Reward withdrawn in Ohio murders due to ‘complex criminal developments’

SOUTH SHORE, KY (WCMH) -The $25,000 reward  that was offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the Pike County case has been withdrawn by a Cincinnati businessman on the day of the first funeral for the victims was to be held.

The funeral for Gary Rhoden was held at 12 p.m. Thursday at the Crockett L. Reed Funeral Home in South Shore, Kentucky.

Gary Rhoden was one of the eight people killed in the shootings in Pike County.

It’s been five days since the bodies of seven adults and a 16-year-old boy were found shot in their homes in the hills near Piketon, a poor Appalachian Mountain town roughly 80 miles east of Cincinnati. Authorities say they’ve interviewed more than 50 people but haven’t made arrests or confirmed a motive for the slayings.

In a statement released on Twitter, Jeff Ruby has withdrawn the $25,000 reward for information on the case.

The victims were 40-year-old Christopher Rhoden Sr.; his ex-wife, 37-year-old Dana Rhoden; their three children, 16-year-old Christopher Rhoden Jr., 19-year-old Hanna Rhoden and 20-year-old Clarence “Frankie” Rhoden; Christopher Rhoden Sr.’s brother, 44-year-old Kenneth Rhoden; their cousin, 38-year-old Gary Rhoden, and 20-year-old Hannah Gilley, whose 6-month old son with Frankie was unharmed.

Two other children, Hanna Rhoden’s 4-day-old daughter and Frankie Rhoden’s 3-year-old son, also were unharmed.

“You shoot somebody that many times, it was revenge. They wanted revenge,” said Lisa Wallace,  Gary’s former sister-in-law.

Gary Rhoden was buried at Miller Cemetery.

“I just think whoever done this are cowards, a coward that was senseless. There was no need to murder eight people regardless of what they did,” said Wallace.