OH - Pike County: 8 people from one family dead as police hunt for killer(s) - #25

[Dudly]

Why don't you?

I have. Have you?

 

[glf]

This case has me so tied up in knots, I could scream! AG Mike may be in chg, but I get the feeling Charlie may be less than willing to share new info with him, if there is any! I see no problem with Dateline, but they have been working with Lori's family, (Heimer case) for months now, and still there has not been an episode. The SCSD stated after the murder, there was "tons of physical evidence", and still no arrest. And the reward is roughly $37,000.00. There was an oil rig explosion in SE Kansas in '05, and it was determined it was deliberate, somebody had tampered with the rig. Two guys were killed. There has been a $50,000.00 reward from the week it happened, and to my knowledge, there hasn't been one peep...

 

[ilovepierre]

Almost a year has gone by, and still nothing!
My opinion is still the same-the victims knew their killer(s).

 

[Betty P]

This case has me so tied up in knots, I could scream! AG Mike may be in chg, but I get the feeling Charlie may be less than willing to share new info with him, if there is any! I see no problem with Dateline, but they have been working with Lori's family, (Heimer case) for months now, and still there has not been an episode. The SCSD stated after the murder, there was "tons of physical evidence", and still no arrest. And the reward is roughly $37,000.00. There was an oil rig explosion in SE Kansas in '05, and it was determined it was deliberate, somebody had tampered with the rig. Two guys were killed. There has been a $50,000.00 reward from the week it happened, and to my knowledge, there hasn't been one peep...

If Dateline has been working with families for a long time with no success, then the problem seems to be with LE. Most good police departments would welcome more public awareness of unsolved murder cases. It's odd. Is it a problem with local prosecutors? Maybe some think they should only arrest people when there's DNA evidence connecting them to the case. That shouldn't be necessary. I could understand problems or delays if these were big cities, where investigators and prosecutors have many more murder cases to investigate. But it's odd seeing this in rural areas.

 

[RAISINISBACK]

If Dateline has been working with families for a long time with no success, then the problem seems to be with LE. Most good police departments would welcome more public awareness of unsolved murder cases. It's odd. Is it a problem with local prosecutors? Maybe some think they should only arrest people when there's DNA evidence connecting them to the case. That shouldn't be necessary. I could understand problems or delays if these were big cities, where investigators and prosecutors have many more murder cases to investigate. But it's odd seeing this in rural areas.

I agree. I live in a small town. The police chief and most of the officers are kids who went to school with my son. They played basketball in my driveway after school. They never went to college or had any special training and trust me these boys are not anywhere near the top on the intelligence scale. The last murder in this town was in 1952 so they had absolutely no experience in solving a murder.

Last year someone broke in and killed a man to steal his pain pills (oxycontin). It was late at night (about 1:00 AM) and no one saw a thing because most people here are in bed by 10:00PM. The police were called and within two hours they had suspects. Within three hours they had arrested one who told what happened and who was with him when it occurred. By the time four hours had passed both suspects were arrested and on their way to county lock up.

The police here are not the sharpest knives in the drawer, but they know their town. They have lived here since the day they were born. They know who does drugs and who doesn't. The Chief told me the way they solved it was they started rousting known oxycontin addicts and asking them who did it.

I don't know how long Sheriff Reader has lived in Pike county or where his deputies are from but it seems to me they should know who buys pot and other drugs.

This crime should have been solved within a day. I agree that Sheriff Reader seems to be doing all he can to sweep it under the rug.

 

[Betty P]

I agree. I live in a small town. The police chief and most of the officers are kids who went to school with my son. They played basketball in my driveway after school. They never went to college or had any special training and trust me these boys are not anywhere near the top on the intelligence scale. The last murder in this town was in 1952 so they had absolutely no experience in solving a murder.

Last year someone broke in and killed a man to steal his pain pills (oxycontin). It was late at night (about 1:00 AM) and no one saw a thing because most people here are in bed by 10:00PM. The police were called and within two hours they had suspects. Within three hours they had arrested one who told what happened and who was with him when it occurred. By the time four hours had passed both suspects were arrested and on their way to county lock up.

