Three months after the body of Miya Marcano was found bound with duct tape in a wooded area, medical examiners have ruled her death a homicide.
An autopsy report from the Orange County Medical Examiner’s Office revealed that Marcano died of “homicide by undetermined means,” Fox 35 Orlando reports
. The ruling came after the 19-year-old college student was found dead in the woods near an Orlando apartment complex on Oct. 2.Marcano was a sophomore at Valencia College when she was last seen around 5 p.m. on Sept. 24 at the Arden Villas Apartments, where she lived and worked in the leasing office. Over a week later, her remains were located almost 18 miles west of her home.
The police report says Marcano’s body was “nearly completely skeletonized” with black duct tape around her neck, ankles, and wrists, People
reports.“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,” Orange County Chief Medical Examiner Joshua D. Stephany said in the autopsy report.
“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.”
Armando Manual Caballero was the prime suspect in her disappearance and death. The 27-year-old was reportedly found dead from an apparent suicide on Monday, Sept. 27. According to investigators, Caballero worked as a maintenance person at the Arden Villas Apartments since June.
The Sheriff said authorities believe Caballero might have developed a romantic interest in Marcano and
was turned down by the college sophomore. Detectives were led to the apartment complex by Caballero’s phone records that showed he was in the area for around 20 minutes between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. on the day Marcano disappeared.Authorities believe Caballero snuck into Marcano’s apartment using a maintenance-issued master key before she got off work.
“There is no doubt he was waiting for her knowing she was going to be coming home from work,” Orange County Sheriff John Mina said at a press conference.