Whole Family of Four Went Missing. Police Are Said to Have Just Found Remains on a Friend’s Property
Florida police are looking for a family of four who they say went missing after the parents got into a fight with a friend. A few days after the family went missing, the friend was arrested when police reportedly found what they thought were the bodies of the missing family members on his property.
The Pasco Sheriff’s Office said in a statement last week that the missing family members are Rain Mancini, Phillip Zilliot II, Karma Zilliot, and Phillip Zilliot III. They were last seen on June 12 in the city of Hudson, Florida.
The sheriff’s office said in a follow-up statement that on June 14, officials found human remains on a property in Hudson while “investigating multiple homicides.” They also arrested a man who they think may have “committed multiple homicides.”
The guy who was being held wasn’t named in the statement, but WFLA, ABC Action News, and the Tampa Bay Times all reported that Sheriff Chris Nocco said his name was Rory Atwood.
WFLA reported that as of Monday morning, police still didn’t know what kind of remains were found on the land or how many there were. According to ABC Action News, Nocco said they probably belong to members of the missing family.
According to Pasco County officials, Atwood, 25, was charged with first-degree murder of a “John Doe” after the body was found. This was reported by WFLA, ABC Action News, and the Tampa Bay Times.
“We think [the family members] may be on the property dead, but we don’t know for sure,” Nocco told WFLA and ABC Action News. “And we’ll do everything we can to find them.”
A friend told Pasco County sheriff’s officials that Mancini, 26, and Phillip, 25, were drinking with Atwood on Wednesday night when they got into a fight, according to WFLA.
Nocco told WFLA that before leaving, Rain’s friend heard someone say, “Because the last time this happened, you pulled a gun on us.” This person was referring to Rory. “The police haven’t told us anything about that.”
According to WFLA and ABC Action News, Atwood’s friend got a call early Thursday morning from him. On the call, Atwood reportedly sounded scared and said he had shot someone. Noico said that the sheriff’s office got this information about Atwood from third or fourth-party sources.
According to authorities, the Tampa Bay Times and ABC Action News reported that police searched Atwood’s land for the first time but did not find anything.
Families of the Mancini and Zilliot family told police on Friday that they hadn’t heard from the family in a while, which seemed strange to them.
Based on ABC Action News, Nocco said the family was “moving from one place to another.”
“They never had a great place to live,” he said, adding, “They were staying at Rory’s for a while and something happened.” Because of this, there was a fight.
Online court records show that Atwood, who was found guilty of battery in 2022, has pleaded not guilty to the murder charge and has been given a public attorney. PEOPLE couldn’t get in touch with his lawyer right away.
Source: PEOPLE