Murders on the Ridge: Mystery in Briar County

By Andrea Smith

April, 2016. Eight bodies were found in less than four hours in Pike County, Ohio . Every significant member of a well-known family of Piketon, their ages ranging from 16 to 44, were shot execution-style inside of four different homes not far apart.

Local, Federal and State law enforcement officers have swarmed the community, interviewing more than 50 people and combing the wooded areas surrounding the crime scenes. Sheriff Charles Ridley called the investigation one of the largest in Pike County history. Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said the massacre was "pre-planned" and "sophisticated." He was immediately at 'the scene' in order to control the information. Motive was unknown. Suspects unknown. DeWine opined it was a "Mexican Cartel" hit due to a hydroponic grow operation. It was a diffusion of the truth.

A wealthy Ohio businessman out of Cincinnati, Ohio offered a $25,000 reward to anyone with answers. But when the answers started to come, they only raised more questions. Fingers began to point, family conflicts grew, and before this crime was solved, one more local would be found dead.

*This novel is fictional, but based on true events that happened in Pike County, Ohio, in April of 2016. The names and locations have been fictionalized, and the conclusions contained in this work of fiction are purely a product of the author's imagination. NOTE: As of March 2021, the four individuals who were arrested in 2018 for the murders of the Rhoden family have yet to go to trial in Southern Ohio.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B086B9X756
• ISBN13: 9798630251251
• Release Date: March 2020
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.59 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.0" x 9.0"