What we know about the convicted felon linked to the investigation of human remains in Southcrest

SAN DIEGO — Residents of the Southcrest property where human remains were 
found told CBS 8 on Thursday the FBI allowed them to return home after 
forcing the tenants to leave earlier this week for a multi-day 
investigation. 

Human remains were found on the property after a search warrant was issued 
Tuesday. It is unclear if investigators found the remains of one or 
multiple people. CBS 8 reporters saw where investigators dug several holes 
in the yard and spent days under the house either in the basement or a 
crawl space. 

The District Attorney's Office soon named 74-year-old Dwight Rhone as a 
person of interest connected to the investigation on Wednesday. Rhone is 
already in jail and is suspected of having committed first-degree murder 
in 2023. It is unclear how the 2023 homicide case and the human remains 
are connected outside of Rhone.

Because the home sits within San Diego city limits, SDPD Cold Case/Missing 
Persons detectives — alongside the DA — have taken over the investigation 
into the circumstances surrounding the remains. Detectives are now working 
with the San Diego County Medical Examiner to identify the remains and 
determine the cause of death.

Rhone is not currently charged for any crimes connected to the remains 
found at the home. 

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Murder, torched body on SR-905 in Oct. 2023
CBS 8 confirmed through court records and familial connections that Rhone 
is a former resident of the Newton Ave. house and is a previously 
convicted felon with a long criminal history, including human smuggling, 
armed robbery and sodomy.

Rhone is currently in jail facing murder and attempted robbery charges 
from a 2023 incident in the South Bay. Rhone is accused of shooting a 54-
year-old man before setting him on fire on Interstate 5 near State Route 
905 in Oct. 2023. 

According to documents obtained by CBS 8, the 2023 altercation between 
Rhone and the victim started after the men's dogs got into an altercation 
and the victim, Bernardo Moreno, stabbed Rhone's dog to break up a dog 
fight. CHP officers found Moreno's burned body with a bullet hole at the 
back base of his skull on the freeway when they responded to calls of a 
brush fire on Oct. 18, 2023. Gasoline used as an accelerator was found 
pooling around Moreno's dead body, documents show. 

Rhone continued to drive Moreno's car around in the weeks following his 
death and also tried to use his stolen credit cards, but was unsuccessful.

San Diego Police arrested Rhone on Nov. 6, 2023, during a traffic stop. 
Rhone had swapped his own handicap plates onto Moreno's truck and was also 
unlawfully in possession of a firearm. He bailed out days later, but made 
calls to a friend and said he would "go to death row" for his dog. 

CBS 8 spoke with Moreno's former landlord in Southcrest, who said that he 
felt sad about Moreno's violent death, adding in Spanish that he could not 
believe that someone should die on account of a dog.

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When investigators went to the friend's house on Jan. 26, 2024, they 
learned Rhone had borrowed his gun around the time of the murder and 
returned it days later with two spent casings in the chamber. Rhone also 
sent his friend letters from jail and instructed his friend to hide 
Moreno's truck, which was being stored at the friend's home. Rhone said he 
"was involved in a certain incident on a felony scale." 

He was taken into federal custody and later was transferred to county 
jail.

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Credit: SDPD
Body cam still of Rhone's arrest in 2023
What we know about Rhone's history 
Rhone has been previously incarcerated for robberies dating back as far as 
1969. CBS 8 spoke with his nephew Davail Rhone who said his uncle was in 
an out of prison over the last several decades. 

While in prison, he sodomized a person and was ordered to register as a 
sex offender for the act. 

When CBS 8 asked about Rhone's personality, his nephew said his extensive 
criminal history speaks for itself. 

"You think he even knew what a personality was," he said. "You've seen his 
rap sheet, right? You've seen his rap sheet, that's his personality."

Border Patrol assault

CBS 8 obtained court records from civil, criminal and federal cases 
against Rohne that detail violence against federal law enforcement 
agencies and even his own former roommate from the Southcrest home. 

