One Ohio Victim: Mom Next to 4-Day-Old Baby

Cops say killer or killers is still at large
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 23, 2016 10:38 AM CDT
Cops: Ohio 'Family Annihilator' Still at Large
Police tape is deployed across from the Union Hill Road exit off Route 32 at a crime scene perimeter, Friday, April 22, 2016, in Pike County, Ohio.    (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Police in Ohio say they are still hunting the suspect—or suspects—who slaughtered eight members of the same family in four rural residences on Friday. Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine says more than 30 people have been interviewed in connection with the "horrible tragedy" in Pike County, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports. He says evidence from the crime scene suggests that none of the victims—seven adults and a 16-year-old boy, all shot execution-style—killed themselves, meaning at least one armed and dangerous killer is on the loose. "There may be more than one," Dewine says. "There may be two. There may be three. We just don't know at this point." One toddler and two babies—including a 4-day-old baby in bed with her mother, who was shot and killed—were found unharmed at the crime scenes, which included three trailer homes within a mile of each other.

Police say all the victims, some of whom appeared to have been shot in their sleep, were members of a large and well-known area family, the Rhodens. Neighbors tell the Washington Post that Rhoden family members who lived in the area where the shootings happened include Dana Rhoden, her ex-husband, their adult children, and their grandchildren. The ex-husband is among those killed. Authorities haven't spoken publicly about a possible motive for the rampage, but former FBI agent Brad Garrett tells WCPO that there is a class of killer called "family annihilators," and this case appears to fit the profile. "It's not uncommon for a shooter like this to go from one house to another house to kill everyone that he thinks has harmed him in some form or fashion," he says. (More mass shootings stories.)

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