As police continue their search to find missing college student Miya Marcano, family members say they found signs of a struggle in her bedroom after she vanished.
Miya Marcano has relational ties to the BVI and USVI.
According to WFLA, a cousin of Marcano’s said they found her room in “disarray” with jewelry on the floor and the bed unmade.
Family members told the outlet that blood was also found in the area.
A spokesperson for the Orange County Sheriff’s Office told PEOPLE that authorities “continue to work around the clock to locate Miya.”
Marcano, 19, was last seen around 5 p.m. on Sept. 24, at the Arden Villas Apartments in Orlando where she lived and worked in the leasing office.
Marcano’s family told WESH that she planned to fly to Fort Lauderdale that evening to visit family members but missed her flight.
“Obviously her family raised this level of alarm and concern knowing Miya would never not be in contact with them, would never turn off her phone and never let her phone battery drain completely down,” Orange County Sherriff John Mina said at a Monday press conference.
Person of Interest Died by Suicide
At the press conference, Mina named Armando Manuel Caballero, 27, a person of interest in Marcano’s disappearance. Prior to the press conference, Caballero was found dead by suicide Monday inside his apartment in Seminole County.
Mina said Caballero, a maintenance worker who worked at the same complex as Marcano, had expressed a romantic interest in the Valencia College sophomore but was repeatedly rebuffed.
“I think that it is a situation where someone had developed a romantic interest,” he said. “Obviously Miya wasn’t interested. We are still trying to investigate all the circumstances behind this and what exactly happened regarding her disappearance.”
Caballero had been working in maintenance at the complex since June.
“Her disappearance is suspicious and our detectives and the family members obviously suspect foul play,” he said. “So we are still doing everything possible we can to find her.”
Mina said Caballero told detectives he last saw Marcano at work around 3 p.m. Friday.
“We now know that a maintenance issued master key FOB which Caballero was known to be in possession of was used to enter Miya’s apartment on Friday afternoon at about 430 p.m.,” he said. “This would have been about 30 minutes before she finished her shift at the apartment complex.”
Mina said authorities had issued an arrest warrant for Caballero and were looking for him over the weekend before they found him dead on Monday.
At the press conference Monday, Marcano’s aunt Pia said she believes her niece is still alive.
“I know you are alive,” she said. “I know you are out there. We love you. … We will never sleep one night until we get you home. We miss you.”
Anyone has information about her whereabouts is asked to contact the Orange County Sheriff’s Office at 407-836-4357.