What we know: Pike County mass shooting
UPDATED: Wednesday, April 27, 4:30 p.m.
There remain more questions than answers surrounding Friday's mass shooting in Pike County.
Here is what we know so far (will be updated as new information arrives):
Timeline
7:53 a.m., Friday: The Pike County Sheriff’s Office is called to 4077 Union Hill Road. The caller says there is a lot of blood and two male victims.
As deputies are responding, they are flagged down and told about two more addresses, 4199 and 3122 Union Hill Road. In all, seven victims, all adults, are found dead in the three homes.
1:36 p.m., Friday: Attorney General Mike DeWine sends out a news release stating that at least seven people were murdered in “execution-style killings.” DeWine says it is not an active-shooter situation. However, investigators are still trying to determine if the killer – or killers – is among the victims or on the loose.
Unspecified time, Friday afternoon: Officials are alerted to a fourth crime scene on Left Fork Road, where an eighth victim, a male, is found.
4:15 p.m., Friday: DeWine and Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader host a press conference. They confirm seven adults and a 16-year-old boy are dead. All were shot in the head execution style. Many were in bed at the time.
Only three children survived – a now 5-day-old, a 6-month-old and a 3-year-old.
DeWine said evidence from the crime scenes suggested none of the dead committed suicide. If that finding holds up, he said, it would mean at least one suspect remains on the loose.
“So obviously we have one person … who is armed and dangerous,” DeWine said. “And there may be more than one. There may be two. There may be three. We just don’t know at this point.”
“We’re treating this as a mass murder,” Reader said. “This is not something you prepare for.”
SATURDAY
11:30 a.m.: The Attorney General, via press release, said the shootings are still under investigation and no arrests had been made.
DeWine said he spoke with Ohio Gov. John Kasich Saturday morning to update him on the investigation.
12 p.m.: The AG's office said the Hamilton County Coroner's Office will be performing autopsies on the eight victims Saturday.
12:50 p.m.: Kimberly Newman, a member of the Ohio Crisis Response Team, read a short statement on behalf of the Rhoden family.
"The Rhoden family would like to thank everyone for all the outpouring for prayers and support for their family," she read. "They ask that you continue to keep them in your prayers. They'd like to thank all law enforcement from Pike County and all surrounding counties for their immediate response, especially to Sheriff Charlie Reader for all his hard work."
Newman also thanked Ohio Attorney General's Office and the Bureau of Criminal Investigations, as well as the first responders and victim advocates. She encouraged anyone with information about the shootings to contact law enforcement at 855-BCI-OHIO.
2 p.m.: Cincinnati-area restaurateur Jeff Ruby offered a $25,000 reward for any information about the Pike County shootings that would lead to an arrest and conviction. Ruby announced his reward on Twitter and a release quickly followed from the Attorney General's Office.
Jeff Ruby offers $25K for arrest of Pike Co. mass shooter
3 p.m.: The Attorney General's Office released audio from two 911 calls that came to dispatchers after the discovery of the mass shooting scene in Pike County Friday morning.
A partial transcription of the initial call -
“I think my brother-in-law is dead,” said a distraught caller speaking with a female 911 operator while gasping for breath. She said two men, Chris Rhoden and Gary Rhoden, at 4077 Union Hill Road appear to be dead.
“There’s blood all over the house. My brother-in-law is in the bedroom and it looks like someone has beat the hell out of him,” she said.
The call was placed at 7:49 a.m. Friday morning. The woman had driven to the house and discovered the horrifying scene.
“I think they are both dead,” she said.
A partial transcription of another 911 call -
“I need a deputy to come out to close to 799 Left Fork. It’s all that stuff that’s on the news. I just found my cousin with a gunshot wound,” a male caller said. He identified the man with a gunshot wound as Kenneth Rhoden.
When asked if Kenneth Rhoden was alive, the male caller just said, “No. no.” The call came in at 1:26 p.m. Friday.
“I just went in hollering at him, and checked if he was alright, and I looked up at him and he had a gunshot wound,” the man said.
5:35 p.m.: The Attorney General's Office Saturday evening released the names of the victims of Friday morning's mass shooting in Pike County.
The deceased are: Hannah Gilley, Christopher, Rhoden, Sr., Christopher Rhoden, Jr., Clarence "Frankie" Rhoden, Dana Rhoden, Gary Rhoden, Hanna Rhoden and Kenneth Rhoden.
The Attorney General's Office announced that work at each of the four crime scenes has been completed.
