Pike County murders: Reward for killers increases slightly

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine’s spokesman, Dan Tierney, confirmed the reward’s increase.

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Eight members of the Rhoden and Gilley families died April 22, 2016, at four homes. Investigators have said more than one killer may be responsible.

Still, the Pike County murders reward is far less than that of other cases involving fewer deaths. In April, the award in the unsolved February slayings of two teenage girls in Indiana was more than $230,000.

In April, Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader pleaded for more donations. He also raised concerns that alleged large-scale drug activity by a victim is suppressing donations.

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“If you can help with the reward, and get the reward money up, that can sometimes make a big difference,” the sheriff said at the time.

Despite the marginal increase since his request, the overall monetary reward is thousands less than its peak immediately after the massacre.

Last year, Cincinnati-area businessman Jeff Ruby briefly offered a $25,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest of anyone involved in the murders.

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Ruby then withdrew the reward, citing “complex criminal developments” in the case.

At the time, investigators and prosecutors had acknowledged three of the four murder scenes contained marijuana grow operations of a commercial scale, with at least one of them indoors.

“It was generous of Mr. Ruby to offer the reward, and it is his choice to withdraw it,” a spokesperson for the Ohio Attorney General’s office said at the time. “He has had access to the same information that we have made public to everyone.”

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Southern Ohio Crime Stoppers first offered the reward in July 2016 without saying where the money came from. Tips are taken anonymously, with callers receiving a code they must use in the future to track the status of their tip and to claim any reward.

Investigators ask those who have information to call the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation tip line at 1-855-BCI-OHIO (224-6446) or the Pike County Sheriff’s Office at 740-947-2111. Investigators said any information provided will remain confidential.

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