In addition to the local law enforcement, BCI continues to have about 35 investigators, crime- scene technicians and analysts on the ground here. “My only guess, and I’m completely speculating, is that they’re not witnesses”.
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Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said in a news conference Sunday that the killing of seven adults and one teenage boy that took place at four different homes near Piketon on Friday was “a sophisticated operation”. He says the teen’s siblings – 19-year-old Hanna Rhoden and 20-year-old Clarence “Frankie” Rhoden – also were once students there.
In all, three children – a 4-day-old, a 6-month-old and a 3-year-old – were found unharmed at the scenes, officials said.
Authorities have refused to discuss many details of the crime, a potential motive, weapons, or the search for the assailant or assailants.
Apparently, it was Dewine’s wife Fran who tipped off investigators that the roosters may have been kept for cock-fighting purposes by a Rhoden family member. Autopsies on the victims are expected to be completed Monday, the newswire notes. “There’s still killers on the loose, or killer”.
Maggie Owens, 39, a cook at the town’s Riverside Restaurant, said: “I know a lot of people are just scared”. Cincinnati-area businessman Jeff Ruby also put up a $25,000 reward for information leading to the capture and conviction of the killer or killers.
“This was a pre-planned execution of eight individuals”, DeWine said.
“Whoever done it know’d the family because there were two dogs there that would eat you up, but I ain’t gonna say no more”, he said.
DeWine said that it is still not known whether one person or more than one person committed the crimes. The FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration are also offering assistance.
Donations to the Rhoden Family Memorial Fund can be made at any Fifth Third Bank. The murder investigation is still underway, as well as further investigations into the marijuana operation.
Revealing one possible clue in the case, officials said investigators had found three marijuana cultivation sites at one of the homes, but they declined to say whether the cannabis “grows” might be linked to the killings. He said it was one of the biggest operations he’s seen in the state.
According to CNN, Authorities have found marijuana growing in Pike County previously.
Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader said that he told the family to arm themselves because it was apparent that the victims were targeted, and he’s not sure if the rest of family is safe or not.
Manley said Monday that his family has enjoyed a good reputation in Piketon and nearby Peebles.
The calls were released a day after eight family members were found dead with gunshots to the head at four properties in rural southern Ohio.
There were 551 plants seized in the county previous year in Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation eradication efforts. The call was placed at 7:49 in the morning, which led to the caller eventually breaking down into tears as heard through one of the two recordings released last Saturday by the state attorney general’s office. She told dispatchers she’d come to feed animals and used a key to gain entry into the house in the 4000 block of Union Hill Road and “found them all dead”.
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Marijuana seizures are common in Pike County, where authorities said a 2012 seizure could be connected to a Mexican drug cartel.
