Authorities in this struggling corner of Appalachia were dealing with what turned out to be one of the worst mass killings in OH history: Eight family members were shot to death at four homes scattered across a few miles of countryside in what investigators have portrayed as a meticulously planned “execution”.
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A coroner said seven members of the Rhoden family were shot multiple times, and one had nine gunshot wounds.
Investigators have interviewed more than 50 people, but no arrests have been made. Glawe reported that even contributions to help pay for the Rhoden family burials have “all but stopped” as information about their marijuana-growing operations (found at three of the murder sites) has percolated among the close-knit community in southern Ohio. “I would be. Considering”, she said.
“I fear for my life”, a Rhoden family member told a 911 operator “a couple of days” after eight members of the family were found shot to death in Pike County, Ohio.
Relatives of the victims said they were surprised by the marijuana.
DeWine said Tuesday that investigators have received more than 300 tips and are still serving search warrants. Some neighbors say they had heard rumors.
Well-known restaurant owner Jeffy Ruby has withdrawn his offer for a $25,000 reward for information in the brutal murder of eight members of an OH family.
The others were 40-year-old Christopher Rhoden; his ex-wife, 37-year-old Dana Rhoden; their three children, including Frankie, 16-year-old Christopher Jr., and 19-year-old Hanna; Christopher Rhoden Sr.’s brother, 44-year-old Kenneth Rhoden; their cousin, 38-year-old Gary Rhoden.
“Do we still want those people on the loose?”
Hannah Gilley, 20, Clarence Rhoden’s girlfriend and mother of a 6-month-old boy who survived, will be buried Saturday in Waverly, Ohio, according to a third funeral home. She described Dana Rhoden as a woman with “a heart of gold” who gave her clothes and money when her home burned down previous year.
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“As much as we would like to share information with you and the public, we have no intention in doing anything that will jeopardize this case”, DeWine said during the news conference. “Whoever done this knows the family, because there were two dogs there that would eat you up”. Multiple people, including Rhoden, were found dead Friday at several properties near Piketon, Ohio.
