Dwight Rhone’s family speak out after human remains found in home

The family of a 74-year-old man named a person of interest in connection with human remains found at a California home has spoken out about his past.

Authorities found human remains during a search of a residence on Newton Avenue in the Southcrest neighborhood of San Diego on Tuesday. The San Diego County District Attorney’s office said Dwight Rhone, who previously lived at the residence, was a person of interest in the investigation. He is already in custody, charged with the 2023 killing of Bernardo Moreno. 

Rhone’s older brother called him an “unsavory character” with a troubled past and history of drug use in an off-camera interview with local news station ABC10.

But his niece, Antoinette Rhone, has defended him, telling The New York Times he is a “good person” who supported her through high school and college.

Newsweek has contacted the San Diego Police Department for comment via email outside regular business hours.

Why It Matters

Authorities have not said how many people the remains found at the home belonged to or whether the case has any connection to the murder charge Rhone is already facing. Their names and cause of death also remain unknown.

But the discovery has prompted a multiagency investigation that could reexamine cold cases. It highlights ongoing concerns about unsolved deaths, the challenges of investigating cold cases and public safety.

What to Know

According to his brother, Rhone’s problems started young, when he was sent to a youth correctional facility. Court records show he experienced frequent assaults, sexual harassment by staff and indoctrination into prison culture while there, ABC10 reported.

His brother said Rhone learned construction skills by going to a jailhouse trade school and found work, but turned to crime after developing a drug problem.

“Dwight robbed my house like it wasn’t nothing, and I didn’t believe it, and I kept letting him come in,” he said.

The brother said the family allowed Rhone to stay at the house on Newton Avenue, which he said his wife owned and allowed relatives to live at over the years. 

Ernie Monia, who owned the Newton Avenue home and died in 2020, was granted an elder abuse restraining order against Rhone in 2017, according to The Times. Antoinette Rhone, Monia’s daughter and Rhone’s niece, told the newspaper that she believes her uncle was being unfairly smeared and deserves to be heard in court.

Rhone has a criminal history dating back at least four decades, and spent much of his life in and out of incarceration.

He is accused of killing Moreno and burning his body after their dogs got into a fight and Moreno stabbed Rhone’s dog, CBS 8 reported. He is charged with murder, attempted robbery, illegally taking and driving a vehicle and using someone else’s personal information in the case, a spokesman for the San Diego district attorney’s office told The Times.

The San Diego Police Department said the search was carried out after California Highway Patrol detectives “developed information leading investigators to suspect human remains were on the property.”

Investigators with the police department’s Cold Case/Missing Persons Unit and the district attorney’s office assisted CHP and the Federal Bureau of Investigation with the search. 

What People Are Saying

Suspect Dwight Rhone’s brother told ABC10: “Dwight’s not a savory character – he’s an unsavory character.”

Rhone’s niece Antoinette Rhone told The Times: “He took care of everything when I went to high school and college. He’s a good person. Whatever else is going on, I don’t know.”

What Happens Next

Rhone’s next court hearing in the murder case is set for later in December.

The police department’s Cold Case/Missing Persons detectives and the San Diego County District Attorney’s office are investigating the remains found at the Newton Avenue home.

Detectives will be working with the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office to identify the remains and the cause of death.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the San Diego Police Homicide Unit at 619-531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.