Autopsy Report: Miya Marcano Was Bound With Duct Tape

Her cause of death ruled 'homicide by undetermined means'
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 29, 2021 9:55 AM CST
Autopsy Report: Miya Marcano Was Bound With Duct Tape
This photo shows Miya Marcano in Orlando, Fla.   (Orange County Sheriff's Office via AP)

The death of a woman who went missing from the Florida apartment complex where she lived did indeed die of a homicide, but the Orange County Medical Examiner's Office wasn't able to get much more specific than that. Per its autopsy report, Miya Marcano died of "homicide by undetermined means." The 19-year-old went missing from the Arden Villas Luxury Apartments in Orlando on Sept. 24; her remains were found near another apartment complex some 18 miles away on Oct. 2. The AP reports the discovery of her body happened five days after suspected killer Armando Caballero, a handyman at her apartment complex, was found dead of an apparent suicide.

There was evidence she'd been restrained in the form of black duct tape on her neck, wrists, and ankles, reports CNN. But due to the advanced decomposition of her remains—her body was "nearly skeletonized" and "in advanced putrefactive decomposition," Local 10 reports—there was "no identifiable evidence of trauma" detected. However, the report continued that "the decedent was found in an abandoned section of an apartment complex suggesting intentional disposal of her body." Orange County Chief Medical Examiner Joshua D. Stephany wrote in the report: "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." (Marcano's family has filed a wrongful death suit against her apartment complex and Caballero's estate.)

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