The police here are not the sharpest knives in the drawer, but they know their town. They have lived here since the day they were born. They know who does drugs and who doesn't. The Chief told me the way they solved it was they started rousting known oxycontin addicts and asking them who did it.

I don't know how long Sheriff Reader has lived in Pike county or where his deputies are from but it seems to me they should know who buys pot and other drugs.

This crime should have been solved within a day. I agree that Sheriff Reader seems to be doing all he can to sweep it under the rug.

AG DeWine should be doing more to solve it, too. But he hasn't done anything.

Governor John Kasich hasn't done anything

State Representative Clifford Rosenberger hasn't done anything

State Senator Bob Peterson hasn't done anything

Congressman Brad Wenstrup hasn't done anything

Senator Rob Portman hasn't done anything

 

[amauet1]

Then LE has to find a way to minimize that threat. Its counter-productive for them to allow innocent families and friends to sit there with little or no protection, while badgering them to give any information they may have. IMO, this is why they've placed the surviving children in foster care - because they know surviving family members are at risk of retaliation.

And if LE "knows" who did this but can't build a case, then they need those tips from the public. That's how you gather evidence, if you're looking for evidence. A reward is normally how LE gathers the evidence they need - witness testimony, tips about perp activity, suspicious behavior, possible places where incriminating evidence was disposed of, etc. You get that with a reward, it doesn't just magically appear.

LE has deliberately created a stalemate in this case. No one can talk, no potential informants are protected, everything related to the case is locked away from public access, no incentives are offered to help gain new evidence. No updates or new information for the news media. No solicitation for help from the public. It's a closed loop. All avenues to solve these murders have essentially been blocked by LE.

I hope I don't get in trouble for this, but IMO, Sheriff Reader has had some idea of who did this from the beginning. Before he was temporary sheriff for Pike Co, wasn't he on the "Drug Task Force" for Rob Junk? IIRC, working for the procesutor (sp) gathering info about the drug scene in Pike Co. So if that is what he was doing, he knew some drug dealers in the area, had informants etc. (sorry my spelling is bad tonight)
He might not of known "who" at the time, but knew where to go for info. IMO, during this investigation, they have (fallen) into other info about other drug activities and criminal information going on Pike and other surrounding counties. (All the busts that have happened since the murders). Now they have yet another "Task Force" going on. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but come on! Solve this crime already!
The ones I feel the sorriest for are those babies! They have forgotten (or are close to it in Rugers case) their biological family, and by now, have bonded with whomever their with. That's going to be a big emotional change for them "if" they ever get to go back to their real family. God! these murders are so sad in so very many ways!
And iirc Sheriff Reader has lived in Pike Co all his life.

 

[amauet1]

I have. Have you?

I left a message on the Dr. Phil show about 5 months in, but never got any response back.

 

[molly1255]

Then LE has to find a way to minimize that threat. Its counter-productive for them to allow innocent families and friends to sit there with little or no protection, while badgering them to give any information they may have. IMO, this is why they've placed the surviving children in foster care - because they know surviving family members are at risk of retaliation.

And if LE "knows" who did this but can't build a case, then they need those tips from the public. That's how you gather evidence, if you're looking for evidence. A reward is normally how LE gathers the evidence they need - witness testimony, tips about perp activity, suspicious behavior, possible places where incriminating evidence was disposed of, etc. You get that with a reward, it doesn't just magically appear.

LE has deliberately created a stalemate in this case. No one can talk, no potential informants are protected, everything related to the case is locked away from public access, no incentives are offered to help gain new evidence. No updates or new information for the news media. No solicitation for help from the public. It's a closed loop. All avenues to solve these murders have essentially been blocked by LE.

I agree. If LE had evidence of who did this, an arrest or arrests would have been made by now. The fact that this has not happened to date indicates to me they do not have the evidence they need and anyone who could provide information is absolutely terrified to come forward.

