Pasco deputies find remains, still searching for missing family of 4

Zachary T. Sampson, Ivy Nyayieka, Tampa Bay Times
Updated ·2 min read

Pasco deputies say they found human remains on a property in Hudson and made an arrest as they continue searching for a family of four missing since early Thursday morning.

“We do not know who those human remains are at this time,” Sheriff Chris Nocco said at a news conference Saturday afternoon. But investigtors fear the missing family is dead.

“The missing person case will remain open until everyone is identified,” Nocco said.

Deputies have been searching for Rain Mancini, 26; Phillip Zilliot II, 25; 6-year-old Karma Zilliot; and 5-year-old Phillip Zilliot III.

Rory Atwood, 25, faces a first-degree murder charge in connection with the case, Nocco said. Atwood lives on the property on Nottingham Trail where the remains were found, according to the Pasco Sheriff’s Office. For now, the sheriff said, Atwood is accused in the murder of John Doe.

Nocco described a confusing case that deputies were still trying to understand late Saturday.

Mancini and the elder Zilliot were drinking with Atwood at the home Wednesday night, the sheriff said. Their children were there, as was Atwood’s daughter and a friend of Mancini.

According to Nocco, Mancini’s friend said the couple and Atwood argued. Before leaving, the friend reportedly heard someone mention that Atwood had pulled a gun on them previously.

About 2 a.m. Thursday, Nocco said, Atwood called one of his friends and sounded frantic, saying he had shot somebody. Later Thursday morning, investigators said, he dropped off his daughter with the child’s mother.

The sheriff’s office did not hear about any trouble until Thursday afternoon when a tipster reported that Atwood might have killed somebody, according to Nocco. Deputies began investigating and walked around the property but found nothing suspicious, he said.

On Friday, authorities learned that relatives had not heard from Mancini, Zilliot and the kids. The sheriff described the family as having moved from place to place, without stable housing, and he said at some point they might have lived with Atwood. Deputies searched the property again with dogs and found the remains, which they turned over to the medical examiner’s office for identification, Nocco said.

Investigators were continuing to comb the approximately 10-acre site Saturday, said Pasco Sgt. Michael Rosa.

Authorities did not immediately release further details about the case. They asked anyone with information about what happened to call the sheriff’s office at 727-847-8102, option 7, or report tips at PascoSheriff.com/tips.