NEWS

2 weeks after eight Pike County killings, what's not known

Keith BieryGolick, and Sara Nealeigh
Chillicothe Gazette
Family and friends of the Rhodens and Gilleys make an "R" shape out of candles on the ground during a vigil Friday, April 29, 2016, at the Pike County Fairgrounds.

It's been two weeks since eight people were found shot to death in rural southern Ohio.

National and international media have mostly left Pike County. But that doesn't mean its residents are any closer to answers about the deaths of the Rhoden family.

Here are some of the biggest unanswered questions:

Pike County murder records released slowly

Where are the search warrants?

The Ohio Attorney General's Office says more than 100 items of evidence have been collected and sent to a laboratory for DNA, ballistics and other analysis.

What exactly are those items? Beyond several vehicles towed away from Rhoden family property on Tuesday, it is anyone's guess.

Five search warrants have been served in connection with the investigation, authorities have said. Four of the locations include where the bodies were found, but the fifth location has not yet been disclosed.

Only two search warrants have been returned and filed with the Pike County Clerk of Court's Office. Both have been sealed.

The search warrants are not public record until they have been filed, and are not available once they have been sealed.

According to the Pike County Clerk of Court's office, the most recent search warrant was filed Thursday, and the first returned April 27. Even the motion and order to seal the search warrants have been sealed.

Dan Tierney, a spokesman for the Attorney General's Office, previously told Gannett Ohio that search warrants had not been filed because the crime scenes were still active. However, an earlier news release from the Attorney General's Office issued April 23 said work at each of the crime scenes was completed.

The county clerk's office said she expects the rest of the search warrants will be sealed, along with the motion and order to seal them.

Ohio AG's office: Vehicles towed 'part of investigation' in Pike Co.

What was the motive?

Ohio State Attorney General Mike DeWine hesitates before answering a question about the scene of the crime during a press conference in Piketown, Ohio, on Friday, April 22, 2016. Officials arrived to multiple homes on Union Hill where eight members of the Rhoden family were found dead, victim of gun shot wounds in what was described as "execution style" shootings.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine told The Enquirer last month investigators are not approaching the case “with a grand theory” about what might have happened. Instead, he said, they are looking at each piece of evidence "without any preconceived notions.”

If authorities know, they aren't saying.

“That’s the way you end up solving these crimes,” DeWine said.

Killed were Christopher Rhoden Sr., 40, and his ex-wife Dana Rhoden, 37 with whom he had reconciled; the couple's three children, Clarence "Frankie" Rhoden, 20, Hanna Rhoden, 19, and Christopher Rhoden Jr., 16; Frankie's fiancee, Hannah Gilley, 20; Christopher Rhoden Sr.'s brother Kenneth Rhoden, 44, and his cousin Gary Rhoden, 38.

DeWine has since refused to comment on rumors and speculation about a possible motive, saying he doesn't want to taint the investigation or potentially stop someone in the public from coming forward with information.

In a press conference on April 27, DeWine refused to answer 14 questions, answered seven questions and gave partial answers to eight more.

This hasn't stopped the speculation.

An expert told The Chillicothe Gazette a link to cartels in Pike County was unlikely. That didn't matter, especially after Cincinnati restaurateur Jeff Ruby withdrew his $25,000 reward for information leading to a conviction in the case.
It's run wild ever since DeWine said April 24 authorities had found multiple commercial marijuana-growing operations at the crime scenes. The fact Mexican cartels have been linked to Pike County in the past only fueled the rumor mill. Then, DeWine said there was evidence of cockfighting at the crime scenes.

Ruby has refused to talk about his decision but tweeted concerns about potential cartel involvement putting his family in danger.

Cartel concerns behind Jeff Ruby's withdrawal of $25K reward

Who is the suspect or suspects?

Whoever did this, he or she or they is still at large.

No suspects in the investigation, if any exist, have been named publicly. Someone Ross County Sheriff George Lavender called a "person of interest" was questioned in Chillicothe last month, but was never named as such by the Pike County Sheriff or the Attorney General's Office.

Several days ago, authorities said the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Pike County investigators had conducted 128 witness interviews and witness contacts as part of the ongoing investigation.

DeWine said April 27 authorities do not want to do anything to jeopardize the case or give any indication of where the investigation is going, because the killer or killers are likely following media reports.

In rural Ohio, a call to 'arm yourself'

How much is this investigation costing? 

 

An aerial view of one of the locations in which eight people died in an "execution-style" killing Friday, April 22, 2016, in Piketon, Ohio.

It can't be cheap.

As of Monday, the last time the Attorney General's Office provided an update on the investigation, more than 450 tips had been received from the public. Authorities say they are investigating every single one of those.

In addition, sheriff's deputies from Pike and other surrounding counties have been stationed near the crime scenes for more than two weeks. The scenes have still not been released back to the the Rhoden family.

Investigators from Ohio's Bureau of Criminal Investigation also set up a command center at the Piketon Municipal Building before moving to a location in Waverly.

But how much all of this costs is "difficult to tabulate," according to Tierney.

Requests for comment on how much the investigation has cost the sheriff's office and Pike County were not immediately returned by the Pike County auditor.

Expert: Pike pot link to Mexican cartels unlikely

The Bureau of Criminal Investigation works under the direction of the Attorney General's Office. Therefore, Tierney told The Enquirer, there are no "bills" to add up for investigators or lab work because it is done "in house."

Last month, the AG's Office said more than 215 law enforcement officials have contributed to the investigation.

The easiest thing to add up would be outside vendor costs, Tierney said, but he refused to say whether or not the AG's Office had inccured any of those expenses because he said it could give away investigative techniques in the case. "In general, we tend not to look at investigative costs by case simply because it's not like our lab people do billable hours," he said. "We don't anticipate a horrible tragedy like what happened in Pike County, but we do anticipate having to work on different cases throughout the year. That stuff is budgeted for so when Piketon happened, we didn't have to go out and hire investigators and hire laboratory workers."

Anyone with information about the case can call 855-BCI-OHIO (224-6446) or 740-947-2111. 

Click here for a closer look at the Pike County killings.