PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — Human remains have been found in Pasco County that may be related to a missing persons case involving two adults and two children.
According to the Pasco County Sheriff's Office, a missing persons case has been open since Thursday as detectives looked for Rain Mancini, 26, Phillip Zilliot, 25, Karma Zilliot, 6, and Phillip Zilliot, III, 5.
The Sheriff's Office said human remains were found at the home of Rory Atwood, who has been arrested and charged with first-degree homicide.
Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said the four missing people were last heard from late Wednesday night into Thursday morning and that they were with Atwood.
"Their living situation was never the best. They were transient, going from one place to another, they were staying at Rory's for awhile and something happened. An argument came out of this one," Sheriff Nocco explained.
Sheriff Nocco said his office received a third or fourth-hand account that a friend of Atwood got a call from him and was told that Atwood was frantic and that he had shot someone.
The Sheriff's Office said detectives initially went to Atwood's home and he gave permission to search the property.
Detectives found nothing on the initial search.
Friday afternoon, deputies were able to contact extended family members of the four missing people who said they had not heard from them.
The Sheriff's Office said at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, deputies saw Atwood at his property again. The Sheriff's Office was granted permission to do a more extensive search on the property and that's when human remains were discovered.
Sheriff Nocco said it was unknown how many people's remains were found on the property and the remains are now with the medical examiner's office.
Nocco said the human remains and admissions from Atwood led to the charge of first-degree homicide of John Doe. Sheriff Nocco said the name is John Doe because the remains haven't been identified yet.
"Those two poor little children. It's heartbreaking. We believe they may be on the property deceased, but we do not know that definitively, and we'll do everything we can to track them down. We pray to God they're alive somewhere, but at the same time, for that family, we need to find closure and we need to find justice," Sheriff Nocco added.
The sheriff stressed the missing persons case is still open and that it will remain open until everyone is accounted for in the investigation.
The Pasco County Sheriff's Office said it still needs the public's help with the case.
Anyone with information on their whereabouts is asked to call the Pasco Sheriff’s Non-Emergency Line at 727-847-8102, option 7, or report tips online at PascoSheriff.com/tips.
