mostly unredacted copy of the incident report in the death of Miya Marcano Monday

  •  The unredacted sections of the report provide more details on the responding deputy's initial investigation at Marcano's apartment complex

  • The report also provides additional details about the deputy's interview of 27-year-old Armando Manuel Caballero, who was a person of interest in Marcano's disappearance and death

The Sept. 24 report is laced with information about the responding deputy's first interactions with Marcano's family, her roommate, the examination of her apartment at Arden Villas in Orlando, and ultimately the person of interest in her disappearance, 27-year-old Armando Manuel Caballero.

Marcano, a 19-year-old college student, was found dead on Oct. 2, five days after Caballero was found dead of an apparent suicide.

At the time of the report, Caballero was interviewed by the responding deputy, who noted that Marcano's family claimed the man was "stalking her."

"Miya's family wanted me to note that Armando has allegedly been sending Miya money via Cashapp and has confessed his love for her," the now-unredacted portion of the report said. "They claim that he has been stalking her but I was unable to read the text messages.

"They also stated that they observed Armando riding around the complex while they were there for a while before he stopped. They also wanted me to note that Armando had screwdrivers on his passenger seat and bookbag."

The report did not give any details about why Caballero would have sent Marcano money.

According to the report, Caballero admitted to the deputy that "he was trying to date Miya but stopped talking with her after she denied the request. The pair did stay friends but nothing more."

Caballero reportedly told the deputy that he had last seen Marcano at 3 p.m. on Sept. 24 while he was working maintenance at the apartment complex where the 19-year-old lived and also worked in the leasing office.

"(Caballero) gave me access to the clubhouse and leasing office to check the area to see if there was anything of evidence value but it was met with negative results," the deputy wrote in the report.

Members of Marcano's family have said they do not think the responding deputy did enough in questioning Caballero or investigating the scene.

Inspecting Marcano's Apartment

When the deputy first responded to Marcano's apartment, the report says he was met by her roommate at their apartment but could not gain access to her room because it was locked from the inside.

The deputy reported going around to the back of the complex to look in through Marcano's window.

"... I was able to slightly see inside and did not notice anything out of the ordinary," the deputy wrote, noting later in the report that he was able to push her unlocked window up to get a better look into Marcano's room, but "I once again did not see anything suspicious."

The window being unlocked in itself was a sign something was wrong, Marcano's family's attorney Daryl Washington said in mid-October.

“Miya’s father had recently purchased locks for her window so that no one can open that window but Miya," he said at the time. "The fact that that window was not locked and the roommate told Deputy Paulino about this should have given him a lot of concerns.”

The deputy noted in the report that he knew about the window lock installed by Marcano's father, which should have prevented it from opening. 

"The window should not have been able to fully open unless Miya unscrewed the locks," the report said, adding that the deputy did not have any information on why the window was unsecured.

Marcano's roommate, who was not named in the report, was able to get into the room, which allowed the deputy to investigate further.

"(The roommate) observed a small piece of furniture that was propped up against the bedroom door knob which appears to be placed there to prevent anyone from entering," the report said.

Marcano's roommate reported several other things that were unusual, including the unmade state of her bed, jewelry found on the floor "and Miya's teddy bear who she does not go anywhere without was inside her closet."

The deputy also noted a spot of dried blood — "which does not appear fresh" — on Marcano's pillow, the report said.

According to the deputy, members of Marcano's family later reported finding a yellow box cutter under the run in the teen's apartment, which they said was "not usual" and suspected that "this may be evidence."

Photos of the pillow and the box cutter found by Marcano's family were taken and put into evidence, the report said.

Read the full, newly released report below:

Miya Marcano unredacted incident report by Chris Vaughn on Scribd

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