A discarded face mask left behind at a 2023 crime scene reportedly yielded a DNA match, leading to the arrest of a 27-year-old man for a high-value residential burglary in Marion County.
On Wednesday, Franco Miranda was served with an arrest warrant and booked into Marion County Jail Facility on the following felony charges: unarmed burglary of an unoccupied dwelling and grand theft (over $20,000 but less than $100,000).
According to a Marion County Sheriff’s Office arrest report, the charges stem from an incident on June 7, 2023. On that date, deputies responded to a family home and discovered that the residence had been “ransacked and burglarized.”
The report stated that a total of $24,180 in property was stolen from the residence, including over $10,000 in cash, two TAG Heuer watches, an antique solid gold diamond-encrusted watch, a pearl necklace, a baby’s teddy bear, and a pair of newborn shoes.
Video surveillance footage from the evening of June 6, 2023, reportedly showed two Hispanic suspects wearing black face masks entering the pool area of the property. The suspects were later captured on video carrying bags away from the home and walking eastbound, according to the report.
While canvassing the immediate area, an MCSO deputy located a black face mask approximately 80 yards east of the incident location, which appeared to match the suspects’ direction of travel.
The mask was submitted for forensic processing, and a Florida Department of Law Enforcement laboratory report allegedly confirmed that the DNA profile matched Miranda. At the time the DNA match was confirmed, Miranda was already incarcerated at the Orange County Jail on unrelated “escape and burglary” charges.
Since investigators believe that Miranda wore a mask to conceal his identity during the commission of the alleged crime, his charges were reclassified to the next higher degree under Florida law, according to the report.
Marion County Jail records show that Miranda remains in custody without bond, and an arraignment hearing has not yet been scheduled.