OH - Pike County: 8 people from one family dead as police hunt for killer(s) #1

[strawberry]

She's only recently turned 19, so as she has a three year old, she must have been only 15 or 16 when that child was born. That can't have been easy.

I know ... She's my daughters age..she's finishing her freshman year in college. This seems like a whole different world .

 

[MirnaMinkoff]

I keep going back to the rumors that the family was involved in dog and fighting (I feel it's far more than rumors since the 911 call came from a lady who stopped by in the mornings to feed the chickens and dogs. Chickens I can understand, but dogs? Dogs are usually pets but these "dogs" are being treated like livestock, the way fighters/breeders keep dogs) People involved in dog fighting are usually involved in drug stuff too. The illegal underground worlds are intertwined to say the least. If these dogs were pets they would have been defending the home when the family was attacked, but they weren't pets and they were kept in pens outback and their barking was probably constant so useless for an alarm or warning.

But I think there is little doubt the killer(s) were well known to the family, there's no way someone knows that much about the houses and where these specific people live without being well acquainted with them.

I keep thinking there may have been a confidential informant situation or paranoia that there was a CI in the family. There have been many stupid killings because someone thinks someone else is a "narc" and that their information or cooperation with LE will result in a long prison sentence and that leads someone to kill people to prevent it. (Oh the tragic irony) If you read all the local topix boards in the region you can read endless threats towards CI's and the hatred the mere rumor of one stirs up among the druggies.

Other than a CI rumor/paranoia, you have the typical motives - drugs/money and domestic issues. There were a lot of various babies with different fathers and guys dating women who had children with other men - that's a powder keg when you throw in young minds, too much testosterone, drugs/alcohol. However, the killings seem pretty methodical, but sometimes a furious jealous ex can act that way. But the methodical nature makes me lean more towards this involving something to do with criminal activity - whether it was drugs or dog fighting or both. (Keep in mind anyone involved in an activity that literally violently tortures animals to death for "sport" and entertainment is going to have some very unsavory, violent people involved in it. I would not want to be 1000 yards near anyone who could watch an animal suffer for entertainment, they are psychopaths as far as I'm concerned.)

 

[cady]

Geeze could this all have happened because of a demolition derby car??? At first, I just poo-pooed that idea, as it came from Daily Mail but maybe it is as simple as THAT type of jealousy??? (could add in a drug-crazed perp too, I suppose......just wow. JMO

 

[ShouldBWorking]

IMO one of the guys being held in jail without charges looks like the guy that was arrested on the video, I say this because I commented to hubby that the guy had a big beer belly. That guys FB page talks about money problems and a drug problem in his past.

 

[theforgotten]

I know ... She's my daughters age..she's finishing her freshman year in college. This seems like a whole different world .

That was shocking to me. Two kids at 19 or 20 years old just seems crazy. Especially, when I think about all the freedom I had at her age!

 

[birpu]

The more I Google around, the more rural Ohio looks like a major drug area. For Mexican cartels.

http://www.clevescene.com/scene-and...n-drug-cartels-are-running-weed-farms-in-ohio

"This happened down in the southern part of the state in Waverly. The state found a camp in Pike County comprised of about 1,200 plants. After raiding the site, officials say it looks like the area had been inhabited by Mexican nationals. No one was arrested.

Keep in mind, this isn’t the small-weight mom-and-pop growers with an operation in the basement we hear about on the local news occasionally. This is serious amount of weed controlled by the big guns. Each of the seized plants had a street value of about $1,000 to $1,500.

This also isn’t the first time the footprints of the drug cartels have trekked across Ohio. In 2010, the state raided two weed farms run by Mexican nationals outside of Columbus. And if you’re interested in learned more about Mexican cartels setting up shop stateside, check out this documentary from Current."

 

[cady]

Great post, MIRNA, Thanks.

 

[SaranWrapPetunia]

Because when those others were the ones that could identify the perps?

I agree. They might've known where KR was staying (he doesn't have a formal address, as per the 911 call) and they were told GR probably there too. Then when they didn't find GR there they headed towards the other addresses, either not knowing which place was who's or just not knowing which place GR was staying at; going bedroom to bedroom, looking for him. Sadly, it may have just worked out that CR Senior's was the last place on their route. Is his property the furthest away from KR's? This is all hypothetical of course. I'm just thinking out loud.

 

[Lola]

or covering up another issue?

 

[JoHyphen]

Those were my exact thoughts SuzDuJour

 

[Jasper52]

I keep going back to the rumors that the family was involved in dog and fighting (I feel it's far more than rumors since the 911 call came from a lady who stopped by in the mornings to feed the chickens and dogs. Chickens I can understand, but dogs? Dogs are usually pets but these "dogs" are being treated like livestock, the way fighters/breeders keep dogs) People involved in dog fighting are usually involved in drug stuff too. The illegal underground worlds are intertwined to say the least. If these dogs were pets they would have been defending the home when the family was attacked, but they weren't pets and they were kept in pens outback and their barking was probably constant so useless for an alarm or warning.

