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Connection unknown between marijuana grow sites and Pike Co. family massacre
WCPO ^ | 4/25/16 | Pat LaFleur

Posted on 04/25/2016 6:41:41 PM PDT by KansasGirl

PIKE COUNTY, Ohio — Investigators are remaining tight-lipped about whether there’s a connection between the massacre of eight Pike County family members Friday and three marijuana "grow operations" found near their homes.

Ohio Attorney General announced over the weekend that investigators found “sophisticated” marijuana grow sites spread across three of the four locations where eight members of the family were found shot to death “execution-style.”...

Were these “executions” motivated or enabled by the drug trade?...

Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader told reporters Sunday that he knew the Rhoden family well -- bust did not know they were involved in any illegal activity.

Local court records did not show any criminal history for the Rhoden family. But DeWine said the sites and number of plants investigators found indicated a professional operation was underway.

“They weren’t doing this in their garden,” he said. “They were doing this to sell.”

This case isn't the first time authorities in Pike County have discovered marijuana grow sites. And it's not the first time deputies in this small county have talked about drug cartels.

In the summer of 2012, DeWine said agents with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Pike County Sheriff’s Office discovered a large grow site containing more than 1,200 plants near Hickson Road, along with two nearby campsites they believed had been abandoned by Mexican nationals.

Agents discovered the grow and camping sites as part of a two-day drug eradication effort, DeWine said.

Friday’s killings in Pike County — which Reader described as “targeted” at the Rhoden family — came at a time when law enforcement agencies at nearly every level said they are seeing an increase in violent crime surrounding the drug trade, as cartels move farther into the country from the borders...

(Excerpt) Read more at wcpo.com ...


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: drugs; ohio; shooting
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To: KansasGirl; All

As Chrissy Hines sang, “Ain’t no way to go o-HIGH-o.”


21 posted on 04/25/2016 8:11:06 PM PDT by Colofornian
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

You have me curious. Why do the killers have to be hispanic, legal or otherwise?

Just yesterday an attempted murder ocurred just across the street from where I live, over drugs. None of the people involved were hispanic. Two people were shot and critically wounded.

I sure wish it were possible to rid the country of hard drugs, but I’m not convinced it is. They are too easy and cheap to make, and very lucrative. I see a LOT of people harmed in many ways by drug abuse, and I see it first hand...not third hand, or on the net, or through misinformation. And there doesn’t seem to be a damn thing I can do about it except to pray that the suppliers get caught.

I even know former cooks and suppliers who have let it go because of the risks involved.

Trust me ehen I tell you that this problem crosses ALL lines of race and national origin for dealers and users.
Anybody associated with these people is also at risk because they become targets to manipulate anybody who owes money. Kill the wife, child, boyfriend etc. To teach a lesson to someone. Its wicked, bad stuff.


22 posted on 04/25/2016 8:13:55 PM PDT by PrairieLady2 (Choose Cruz...and looze.)
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To: PrairieLady2
there was a huge weed growing bust in that same area a few years ago, Mexican illegals per reports....

I'm pretty sure these cops know exactly what happened...

4 crime scenes and people shot in the head....this is more than just a spree killing or a random act...something happened and some people reacted...

off the subject, but all these survivialists sites there's people constantly talking about living off the grid in the boonies somewhere....living away from your community is perhaps the biggest mistake someone can make...a community at least offers some protection....

23 posted on 04/25/2016 9:09:40 PM PDT by cherry
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To: twister881

hardly,Mexican drug loads don’t give a crap about domestic growers


24 posted on 04/25/2016 9:45:50 PM PDT by CGASMIA68
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To: CGASMIA68

Cartels are also domestic growers...they have their own grow operations in the U.S. and do business with U.S. growers. Whether they were interested in another domestic grower here would depend on whether they had business connections to the grower or how competitive they were with each other.

Our drug trade inside and outside this country is connected through Cartels, their hooks are in deep in this country. The Cartel violence is here and happening more often.

I have no idea if these murders were cartel connected but they sure might be and it would not be as unusual as you seem to think.


25 posted on 04/25/2016 9:56:42 PM PDT by Tammy8
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

Are you an FBI lurker trying to stir things up? You don’t seem real with this post.


26 posted on 04/25/2016 10:04:37 PM PDT by Tammy8
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To: ClearCase_guy
As more and more parts of the US legalize this stuff, the level of violence in the business increases.

How many killings have there been in the state-licensed marijuana industry in Colorado?

The only violence I've heard of are a few robberies for cash - as happens with liquor stores, banks and 7-11s.

27 posted on 04/25/2016 10:06:31 PM PDT by Ken H
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To: Tammy8
Someone murdered the mother and most of her family, but left the 4-day old baby unharmed.

Has there been any news about the newborn's father?

28 posted on 04/25/2016 10:31:30 PM PDT by Ken H
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To: Ken H

That should read => ‘Someone murdered the mother of the newborn and most of her family, but left the 4-day old baby unharmed.’


29 posted on 04/25/2016 10:34:16 PM PDT by Ken H
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To: KansasGirl
2 + 2 =

Darn, it's all there but the "answer" is missing!

30 posted on 04/26/2016 5:25:35 AM PDT by ThePatriotsFlag ( Anything FREELY-GIVEN by the government was TAKEN from someone else.)
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To: Ken H

I have not heard anything about that. I think three young children were left alive at the different crime scenes. Maybe the murderer/s just spared those who were too young to identify/testify?

This could very well turn out to be another family member or someone estranged, ex spouse or lover. To me though that just doesn’t seem right for this one.

I think this will involve drugs and or other crimes. If it was a grow operation possibly someone decided to take the money. Usually people like that have large amounts of money. There was a bust last year where LEO found an entire bedroom of a house full of money! That amount of money would interest a lot of people, not in a good way.


31 posted on 04/26/2016 6:27:03 AM PDT by Tammy8
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To: KansasGirl
Used to live in Pike County Ohio. One of the sheriffs who was elected in the late 1960's helped run one of the region's biggest cock fighting pits. Just part of the culture that has existed over two centuries.
32 posted on 04/26/2016 7:06:52 AM PDT by buckalfa (I am feeling much better now.)
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To: Pearls Before Swine

The thing is, I can take the seeds from low-quality ditch weed, give them love and nutrients, and the result will be a very passable product, if not a good product.

The inferiority of mexi weed is not wholly genetic. It’s partly environmental. It is historically propagated by broadcasting the seeds by hand.


33 posted on 04/26/2016 8:38:47 AM PDT by T-Bone Texan (Don't be a lone wolf. Form up small leaderlesss cells ASAP !)
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