http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/natio...oting/83426918/

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As the rural Appalachian community of Peebles, Ohio, reels from the execution-style killings of eight local family members, authorities are scrambling to solve the mystery of who could have committed such a brazen, ghastly act at four homes only miles apart.

The carnage revealed itself slowly as sheriff’s deputies moved from home to home, drawn first by a 911 call and then by the horrifying realization that the victims were killed at four locations in this otherwise serene farmland area 70 miles east of Cincinnati.

Some might have been sleeping when the killer came for them before dawn Friday. Men and women. A teenager. A young mother in bed with her 4-day-old baby. All members of the same family, all shot at least once in the head.

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911 caller who found 2 of 8 bodies: 'There's blood all over'

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/911-call...-blood-all-over

[quote]PIKETON, Ohio (AP) — An out-of-breath caller who found two of the eight slain members of an Ohio family told a 911 dispatcher in a quavering voice that "there's blood all over the house."

"I think my brother-in-law's dead," she said, her voice rising as she adds later that it looks like someone has "beat the crap out of them."

"I think they're both dead," she said before breaking down into sobs, according to one of two 911 call recordings released Saturday by the state attorney general's office.

The calls were released a day after eight family members were found dead with gunshots to the head at four properties in rural southern Ohio.

Authorities continued the scramble to determine who targeted that clan and why. Investigators said they interviewed more than 30 people in hopes of finding

EXCLUSIVE: Was execution style massacre of eight family members in sleepy Ohio village caused by jealousy over a $3,000 demolition derby car?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...ght-people.html

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Members of the family of the victims suggested that jealousy or a dispute over a $3,000 car driven by one of the victims could be behind the murders
Authorities are talking to dozens of people after eight people belonging to the Rhoden family were found shot to death in Pike County on Friday
Seven adults and a teen were found at four homes along Union Hill Road
Five victims identified as Frankie Rhoden, his fiancee Hannah Hazel Gilley, Hanna May Rhoden, Dana Rhoden and 16-year-old Chris Rhoden Jr
The other three are 40-year-old Chris Rhoden Sr, 38-year-old Gary Rhoden and 44-year-old Kenneth Rhoden
A newborn, a six-month-old and a three-year-old survived the killings
There were no indications that any of the dead killed themselves
Some of them were in bed, indicating they were shot while they were sleeping, authorities said
Police say there might be one several killers involved but are unsure
They added that the shooter or shooters at large, should be considered armed and 'extremely dangerous'

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The family who had eight members slain by a rampaging gunman were involved in drugs, it was revealed tonight.

Detectives uncovered marijuana ‘grow operations’ in three of the four houses where the victims were shot dead.

Police were also scouring woodland around the rundown area for any further drugs, where confederate flags fly and locals wear T shirts proclaiming their ‘Red Neck’ beliefs.

Police believe there may be further evidence of drug production by the Rhoden family and are examining whether the massacre was fueled by a turf war

Despite the unearthing of cannabis operations, Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader stated that the family were not known to him through criminal activity and he had been an officer in the area for more than 20 years.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said: ‘Marijuana has been found in three locations at crime scenes. They were grow operations.’

He said the murders had been well planned and amounted ‘to a pre-planned execution.’

He added: ‘This is not your case where someone's got mad at someone and shot them.

‘It was a sophisticated operation. And those who carried it out were trying to do everything that they could do to hinder the investigation and their prosecution.’

Reader added: 'This was very methodical. This was well planned. This was not something that just happened.'

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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...l#ixzz46o0WqEpf

Autopsies completed in shooting massacre that killed 8 Ohio relatives

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/04/25/she...l?intcmp=hplnws

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Medical teams on Monday finished the autopsies of eight family members shot and killed in a total of four different homes in southern Ohio, as officials revealed the investigation had uncovered three marijuana growing operations.

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“This was a preplanned execution of eight individuals,” Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said. “It was a sophisticated operation. And those who carried it out were trying to do everything they could do to hinder the investigation and their prosecution."

DeWine and Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader did not immediately release the results of the autopsies. The attorney general had prevously said each relative apparently was shot in the head, and that none of the shootings appeared to be a suicide.

Most were apparently sleeping when they were killed. Three young children -- including a 4-day-old infant -- were also found unhurt.

“This is not your case where someone got mad at somebody else, shot him, there’s a witness, two witnesses. It’s a very, very different kind of case,” DeWine added.

All the victims were members of the Rhoden family: 40-year-old Christopher Rhoden Sr.; his 16-year-old son, Christopher Rhoden Jr.; 44-year-old Kenneth Rhoden; 38-year-old Gary Rhoden; 37-year-old Dana Rhoden; 20-year-old Clarence "Frankie" Rhoden; 20-year-old Hannah Gilley; and 19-year-old Hanna Rhoden.

DeWine said a force of at least 100 investigators had already received more than 100 tips and conducted more than 50 interviews. Five search warrants had been executed and the four crime scenes had been evaluated and secured. DNA technicians were currently examining 18 pieces of evidence at a state crime lab.

Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader said he advised other members of the “targeted” Rhoden family that they could be in danger and advised them to be armed.

DeWine and Reader both cautioned that the investigation likely would take a long time. “A lot of what is going on here is just basic, old-fashioned police work,” DeWine said.

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Youngest Ohio family member received Facebook threat before murders

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/04/26/coc...ml?intcmp=hpbt2

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The youngest of the eight Ohio family members found slain in execution-style murders last week received a threat on Facebook before the mass killings, Ohio's attorney general said Monday.

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Christopher Rhoden Jr., a 16-year-old freshman at Piketon High School, was the subject of the threat, CBS News reported.

"I'm aware of the Facebook threat," Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said. "Every piece of information is valuable and our investigators are certainly taking that into consideration."

The threat is just one emerging piece of evidence in the investigation, which has also uncovered cockfighting chickens and a marijuana growing operation at some of the properties where the eight were killed.

DeWine told The Cincinnati Enquirer that investigators found roosters kept in individual cages, which he said was "consistent with" an illegal cockfighting operation. DeWine cautioned, however that investigators "don't know what's relevant" to the murders of members of the Rhoden family.

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I don't think they will ever find out who did this. What do you all think?

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Leonard Manley, who lost a daughter and three grandchildren in the execution-style massacre of eight people in rural Ohio says the main emotion he feels right now is anger.

"I'm angry. I'm really angry," he told IE. The killer or killers had to have known his family, he said, to have been able to get so close to the victims - and to get around guard dogs kept by his relatives.

He also broke down in sobs talking about the victims.

"Whoever done it knowed the family," Manley said. "Cause those dogs would have eaten them up."

They "had to be around those dogs a lot," or perhaps they drugged the animals, he said.

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http://www.aol.com/article/2016/04/25/da...ims-k/21350772/

I assume the authorities tested the dogs for the presence of any kind of tranquilizer. I also find it interesting the that the smaller children were spared which shows the killer(s) wasn't a complete psychopath or had at least some compassion. Yes, I know the children probably couldn't identify anyone involved but still leaving them alive suggest something about the perp.

Wow didn't know about the dogs. If they were dealers the dogs would have known them don't you think?