SUNDAY
11:55 a.m: Gov. John Kasich Sunday morning called the slaying of eight family members in Pike County "a horrible set of murders."
Kasich says he's been getting updates on the case as he is campaigning out of state for the Republican presidential nomination.
The governor told CBS in an interview Saturday that he is confident the perpetrators would be found and "justice will be delivered to them."
Attorney General Mike DeWine's office said Saturday that work at each of the crime scenes has been completed, and investigators are pursuing leads and processing evidence.
5:30 p.m.: After calling a press conference, Attorney General Mike DeWine and Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader had very little to reveal about the investigation into the Pike County mass killings during a Sunday evening press conference, but did say authorities found three marijuana grow operations at the scenes of the crime.
Reader indicated teams of law enforcement were in the woods near the crime scenes looking for evidence. Reader and DeWine would not comment on if the crimes were drug-related, but reiterated the shootings were planned and specifically targeted the Rhoden family.
Evidence found during searches around the Rhoden residences would be sent to the state crime lab, where 18 other pieces of evidence from the scenes are being analyzed, DeWine said.
Authorities have conducted 50 to 60 interviews and executed five search warrants since the scene was discovered Friday morning, DeWine said.
Reader and DeWine refused to release many more details to the public in an attempt to keep the "bad guys" from knowing the information in the possession of investigators.
After questions of public safety, Reader told residents of Pike County to arm themselves if they feared for their family's safety.
MONDAY
Morning: Attorney General Mike DeWine and Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader appeared on the Today Show to discuss the discovery of marijuana grow operations found at three of the crime scenes, though their exact locations were not released. When asked about a possible motive, officials deferred to speculation. “Well, you know, I think we can speculate what the motive was, we can talk about revenge, we can talk about how drug related, but frankly we just don’t know,” DeWine told the Today Show.
Morning: Students and staff of Piketon High School tried to make the first day back to school as normal as possible, while offering resources to students and employees. Christopher Rhoden Jr. was a 16-year-old student at Piketon. The school brought in extra counselors from area schools for staff and students.
Afternoon: In another media interview, DeWine said he saw evidence of cockfighting at the scene. The one thing I saw were chickens out there. These would be cockfighting chickens,” he said explaining his wife, Fran DeWine, could identify the types of coops used for fighting chickens from the aerial views of the scene shown on television.
In a press release, DeWine also announced:
• All eight autopsies have been completed.
• Search warrants have not yet been filed with the court.
• Roadblocks leading to the crime scenes will remain in place until the scenes are released by law enforcement.
Afternoon: Leonard Manley, father of victim Dana Rhoden, tells The Enquirer's Chris Graves he sees a guilt by association forming in speculation about the case. He is fierce in his defense of his daughter, who was 37, and wants to clear the air. “They are trying to drag my daughter through the mud and I don’t appreciate that,"
TUESDAY
12:30 p.m.: Hamilton County Coroner Lakshmi Sammarco announced one Pike County victim had nine gunshot wounds, two victims each had five gunshot wounds, another victim had four gunshot wounds, two had three gunshot wounds, one suffered two gunshot wounds and one had a single gunshot wound.
The release did not identify the victims. The coroner also said some of the victims suffered soft tissue bruising, but all died from the gunshot wounds.
The release stated that no more information would be provided at this time, but indicated the investigation is ongoing.
12:45 p.m.: Sixty-one additional pieces of evidence have been sent to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation crime laboratory for further analysis, the Ohio Attorney General's Office said in a release Tuesday afternoon.
The new evidence brings the total to 79 pieces of evidence with 18 "high-priority" pieces submitted for testing.
The release stated additional search warrants were served Monday in connection with the investigation, but authorities will not release the number of warrants or the locations.
According to the AG's office, more than 300 tips have been submitted to BCI and the Pike County Sheriff's Office. All are being investigated.
To date, more than 215 law enforcement officials have contributed to the investigation.
WEDNESDAY
9:30 a.m.: According to Attorney General Mike DeWine's office, the command center for the homicide investigation has relocated to 9329 St. Rt. 220, Waverly, Ohio.
12 p.m.: For the first time since the crime tape went up, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine is scheduled to tour the scenes of Friday's mass shooting that left seven family members and a fiancée dead.
A spokesperson with the Attorney General said DeWine arrived Wednesday morning to take in the crime scenes and observe the work investigators have completed on Union Hill Road in Pike County.
3 p.m.: Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader declined to answer or gave generalized answers to the majority of the questions posed at a Wednesday afternoon press conference in Waverly regarding the Friday mass killing of a family in Pike County.
