New Details About Father Last Seen With Missing Doral Daughter & Her Mother
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DORAL (CBSMiami) – The search for a missing Doral mother and daughter has been called off for the night. There is also new information about the girl's father, who was the last person to see them.
Miami-Dade police and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spent a majority of the day relentlessly searching the brush and sawgrass off Krome Avenue – about a mile north of southwest 8th street.
That's where 43-year-old Liliana Moreno and her 8-year-old daughter, Daniela, were last seen Sunday, May 29th.
The FWC said about 40 people from FWC and the Miami-Dade Police Department took part in the search and said they have actually been searching that area for about a week because the missing child's father lives near there.
FWC said vultures were spotted around 2:30 p.m. and a dog was brought in and picked up a scent. But nothing was found and the search was called off at 3:40 p.m.
The girl's father – Gustavo Castano – told detectives he dropped them off Monday, May 30th, near a Home depot at 13895 West Okeechobee Road.
It's the same area where Miami-Dade police said they confronted Castano in his rental truck after he stabbed himself in the neck.
Castano's attorney, Michael Grieco, told CBS4's Peter D'Oench that Castano lost his right eye when police used a Taser on him.
"The officer tasered him multiple times. The Taser prongs went through his eye. He lost his eye as a result," Grieco.
Grieco released this photo of Castano with his right eye swollen shut and a cut on his face.
"I've got to tell you, as someone who has been involved with law enforcement for 16 years, I can't believe the circumstances where tasing someone in the eyeball is appropriate," Grieco said. "It is excessive and something we will deal with at a later point."
Police said in a statement Castano was hit in the eye when he "grabbed a box that was located inside of the truck and attempted to raise it as a shield to deflect the prongs from the electronic control device."
Grieco said he could not say why Castano picked the Home Depot site or why he tried to harm himself.
Detectives suspect foul play.
While Castano was the last known person to see Moreno and her daughter, Grieco said, "He had nothing to do with it. I have spoken with him."
Grieco added, "My client wants to see Daniela and Liliana home safe. He obviously maintains his innocence. It seems like law enforcement has it him into the public eye. He wants nothing more like the public to see the two back home safe."
Eduardo Moreno, Liliana's brother, told CBS4's Oralia Ortega, "I don't care about what happened with him. I don't care about anybody else. All I care about is finding my sister and my niece. At this moment all I want is to see them again."
Grieco said Castano and his family – that includes his wife, nine brothers and sisters and two other daughters – plan to post pleas on social media to help find the missing mother and her daughter.
Monday afternoon, at the Home Depot, the Missing Children Global Network passed out flyers again asking for the community's help.
Grieco said Castano is expected to remain at Kendall Regional Medical Center for another week recovering from his wounds. He said Castano is free to leave the hospital whenever he wants to. Grieco said he is not under arrest or any investigative hold and has been "nothing but cooperative with police."