Authorities keep tight lid on Pike County murder probe
Details are scant. Revelations are few. Rumors and speculation abound.
Day 6 of the investigation into the mass shooting of seven Pike County family members and a fiancé didn't include the mapping of the path ahead for investigators, but details of the grisly scene and a general sense of the living arrangements of the slain Rhoden family members came into focus.
In a one-on-one interview with The Enquirer Wednesday afternoon, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said there was “calculation, design and prior thought” to the slayings of the Rhoden family, whose bodies were found Friday morning in several trailers where they lived in rural Pike County.
He declined, as he has since the start of this investigation, to offer specifics — including how many weapons were used, what possible motives existed or if investigators are close to narrowing their focus on what are large and complicated crime scenes.
Pike County murder records slowly released
Citing the victims, he pointed to the fact that “many of them" were shot in their bed as evidence of the killers' calculation.
“The essential fact when you kill eight people in one family at four separate locations, clearly this was planned out, particularly when they are in their bed,’’ he said in the 6-minute interview at the Pike County Sheriff’s Office.
An incident report released to The Enquirer Wednesday paints a bloody scene at at one trailer where deputies were called. They were first called to 4077 Union Hill Road at 7:51 a.m., according to the report, but were flagged down at a neighboring residence by a person saying there were two bodies there.
When deputies went inside 4077 Union Hill Road, the report said deputies noticed “a large amount of blood on the living room floor," and two dead men in a back bedroom lying “in close proximity of each other.” Deputies did not find anyone else in that trailer.
Family members have said that Bobby Jo Manley found Chris Rhoden Sr., 40, and his cousin, Gary Rhoden, 38, in one trailer. She also found the bodies of Clarence “Frankie” Rhoden, 20, and his girlfriend, Hannah Gilley, also 20.
Chris Rhoden Sr. and Gary Rhoden lived in one trailer on Oak Hill Road. And several hundred feet away from that trailer lived Frankie Rhoden and Hannah Gilley with their 6-month-old son, Ruger; and his 3-year-old son.
Expert: Pike pot link to Mexican cartels unlikely
Family members said James Manley found his sister Dana Rhoden, 37, dead in a trailer about 1 1/2 miles away, also on Union Hill Road. Leonard Manley, Dana Rhoden's father, said his daughter shared the trailer with her two youngest children, Hanna Rhoden, 19, and Chris Rhoden Jr., 16. Hanna Rhoden had just given birth to her second daughter five days before the killings.
Authorities have said they found three children alive at the scenes, including a 6-month-old boy; a 5-day old girl and a 3-year-old boy. The children were taken initially to a hospital; the two youngest subsequently were taken to Children and Protective Services, Leonard Manley has said. The older child is in the care of a relative.
Kenneth Rhoden, 44, the brother of Chris Rhoden Sr., was found shot to death in a home on East Folk Road later Friday. That home is about 3 to 5 miles from the scene of the other killings.
DeWine, as he has since the beginning of the case, declined to confirm where the victims were found or with whom they lived prior to their deaths. He again reiterated that authorities believe more than one killer is involved; but said authorities did not know exactly how many.
What we know: Pike County mass shooting
“We are not assuming it is one person,’’ he said during a midafternoon news conference.
The deliberate flow of information from the attorney general and Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader has a rhyme and reason, the two said Wednesday.
DeWine said he assumed the killer or killers were following news reports coming from the media and, therefore, he 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 during the news conference.
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Pike County Sheriff's Office have received hundreds of tips, DeWine said, but neither Reader or DeWine will "shoot down every rumor." The attorney general also cited the need to keep from "polluting" the thinking of witnesses as they continue to submit information to the authorities.
He emphasized that investigators have not homed in on a motive. He would not discuss if investigators think last week's killings were a drug-related hit. On Sunday, he said police had found three marijuana grow sites at the crime scenes, with more pot than would be used for personal use.
DeWine declined to say how long the investigation would take.
“It’s going to take however long it takes," he said. "We are going to find who did this. There’s no time limit on it. We are going to do this the right way.
"You never know at what point something will open up for us.”
During Wednesday's press conference, Reader said, "It's absolutely shocking, some of these scenes. It's not one you can simply go in, process and collect the evidence and call it a day."
Victim donation scam
DeWine and Reader sent a news release Wednesday evening warning sympathetic residents of a scam.
"The Pike County Sheriff's Office received information from a resident saying he received a call from a man indicating he was with the Sheriff's Office and was soliciting a donation to benefit the victims in the multiple murder case," the release read. "While Attorney General DeWine and Sheriff Reader are both appreciative of the generosity from the community, please note that these calls are not from the Sheriff's Office.
"Following tragedies and disasters, some scam artists may try to take advantage of potential donors," the release stated. "Those interested in making a donation should conduct basic research to ensure their donations will be used as intended, not pocketed by a scammer."
This man once got punched out by Pike County victim, and now mourns him
Pike County: Who are the victims
'Ain't got no revenge in our hearts,' Pike Co. family says
DeWine on motive: 'We just don’t know'
DeWine: 3 marijuana grow operations at shooting scenes
Graves: 'Only evil would do that'
Pastor looks to Bible, but 'there are no words'