It is very hard to understand why a substantial reward has not been offered for information! Is LE offering to provide protection to those who come forward with information? They need to do both things, IMO.

It is also very hard to understand why LE and the AG have gone silent on this horrific crime with no updates, press conferences, etc. This is not going to go away. Justice needs to be served and the public needs to be protected.

 

[jk204]

Some here speculated about an inheritance issue. Here is a similar case: family killed by brother in law over undeclared inheritance in gold bars.

Troadec case: Brother-in-law admits murdering missing family of four - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39177217

Perp left tracks and was arrested in less than 3 weeks. He finally confessed.

 

[Dudly]

I left a message on the Dr. Phil show about 5 months in, but never got any response back.

I sent a message to the people that made the series about the missing women in Chillicothe but no response from them, either.

 

[glf]

There are so many people who could be trying to help get this solved, and are sitting on their thumbs instead, nobody can keep count! I'd still like to hit Charlie in the face with a big, sticky pie. He seems to be more interested in making the gen pub aware of how well he has protected the crime scenes so everybody will be patting him on the back instead of wanting to stick their boot up his behind. Charlie seems to think that as long as he can talk about how hard he is working on this case, people will believe he is trying to solve it. I, for one, have given up on him, and the rest of the PCSD. And, I don't care how long he worked for Rob Junk. After the mess made by JJ, and Junk's attempt at making light over that situation, at least that's the way it appears to me, I have doubts he could catch and convict somebody of stealing their neighbors cat...

 

[RAISINISBACK]

There are so many people who could be trying to help get this solved, and are sitting on their thumbs instead, nobody can keep count! I'd still like to hit Charlie in the face with a big, sticky pie. He seems to be more interested in making the gen pub aware of how well he has protected the crime scenes so everybody will be patting him on the back instead of wanting to stick their boot up his behind. Charlie seems to think that as long as he can talk about how hard he is working on this case, people will believe he is trying to solve it. I, for one, have given up on him, and the rest of the PCSD. And, I don't care how long he worked for Rob Junk. After the mess made by JJ, and Junk's attempt at making light over that situation, at least that's the way it appears to me, I have doubts he could catch and convict somebody of stealing their neighbors cat...

I agree.

I misspoke earlier. The murder here was in late 2015 not last year. (With old age comes a declining memory. lol)

When I talked to the police chief here he told me the murder of a resident in his town shocked him and his officers to the core. He said it was the biggest thing that ever happened here and he was determined to bring in the killer as soon as possible before they killed someone else.

I asked him what happened he told me that the first suspect they picked up confessed. He said they were in the drug store when the man filled his prescription for the oxycontin and followed the victim home. He said they waited until they thought the victim was asleep and broke into his house, but the victim was awake watching TV with the lights off.

The police here started with no clue of who committed the crime since the victim was an older man who did not know his killers. But as soon as they arrived on the scene the victims wife was already there (she discovered him when she came home from work at 1:00AM) The police called in the state crime investigators who brought in a forensic team. While the state boys were going over the crime scene for evidence the wife told them about the missing pills. The chief put every officer he had out in the street questioning known addicts.

He said they picked up every one they knew who had ever been arrested for drugs and started asking who they thought would break into a house to steal pills. He said they found someone who gave them a name of a man who had been talking about that very thing. The rest is history.

This murder happened a few months before the Rhoden murders. Both suspects plead guilty to first degree murder and are now locked up for life.

There is no reason why Sheriff Reader could not do the same thing as our Chief here. He says he has an idea who killed the Rhodens. So start picking up their family and friends and associates and put pressure on them to talk.

There are three unsolved crimes of murders in Pike county that are very similar. I think they are all connected as well as the Eapmons. I also think there is no way Sheriff Reader does not know who is behind them all. But maybe he is too afraid of them to act on what he knows. JMO

 

[rsd1200]

I agree. If LE had evidence of who did this, an arrest or arrests would have been made by now. The fact that this has not happened to date indicates to me they do not have the evidence they need and anyone who could provide information is absolutely terrified to come forward.

