MIAMI – There has been a break in the cold case of a South Florida woman who went missing with her young daughter several years ago.
The FBI has arrested the child’s father, who has long been a person of interest in the investigation, eight years after the disappearance of Lilana Moreno and her daughter, Daniela.
“It has been eight years and we haven’t heard anything from them, so it was really, really shocking and unbelievable,” said Eduardo Moreno, Lilana’s brother.
Gustavo Castano was under a cloud of suspicion from the very beginning.
He is the girl’s biological father and he kept that as a secret from his own wife and family at the time.
Castano told detectives he dropped the pair off near a Home Depot in Hialeah Gardens.
Worried family members believe it was all lies that followed.
Sources confirm to Local 10 News that a federal grand jury has indicted Castano on two counts of kidnapping resulting in death.
“It’s the beginning to know what happened to them and know where the location of them,” said Moreno. “That is the main goal for us -- to know where they are.”
Ever since the two vanished in May of 2016, dozens have participated in search efforts, and an annual vigil has been held outside of Castano’s home to pressure him to talk.
Loved ones refused to give up hope.
“She’s my niece and I’m her uncle -- I’m expecting to see her back,” said Moreno. “I don’t think her story just ended that same day.”
Castano is expected to face a judge in South Florida later this week.