Miya Marcano’s family sues Sheriff’s Office over mishandled investigation

accuses Orange County Sheriff’s Office & 2 of its deputies of negligence

ORLANDO, Florida, USA- Media outlets across Florida and the wider USA are reporting that the parents of Miya Marcano, who was abducted from her UCF-area apartment in Orange County by a maintenance worker and killed two years ago, have filed a lawsuit against the Orange County Sheriff’s Office over failings in its initial investigation into her disappearance.

The suit, filed Monday, September 26, 2023, in Orange County circuit court by Marlon Marcano and Yma Su-Ling Scarbriel, accuses the agency and deputies Samir Paulino and Kenneth Dale of negligence and violating Miya Marcano’s civil rights.

The late Marcano had strong roots in the [British] Virgin Islands and US Virgin Islands and was the granddaughter of iconic horse owner Violet Letty Hodge of Sea Cows Bay. Ms Hodge could not be reached for comment up to time of publication of this article.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, Michelle Guido, who is a spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Office, declined to respond to the lawsuit, saying the agency does not comment on pending litigation.

‘Deliberately indifferent’

The two Orange County sheriff’s deputies were “deliberately indifferent” to her family’s fears that something terrible happened to Marcano after they never heard from her in September 2021, when she missed a flight to Miami, according to a lawsuit.