Keith BieryGolick and Sara Nealeigh

Chillicothe (Ohio) Gazette

CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — It's been two weeks since eight people were found shot to death in rural southern Ohio.

National and international media have mostly left Pike County. But that doesn't mean its residents are any closer to answers about the deaths of the Rhoden family.

Here are some of the biggest unanswered questions:

Where are the search warrants?

The Ohio Attorney General's Office says more than 100 items of evidence have been collected and sent to a laboratory for DNA, ballistics and other analysis.

What exactly are those items? Beyond several vehicles towed away from Rhoden family property on Tuesday, it is anyone's guess.

Five search warrants have been served in connection with the investigation, authorities have said. Four of the locations include where the bodies were found, but the fifth location has not yet been disclosed.

Only two search warrants have been returned and filed with the Pike County Clerk of Court's Office. Both have been sealed.

Vehicles towed as part of investigation into Ohio killings

The search warrants are not public record until they have been filed, and are not available once they have been sealed.

According to the Pike County Clerk of Court's office, the most recent search warrant was filed Thursday, and the first returned April 27. Even the motion and order to seal the search warrants have been sealed.

Dan Tierney, a spokesman for the Attorney General's Office, previously told Gannett Ohio that search warrants had not been filed because the crime scenes were still active. However, an earlier news release from the Attorney General's Office issued April 23 said work at each of the crime scenes was completed.

The county clerk's office said she expects the rest of the search warrants will be sealed, along with the motion and order to seal them.

What was the motive?

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine told The Cincinnati Enquirer last month investigators are not approaching the case “with a grand theory” about what might have happened. Instead, he said, they are looking at each piece of evidence "without any preconceived notions.”

If authorities know, they aren't saying.

“That’s the way you end up solving these crimes,” DeWine said.

Killed were Christopher Rhoden Sr., 40, and his ex-wife Dana Rhoden, 37 with whom he had reconciled; the couple's three children, Clarence "Frankie" Rhoden, 20, Hanna Rhoden 19, and Christopher Rhoden Jr., 16; Christopher Rhoden Sr.'s brother Kenneth Rhoden, 44, and his cousin Gary Rhoden, 38.

DeWine has since refused to comment on rumors and speculation about a possible motive, saying he doesn't want to taint the investigation or potentially stop someone in the public from coming forward with information.

This hasn't stopped the speculation.

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An expert told The Chillicothe Gazette a link to cartels in Pike County was unlikely. That didn't matter, especially after Cincinnati restaurateur Jeff Ruby withdrew his $25,000 reward for information leading to a conviction in the case.

It's run wild ever since DeWine said April 24 authorities had found multiple commercial marijuana-growing operations at the crime scenes. The fact Mexican cartels have been linked to Pike County in the past only fueled the rumor mill. Then, DeWine said there was evidence of cockfighting at the crime scenes.

Ruby has refused to talk about his decision but tweeted concerns about potential cartel involvement putting his family in danger.

Who is the suspect or suspects?

Whoever did this, he or she or they is still at large. No suspects in the investigation, if any exist, have been named publicly. Someone Ross County Sheriff George Lavender called a "person of interest" was questioned in Chillicothe last month but was never named as such by the Pike County sheriff or the Attorney General's Office.

Several days ago, authorities said the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Pike County investigators had conducted 128 witness interviews and witness contacts as part of the ongoing investigation.

DeWine said April 27 authorities do not want to do anything to jeopardize the case or give any indication of where the investigation is going, because the killer or killers are likely following media reports.

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