Investigators found three marijuana “grow operations” at residences where eight family members were slain in southern OH, state Attorney General Mike DeWine said Sunday at a news conference.
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Authorities in Pike County, Ohio are still struggling to unravel a ugly mass shooting that took place Friday, when eight family members were shot to death at four different houses.
Authorities have identified the eight family members who were fatally shot in the head in rural southern Ohio. “There will be justice”, said Dewine.
Investigators said that none of the deaths appeared self-inflicted and that they believed at least one assailant remained at large, considered armed and unsafe. It could be one, two, three, four.
Investigators on Monday released a chart showing how the victims were related.
The Butler County Sheriff’s Office has sent help to Pike County in the wake of the calculated killings of eight people in the rural community.
“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. “They know we’re available”, he said, also saying he told the Rhoden family to arm themselves if they felt fearful. Oftentimes, the victim is put on his or her knees.
COLUMBUS, Ohio Four days after the calculated killings of eight people in rural Ohio, a prosecutor revealed Monday that marijuana was found at some of the crime scenes, including a grow-house sheltering hundreds of plants.
As the weekend that began with horror and uncertainty waned Sunday evening in Pike County, authorities released little information about who might have killed eight members of the Rhoden family, or why.Seven of the autopsies were complete, and the eighth was expected to be finished Monday.He did say law-enforcement officers still have those crime scenes secured and continue to go through wooded areas around them, to make sure nothing has been missed.
DeWine called the killings a “sophisticated operation”. He stated in a press conference that the state’s crime lab is looking at 18 pieces of evidences and as follow up operations heightens five search warrants have been executed, as reported by AP. Where are the children now? State authorities are now caring for the survivors. Enlarge via Facebook Dana Rhoden, 38.
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. Burkitt describes Christopher Rhoden Jr.as someone who was loyal to his friends and family.
No suspect or suspects have been apprehended. More than 100 tips were given to investigators, and a Cincinnati-area businessman offered a $25,000 reward for details leading to those responsible. If that finding holds up, he said, it would mean at least one suspect remains on the loose.
She said, “It’s a very active and ongoing investigation”.
Investigators have not publicly identified a possible motive in the massacre. – Dana Rhoden – and their three children – Hanna, Christopher, Jr. and Clarence “Frankie” Rhoden – were among the victims.
An eighth body was found at a separate location.
The first call came from a woman named Bobby at 7:49 a.m. Friday. Authorities later also found victims nearby at 4199 Union Hill Rd., 3122 Union Hill Road. “And if any citizen of this county feels that they are in jeopardy or serious physical harm or death then they can take those same measures”. The men were found lying on the floor in the back bedrooms.
According to the caller, she had used her own key to enter the home. The third residence is more than a mile away. “Today is the first day I’ve heard of that”, he told NBC News.
Each plant could produce about one pound of marijuana.
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It has not been indicated by authorities that there is any connection between te incident in 2012 and the operations found on the Rhoden properties. The county is classified by the Appalachian Regional Commission as “distressed” and the unemployment rate is among the highest in the state, according to the county website. Sheriff Reader says more than two dozen people have already been interviewed in the investigation.
