Image taken from: https://www.mynews13.com/fl/orlando/public-safety/2021/09/28/the-search-for-miya-marcano
October 31st, 2021 | Written by DD (My profile is here)
The Miya Marcano Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to advocating for missing persons and their families, officially launched October 25th, 2021. The foundation was named after 19 year old Miya Marcano, who was murdered by a maintenance worker at the apartment community in which she lived and worked in Orlando, Florida. To commemorate Miya, the organization has planned a release of 1,900 butterflies, her favorite animal, in her hometown of Pembroke Pines, Florida on November 5th, 2021. Moreover, the group is proposing a bill called "Miya's Law" to push for more stringent background checks for apartment workers and improved protections for tenants. The official website of the Miya Marcano Foundation is here.
I find it difficult to write this article because I feel overwhelming sadness thinking about how Miya's life was tragically cut short. National coverage of this situation continues to raise questions about proper law enforcement handling of missing persons cases, property management, misogyny and violence against women. Are we really protected where we live and work?
What makes Miya's death especially painful is that this could have been prevented! Though I will not cite the name of the man who murdered Miya, I strongly believe he should not have been allowed to work at the complex for two main reasons:
1.) A resident at another apartment complex where he was previously employed complained about his violent and threatening behavior months before Miya's death. In March 2021, a Seminole County, Florida woman reported that a large weight was thrown at her window after she turned down his request for a date. She suspected he was responsible, but declined to press charges for unknown reasons. Miya reportedly declined his romantic advances too.
2.) He has one conviction for damaging a college dormitory he resided at in or about 2013 and a second conviction for an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon (information obtained from the Polk County, Florida clerk here).
May she rest well and in peace!
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