Moved this into the Pyrrha forum. :)
As far as Pyrrha goes, we don't know too much about her yet. And I haven't read this article you mention, so I'm not sure about her wandering. Pyrrha got kidnapped, but we're not sure what exactly happened to her after that. She very well could have returned home in the past 17 years, and in the SC universe, the omega symbol on the shield could just be a regional thing. She also could have bumped into Cassandra.
Not having someone to call her family doesn't necessarily mean that she hasn't come into contact with them though. Just that she hasn't really developed a close relation with anyone that she can really call them their family. Considering how early it is, and with such little info, their could have been plenty of ways for her to get a hold of all that stuff.
But that's just my opinion. :P