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Miya Marcano’s mother: ‘The Orange County Sheriff’s Office failed Miya’

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — “The Orange County Sheriff’s Office failed Miya.”

>>> STREAM CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS LIVE <<<

Those are the words of the mother of murdered college student Miya Marcano.

Channel 9 spoke to her after the sheriff’s office suspended a deputy for how he handled the 19-year-old’s disappearance.

READ: Orange County deputy suspended over Miya Marcano investigation

9 Investigates was the first to report the first deputy who responded to her disappearance. The documents state that the deputy didn’t seem alarmed by blood on Marcano’s pillow, the furniture blocking her bedroom door or the fact that she didn’t show up for her flight and didn’t call for detectives or backup.

The internal investigation found that deputy Samir Paulino knew there was blood on Marcano’s pillow, her door was blocked by a piece of furniture and she didn’t show up for her flight. He even knew there was broken jewelry and a teddy bear she loved left behind.

Read: Investigative report gives insight into timeline of Miya Marcano’s death

However, he still did not call for backup or for detectives to investigate and instead decided not to file a police report and have someone follow up later.

See what the family had to say in the video above.

Read: ‘Miya’s Law’: Bill aimed at enhancing renter protections signed into law

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Shannon Butler

Shannon Butler, WFTV.com

Shannon joined the Eyewitness News team in 2013.

Adam Poulisse, WFTV.com

Adam Poulisse joined WFTV in November 2019.