Authorities released audio from two 911 calls as they scramble for answers to the execution-style killings of eight members of the same family on Friday. The eight victims were shot in four homes in rural Ohio. The first audio released came in early in the morning and was placed by a woman who found the first two bodies.
The caller is in such clear shock when she first makes the call that she has some trouble talking to the emergency operator but eventually managed to explain the horrific scene she was witnessing. “There’s blood all over the house! My brother-in-law’s in the bedroom. It looks like someone has beat the hell out of him,” a female caller who identifies herself as Bobbi says. “There’s blood all over the covers.”
The second call that was released, came in almost six hours later. “It’s all that stuff that’s on the news,” a man who identified himself as Kenneth Rhoden said. “I just found my cousin with a gunshot wound.” The operator asks whether his cousin is still alive. “No. No.”
There is still no one in custody for the killings, which were carried out in the rural town of Piketon, located some 70 miles east of Cincinnati. The eight people who were killed were members of the Rhoden family, seven were adults and one was a 16-year-old boy. Police say the victims were all shot in the head, some while still in their bed. Initial reports had talked about more than one child casualty but police said today that three children, including a four-day-old baby whose mother was murdered, survived.
Officials identified the victims as 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.
Cincinnati-area restaurant owner Jeff Ruby said he was offering a $25,000 reward to anyone who could help lead officials to a suspect. So far, authorities have interviewed more than 30 people but have made no arrests.
