A 25-year-old Florida man is facing murder charges after authorities found human remains on his property while searching for a missing family of four.
Police say 26-year-old Rain Mancini, 25-year-old Phillip Zilliot II, 6-year-old Karma Zilliot and 5-year-old Phillip Zilliot III were last seen Wednesday, June 12 at Rory Atwood's home in Hudson, about 40 miles northwest of Tampa.
Two days later, human remains were discovered on Atwood's property and he was taken into custody.
"This is still a missing persons case until the final resolution... but we were able to find human remains at the crime scene, and we believe it may be this family," Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said during a press conference.
According to Nocco, a friend picked up Mancini from her mother's home around 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday and they went to Atwood's house. The adults were drinking alcohol while Mancini's two children and Atwood's daughter were in the house, Nocco said.
"Per the friend, Rain, Phillip and Rory were all drinking alcohol, and they started arguing. Before leaving, Rain's friend hears someone say, 'The last time this happened, you pulled a gun on us,' referring to Rory," said Nocco.
Around 2 a.m., police say Atwood frantically called a friend and said he shot someone.
"That friend then calls another friend, who calls another friend, and we think possibly a fourth friend. None of the information came to us for another 12 hours," said Nocco.
Police said they didn't receive the tip that Atwood may have been involved in a murder until 2 p.m. on Thursday. Investigators went to search his 10-acre property, but initially didn't find anything.
When investigators returned to the home on Friday for a more extensive search, they discovered human remains.
Nocco said the case will remain an open missing persons investigation until the remains are positively identified by the medical examiner.
"I go back to those two poor little children. It's heartbreaking," he said. "We believe that they may be on the property deceased, but we do not know that definitively. And we will do everything we can to track them down. We pray to God they're alive somewhere."