Sunday, April 24, 2016
Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio
Investigators have finished collecting evidence at the four homes in rural southern Ohio where eight family members were fatally shot, but the crime scenes remain under law enforcement custody, a spokeswoman with the attorney general’s office said today.
No one else has access to the properties where seven adults and teenage boy were found fatally shot Friday near Piketon, about 60 miles south of Columbus.
“We want to keep the scenes preserved in case we do need to go back in there and look at it again,” said Jill Del Greco, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Mike DeWine. The homes will eventually be released back to the families, though authorities are waiting until at least all the autopsies have been completed, she said.
Investigators were still trying Sunday to find out who targeted the tight-knit family known in the area as hard workers, and why. Flags were flying at half-staff at the Piketon Government Center where authorities planned to give an update at an afternoon news conference.
Elsewhere in Piketon, some were on edge.
“I know a lot of people are just scared,” said Maggie Owens, a cook at the town’s Riverside Restaurant. “You don’t hear about stuff like that around here.”
Owens, 39, said in a phone interview Sunday that her son was friends with one of the victims, 16-year-old Christopher Rhoden Jr. Owens said she also knew 37-year-old Dana Rhoden, whom she described as a woman with “a heart of gold” who gave her clothes and money when her home burned down last year.
Kayla Hay said she got to know Dana Rhoden when they both worked as nurse’s aides at a nursing home. “I’ve never heard her say anything about being frightened or concerned about anything bad happening,” said Hay, who described Dana Rhoden as outgoing and friendly.
All of the victims were members of the Rhoden family. The others were identified as 40-year-old Christopher Rhoden Sr.; his son, Christopher; 44-year-old Kenneth Rhoden; 38-year-old Gary Rhoden; 20-year-old Clarence “Frankie” Rhoden; 20-year-old Hannah Gilley; and 19-year-old Hanna Rhoden.
It appeared some of the family members were killed as they slept, including Hanna Rhoden, who was in bed with her newborn baby nearby, authorities said. The baby was 4- or 5-days old, authorities said. The newborn, Hannah Gilley’s 6-month-old baby and one other small child were not hurt.
Authorities said none of the injuries appeared self-inflicted. A search for the killer or killers continued Sunday, and investigators said they had interviewed more than 30 people.
Robin Waddell, who owns the Big Bear Lake Family Resort just south of Piketon, said Christopher Rhoden often did work for him as a carpenter and helped out with his excavation business. He said Rhoden was a nice guy whose kids sometimes visited him while he was working.
“It’s a large family,” Waddell said. “There’s a lot of them and they’ve been in this community for generations. So this is affecting a lot of people.”