The FBI joined the search for a missing 19-year-old woman in Orlando, Florida, as her family pleaded for information to help find the college student, authorities announced Thursday.
Officials are searching for Miya Marcano after she disappeared from the Arden Villas Luxury Apartments in Orlando after being seen about 5 p.m. on Sept. 24.
Orange County Sheriff John Mina said at a press conference Thursday that his department was deploying all possible resources to find Marcano. He said the FBI had lent technology to aid the search and other local agencies had provided trained dogs and dive teams.
“Hundreds of sworn and civilian personnel here at the sheriff’s office and beyond have been working around the clock to employ all the resources at our disposal to find Miya,” Mina said Thursday. “We are going to find Miya, and we’re pouring a lot of resources into this case.”
A person of interest in Marcano’s disappearance, Armando Manuel Caballero, was found dead on Monday in an apparent suicide, complicating the investigation. Caballero was a maintenance worker at the Orlando apartment complex where Marcano also worked and lived. Investigators had named him as a person of interest after discovering he used a master key to enter her apartment minutes before she was last seen.
Caballero, 27, had expressed a romantic interest in Marcano, authorities said, but had been “repeatedly rebuffed.”
Marcano’s family has pleaded for information about her disappearance.
“We’re just ready to bring her home, but we need everyone’s help,” her aunt, Semone Westmaas, told the local ABC affiliate. “We need every resource at this point.”
Mina added Thursday that his office had been in touch with Marcano’s family “every single day,” trying to keep them updated “on everything that we’re doing.”
“I know that Miya’s family and her loved ones are going through unimaginable anguish as they try and find out what happened to Miya,” he said.
Marcano was last seen wearing a read shirt, jeans and a black hoodie. Anyone with tips regarding her whereabouts is asked to call the Central Florida Crimeline at (407) 836-4357.
If you or someone you know needs help, call 1-800-273-8255 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. You can also text HOME to 741-741 for free, 24-hour support from the Crisis Text Line. Outside of the U.S., please visit the International Association for Suicide Prevention for a database of resources.