Community holds candlelight vigil for presumed dead Florida family of four

PASCO COUNTY, Fla. – As the sun set at Veterans Memorial Park in Hudson, candles flickered for four lives: Rain Mancini, 26, Phillip Zilliot II, 25, and their children Karma Zilliot, 6, and Phillip Zilliot III, 5.

The family of four was not seen since last Wednesday.

The four are now considered dead.

“Eh, it’s hard. You know, I mean mainly the children,” said Richard Paquette. “Who kills children?”

Paquette worked on landscaping with Zilliot II, whom he described as a good and hardworking man.

According to authorities, the family of four was reported missing last week. After further searches, human remains were eventually found in a fire pit in the home of the man who has since been charged with first-degree murder. The man is 25-year-old Rory Atwood.

“I don’t know,” Paquette said. “I hope they have a special place in hell for him.”

According to court documents, an initial search of Atwood’s home turned up nothing suspicious, but Atwood then called a friend and asked for help burning the trash.

“A friend of Rory’s – it was about 2 a.m. – got a call from Rory who was really upset and said he had shot someone and was frantic,” Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said in an earlier press conference.

The friend noticed a pool of blood and was able to see the bodies of adults and children during the video call, court records show. On June 14, investigators returned to the home on Nottingham Trail in Hudson.

A Pasco County Sheriff’s Office cadaver dog removed items from a fire pit that appeared to be small skeletal remains, court documents show.

According to the documents, Atwood evicted the family from their home on June 1 for non-payment of rent. According to the documents, a few days later, an altercation involving guns and knives occurred.

“They should have gotten more help,” Paquette said Wednesday.

Paquette said he wished more people had been there to help the family before it was too late.

Although the four are presumed dead, Sheriff Nocco said his office continues to consider them missing because the coroner is still in the process of identifying the remains found.

According to court documents, suspect Atwood initially denied killing the family or burning their bodies, but eventually admitted that the bodies of all four family members were found in the fire pit on his property.