DeWine said he assumed the killer or killers were following news reports coming from the media and, therefore, did not want to provide them with any indication of where the investigation was going.
"As much as we would like to share information with you and the public, we have no intention in doing anything that will jeopardize this case," DeWine said.
The attorney general also cited the need to keep from "polluting (the) thinking of" witnesses as they continue to submit information to the authorities.
"Our priority is to get convictions," DeWine said.
The Rhoden family
Victims of the mass shooting were all related.
Christopher Rhoden, Jr. - 16 years old
The Piketon High School freshman had recently got his driver’s license. Christopher lived with his mother, Dana Rhoden, according to court records.
Dana and his father, Christopher Rhoden, Sr., who were divorced, were also shot and killed.
Hanna Rhoden - 19 years old
She worked at a nursing home but had recently taken maternity leave. She was shot to death as she slept with her days-old infant daughter nearby. Hanna also had a 2-year-old daughter who was not at the crime scene. That child was with another family member and remains with that family member.
Hanna began working at the Lucasville, Ohio nursing home in January as a certified nursing assistant, according to her Facebook page.
Hannah Gilley - 20 years old
She was engaged to Clarence “Frankie” Rhoden, whom she described as the "love of my life" on her Facebook page. Both were shot and killed.
The couple had a 6-month old son. Clarence Rhoden also had a 3-year-old son from another relationship, according to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.
Hannah attended Northwest High School in nearby McDermott, Ohio, according to her Facebook page. She described herself as “self-employed.”
larence “Frankie” Rhoden - 20 years old
The father of two children drove in demolition derbies, even competing in out-of-state events. Numerous people in the demolition derby community took to Facebook to share their condolences. He worked at a sawmill, according to his grandfather, and previously attended Piketon High School.
Dana Rhoden - 37 years old
She married Christopher Rhoden, Sr. on Oct. 27, 1994 in nearby Adams County. They had 3 children. They divorced in 2007 because of "irreconcilable differences," according to court records.
After the divorce, the parents shared custody of their three children. Two of the children lived with Dana, according to court records.
She worked at a nursing home in Peebles, Ohio. She had worked there since October. She was a “kind and caring worker,” said Matthew Smith, an administrator there.
On Thursday, the day before she was killed, Smith said Dana worked a double shift.
Gary Rhoden - 38 years old
He was a cousin of Christopher Rhoden, Sr.
Christopher Rhoden, Sr. - 40 years old
Ex-husband to Dana and father to Chrisopher Jr., Hanna and Clarence. He and his wife divorced in 2007. Clarence lived with him, according to court records.
He had worked construction jobs at Big Bear Resort in Lucasville, according to a family member.
Kenneth Rhoden - 44 years old
He and his ex-wife had two children. They married in Waverly, Ohio on May 17, 1991. They divorced in 2006 because they were incompatible with each other, according to court records.
The children are now 19 and 23.
He previously worked for the Crownover Lumber Company in Peebles, Ohio.
Three small children, a now 5-day-old, a 6-month-old and a 3-year-old survived the shootings. The Pike County Sheriff's Office and the Ohio Attorney General's Office have not said who is currently caring for the children.
Tips
Authorities are urging anyone with information that could help to call 855-BCI-OHIO.
Funeral arrangements
Crockett L. Reed Funeral Home in South Shore, Kentucky announced funeral arrangements for Gary Rhoden via its website.
Services will be conducted 12 p.m. Thursday at the funeral home, 258 Biggs Lane, South Shore, Kentucky. Burial will be at the Miller Cemetery in South Shore. Visitation will be from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home and one hour before services Thursday.
Condolences can be made at clrfuneralhome.com.
Roger W. Davis Funeral Home in West Portsmouth confirmed it will be handling the arrangements of the other slain members of the Rhoden family.
Funeral services will be 12 p.m. on Tuesday, May 3, at Dry Run Church of Christ in West Portsmouth. The address is 22336 OH-73, West Portsmouth, Ohio.
Visitation will be on Monday, May 2 from 12 Noon until 8 p.m. at the Roger W. Davis Funeral Home in West Portsmouth. The address is 1310 3rd Street, West Portsmouth, Ohio.
Hannah Gilley's funeral services will be held 2 p.m. Saturday at Botkin Hornback Funeral Home in Otway. Burial will follow in Hackworth Hill Cemetery. Visitation will be at the funeral home from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Saturday.
No other announcements have been made.