It is very hard to understand why a substantial reward has not been offered for information! Is LE offering to provide protection to those who come forward with information? They need to do both things, IMO.

It is also very hard to understand why LE and the AG have gone silent on this horrific crime with no updates, press conferences, etc. This is not going to go away. Justice needs to be served and the public needs to be protected.

BBM
I tend to disagree. Unless they have concrete evidence then they can blow the case. They only have one chance to get it right. They have to have all of their ducks in a row. If they don't, they'll walk. No one wants that. Just b/c they have evidence at one location, doesn't mean it's at all four locations. This is a very complicated type case, I'd say, for an LE Dept. in a small town, which makes me wonder why they're not more involved with outside folks who have the knowledge and technology to aid in this. With that said, I don't know if they know who did this or not. One day I feel that they do, then another day I feel that they've no clue.

 

[Dudly]

BBM
I tend to disagree. Unless they have concrete evidence then they can blow the case. They only have one chance to get it right. They have to have all of their ducks in a row. If they don't, they'll walk. No one wants that. Just b/c they have evidence at one location, doesn't mean it's at all four locations. This is a very complicated type case, I'd say, for an LE Dept. in a small town, which makes me wonder why they're not more involved with outside folks who have the knowledge and technology to aid in this. With that said, I don't know if they know who did this or not. One day I feel that they do, then another day I feel that they've no clue.

I keep flip flopping on thinking they know and thinking they have no idea who done this.
It is hard to believe no arrests after this length of time if they do know.

 

[rsd1200]

I keep flip flopping on thinking they know and thinking they have no idea who done this.
It is hard to believe no arrests after this length of time if they do know.

.
It could be that they have some sort of evidence but it may not be of any use to them at the present time. A couple of young guys were murdered, in their home, not far from where I live. They were young, selling drugs, partying, etc... The assailants went there with the intention of stealing the drug supply, but something went very wrong, and, instead, they murdered the two guys who were dealing. One of the assailants was still in high school, and one of the victims had not been out of high school very long. There were tip lines, billboards, reward money, it was kept in the public eye. Two other young people were there but they couldn't describe the assailants. LE had an idea of who it might have been, but the only evidence they had was a bit of DNA evidence, on a piece of fabric. At the time of the murders there were no matches in the registry. This case went on for at least 6-7 years, until one day a match popped up in the DNA database. When they brought that one in, it wasn't long before that one sang, and they pulled the others in. Even though that's a long time, they did get them in the end. A lot of us thought they'd never catch them. It was in a rural area, at night, no one noticed anything, nor heard the more than 20 shots fired, but they eventually got caught. They messed up down the line. Sorry for the long post, but, it might take 7-8 years even if they do have an idea of who did this. Hopefully it won't though. I've told this before, but, when I get to feeling hopeless about this case, I think about the two boys just a town over, whose families finally got justice.

 

[Dudly]

.
It could be that they have some sort of evidence but it may not be of any use to them at the present time. A couple of young guys were murdered, in their home, not far from where I live. They were young, selling drugs, partying, etc... The assailants went there with the intention of stealing the drug supply, but something went very wrong, and, instead, they murdered the two guys who were dealing. One of the assailants was still in high school, and one of the victims had not been out of high school very long. There were tip lines, billboards, reward money, it was kept in the public eye. Two other young people were there but they couldn't describe the assailants. LE had an idea of who it might have been, but the only evidence they had was a bit of DNA evidence, on a piece of fabric. At the time of the murders there were no matches in the registry. This case went on for at least 6-7 years, until one day a match popped up in the DNA database. When they brought that one in, it wasn't long before that one sang, and they pulled the others in. Even though that's a long time, they did get them in the end. A lot of us thought they'd never catch them. It was in a rural area, at night, no one noticed anything, nor heard the more than 20 shots fired, but they eventually got caught. They messed up down the line. Sorry for the long post, but, it might take 7-8 years even if they do have an idea of who did this. Hopefully it won't though. I've told this before, but, when I get to feeling hopeless about this case, I think about the two boys just a town over, whose families finally got justice.

