DeWine reacts to overlooked $10K reward in Pike Co. slayings

A $10,000 reward offered following the April slayings of eight people in Pike County was overlooked until today.

The reward was issued by the Southern Ohio Crime Stoppers weeks after the Rhoden family members were found dead April 22 at four homes.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said he is pleased to hear about the reward, which he just learned of today while at the final day of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.

“A $10,000 reward is a very good thing and I hope the publicity of this will give us some help,” DeWine said. “The investigation continues, we still have people in Pike County. They’re going to remain in Pike County until this investigation’s over. We’re still taking tips, we’re still getting tips that are being called in. We are processing those tips, running each and every one of them down. We are going to do everything in our power to find out who committed this.”

DeWine said there are 20 to 25 agents from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation working on the case on a daily basis, and that the Pike County Sheriff’s Office also is involved.

“It’s a very active investigation,” DeWine said. “I continue to believe that we will find out who did this, who the people are who did this.”

The victims were 40-year-old Christopher Rhoden Sr.; his ex-wife, 37-year-old Dana Rhoden; their three children, 20-year-old Clarence “Frankie” Rhoden, 16-year-old Christopher Rhoden Jr. and 19-year-old Hanna Rhoden; Frankie Rhoden’s fiancee, 20-year-old Hannah Gilley; Christopher Rhoden Sr.’s brother, 44-year-old Kenneth Rhoden; and a cousin, 38-year-old Gary Rhoden.

DeWine wouldn’t disclose details about the investigation or what investigators have uncovered, but he reiterated that the investigation could take a long time.

“We know a lot more about Pike County. We know a lot more about some of the things that have going on in Pike County that maybe escaped law enforcement, but we’re not ready, certainly, to announce that we have the individual.”

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