This explains that the Rhoden family cemetary is in Kentucky. http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2016/04/27/rhoden-relative-a-man-cant-bear-it.html
LUCASVILLE, Ohio The Rhoden family cemetery lies deep inside Kentucky, a small but pretty plot of land where this hardworking Appalachian family has buried its kin for generations.
But only one week ago, as Tony Rhoden drove his 73-year-old mother to an appointment to see about this pesky foot that bothers her so, talk turned to death.
When her time comes, Geneva Rhoden told her son, dont bury her so far away. Find someplace closer to Pike and Adams and Scioto counties, which the latest generations of Rhodens call home.
They knew right away that Scioto Burial Park in nearby Rushtown would be perfect. But Tony worried.
I told her, Mom, I dont want you to be there by yourself, he said. As he recalled the story on Tuesday, the grief overtook him, and his big and strong laborers body folded in on itself. The sobs shook his body. Now Ive got five to go in there. Where do you start? What do you do? Im just lost.
>>> Pike County killings: Complete coverage
The five he spoke of: his younger brother, Christopher Rhoden Sr.; his niece, Hanna Rhoden; his two nephews, Clarence Frankie Rhoden and Christopher Rhoden Jr.; and Dana Rhoden, Chris Sr.s former wife and the childrens mother. They all soon will be buried side by side at Scioto.
Yet that isnt the end of this unspeakable tragedy that has rocked all of Pike County since Friday.
Another brother, 44-year-old Kenneth Rhoden, is dead, too. He will be buried at Mound Cemetery in Piketon beside a son taken by cancer. A cousin, 38-year-old Gary Rhoden, will have his funeral in South Shore, Kentucky.
The Botkin Hornback Funeral Home in Waverly is handling arrangements for Hannah Gilley, Frankies 20-year-old fiancee and mother of his 6-month-old son. No dates or times for any services have been set.
Such agony, Tony, 48, said simply, sitting down as a Rhoden family representative to speak with The Dispatch. I cant make sense of it all.
The eight family members were shot to death sometime between midnight Thursday and early Friday in their homes along Union Hill and West Left Fork roads in Piketon. Danas sister discovered the first of what would become four crime scenes just before 8 a.m. Friday when she went to feed the familys dogs and chickens.
>>> Photos: The victims
The Ohio attorney generals office and Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader have said the killings were well-planned, sophisticated and methodical, and that the Rhoden family was targeted. If investigators know why, they havent publicly said. No suspects have been named, and no one has been arrested.
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine has repeatedly said the victims were shot execution-style in the head, most while sleeping. On Tuesday, though, the coroners from Pike and Hamilton County (where the bodies were autopsied) said only one victim was shot once. The rest had multiple gunshots to the head and body. One victim was shot nine times, and two were shot five times. In addition, some had bruises.
The coroners report did not indicate which victim suffered what wounds.
The family was told privately of the findings not long before the report was made public.
You wake up, you break down. You talk to someone, you cry, Tony said. No one in the world can imagine going through this. No one.
Dan Tierney, spokesman for the attorney generals office, said the office had not seen the autopsy reports before they were released. Asked whether the findings change the way state investigators have described the killings as carefully planned executions Tierney said DeWine stands by those earlier statements.
Also Tuesday, DeWine said that 61 additional pieces of evidence have been submitted as high priority to the state crime labs (for a total of 79) and that additional search warrants have been executed.
>>> Pike County killings: The facts of the case
Authorities disclosed on Sunday that they uncovered marijuana grow sites at three of the four homes, as well as evidence that chickens were being bred for cockfighting. No one has said whether investigators think any of that has any relevance to the killings.
Tony, who doesnt live on those same Rhoden family properties, said he heard about the discovery of the marijuana operations but hasnt digested that yet.
I havent been able to bring myself to ask nobody, he said. I have to bury my family first. I cant do that yet.
A working family
The decks at some of the 300-plus permanent campsites at Big Bear Lake Family Resort in Lucasville look ripped from the pages of a magazine about mansions. They are multi-level and ornate, with octagonal roofs, fancy finials and intricate detail.
Chris Sr. worked for resort owner Robin Waddell at this and another campground for more than 20 years. When he worked, his hands infused love and pride into every board, Waddell said.
He was the most talented carpenter Id ever seen, Waddell said. And he was a great friend."
There were nine siblings in the Tony/Chris Sr./Kenneth Rhoden line. They are spread out in different places and states, but they stay in touch. And no one ever missed the family reunion each year.
Everyone was a hard worker, Tony said. Kenneth drove to Columbus to work every day, and Chris Sr. liked to fix up cars. Thats why Gary was staying in Piketon, to help him with them.
The fact that Dana, 37, and Chris Sr., 40, were still close, even after their divorce, and lived in different houses on the same property, says it all, Tony said.
Once youre in my family, youre in, he said. Were just that way.
The Rhoden kids
For Chris and Dana Rhoden's boys 20-year-old Frankie, a father of two, and Chris Jr., a 16-year-old high-school freshman hunting and fishing were favorite pastimes.
Frankie built and ran demolition-derby cars and was a big ol boy, stout as an ox, Tony said. He loved his coon dogs and his kids.
Waddell said both the boys were hard workers, as was their sister Hanna, the one in the family who kept everyone laughing. Hanna, 19, was such a hard worker that she stayed at her nursing home job until just two weeks ago, a few days before her daughterwas born, which was just four days before the killings.
Chris Sr. would come to work on a project at the resort and the kids would tag along. Chris Jr. told people he worked there, too, but he more often than not ended up with a fishing pole in his hand down at the lake.
When Tony speaks of Chris Jr., those soul-shaking sobs return. He chokes out his words.
"Hes just got his drivers license, you know? You remember how that feels? To get your license? Those kids had their whole lives ahead of em. Their whole lives. How do we get over that?
Family strength
The past five days have been unimaginable heartbreak. The unrelenting grief, the rumors, the stories that his relatives might have been wrapped up in ugliness and somehow brought death upon themselves. Figuring out how to pay for the funerals and burials of an entire family.
The weight of it all can be too much. And then Tony brings the conversation back to his mom.
In the kind of family so large that you have to tick off names on your fingers to make certain you dont miss anyone, there must always be a matriarch.
And Geneva Rhoden is it.
Tony said she has pulled this family together since Friday, and the strings of her iron will and resolve are all that are holding them up.
I just wanna hide, you know? he said. But Mom? I dont know where she gets her strength. I dont know how shes pulling the strength out of herself, but she does. I just cant. A man cant bear it.
A fund to help the family with funeral expenses has been established. Donations may be made to the Rhoden Family Fund at any Fifth Third Bank, or sent directly to the Roger W. Davis Funeral Home, 1310 3rd St., West Portsmouth, Ohio 45663.
Tips can be called in to authorities at 1-855-BCI-OHIO (224-6446) or 740-947-2111.
Dispatch Reporter Rita Price contributed to this story.
hzachariah@dispatch.com
