FBI makes arrest in cold case of missing South Florida mother and daughter

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 played a key role in the investigation, eight years after the disappearance of Lilana Moreno and her daughter Daniela.

“It’s been eight years and we haven’t heard from them, so it was really shocking and unbelievable,” said Eduardo Moreno, Lilana’s brother.

Gustavo Castano was under a cloud of suspicion from the start.

He is the biological father of the girl and he kept this a secret from his own wife and family at the time.

Castano told investigators he dropped the couple off at a Home Depot in Hialeah Gardens.

Concerned 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 of knowing what happened to them and where they are located,” Moreno said. “That’s the most important goal for us: to know where they are.”

Since the two disappeared in May 2016, dozens of people have participated in searches and an annual vigil is held outside Castano’s home to pressure him to talk.

Loved ones refused to give up hope.

“She is my niece and I am her uncle, I expect to see her again,” Moreno said. “I don’t think her story ended that same day.”

Castano is expected to appear in court in South Florida later this week.