I haven't heard these rumors but looking at the groups that FR belonged to on FB suggests he used dogs for hunting and possibly breeding. JMO!

 

[Lola]

i wasn't really buying the drug angle and this popped up -- interview with Ohio's AG about the heroin epidemic - http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/preview-the-heroin-epidemic/

 

[LaborDayRN]

I just read about that case and I have to say it IS hard to believe that none of the victims escaped one perpetrator, especially given that they were beaten to death and all were fairly young.

From what I've read they were all shot.

DeWine said this week that it appeared all of the eight were shot in the head.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/23/us/ohio-shooting-pike-county/

BBM: Is there a link with LE or ME stating they were beaten to death? I think it's possible that a family member came in and discovered the bodies, saw a great deal of blood and assumed they were beaten. JMO

 

[creepcrusher]

It seems to me that CR1 is the primary target. The victims are all close to him: children, ex-spouse, brother, same age cousin. One could make the case that DR, KR, and GR could have been the targets for their past brushes with the law, but they have closer relations that were not killed. CR1 is the focal point in the family ties. The scenes were on property CR1 owned. CR1 doesn't seem to have much of a criminal history. Wiping out someone's entire family seems to be unusually personal and excessive for a business deal gone bad.

I agree completely. And Dana could have been a target because she may have been involved in whatever CR was involved with during their marriage. It would made more sense that they older adults were the actual targets.

 

[JanetElaine]

Isn't Frankie's real name also Clarence? Could it possibly be him? He's kind of young to be owning property, so maybe not.

Or maybe it took that long to settle the estate. My mother's house was still in my late father's name two and a half years after he died, because probate took for-freaken-ever.

"Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader released the names and ages of the eight members of the Rhoden family who were found dead in four locations, victims of execution-style killings:

Hannah Gilley, 20
Christopher Rhoden, Sr., 40
Christopher Rhoden, Jr., 16
Clarence “Frankie” Rhoden, 20
Dana Rhoden, 37
Gary Rhoden, 38
Hanna Rhoden, 19
Kenneth Rhoden, 44"

I don't think it's Frankie - he would have been 9 or 10 years old when the land was acquired.

It could have taken a while for the estate to settle, but the dwelling on 799 Left Fork was in CR1's name years sooner, so I'm not sure how to add that up. I don't expect nefarious reasons for it though. Real estate can be weird.

 

[Ellmau]

I keep going back to the rumors that the family was involved in dog and fighting (I feel it's far more than rumors since the 911 call came from a lady who stopped by in the mornings to feed the chickens and dogs. Chickens I can understand, but dogs? Dogs are usually pets but these "dogs" are being treated like livestock, the way fighters/breeders keep dogs) People involved in dog fighting are usually involved in drug stuff too. The illegal underground worlds are intertwined to say the least. If these dogs were pets they would have been defending the home when the family was attacked, but they weren't pets and they were kept in pens outback and their barking was probably constant so useless for an alarm or warning.

I would be surprised, I think. I don't see anything about dogfighting on the deceased's facebooks. Some of them were interested in hunting, and had hunting dogs, who likely wouldn't have lived in the house.

 

[JanetElaine]

Do we know if she was a breastfeeding or formula feeding mom? Is that even relevant? Does one make the situation more tragic than the other?

For me, the answer to all of the above would be 'no.'

That was not the point. The point was that people were relaying a rumor that she was shot while the baby was actively nursing, based on a tweet. Neither LE nor the AG have released any details like that.

 

[The OG]

That was not the point. The point was that people were relaying a rumor that she was shot while the baby was actively nursing, based on a tweet. Neither LE nor the AG have released any details like that.

Kind of an irrelevant detail to occupy so much debate.

 

[Doghairrules]

From what I've read they were all shot.


http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/23/us/ohio-shooting-pike-county/

BBM: Is there a link with LE or ME stating they were beaten to death? I think it's possible that a family member came in and discovered the bodies, saw a great amount of blood and assumed they were beaten. JMO

Sorry - I wasn't clear. I was referring to the guy heinze case in GA that someone mentioned.

 

[Ellmau]

From what I've read they were all shot.


http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/23/us/ohio-shooting-pike-county/

BBM: Is there a link with LE or ME stating they were beaten to death? I think it's possible that a family member came in and discovered the bodies, saw a great amount of blood and assumed they were beaten. JMO

I think that was a reference to another case.