About the only other possibility is blowing the cover of an undercover operation if they take this case to court.

 

[molly1255]

BBM
I tend to disagree. Unless they have concrete evidence then they can blow the case. They only have one chance to get it right. They have to have all of their ducks in a row. If they don't, they'll walk. No one wants that. Just b/c they have evidence at one location, doesn't mean it's at all four locations. This is a very complicated type case, I'd say, for an LE Dept. in a small town, which makes me wonder why they're not more involved with outside folks who have the knowledge and technology to aid in this. With that said, I don't know if they know who did this or not. One day I feel that they do, then another day I feel that they've no clue.

It may be a matter of semantics, but my post pretty much states what you just said.

 

[RichP]

I have. Have you?

No I haven't. IMO I think it would be useless to do so. Do you think that anyone down there would speak to a TV show crew, a bunch of outsiders? I get the distinct impression that many people from that area feel that the Chris Rhoden Sr branch of the Rhoden Family tree got what they had coming to them and aren't shedding many tears over it. I'm not saying that this is the "right way" or the "wrong way" to feel about 8 people being murdered in their beds but it is the way many local residents feel.
JMHO

 

[Betty P]

I agree.

I misspoke earlier. The murder here was in late 2015 not last year. (With old age comes a declining memory. lol)

When I talked to the police chief here he told me the murder of a resident in his town shocked him and his officers to the core. He said it was the biggest thing that ever happened here and he was determined to bring in the killer as soon as possible before they killed someone else.

I asked him what happened he told me that the first suspect they picked up confessed. He said they were in the drug store when the man filled his prescription for the oxycontin and followed the victim home. He said they waited until they thought the victim was asleep and broke into his house, but the victim was awake watching TV with the lights off.

The police here started with no clue of who committed the crime since the victim was an older man who did not know his killers. But as soon as they arrived on the scene the victims wife was already there (she discovered him when she came home from work at 1:00AM) The police called in the state crime investigators who brought in a forensic team. While the state boys were going over the crime scene for evidence the wife told them about the missing pills. The chief put every officer he had out in the street questioning known addicts.

He said they picked up every one they knew who had ever been arrested for drugs and started asking who they thought would break into a house to steal pills. He said they found someone who gave them a name of a man who had been talking about that very thing. The rest is history.

This murder happened a few months before the Rhoden murders. Both suspects plead guilty to first degree murder and are now locked up for life.

There is no reason why Sheriff Reader could not do the same thing as our Chief here. He says he has an idea who killed the Rhodens. So start picking up their family and friends and associates and put pressure on them to talk.

There are three unsolved crimes of murders in Pike county that are very similar. I think they are all connected as well as the Eapmons. I also think there is no way Sheriff Reader does not know who is behind them all. But maybe he is too afraid of them to act on what he knows. JMO

That's a good example of thorough police work. You have to wonder if too many LE and prosecutors today think they have to have a DNA match for every perp before they make an arrest, when old-fashioned investigative work is just as important. Today, you wonder about some cases when it seems LE only looks for DNA and waits for the public to call in with tips to solve the case. It's still necessary to use the shoe leather - get out and talk to people, follow up, check and re-check alibis, etc. They need prosecutors who are energetic, skilled and experienced enough to build cases on more than just DNA evidence.

If these 4 crime scenes were so sterile, if the perps left so little evidence behind, they wouldn't be locking up all the homes. There has to be evidence available to them - cell phone, internet records and other evidence found at the crime scene. If, as they claim, the killers are local, it shouldn't too difficult to build that case.

As for locals not caring if the crime is solved - it's hard to believe people could be that ignorant and uncaring. An entire family was killed, including young people who hadn't lived long enough to deserve that kind of death. No human being deserves that. Regardless of local opinion, the public demands that cases be investigated and killers caught and punished.

I would certainly hope those with irrational hatred of the Rhodens don't think it's ok for killers capable of ambushing and killing 8 people to walk around in the community, free to kill again. That's a very sick POV, IMO.