Survivors of family shooting still awaiting explanation, arrest

Associated Press

PIKETON

Six months after someone shot eight members of an extended family to death in their homes, surviving relatives are still waiting – for an explanation, for an arrest, for a hint of closure.

“I just want to know why?” said Tajianna Mead, of Waverly, whose 44-year-old father, Kenneth Rhoden, was among the victims.

When the slayings were discovered the morning of April 22, rural Pike County in the Appalachian foothills of southern Ohio was coming to life with the colors of greening hardwoods and the white petals of dogwood trees. Half a year later, colors are changing again as leaves turn to burnt yellow and red across the thickly wooded hills.

Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader told WCPO-TV this week that he now believes the killers were local .

Union Hill Road, where seven of the victims were found on three properties, is open again to traffic. “Private Property: No Trespassing” signs are posted at the end of the homes’ driveways. Porches sit stranded in yards, their steps leading nowhere: In May, investigators moved the mobile homes where the killings occurred to a secure location as the investigation continued.

Attorney General Mike DeWine, overseeing the investigation along with the sheriff, will say only that the killers had to be familiar with land around the properties, as well as the properties themselves.

Though many residents of the rural county about 80 miles south of Columbus also believe the killers are local, most aren’t worried about their safety.