In April 2018, federal charges were filed against Rhone accusing him of 
assaulting U.S. Border Patrol agents. According to documents obtained by 
CBS 8, Rhone was a known human smuggler and had been arrested previously 
by Campo Border Patrol agents for smuggling. 

The assault charge in question stemmed from a March 2018 incident. Rhone 
was driving along Interstate 8 and was said to have held his middle finger 
up to the Border Patrol agents driving behind him before slamming on his 
brakes and slowing to five miles an hour before accelerating to 80 MPH 
after the agents subsequently slammed on their brakes to avoid hitting 
him. 

Agents caught up to him and pulled alongside him to see who was inside. 
That's when Rhone swerved into the agent's lane and forced the agents to 
swerve onto the shoulder. Agents said they believed Rhone was trying to 
hide something from them and repeatedly attempted to conduct a traffic 
stop. 

But Rhone would not pull over until the agents pulled in front of his car 
and forced him to stop. 

With his dog in the car, Rhone started screaming expletives at the agents 
and hitting them away as they tried to grab him out of the car. They 
eventually arrested him for assault on a federal officer, but the charges 
were reduced to a felony misdemeanor. 

Former roommate's restraining order 

Rhone also had some troubles at the Southcrest home at the epicenter of 
the investigation. CBS 8 uncovered a restraining order issued against 
Rhone by his sister-in-law and former roommate back in 2017. 

According to the sister-in-law Ernie Monia, Rhone was bringing people who 
appeared to be under the influence of drugs and alcohol to the home 
despite Monia saying they weren't allowed to have company in the home 
outside of family.

Monia said Rhone became so angry, he repeatedly hit the doorknob and broke 
it off. 

Rhone was also said to have a history of bullying Monia and threatening to 
hurt her if she didn't do what Rhone demanded. She said Rhone demanded 
money, use of Monia's daughter's car and verbally assaulted her. 

"I need this restraining order because I am afraid for my safety," the 
court documents read. "I have been unable to sleep for the last week. The 
stress and lack of sleep are detrimental to my health, as I am ill. 
[Rhone's] behavior is escalating and I am afraid he will become physically 
violent towards me." 

Shortly after the restraining order was granted, Rhone threatened Monia in 
a separate court hearing. The court admonished — or reprimanded him — for 
his threat. 

"If she doesn't give me my stuff, there's going to be an incident," he 
said in front of a judge. 

What's next
Rhone is expected to be in court for a readiness conference on the first-
degree murder charges on Dec. 10. 

Although investigators concluded their investigation at the home and have 
allowed the tenants to return, the family renting told CBS 8 they have no 
intention of staying and will only be returning to collect their 
belongings. 

They do not know where they will go, they said, but do not feel 
comfortable staying in the Southcrest home. 

Judith Santos Gonzalez, who has lived in the home for the last year with 
her mother, two sisters and five children, say investigators came to their 
home Sunday with the search warrant and told them to leave the home by 
Tuesday. Detectives gave them money for a hotel for the duration of the 
investigation. 

"It's very uncomfortable knowing that we lived there with family, with 
kids, we had kids living there, and knowing that they found human remains 
in the house," she said. "We don't feel comfortable being there anymore."

Santos Gonzales said they were already suspicious when law enforcement 
came to the home on Sunday. 

"Now that we think about it, these Sheriff's [deputies] would come to our 
house when we first moved in asking for a person we didn't even know 
about," Santos Gonzalez said. "We didn't even know anything about it. How 
are we gonna know that something happened here? We just didn't know, we 
didn't know anything."

CBS 8 reached out to the San Diego County Medical Examiner, and a 
spokesperson said they could not offer specifics on the case, but said the 
human remains are connected to a cold case. 

"The ME’s Office is also using a forensic archaeologist to help which 
suggests the remains are skeletal remains," Chuck Westerheide with the 
county said. "I would expect the timeline is at least several months, but 
likely longer."

Anyone with information is urged to contact the San Diego Police Homicide 
Unit at (619) 531-2293 or San Diego County Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-
8477.

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