Unsettling Discovery in San Diego Neighborhood
This past Tuesday, a normally quiet area in San Diego was impacted by a shocking revelation involving a multi-agency task force that exhumed bodies in a residential setting, bringing to light a long-hidden mystery.
Federal and local law enforcement officials took action on Wednesday, executing a search warrant at a home in Southcrest after receiving information that a body might be concealed there.
The grim discovery occurred at a residence located on Newton Avenue. Initially, the California Highway Patrol (CHP), which stumbled upon the clues, collaborated with the FBI and the San Diego Police Department to search the property thoroughly.
Reports indicate that 74-year-old Dwight Rhone has been named a person of interest in this case. Rhone lived at the Newton address back in 2020, and his criminal history includes numerous arrests going back to 1978.
Interestingly, he’s also linked to the 2023 homicide of Bernardo Moreno, whose body and vehicle were set ablaze on State Route 5 and State Route 905. Rhone was apprehended by the San Diego Sheriff’s Office on February 26 in relation to that case and is currently detained at the San Diego Central Jail.
Charges against him include first-degree murder, attempted robbery, vehicle theft, and misappropriation of personal information. He’s set to appear in court on December 10.
Video footage showed investigators—some dressed in hazardous materials suits—digging into the yard and exploring crawl spaces to identify the remains they discovered.
When authorities arrived on Sunday night with their search warrant, the family living in the home—who had just moved in the previous year—was asked to vacate the premises and were provided funds for a hotel stay. Notably, the warrant concerned prior occupants, focusing specifically on the basement area.
The FBI, in a statement on December 2, mentioned that their Evidence Response Team had been instrumental in the collection and processing of evidence, utilizing forensic dogs in their efforts. Given that a body was found, the SDPD will take charge of the ongoing investigation.
Efforts are underway by the San Diego Medical Examiner’s Office to identify the remains and ascertain the circumstances surrounding the victim’s death. For now, details about the suspects in custody and the duration for which the bodies had been buried remain undisclosed by the authorities.
