Pike County massacre (Cincinnati, Dayton, Portsmouth: crime, houses, live)

[BeeHoyal]

Lots of rumors right after it happened about Mexican drug cartels. Why would drug cartels from that far away care about some small-time pot growers with a couple of hundred plants in the middle of Appalachia? But it does seem like more of a professional "hit" than some rural feud being played out like a 2016 version of Hatfields & McCoys.

Anybody have a theory on it?

[AreTheyAllTaken]

I don't know if a cartel (or other organized crime entity) would necessarily care about the Rhoden's growing activities (although the growing operations that were found could very well be just the tip of the proverbial iceberg). On the other hand, if a member of the Rhoden family's cooperation with LE led to the recent seizures of tens of thousands of plants in the area, or if a member of the Rhoden family stole from or ripped off an agent of a cartel, the murders seem like a predictable consequence. The same could be said if one of the Rhodens had snitched on a non-street-level cartel agent.

If I had to guess based on the limited information that's available, I'd say that one of the Rhodens dropped a dime on one or more cartel agents or directed LE to a cartel-related grow operation, or that they failed to pay a debt to a cartel, and the cartel made good on an earlier promise to kill them and their family if such problems arose. If it was a cartel hit, I would guess that there were four teams (one for each residence), each consisting of at least two men carrying semi-autos with silencers. I would guess that each man left the state - and possibly the country - immediately after the murders. Some or all may have entered the country for the sole purpose of carrying out this assignment. If this turns out to be the case, we'd better get that border closed quick-like, lest more of these things start happening north of the border.

Or it could just be some wacko with a pistol and two clips. To me, though, that seems highly unlikely unless the wacko was an immediate family member or close family friend.

[ohioaninsc]

Originally Posted by AreTheyAllTaken

I don't know if a cartel (or other organized crime entity) would necessarily care about the Rhoden's growing activities (although the growing operations that were found could very well be just the tip of the proverbial iceberg). On the other hand, if a member of the Rhoden family's cooperation with LE led to the recent seizures of tens of thousands of plants in the area, or if a member of the Rhoden family stole from or ripped off an agent of a cartel, the murders seem like a predictable consequence. The same could be said if one of the Rhodens had snitched on a non-street-level cartel agent.

If I had to guess based on the limited information that's available, I'd say that one of the Rhodens dropped a dime on one or more cartel agents or directed LE to a cartel-related grow operation, or that they failed to pay a debt to a cartel, and the cartel made good on an earlier promise to kill them and their family if such problems arose. If it was a cartel hit, I would guess that there were four teams (one for each residence), each consisting of at least two men carrying semi-autos with silencers. I would guess that each man left the state - and possibly the country - immediately after the murders. Some or all may have entered the country for the sole purpose of carrying out this assignment. If this turns out to be the case, we'd better get that border closed quick-like, lest more of these things start happening north of the border.

Or it could just be some wacko with a pistol and two clips. To me, though, that seems highly unlikely unless the wacko was an immediate family member or close family friend.

According to one of the family members it had to be someone close to them because one of the houses has 2 Pit Bulls that would have attacked anyone they didn't know...they weren't harmed it sounds like...Cartel is in Mexico, not Ohio...plus I don't think they has been any kind of major drug bust in Ohio recently outside of Meth Labs.
Certainly this is a very weird situation. Hope they find the killer/killers.

[BeeHoyal]

Ran into this from a Cincinnati tv station...

In 2010, state officials announced the seizure of 22,000 marijuana plants in the village of Latham — 15 miles west of Piketon — and said they suspected a connection to Mexican drug cartels.

Could Pike County slaying be linked to Mexican drug cartels? - Insider - Story

[bluecarebear]

Same thing happened to the family members in Wilkinsburg, PA. That was a planned execution. People will fight over drug money and territory, doesn't matter the amount.

[ms12345]

Southern Ohio a little east of Cincinnati to the WV border is the new ground zero of Appalachia, poverty, post rust belt meltdown, and all of the associated problems.

[BeeHoyal]

Originally Posted by ms12345

Southern Ohio a little east of Cincinnati to the WV border is the new ground zero of Appalachia, poverty, post rust belt meltdown, and all of the associated problems.

There have been some threads about Portsmouth on here I noticed.

This video is interesting... I don't agree that WalMart and NAFTA killed the small towns as mining and railroading decline was their death knell long before NAFTA or a WalMart moved in 30 miles away.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxWN9rCj-mk

[BeeHoyal]

I saw an article last month where the local sheriff says he is convinced the killers were local, not a Mexican cartel or anything exotic like that. With all the investigation, no arrests a year later?

REALLY??? Something is not right about this.

[Natural510]

Sometimes, there is such a thing as a perfect crime, especially if no witnesses are left. With forensics being what it is today, we're spoiled in that we expect every crime to be solved nowadays.

[HappyDogToday]

Near that location there are several major drug trafficking by ways: 35 and 32 east/west; SR 23 and I-75/71 north / south; SR 50 and 52 east/west.

More heroin deaths in Cincinnati and Dayton than most in recent years.

Very isolated area but close to all of those. Plays out like a hit and cover up and scape goating situation.

I doubt we will ever know the truth. When I lived out there residents used to say that people were murdered all the time and their killers never caught or even looked for. Corrupt version of Mayberry, if that.