Family hopes posters will help break case
WAVERLY — They say they don’t know what else to do.
As the one-year anniversary approaches for the still-unsolved slayings of eight members of the Rhoden family in Pike County, relatives took to the streets Wednesday night in hopes of generating tips and information to bring them justice and answers.
Wilma Rhoden distributed and hung the first of 1,000 posters around town.
“Do you know who murdered us on April 22, 2016?” it asks in bold type.
The posters show the faces of Dana Manley Rhoden; her ex-husband (with whom she had reconciled) Christopher Rhoden Sr; their children Hanna Rhoden, Christopher Rhoden Jr., and Clarence “Frankie” Rhoden; Frankie’s fiance, Hannah Gilley; Chris Sr.’s brother, Kenneth Rhoden; and their cousin, Gary Rhoden.
All were found shot to death inside four homes in three locations.
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine has called the killings executions. Most of the victims were shot while sleeping in their beds. Authorities have not offered a motive, named any suspects or made any arrests.
Wilma, a sister to Kenneth and Chris Sr., said she and her brother, Tony Rhoden, wanted the posters and designed them. The attorney general’s office and Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader’s office liked the idea, she said, so the state printed them and she got them Wednesday.
She said she and her family, as well as the Gilley and Manley families, don’t want to waste any time spreading the posters and their reminder of the sizeable reward around.
“We just feel helpless,” Wilma said. “It’s been a year without answers. We just can’t give up.”
Sheriff Reader said he obviously would have liked to have the case resolved, but investigators continue to work hard.
Few details have emerged since Dana’s sister discovered the first two of what would eventually be eight bodies just before 8 a.m. on April 22.
The sheriff said he knows the families and the public are frustrated by the lack of information, but added he won’t apologize.
“We are working for the eight victims of that homicide,” Reader said. “We are keeping secrets, but we have maintained the integrity of this case.”
Wilma said she hopes the posters make a difference.
“I don’t know how much more we can take of not knowing,” she said. “Someone has to help us.”