‘WARNING SIGNS’

Family of College Student Found Dead in Orlando Woods Sues Cops for Negligence

Miya Marcano was found eight days after disappearing with her hands and feet bound with duct tape.

Two years after a 19-year-old woman was found dead following her disappearance from her Orlando apartment, her family is suing the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and two of its deputies, alleging that the authorities “failed miserably” in their duties. In their lawsuit, filed Monday, Miya Marcano’s family said the deputies were “deliberately indifferent” to their fears for their missing daughter, who was last seen Sept. 24, 2021. When one of the deputies, Samir Paulino, went to Marcano’s apartment for a welfare check, he ignored “obvious warning signs” that a crime had taken place there, including bloodstains and broken jewelry, according to the complaint. Though Paulino and another deputy had access to evidence that “could have led to the discovery of Miya much sooner,” the pair made it clear they believed “Miya’s case was not a priority,” the suit claims. On Oct. 2, 2021, Marcano’s body was found in a wooded area 17 miles from her apartment, her hands and feet bound with duct tape. A maintenance man at her apartment complex is believed to have killed her before dying by suicide, authorities have said.