Boy Snatched from Quadruple Homicide Scene Returned to Family

While the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office isn’t saying much about the ongoing investigation into a quadruple homicide in Hudson, it has announced that the 4-year-old boy whose disappearance from the grisly scene led to a manhunt has been safely returned to family.

Sheriff’s spokeswoman Melanie Snow said the office won’t elaborate on the boy’s location or which family member now has custody.

A hunt for Tristan was launched Thursday after deputies conducted a welfare check at his 7719 Hatteras Drive home. Tristan’s mother, Megan Brown, called deputies out to the address on Aug. 28 following an altercation with her ex-boyfriend Adam Matos. She told the officer, Matos, 28, held a knife to her throat and threatened to kill her.

Deputies returned to the home Thursday when someone called to say no one from the address had been heard from in several days. When deputies arrived at the home, they were drawn to a foul odor on a hill near the home. There they found four decomposing bodies, but Tristian was not among them.

A search for Tristan and Matos, the boy’s biological father, was launched and an AMBER Alert was issued. Matos and the boy were later found in downtown Tampa’s Floridan hotel. Matos was subsequently charged with the Aug. 28 aggravated assault. He is currently being held in the Pasco County Jail in Land O’ Lakes on that charge as the murder investigation continues.

The victims of the slaying have been identified as:

• Megan Brown, 27, the boy’s mother
• Nicholas Leonard, 37, Megan Brown’s boyfriend
• Margaret Brown, 52, Megan Brown’s mother
• Gregory Brown, 52, Megan Brown’s father

Leonard’s family spoke out about their loss on Monday and thanked the sheriff’s office and Pasco residents for their support.

Speaking on behalf of the family, Deputy Michael Shoup, who dates Leonard’s sister, said he was a good man who was caring and goofy, according to The Tampa Tribune.

Leonard was “always with a grin or some kind of goofy face or funny face,” the paper quoted Shoup as saying.

At this time, the sheriff’s office says it is making no additional statements on the case, nor is it granting interviews, pending additional charges.

Photo Credit: Ismael “Tristan” Santisteban and Megan Brown/Photo courtesy of the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office