No arrests have been made in the investigation into eight execution-style killings of members of the Rhoden family in Pike County, Ohio.
Authorities have released few details of last week's massacre but those released Tuesday reinforced the brutality with which the family members were slaughtered by killers who are still at large.
The victims suffered 32 gunshot wounds altogether -- one was shot nine times, two were shot five times each -- and some showed soft tissue bruising, suggesting they may have been beaten, according to preliminary autopsy information.
The bruising is consistent with initial reports from the 911 caller who first reported the crimes Friday.
"There's blood all over the house," the caller cried, gasping. "My brother-in-law is in the bedroom. It looks like someone has beat the hell out of him."
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader said on Tuesday that 61 items of evidence were taken to the state crime lab for analysis in addition to the 18 "high-priority" items already submitted. Tips to state and local investigators now number more than 300, officials said.
Investigators continued to serve search warrants but they wouldn't disclose how many or where.
Meanwhile, a fierce thunderstorm whipped up Tuesday night as scores of state, federal and local officials worked through the fifth day of the investigation. The rural southern Ohio community of Piketon went about its business knowing one or more killers are on the loose.
To date, more than 251 law enforcement officials have contributed to the investigation, including manpower from 23 sheriff's offices from across Ohio. The FBI and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents provided limited technical expertise.
Investigators and prosecutors previously said marijuana grow operations of a commercial scale were found at three of the four murder scenes. At least one of them was indoors.
DeWine has characterized the killings as "execution-style." Authorities identified the victims as Hannah Gilley, 20; Christopher Rhoden Sr., 40; Christopher Rhoden Jr., 16; Clarence "Frankie" Rhoden, 20; Dana Rhoden, 37; Gary Rhoden, 38; Hanna Rhoden, 19; Kenneth Rhoden, 44.
Three children -- a 4-day-old, a 6-month-old and a 3-year-old -- were found unharmed at the scenes.
Pike County residents said Tuesday a vigil is being planned for 8 p.m. Friday at the Piketon High School football team's practice field. There's also talk of a meal fundraiser that would start around 7 p.m., organizers said.
On Monday, DeWine told WHIO that the possibility of a Mexican drug cartel connection has not been ruled out, and that investigators are looking at everything but added that there's currently no evidence to indicate the cartel was involved in the killings. DeWine would not say if there was forced entry at any of the four homes where the eight victims were killed, if they were tortured or if there was more than one killer.
Authorities discovered marijuana grow operations that appeared to be for commercial use at three of the four crime scenes. DeWine declined to go into specifics regarding the operations and declined to say if there are indications that the victims were aware of them.
The marijuana plants were more than just a few random plants in a field somewhere, the Columbus Dispatch reported, citing an interview with Pike County Prosecutor Rob Junk. He told Dispatch reporters at least one was indoors and there appeared to be several hundreds of plants.
"It wasn't just somebody sitting pots in the window," Junk told the Dispatch.
In August 2012, Ohio law enforcement officers found "a major marijuana grow site in Pike County with suspected ties to a Mexican drug cartel," according to a press release DeWine's office issued at that time. Investigators discovered about 1,200 marijuana plants -- which were destroyed -- and evidence of two abandoned campsites they believe belonged to Mexican nationals.
Authorities have not said whether the Rhoden family was involved in cockfighting, although DeWine said he noticed roosters in cages that are typically associated with cockfighting when he visited one of the crime scenes Friday.
Authorities continued to investigate the case Wednesday.
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