At the Dogwood Festival in downtown Piketon on Sunday afternoon, the crowd was smaller than usual, CBS News’ David Begnaud reported. She said they were in the same American government class at Piketon High, and they shared lunch and a study hall.
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Early reports stated that young children had been killed but authorities say that information was incorrect.
“What makes this particularly grisly is you have three children involved who were there when the executions took place”, he said. “Or what they’re capable of doing?” Eight members of the same family were killed. This was well planned.
Investigators are working “around the clock, 24 hours a day”, Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader said. CORRECTS FROM PIKETOWN TO PIKETON- Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader addresses the media, hesitating briefly before saying that his county is small and he knows the family, at a press conference in Piketon, .
“I think they’re both dead”, said the woman, later identified as Bobby Manley by TCincinnati Enquirer. “My only guess, and I’m completely speculating, is that they’re not witnesses”.
A killer or killers were still on the loose, and officials wouldn’t give many details on the investigation in fear of hindering search efforts, but they did say the killings were “pre-planned”.
The methodical nature of the murders, along with the fact that all eight victims were members of the same family, have led authorities to believe the killings were part of a carefully orchestrated attack.
Investigators have interviewed more than 50 people in hopes of finding leads in the deaths.
The victims are identified as Christopher Rhoden Sr.; his 16-year-old son, Christopher Rhoden Jr.; Kenneth Rhoden, 44; Gary Rhoden, 38; Dana Rhoden, 37; Clarence “Frankie” Rhoden, 20; Hannah Gilley, also 20; and Hanna Rhoden, 19.
“And those who carried it out were trying to do everything that they could do to hinder the investigation and their prosecution”, said Mike DeWine, Ohio Attorney General. The baby was four or five days old, authorities said.
Since the murders, authorities have refused to discuss many details of the crime, a potential motive, weapons, or the search for the assailant or assailants.
More than 100 members of law enforcement are now involved in what’s being called “a large scale investigation” as authorities search for whoever is responsible for the massacre of eight members of one OH family. Two of the four homes that became crime scenes Friday are within walking distance of each other along a remote, winding road leading into wooded hills from a rural highway. It was at a fourth location, about a 10-minute drive away, that a different family member found the eighth body.
The Rev. Phil Fulton knew some of the eight family members who were shot dead near his rural southern OH community this week. “Four crime scenes have been worked”, DeWine said.
“We don’t know if it was one or two” shooters, DeWine said.
The FBI in Cincinnati also said it was closely monitoring the situation and has offered assistance to the Pike County sheriff’s office if needed.
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Reading from the statement, Newman said the relatives would like to thank people for their prayers and support as authorities work to determine who targeted the clan on Friday and why. Investigators revealed that a mother was killed as her newborn baby lay beside her.
