COLUMBUS, Ohio Marijuana growing operations were discovered at some of the crime scenes where officials said eight family members were killed in a pre-planned execution, raising more questions as authorities scrambled to find a suspect or suspects in the slayings in a rural southern Ohio community.
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The preliminary autopsy report shows all sustained fatal gunshot wounds to the body including the heat, torso and extremities.
They said none of the victims died from a suicide.He and Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader announced Sunday that investigators found three marijuana “grow operations” at some of the four Pike County scenes where eight members of the Rhoden family were found massacred.
Hopefully as this abhorrent shooting massacre investigation continues, more light will be shed on the logistics of this particular marijuana grow operation, and provide hints to USA law enforcement about how such a tragedy-if linked to the grows-might be prevented in the future.
Three of Manley’s grandchildren were also among the dead.
Investigators discovered about 1,200 marijuana plants – which were destroyed – and they also found evidence of two abandoned campsites they believe belonged to Mexican nationals.
The marijuana grow operations were not simply a few random plants in a field somewhere, the Columbus Dispatch reported from an interview with Pike County Prosecutor Rob Junk.
The two oldest victims – Christopher, Sr. and Kenneth Rhoden – were brothers.
“We have received over 100 tips, we have conducted over 50 to 60 interviews … over 100 personnel were involved in this investigation”.
Both Christopher Rhoden Jr. and another victim, Frankie Rhoden, 20, worked at Big Bear Lake Family Resort, according to Facebook pages, including “Remembering Frankie Rhoden”. An unknown shooter entered four different residences in the town-some within walking distance of each other-and shot the victims in the head while they slept.
“We’re not ruling anything in; we’re not ruling anything out”, DeWine said.
“This is not a plant in a window or six or seven plants in the backyard”, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine told a local radio station on Monday.
Dana and his father, Christopher Rhoden Sr., who were divorced, also were shot and killed.
At a news conference on Sunday, Attorney General Mike DeWine called the killings “a sophisticated operation”, and Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader said citizens should assume that those responsible are armed and unsafe.
The remoteness of the wooded countryside in Pike County, Ohio, makes it a ideal place for Mexican cartels trying to grow marijuana stateside. Some also had bruising, which matched a report from a 911 caller who said two appeared to have been beaten up.
Friends of Christopher Rhoden Jr., the youngest victim of the OH massacre, recalled a teen who “lit up a room” and was fiercely devoted to his family, NBC News reported.
Manley’s youngest child, Bobby Jo Manleyfound her sister dead when she went to feed the family’s dogs and chickens on Friday morning.Bobby Jo declined to discuss the crime scenes with the media.
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A Cincinnati-area businessman has offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of any suspect.
